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Special Concert Kicks Off Wright Museum's Celebration Of African-American History

DETROIT (WWJ) -- Over 500 years of African-American history is being celebrated this year as part of a golden anniversary.

Grammy award winner Patti Austin will kick off a seven-month celebration with a performance at the Detroit Opera House. The special musical production "Oh, Freedom! A Musical Journey Through African-American Historyis the capstone event for Charles H. Wright Museum of African-American History's 2015 Black History Month, and celebrates the museum's 50th anniversary.

Juanita Moore, president of the Wright Museum in Detroit, said that migration -- along with politics, music, and fashion -- has created a national story which was authored by Detroit.

"This concert will take you on a historical journey through African-American history, but with music," Moore said. "You start with the migration -- the migration from the south of people coming to Detroit to be able to find work and to have a better way of life."

Seven months of events have been planned to help celebrate the museum's 50th anniversary.

"There was a very, very large middle-class African-American community that developed here because of the fact of the economic opportunity here in this country that doesn't exist in a lot of other cities," Moore said.

Other events, such as the African World Festival, the Call of the Drums Festival, and the 50th anniversary Wright Gala are planned through October.

"It gives you an opportunity to go through a history that starts in prehistoric Africa and takes you to modern-day Detroit," Moore said. "Detroiters should know that they have such a legacy and such a really high-standing other among people, because of the history and what it represents."

You can read more about the event HERE.

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