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The Black History Mobile Museum, Coming To A Town Near You

Southfield, MI  (CBS Detroit)  - Founded by Dr. Khalid el-Hakim, the Black History 101 Mobile Museum is an award winning collection of over 7,000 original artifacts of Black memorabilia dating from the trans-Atlantic slave trade era to hip-hop culture. Dr. el-Hakim has been called the  "Schomburg of the Hip-Hop generation" because of his passionate commitment to carry on the rich tradition of the Black Museum Movement. 

"I'm the founder of the Black History 101 Mobile Museum, says Dr. Khalid el-Hakim. "The work that we do with the Black History 101 Museum addresses some of the inequities that happened in the public school system, as well as on the college campuses and in museum spaces."

As the nation's premiere Black history traveling exhibit, the Black History 101 Mobile Museum has visited 40 states sharing "ourstory" at over 500 institutions reaching tens of thousands of visitors in diverse spaces including colleges, K-12 schools, corporations, conferences, libraries, museums, festivals, religious institutions, and cultural events.

"What we do is we bring the museum experience into public spaces," continues el-Hakim, "and we set up an opportunity to have dialogue about the history of the Black experience in America."

"The Black History Month kickoff event is basically the start of a month of events that we have going on in the city, explains Samantha Jenkins, Recreation Programmer for the City of Southfield. "We have a black-owned marketplace with over 30 vendors,  and we have the Black History Mobile Museum by Dr. Khalid."

"This exhibit is 200 pieces of a 7,000 piece museum," explains Professor Griff from the rap group Public Enemy. "This is called Parallels in Time, and it's from slavery all the way to hip hop. So it show the parallels in time, you can stop at any table and draw parallels to what's going on today."

"The reality is in terms of parenthood," says Psychologist Maunda Snodgrass, "our children grow and learn, not because of what we say to them, but because of what they see from us."

"Community involvement means a lot of things," says Congresswoman Brenda Lawrence. "They recognize that not everyone is on the same level or has the same resources, but you reach back or reach across and help so that we can all move forward together. That's a community."

Watch for "Eye on Detroit" segments weekdays during "CBS This Morning" at 7 a.m. featuring unique and positive stories from the Motor City.

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