The museum, which showcases the culture and art of African peoples throughout history and the present day with interactive displays, exhibits, presentations and performances, plays upon the themes of origins, movement, adaptation and transformation.

“Each of our displays fit into one or more of these themes,” said Geol Weirs, MoAD’s director of programs and community development. These themes make MoAD unique. Other museums “are mostly African-American museums; we have a global focus,” Weirs said.

As visitors enter the museum, they face a wall that reads "When did discover you are African?" which aims to connect each visitor to the diaspora.

Visitor Lionel Wyatt did not find that connection. "I came here looking for the trail, the systematic dispersal of people and sequence of events that led to that," Wyatt said. "Where did that tribe go? I was expecting the museum to trace people."

San Francisco State University student Raja Hawthorne agreed. "The theme is so broad that it's difficult to tie together," Hawthorne said. "I give it an 'A' for effort, but I'm waiting to see more."

As sweeping as MoAD's theme is to some, others feel a more personal tie to the diaspora. Volunteer docent Walter Johnson, whose family came from Mississippi and Louisiana, had lived in Chicago before moving to the Bay Area. "Immigrants can trace their family lines back to a specific place, and when they go back to their home country, they can speak the language and know the customs," Johnson said. "But I don't know which village my people are from.”

Visitors to the museum buy tickets on the artistically designed first floor and pass an electronic wall map charting the movement of Africans over human history with lighted dots as they head up the stairs.

The bulk of the museum’s content lies on the second floor, which is divided into four main areas and a salon, a space dedicated to moving exhibits and guest speakers. In the Celebration Circle visitors can watch videos of celebrations from around the world. Also on the second floor are interactive panels introducing African foods, adornment and the evolution of black music. In an adjacent room, visitors can listen to first-person slave narrations. Included also is the Freedom Theater, which showcases short films about freedom movements, such as the Haitian revolution and Nelson Mandela’s activism in South Africa.

On the third floor is a special exhibitions gallery, which currently houses a collection of artwork from the private collection of Eileen Harris Norton and Peter Norton, the founders of the Norton Anti-virus software company. Running the gamut from paint and paper to shoe soles and suitcases, these pieces from Jamaica, Kenya and the United States, among other countries, evoke the imagination. Docents are available for explanations, but artwork is mostly open to free interpretation, according to Johnson.

The idea for MoAd was born 12 years ago, when former San Francisco mayor Willie Brown decided to dedicate South of Market as a cultural center. Because various ethnic communities were displaced from the region in the past, the former mayor mandated that the buildings built on the area would reflect the communities that used to be there. MoAD is one in a series of ethnic museums in the area, which include the Jewish and Mexican museums.

To make Brown’s vision a reality, The Freelon Group, a firm of 58 architects based in North Carolina who specialize in designing cultural centers across the United States, directed the construction of the three-story museum. California-based design group Sussman/Prejza developed MoAD’s bold and vivid look, including the logo comprised of dots, which represent scattered people coming to MoAD to reflect on the past.

“The project presented interesting challenges,” Deborah Sussman, principal in charge of Sussman/Prejza stated in a press release. “The subject matter of the museum is huge, yet MoAD’s physical space is small. We therefore took advantage of every opportunity that the building affords to create a dimensional narrative, from its presence on the street to the immersive space on the second floor.”

Through the combined efforts of donors and various groups, the museum, which contains three floors of interactive video displays, first-person slave audio narratives and permanent and temporary art exhibits, is completed and now open to the public.

Writer Chris Cook, who attended the museum preview on Nov. 26, highly recommends MoAD. “It’s absolutely perfect for high school students,” Cook said. “It’s accessible with straightforward history, but at the same time has creative art pieces to push the imagination.”