Created in 2006 by Richard Lewis as part of his Leadership Denver program, the Timeline is the only one of its kind in the country, a compilation chronicling the African American Experience – even before there was an America. The Timeline is a collection of historical dates and places in time, from the beginning of the slave trade when Spaniards brought enslaved Africans to the new world in 1501, to the present, and every significant event, legislation, and “firsts” in the lives of Blacks in America. The Timeline transports all who experience it to history that predates the United States, to milestones such as the Emancipation Act, the Civil Rights Movement, the tragedies and brutal slaying of Emmett Till, Civil Rights leaders such as the reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and the many triumphs that also define African-Americans, such as Jesse Owens’ track and field victories in the 1936 Olympics on Nazi soil in Berlin, to President Barack Obama’s election in 2008, to Kamala Harris as becoming the first Black female Vice President, to Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s Ascencion as the first Black female justice of the United States Supreme Court. Updated every year and unveiled during Black History Month, the Timeline is a rich, and necessary piece of history for the Black community in Denver, in Colorado, and all of America– and for all communities everywhere – to learn from and to treasure. RTL Foundation’s overarching goals is for the Timeline to become a part of school curricula everywhere in Colorado
– in public, private, charter k-12 schools; in libraries, universities, and municipal buildings at the City, County and State level. We are honored that Colorado State Senator James Coleman – who proudly displays a copy of the Timeline in his office - is advocating at the State Capitol to incorporate the Timeline in Public Schools Statewide. The Timeline is proudly displayed as well in the office of Mayor Mike Johnston of Denver, and History Colorado Museum will be adding it to its permanent collection. We believe as well that the Timeline deserves a rightful place at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History & Culture, and are identifying and working with partners locally and in Washington to make this dream a reality. The Foundation will be developing a Mobile App for the Timeline, to allow virtual visitors to experience it at the tip of their fingers on their smartphones, as well we want to develop an augmented or virtual reality experience, so that people can literally be immersed in the Timeline, with the added elements of audio and video elevating the experience. Those who experience the Timeline in-person at the BNDC, especially at our 9 foot tall by 21 foot wide mural, naturally navigate to dates on the Timeline significant to them – maybe their year of birth, or that of an ancestor, maybe the year their ancestor(s) came to America as slaves - have often asked, “Can I order a Timeline and add a year significant to me?” – we are in fact adding that feature on the Timeline’s website, so that people can order a
The African American Experience Timeline. Image: The RTL Foundation
27 The Acumen
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