The Genesis Museum
of
International Black Culture
>CULTURE IS OUR MEDICINE<

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Established for the purpose of collecting, documenting, disseminating, celebrating and
exhibiting the history, arts and sciences, to study and learn about the cultures of
Black Peoples, internationally.

The Genesis Museum of International Black Culture is an institution designed to serve as a
vehicle—to teach, to honor and to restore the knowledge, understanding and the belief
in the successful accomplishments of Black people—their history, art and culture through
exhibitions, symposiums, lectures and celebrations with the goal of restoring Black people a true
sense of pride, knowledge, respect for their heritage and history reconnecting to their cultural roots.

The Genesis Museum functions as an ‘international Museum to exhibit, research, document,
disseminate and celebrate the influence of International Black peoples, their cultures and heritage
upon the ancient societies, as well as, upon contemporary civilizations. (1) Elenor Bowles

Genesis Museum’s goal is to demonstrate not only the universality, continuity and strength of International Black cultures; but, also to demonstrate the interdependence of all cultures historically. Through the use of exhibitions and programs that create a total educational aesthetic environment, we reveal and generate reverence for International Black culture through its artists, scholars and audience. We document the variety of contributions, rich life styles and distinct cultures of persons of African descent showing interdependence of human life and similarities, as well as, the differences that exists throughout the world and among all peoples providing a forum for dialogue and the exchange of ideas.

Genesis Museum’s mission is to expose, to as wide an audience as possible to the international Black experience.

Ancient Africa, a continent rich in high civilization and culture, has dispersed its peoples and cultural traditions throughout the world, bringing substantial and dramatic cultural changes and impact upon old and new societies. Scholars have only recently begun to accurately document the history, culture, and transmigration of African peoples and to correct the negative distortions of past writers and the myths that they’ve created. However, despite the mounting general interest in African culture and its continuities, there remains a continuing vacuum in the knowledge and documentation of the impact of African Culture on the cultures of the Americas, Europe, the Caribbean and Asia.

The Genesis Museum conducts programs designed to:  

•  inform the general public, with particular emphasis on elementary, secondary and college students,
    regarding the African diaspora— history, culture, art and sciences;

•  provide a forum for the exchange of ideas among historians, artists, scholars, educators and lay public;

•  provide exhibitions and performances designed to present and celebrate the artistic contributions of
    persons of African descent throughout the world;

•  serve as a clearinghouse for information on international Black African cultures

The Genesis Museum represents an integrative, holistic approach to worldwide Black Culture:

    1  -  by combining the arts and humanities
    2  -  by showing the inter-relationship of Black Cultures throughout the world, and
    3  -  by having an educational, inter-disciplinary approach that integrates research, presentation and     
            celebration of Black Culture

Through its major programs, the Genesis Museum actively seek to reach all segments of the community. The Museum sponsors both scholarly and artistic events, which will mutually reinforce and be supportive to its mission. It presents the esoteric and the general, thus demonstrating the universality, stability and potency of African culture and its impact on world cultures.

Again, a major goal of the Genesis Museum is to demonstrate not only the universality of Black Culture but the interdependence of all cultures.

“If a race has no history, if it has no worthwhile tradition; it becomes a negligible factor in the thought of the world, and it stands in danger of being exterminated.”

- Dr. CARTER G. WOODSON, Father of Black History