Roughly half of employed 44 and unemployed 41 african americans reported feeling very or somewhat concerned that they or someone in their household might be out of work and looking for a job in the next year and almost half 45 not confident they would have sufficient money or health insurance to pay for a major illness. On september 24th the long awaited and long disputed national museum of african american history and culture nmaahc opened its doors with the aim of changing the way citizens understand and experience the united states past and present after a fitting spectacle on the day barack obama and oprah winfrey were in attendance it felt like something profound happened when the . In many ways the 1960s and 1970s was a period of black history where african americans made major strides toward equality while simultaneously embracing their unique african and american history in doing so the african american experience was shaped by rich cultural economic political and religious movements and people that refused to be minimized by the larger mainstream culture. As americans we do a great job in remembering jackie robinson langston hughes mlk and rosa parks but perhaps not enough to other amazing african american pioneers like shirley chisholmthe first african american woman elected to the house of representatives dr mae jemisonthe first african american woman to go into space harold amosfirst african american department chair at harvard