City Odyssey

In honor of Black History Month, I wanted to share a trip to the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History in Detroit. I visited the museum in March 2024 by happenstance. I went to Motown Museum, but I didn’t know that you needed a reservation, as they do timed visits. The wait was long and it was a rainy day, so I decided to go to another museum. On my way there, my Uber driver suggested visiting the Museum of African American History. She also mentioned a popular exhibition that was coming to an end.

The next day, I headed to the African American museum. First off, the place is huge. I found the Ruth E. Carter: Afrofuturism in Costume Design exhibition and it was indeed on its last day. From my understanding, the exhibition was rotating around the country in different museums. However, this was the last day it would be in Detroit.

What got me all excited was about this particular exhibition was Ruth E. Carter’s influence in cinema through fashion and design. Her work highlights African American and African diaspora culture, while blending storytelling and fashion. For those who are not familiar, Ruth E. Carter is an Academy Award winning costume designer. She’s had a career spanning over 40 years. During this time, she has created costumes for some popular black movies including Black Panther, Malcolm X, Selma, and Roots. The exhibition featured over 60 original costumes from the aforementioned films, among others.

At the core of this exhibition were the original outfits from the Black Panther movies. It was amazing to see the costumes in person. You can see how carefully crafted the designs were. I’ve never seen original movie costumes, especially of recent movies, so having that experience was interesting. As of this writing, the exhibition is running through September 2026 at the African American Museum in Philadelphia. I would definitely recommend checking it out if it you are in the area.