By Gregory Lucas-Myers, Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History

August was quite a month for The Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, as we used it to bring attention to the breadth of African culture with both new and old traditions.

I am not usually fazed in my mezzanine office as the sound of children piling into the building, enthralled by the rotunda’s acoustics and pounding on the interactive drums on the lower level, flies up and into my workspace in the late morning. I chalk it up to a combination of growing used to the noise and my trusty iPod. However, I was caught off-guard as, for two weeks in August, the little ones came in first thing in the morning, energetic as ever, packing lunches and, later, performing dance routines across from the aforementioned drums.

Such was Camp Africa, a free program returning for its second year at The Wright Museum. In two separate, 4-day sessions, children from the community learned all about various African cultures. The children chose from art, music, or dance and stuck to that field throughout the week, learning what contributions were made to those fields from the countries of Mali, Nigeria, Congo, Ghana, and Senegal. At the end of the week, they put on elaborate performances that exemplified what they had learned.

Camp Africa was punctuated by a long-running museum tradition in the African World Festival, which took place on the weekend of August 19^th. Coincidentally, I became a part of the museum’s family right before the previous year’s AWF, which was also my first time attending the event. So, in its 29^th year and with a whole year of experience with the institution under my belt, I felt particularly proud to volunteer on that Saturday for what was sure to be an afternoon of enriching experiences with dance, music, art, and good fun.

That pride and hope almost waned as, just as I arrived at Hart Plaza, the rain began to pour, the winds began to rage, I temporarily lost track of my umbrella, and had to help batten down the canvas tent-hatches. As the worst passed and I sat cold, wet, and a little tired, I was reinvigorated by seeing just how many attendees stuck it out, either under umbrellas (as did I once I tracked it down under some tarps), or on the lower level of the plaza, crowded around a group of dancers and drummers putting on a show.

As the rain let up even more, the vendors began to open up again, The Wright Museum’s membership drive booth was relocated, and by evening things were back in full swing. I was reassigned to helping with the museum’s store booth, right next to the main stage performances from Black Women Rock!, as well as having a traditional dance troupe gain a massive audience spontaneously in front of us.

These two traditions go to show that it’s not only important to make one aware of the richness of the past, but it must be persistently nurtured as well.

African World Festival is the largest annual outreach program of the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, the world’s largest institution dedicated to the African American experience.  Held the third weekend of August, this three-day festival attracts over 300,000 visitors to downtown Detroit’s riverfront.  For more information please visit www.TheWright.org.