TAVIS SMILEY, The Smiley Group, Inc., 4434 Crenshaw Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90043 (323) 290-4690 tavissmileysdesk@tavistalks.com

Exhibition Overview

• America I AM celebrates 500 years of African American contributions to the nation —Includes artifacts, documents, multimedia, photos and music

• America I AM is a Global Touring Exhibition —United States cities include: Philadelphia, Washington, DC., New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, St. Louis, and Kansas City

• America I AM received the prestigious THEA award in 2010 for its innovative ability to educate visitors

• Over 700,000 visitors to date have attended America I AM

• Only exhibit to have 4 of the 6 historic documents that changed America: Declaration of Independence,Emancipation Proclamation, 13th & 14th Amendments

Exhibition Background

• Developed in Partnership with Arts & Exhibitions International — Cleopatra: The Search for the Last Queen of Egypt — Diana: A Celebration — Titanic: The Exhibition — Real Pirates — Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of Pharaohs — Tutankhamun: The Golden King and the Great Pharaohs

• The exhibition was guided by an Advisory Panel of leading scholars —FathDavisRuffins,curatorfortheSmithsonianAmerican Museum of History — John Fleming, Director Emeritus of Museums, the Cincinnati Museum Center — Cornel West, Professor of Religion & African American Studies, Princeton University — Henry Louis Gates Jr., Director of the W.E.B. Dubois Institute for African & American Research, Harvard University

About the Creator

• Tavis Smiley is the presenter and creative force behind America I AM

• Broadcaster, author, advocate and philanthropist — Tavis Smiley on PBS — The Tavis Smiley Show and Smiley & West

• Author of 15 books including New York Times bestseller, Covenant with Black America

• In 2009, Time magazine named Smiley one of “The Worlds MostInfluentialPeople”

• Tavis Smiley Foundation which provides leadership training and development for the next generation of leaders

A Journey from Struggle to Triumph

• America I AM: The African American Imprint• America I AM: You • America I AM: Your History• America I AM: Africa• America I AM: Inextricable• America I AM: Justice• America I AM: The Voice Of Freedom• America I AM: Denied But Not Defeated• America I AM: Spirit• America I AM: Your Conscience• America I AM: Triumph • America I AM: Imprint

Twelve galleries and 15,000 square feet

Making Headlines Across America

More Headlines Across America

Over 200 Exhibition Artifacts

• A handwritten speech by Dr. Martin Luther King

• The gloves Ali wore when he knocked out Sonny

Liston

• The guitar Prince used during his half-time show

at Super Bowl XLI

• Michael Jordan’s uniform

• Personal items from Abraham Lincoln

• The doors to the Cape Coast Castle in Ghana

(Doors of no Return)

• Motown memorabilia

• Robe and gavel of Thurgood Marshall

• 8mmmoviesshotbytheTuskegeefighterpilots

in World War II

• The Birmingham jail cell door that held Dr. King

• Partner Institutions: Smithsonian, National Archives, Library of

Congress, Moorland Spingarn Research

Center at Howard University, Schomburg

Research Center of the New York Library,

and Cincinnati Museum Center.

Socio-political Artifacts

Economic Artifacts

Artifacts that Celebrate Culture

Artifacts that Celebrate Culture

Artifacts that Fuel the Spirit

"Unpralleled opportunity to walk through Black history, American history, and human history."

"A beautiful way to see and understand the story of African Americans."

Celebrating what African Americans have achieved over their 500 year journey.

What's Your Imprint?