Got to walk along the river front, then stumble upon (okay I did a bit of research) this amazing building, they do not call themselves a museum per say, but I met this woman who worked there and she had such on interesting story, it turns out her niece and nephew live in Vancouver and they have the same history as me, in terms of having a father who is a draft dodger and their family is originally from the south.

So this woman shared stories with me ( who works at this building) about how the whole area on 9th street was a black community in the 60's and was thriving and full of black owned businesses, etc. I learned that my cousin used to go out dancing on that street and everyone I eventually spoke with remembers that area fondly as you could find anything there, for a good price, there was always something to do for everyone of all ages and people looked out for each other. But then there is this revitalisation tactic that gets in the way...

The whole building out of many museums that focus on African American history was absolutely amazingly informative, probably because the state was funding this one. Unlike most, it had a comprehensive history around slavery, racism, migration, displacement, solidarity and activism, pioneer-ism, community and how they are all tied together. I was really impressed. But the building itself was a multi busniness unit in it's prime back in the day. The very building this 'museum' was in is the only building left standing (even after a fire - was rebuilt) and when you look outside, across the street and down the street, it is vacant.

I was mesmorised.