NATCHEZ — Ser Seshs Ab Heter-C.M. Boxley believes his purpose on Earth is to share African American history — a history that will be told throughout Black History Month.

The Adams County Welcome Center, located in the Natchez Visitor Center, will display African American art and history exhibits throughout the month of February — a program in which Boxley was glad to participate.

“To be able to publicly put up an exhibit for Black History Month is part of why I exist — it’s an extension of what I must do,” said Boxley, who is the Friends of Forks of the Road coordinator. “I was sent here to carry the history of our ancestors through artistic means.”

Although he said he can’t draw a straight line, Boxley has been organizing African American exhibits since the 1960s — teaching and advocating stories that have gone untold.

In 1963, Boxley left Natchez and ventured to California seeking better opportunities.

But after a tragic loss of four black girls in a Birmingham church bombing, his outlook changed.

“My whole life pursuits of materialism and the American dream was shattered,” Boxley said. “I felt that explosion and the murder of those innocent young black children.”

The 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham was bombed on Sept. 15, 1963, as an act of white supremacist intimidation.

The occurrence would mark the turning point in the U.S. 1960’s Civil Rights Movement and aided support for the Civil Rights Act of 1964, a legislation that outlawed discrimination.

“It just wasn’t four black children that was under attack and had been murdered — it was black people,” Boxley said.

Boxley began to look back in time and see what his ancestors accomplished.

“It caused me to not only look back all the way to Mississippi, where I came from, but to take artifacts and bring them back to California to teach my children,” Boxley said.

Boxley’s exhibit, “From the Nile Valley to the Mississippi Valley,” features four paintings that include the Nile Valley African Queens of Power, West Africa’s Fulani “Prince Among Slaves,” First Africans in America U.S. Congress and Senate and Great African Centered Scholars.

The exhibits represent history and knowledge for the residents of Natchez, Boxley said.

“In Natchez, people should come to see this exhibit so they can see images like the African Queens of Power,” Boxley said. “The African Queens of Power shows the rural, divine government system of ancient Africa.”

Annette Anderson, supervisor of the Adams County Welcome Center, organized the exhibit displays with assistance from travel counselor Julie Griffin and senior travel counselor Margaret Stephens.

“It’s a way to pass on the rich heritage of African American history to the next generation,” Anderson said.

The exhibits are on display from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday.