New museum in San Francisco explores African diaspora

A new museum dedicated to Africa's history and the influence of its diaspora opened Saturday in downtown San Francisco.

The Museum of the &to=http://english.pravda.ru/world/2002/04/26/28070.html' target=_blank>African Diaspora explores how Africa, where some of the oldest human remains have been discovered, has affected the world as people left the continent and populated the rest of the planet.

"We hope this museum will help deepen people's understanding of their place in the human family and evolution," said veteran television reporter Belva Davis, who serves as president of the museum's board of directors.

Exhibits at the museum, known as MoAd, range from ancient stone tools found in Tanzania to contemporary African art depicting the exploitation of black women.

Black leaders in the San Francisco Bay area originally wanted to build a museum focused on the African American experience, but its mission evolved over the past decade.

The three-story, 1,800-square-meter (20,000-square-foot) facility opens as other cities such as Chicago, Atlanta and Baltimore open or expand institutions focused on the black experience.