The Colored Museum

The exhibit opens with images of Black soldiers, from the Spanish-American War to the Vietnam War, projected onto the museum walls. The lights come up to reveal Junie Robinson dressed in army fatigues, standing on an onyx plinth. Junie begins recounting his story from the Vietnam War. As he speaks, it is immediately clear he has an intellectual disability.

He recounts that while out on patrol in Vietnam, he triggered a booby trap and caused an explosion, causing blinding light, scalding heat, and the sound of his flesh sizzling. He states that he didn’t feel any pain, so in that moment he realized he had died. He then simply walked out of the flames.

Instead of seeing heaven, however, he saw the members of his squad in front of him, staring. He told them he had died and come back to life. They simply stared back in shock. Junie’s expression then turns to horror and disbelief as he describes another supernatural event. Projected onto his friend’s faces, Junie says he was able to see both the hurt that would be inflicted on them and the hurt they would inflict onto others once they returned home to the United States. He saw soldier J.