02/01/2021
JOIN AAAM & THE AAAM|EMP GROUP TO LEARN HOW TO TURN ADVOCACY INTO ACTION FOR AFRICAN AMERICAN MUSEUMS
REGISTER HERE:
https://blackmuseums.org/a-response-to-a-nation-in-turmoil/
Emerging Museum Professionals of AAAM
Association of African American Museums
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A non-profit member organization established to support African and African American focus museums. Visit our website at www.blackmuseums.org.
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The Association of African American Museums (AAAM) is a non-profit member organization established to support African and African American focus museums nationally and internationally, as well as the professionals who protect, preserve and interpret African and African American art, history and culture. Established as the single representative and principal voice of the African American museum movement, the Association seeks to strengthen and advocate for the interests of institutions and individuals committed to the preservation of African-derived cultures. The services provided by AAAM enhance the ability of those museums to serve the needs and interests of persons of African ancestry and those who wish to know more about the art, history and culture of African-derived cultures.
Operating as usual
01/29/2021
We’re sad to learn about the passing of Cicely Tyson! Last night, we lost a phenomenal woman! The life she lived, was one of many accomplishments and full of shattering records. We’re thankful she was here and graced the lives of so many!
Rest in paradise, Cicely Tyson.
🙏🏽❤️🙏🏽
https://lnkd.in/ey4yDpV
01/22/2021
Hank Aaron, baseball great who became force for civil rights, dies at 86
As reported by the Washington Post
“Hank Aaron, one of the greatest players in baseball history, who smashed Babe Ruth’s all-time home run record in defiance of threats to his life, and who used his Hall of Fame baseball career as a platform to champion civil rights, died Jan. 22 at 86.”
#CivilRights #MBL #AfricanAmericanHistory #BlackMuseums #BlackHistory #Baseball #HankAaron #Legacy
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/hank-aaron-dead/2021/01/22/2d11719a-5cc6-11eb-b8bd-ee36b1cd18bf_story.html?outputType=amp
01/21/2021
The Smithsonian's Anacostia Community Museum is having an event honoring the great, John Kinard through the work of his daughter Dr. Joy G. kinard.
John Kinard was a pioneer in our field, served as AAAM President, was the FIRST African American to serve as a Director of a Smithsonian Institution museum, and was an #HBCU Grad #LivingstoneUniversity
Thank you, Mr. Kinard for your service to AAAM and the field!
Please refer to the link below to register:
https://fb.me/e/16b43q59G
#BlackMuseums #BlackHistory #BlackHistoryMonth #AnacostiaMuseum #Smithsonian #AfricanAmericanHistory #DC
01/21/2021
History was made today and we are beaming with pride for VICE PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS! Congratulations on becoming the FIRST woman to serve as Vice President of the United States of America!
Thank you for paving the way and showing little girls throughout the country that IT CAN BE DONE!
Thank you, Madam Vice President!
#Inauguration2021 #HBCU #Bison #Howard #USA #America #AfricanAmericanHistory #BlackMuseums
01/21/2021
Please join us in congratulating our member, Dr. Lopez Matthews, Digital Archivist at Howard University, on his recent interview on the importance of today’s inauguration.
Dr. Matthews earned all of his degrees from HBCUs! We are proud of you Dr. Matthews
Watch here: https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/howard-university-librarian-shares-thoughts-on-historic-inauguration/2547407/
#HBCU #Howard #BlackMuseums #Inauguration2021
01/20/2021
“As a historian, I always have hope”
Stated, Secretary Lonnie G Bunch III on his most recent interview with April Ryan.
View the full interview here:
https://youtu.be/nxjd3UeHSy4
01/20/2021
Happy Inauguration Day!
https://bideninaugural.org/watch/
01/20/2021
Our Institutional Member, PG Parks, is hiring! Please refer to their information below for details:
You’re invited to join the PGParks History team.
Three new positions are open including:
Curator of Collections (Full Time): https://tinyurl.com/FTCPAMCurator2021
Archaeology Collections Specialist & Educator (Part Time): https://tinyurl.com/PTArchaeologyCollections2021
Archaeology Technician (Part Time): https://tinyurl.com/PTArchaeologyTech2021
01/19/2021
WE WANT TO HEAR FROM OUR MEMBERS! Don’t miss out! Complete your 2021 MEMBER Questions and be entered to win ONE YEAR FREE MEMBERSHIP!
5 Winners will be drawn from responses received by February 18! Assessment questions will be sent to members via emails this week.
Please Note: Incentives are not underwritten by the IMLS Grant. The grant funds are ONLY used for the purposes of the AAAM Member Assessment. #BlackMuseums #Members
01/19/2021
We are sharing a great op-ed by our AAAM Member, Dr. Felicia Bell on the insurrection at the Capitol on January 6th, 2021.
Enjoy! Congratulations, Dr. Bell!
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/01/18/enslaved-black-craftsmen-helped-build-us-capitol-that-mob-fueled-by-racist-rhetoric-stormed/?outputType=amp
01/19/2021
In case you missed it, the National Civil Rights Museum’s King Day Celebration aired live today at noon and again at 6:00 pm CT.
The event honored the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. with a band that ended the celebration with Stevie Wonder’s rendition of “Happy Birthday”.
You can watch the event on the museum’s YouTube page:
https://youtu.be/ChL_u9tNdWo
01/19/2021
Congratulations to the staff and Board of the National Museum of African American Music in opening their museum! The ceremony was a huge success!
Kudos, H. Beecher Hicks III to you and your amazing team!!!!! You did it!!!!
We featured NMAAM on our website and shared the ceremony, the CBS interview, and a tour of the museum on our website.
Please see here:
https://lnkd.in/draE7yP
@theNMAAM
01/18/2021
Join Northwest African American Museum for their MLK Jr. Events today!
#NAAM will host its annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Commemoration virtually this year to keep the community safe during COVID.
NAAM, @soundersfc + @ravefound , and @seattleoffical Rec’N The Streets have partnered to distribute free gifts to the community in a low-contact, drive-through experience!
For the full program, see https://linktr.ee/NAAMNW
Virtual festivities include an inspirational lineup of community leaders reading civil rights books virtually to children and family-based trivia. The keynote program will feature music of the movement, messages for the moment, and meaningful virtual community connections.
The keynote speaker is @esglaude , @morehouse1867 alumnus, nationally-renowned public intellectual figure seen on @msnbc & @meetthepress , and Professor & Chair of African American Studies at @princeton University.
01/18/2021
The National Civil Rights Museum invites you to their King Day virtual event.
We're having a virtual King Day Celebration and YOU'RE INVITED!
🎈On Jan. 18 at Noon AND 6:00 pm CT tune in as we showcase Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s work, the history of how the national holiday came to be, as well as how the museum has celebrated the holiday in years past.
Visit KingDay.org for more information! #KingDay2021
https://www.civilrightsmuseum.org/
01/18/2021
Today’s the day...CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR INSTITUTIONAL MEMBER, NMAAM, ON THEIR OPENING TODAY! 🎉
REMINDER:
You're invited to the National Museum of African American Music’s virtual ribbon cutting ceremony on MLK, Jr. Day!
AAAM highlighted the opening today on our website. Please refer to the link below for information regarding the ribbon-cutting ceremony and tour the museum:
https://blackmuseums.org/the-national-museum-of-african-american-music-opening/
Find out more here:
https://www.newschannel5.com/news/national-museum-of-african-american-music-opens-today-in-nashville
01/17/2021
Join The African American Museum in Philadelphia for a “Transcribe-A-Thon” during MLK Jr Day.
“As part of its commemoration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day this year, the African American Museum in Philadelphia is putting the bureau’s enormous and invaluable documentary archival cache, much of which remains unseen and undigitized, at the heart of its effort to engage people in public service.”
Read More Here:
https://www.inquirer.com/arts/mlk-day-of-service-aamp-philadelphia-freedmens-bureau-20210117.html?outputType=amp
01/17/2021
You're invited to the National Museum of African American Music’s virtual ribbon cutting ceremony on MLK, Jr. Day!
Watch here:
https://blackmuseums.org/the-national-museum-of-african-american-music-opening/
The NMAAM is an Institutional Member of AAAM. WE ARE THRILLED FOR THEM!
01/13/2021
Please join us in congratulating, Joy Bailey Bryant on being named President of Lord Cultural Resources, US. Joy is a former Board Member of the Association of African American Museums.
Joy states, “Now more than ever, AAAM is the connector for Black museums-- leaders and emerging leaders. Lord's partnership with AAAM enables our firm to tap into the leading thinkers and doers in our industry. No matter the generation or cultural discipline.”
Kudos, Joy! We are proud of you.
Read More Here:
https://blackmuseums.org/joy-bailey-bryant-named-president-of-lord-cultural-resources-us/
01/12/2021
We recently hosted an information session with the American Alliance of Museums on their Museum Assessment Program (MAP). The upcoming deadline is February 1, 2021.
If you’re interested in applying, please take a moment to watch the 15 minute information session to learn more:
https://blackmuseums.org/aam-map-information-session/
01/11/2021
We are saddened to learn about the death of Tuskegee Airmen Theodore Lumpkin, Jr. we recently were able to join a conversation hosted by the Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site where Lumpkin was so gracious to speak to members of the public about his service as a Tuskegee Airmen.
Thank you for your service, Sir. Job well done!
“Tuskegee Airman Theodore Lumpkin Jr. Dies of COVID Days Before 101st Birthday
Theodore Lumpkin Jr. died of coronavirus on Dec. 26, just days before his 101st birthday on Dec. 30” -People Magazine
Read More Here
https://people.com/human-interest/tuskegee-airman-theodore-lumpkin-jr-dies-of-covid-19-just-days-before-101st-birthday/?amp=true
01/11/2021
AAAM joins a statement on the violence at the US Capitol.
READ MORE HERE:
https://blackmuseums.org/aaam-joins-statement-on-the-violence-at-the-us-capitol/
01/11/2021
Our Institutional Member Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, New York Public Library is hosting their annual Black Comic Book Festival! For its ninth year, it’s virtual and expanded to four days. Events are taking place from Wednesday, January 13–Saturday, January 16, 2021. #SchomCom2021
LEARN MORE HERE:
https://www.nypl.org/blackcomicbookfestival
01/10/2021
Wonderful symposium by AAAM Institutional Member, SC State IP Stanback Museum & Planetarium, “Dissent, Protest, and the Peaceful Transition of Power: WHOSE LIVES MATTER and WHY?”
Watch Now: https://www.facebook.com/IPStanback/videos/673818353287729/
01/09/2021
Thank you to our, AAAM Institutional Member, Whitney Plantation for providing these very important information regarding the largest enslaved uprising in Louisiana.
On this day in 1811, the largest uprising of enslaved people in the U.S. South began on the German Coast of Louisiana and ended on the 11th of January. Approximatly 500 enslaved people of St. Charles and St. John the Baptist parishes rose up to fight for the freedom they had been denied. The rebellion ended in a battle against the local militia backed by regular troops. Many of the enslaved were killed in the action or were reported missing. Those captured were tried, condemned to death, executed, and then beheaded. Their heads were placed on pikes and placed on the levee, mostly in front of the plantations they were enslaved. 📸 1811 German Coast Uprising Memorial at Whitney Plantation
01/09/2021
‼️ Smithsonian's Race Initiative is Hiring ‼️
Dear AAAM Members & Supporters:
The Smithsonian's Race, Community and Our Shared Future Initiative is hiring two research assistants (contract positions) to work with the Smithsonian Team. The enclosed dropbox link contains all necessary documents including the statement of work (SOW) and instructions for submitting a bid in the request for quotes (RFQ).
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/dlcx12fvt7yrgi0/AABKqTM7pC9nPHYPO82wF0hIa?dl=0
The team is excited to open the RFQ process and allow applications for this necessary and timely work.
Deadline to submit a bid: Friday, January 22, 2021
For more about the initiative visit https://race.si.edu
or read more here: https://www.si.edu/support/impact/healing-nation
Please send all questions to Joanne Flores [email protected]
01/08/2021
We are proud to share that the United States Mint has announced AAAM Institutional Member, Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site as part of a commemorative series for the US Quarter.
Congratulations!
The reverse (tails) design of the Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site Quarter depicts a #Tuskegee Airman pilot suiting up to join the fight during World War II with the Moton Field control tower in the background. The pilot looks upward with pride and confidence as two P-51 Mustangs pass overhead. The inscription “THEY FOUGHT TWO WARS” is arced across the top as a reference to the dual battles the Tuskegee Airmen fought—fascism abroad and racial discrimination at home. https://bit.ly/2GPMYkR #AtBFinal6
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U.S. Army, United States Air Force, Airman Magazine, Tuskegee Institute National Historic Site, Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site,
01/06/2021
We invite AAAM members and supporters to submit proposals for our 2021 conference! The deadline is March 13th, 2021. Please do not wait until the last minute. Grab your fellow scholars and get your panels and speaking points together. #AAAM2021
LEARN MORE HERE:
https://blackmuseums.org/2021-aaam-conference-call-for-proposals/
01/05/2021
Join us in congratulating several of our AAAM Members and Supporters for being acknowledged by the Culture Type in their new appoints within 2020!
We are proud to be able to share in their joy!
Learn More Here:
https://www.culturetype.com/2020/12/22/on-the-rise-54-curators-and-arts-leaders-who-took-on-new-appointments-in-2020/
01/01/2021
HAPPY NEW YEAR TO OUR AAAM FAMILY!
2️⃣0️⃣2️⃣1️⃣
12/28/2020
Absolutely wonderful news from our AAAM Institutional Member The Studio Museum in Harlem.
The Museum Professionals Seminar is a brand new digital program designed to provide professional development inspired by the Studio Museum’s mission. The Seminar is a series of educational workshops aimed at supporting museum professionals looking to incubate, ideate, and network. The program promotes discussion, interaction, and exposure with special attention to skill-building and career-readiness. Workshops will include exchanges with staff and leadership from the Studio Museum and across arts and cultural institutions.
Application Deadline:
11:59PM on January 11, 2021
Dates: February 17, February 24, March 3, March 10, March 17
Program Time: 5:00pm – 8:00pm
Applicants must submit a cover letter and resume in PDF format. For any questions with the applications please contact [email protected].
https://studiomuseum.org/museum-professionals-seminar
12/27/2020
Our AAAM Institutional Members are virtually celebrating Kwanzaa! How are you celebrating?
Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History
Learn More Here:
https://www.fox2detroit.com/news/charles-h-wright-museum-celebrates-kwanzaa-for-7-days?utm_campaign=trueAnthem_manual&utm_medium=trueAnthem&utm_source=facebook&fbclid=IwAR1mz8uGwD8RI9pFo387Gpfz99tLQLFQyY2y4KU7YrZ0lTIA1DA-EyfQZ3c
12/25/2020
We spoke to our AAAM Family members at the National Museum of African American Music , and the team has reported that they are safe from the explosion in Nashville, TN.
12/24/2020
DEAR AAAM FAMILY:
We'd like to wish you a very happy holiday season! Please be safe and we look forward to continuing our work with you in 2021!
https://blackmuseums.org/join-now/
#BlackMuseums #WeAreAAAM
12/24/2020
📢 THIS JUST IN...📢
We invite AAAM members and supporters to submit proposals for our 2021 conference! The deadline is March 13th, 2021. Please do not wait until the last minute. Grab your fellow scholars and get your panels and speaking points together. #AAAM2021
LEARN MORE HERE:
https://blackmuseums.org/2021-aaam-conference-call-for-proposals/
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Videos
Join the ASALH: Association for the Study of African American Life and History, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30TH (TODAY), for a special #ASALH2020 closeout session: "Preserving the History of the Voting Rights Struggle" In a year featuring a presidential election, perhaps the most important one of our lifetimes, the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA) is honored to team up with ASALH: Association for the Study of African American Life and History to host a panel on how the National Park Service and the African American museum community are preserving and interpreting the history of the ongoing struggle for voting rights. Our panelists will include Ajena Rogers, Supervisory Park Ranger at the Maggie L. Walker National Historic Site in Richmond, Virginia, Vedet Coleman-Robinson, Executive Director of Association of African American Museums, and Josephine Bolling McCall, a native of Lowndes County, Alabama, and the author of "The Penalty for Success: My Father was Lynched in Lowndes County, Alabama." Each of our guests will address various aspects of the history of the struggle for voting rights –preservation efforts at the federal and state levels including the commemoration of the struggle for voter registration waged in 1965 in Lowndes County via a proposed new National Heritage Area, the influence and impact of African American women on the struggle for black voting rights, and how that history informs contemporary activists as the struggle with voter suppression continues. Alan Spears, NPCA’s Senior Director for Cultural Resources, will moderate the discussion. ASALH’s plenaries will be simulcast LIVE on ASALH TV (YouTube.com/c/ASALHTV/) and ASALH Virtual Conference FB Page (https://www.facebook.com/AsalhConference/).
SNIPPET.... #AAAM2020 OPENING RECEPTION along with signature drink! Spoken Word Reception: Presented by Emerging Museum Professionals of AAAM We’d like to thank our sponsors: ▪️CyberKinetics ▪️Universal HipHop Museum ▪️SolidLight Our Signature Drink is presented by SolidLight! https://blackmuseums.org/aaam2020-signature-drink-solid-light/
When you’re stalking the AAAM website to see if the Premier Registration for Miami has been released!! 🌴🌴🌴 www.BlackMuseums.org
At the Margaret Walker Alexander National Research Center for our Opening Reception!
Our last art burst performance of Miami based African dancers at #mac2017miami @caribmuse
We are now at the Black Archives Historic Lyric Theater! 🎭 Evening reception is off to a musical start with some African 🥁 and jazz inside the theater! 🎷 #mac2017miami @caribmuse
Our first ART BURST!!! 🎧 AFROBETA (electro tropical music) #mac2017miami @caribmuse @nmaahc
Taking questions for the author plenary panel at the AAAM Conference
2016 AAAM Conference theme in Riverside, CA Looking West: New Audiences and New Practices featured many stories of African Americans and African American museums West of the Mississippi River. NMAAHC's inaugural exhibition titled, The Power of Place, focuses on the American West. This video features Biddy Mason of Los Angeles. She was an African American nurse and a California real estate entrepreneur. She was also the founder of the First African Methodist Episcopal Church in LA. #CAAMinLA #liftNMAAHC ##APeoplesJourney
@nmaahc's CULTURAL EXPRESSIONS gallery! This is THE RING. A ring of videos showcasing song, dance, gestures, film, music. #liftNMAAHC #apeoplesjourney
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Comments
I am excited to announce a soon-to-be released "hidden history" story for children, "The Clothesline Code: The Story of Civil War Spies Lucy Ann and Dabney Walker" releases Feb 1 from Brandylane Publishers/Belle Isle Books. The formerly enslaved Walkers created an ingenious code using laundry on a clothesline to steal secrets from the Confederates and pass them on to the Union army. Releases Feb 1 and available for preorder now.
In 1965 I left for Ghana with less than $300 in my pocket; to answer the call from Dr. Kwame Nkrumah to African-Americans, to come and help in the *Rebuilding of Africa.
(Aka; *FREEDOM FIGHTERS)
Five (5) months after my arrival Nkrumah’s government was overthrown which was a heartbreakers to many and caused many changes of plans… And a moment of panic for some.
As for me, I was adopted by an Ashanti-Paramount Chief, Nana kwaku Duah; Agogo-hene, (1966) and given the name “Kojo Acheampong.” and adoptive into one of his sub-chiefs clan, Nana Otteng, and spent the next eleven (11) years living in Ghana, often traveling to Togo and the Ivory Coast to market my jewelry. I earned a living by learning and making jewelry of traditional designs which I carved from cow-horns and ivory (a skill I was taught by traditional craftsmanship) after immersing myself in the customs culture. On my return to the United States in 1976, I was able to contribute to the growing interest in African art and culture.
Now in my senior years (86+) and on the suggestion (& insistence) of my adopted family, I’ve decide to take them up on their; “Uncle; you should come back to Ghana and enjoy with us, that which you’ve enable us make possible. “
IT WAS A BORN AGAIN EXPERIENCE
Details here:
https://www.amazon.com/Curtis-James-Morrow/e/B074TWSKKW?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_3&qid=1566355782&sr=1-3
A Soldier, Freedom-fighter, Artist, Freelance-photographer & Author.
A Call for Equitable Funding for Cultural Organizations Grounded in Historically Disenfranchised Communities:
BLACK/AFRICAN AND AFRICAN DESCENDENT, LATINX, NATIVE, ARAB, ASIAN, SOUTH ASIAN, PACIFIC ISLANDER, APPALACHIAN, LGBTQIA+/TWO SPIRIT AND PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES.
Please participate in the survey
“Carrying the Colors” is the first ever biography of an illiterate escaped slave turned Civil War hero:
“This book is one of the best biographies of an individual USCT soldier to reach the market in recent memory…hard to put down” Civil War News review
Carrying the Colors chronicles race as a salient and destructive force in American life, but so too the inspiring power of commitment, determination, and pride.”—John David Smith, author of Lincoln and the U.S. Colored Troops
Through impressive research and insightful prose, Beckman and MacDonald have crafted a compelling portrait of an American hero.”—Russell S. Bonds, author of Stealing the General: The Great Locomotive Chase and the First Medal of Honor
https://www.facebook.com/Carrying-the-Colors-Book-101137168141531/?modal=admin_todo_tour
FB Family, as I have to shelter in place, longer, does not mean I am not attending Juneteenth. San Jose CA, birth home of the Founder of the National Association of Juneteenth Lineage 19 (NAJLCA 19) The Bay Area Juneteenth Association began in, its San Jose, CA counties in 1978. I migrated to San Jose in 1979 and was introduced to Juneteenth in 1980s at SJSU. I migrated from Washington DC. I met Mrs. Lula B--Galloway in 1999 when I Coordinated NAJL19's National Conference featuring Dr Ivan VanSertima. I became CA State Dir 2001, CA State & Region 8 Dir 2006 and created four (4) Black Istory Museums since, National Juneteenth in Saginaw Michigan (gone), The River Nile, Gilroy CA (gone), The African American Heritage House, History Park San Jose CA, (still), And the SJBHMSV Santa Clara Co. CA (developing). The Istory of 1849 for California is a Wonderful Black Untold story of the Founding of & Joining the United States as A Free State (No To Enslavement) still. The State Government was in San Jose California. The First School for non-white children in the west until 1875 was St Peters Mission School in San Jose principaled by the first Black African American Epischopal Minister 1861 in San Jose, Father(Deacon).Peter Casey. St Phillips was around the corner from, 1st AME Zion Church opened in 1864. As Curator of this developing Museum and the Story Teller of Istories of Black communities, San Jose iwas destined for the destiny placed upon, 45 calling out Juneteenth in 2020. We The People Shall Not Be Silent or Agressive. We Shall Fight Until We Win World Peace & We Will Tell our own stories.
Blessings
Mrs Ellen Rollins, National Association of Juneteenth Lineage CA, Inc. CEO
[email protected]
Desde AfroArgentina, quedan todos cordialmente invitados mi museo virtual https://www.facebook.com/groups/118908035385172/?ref=bookmarks
Attached is an announcement for a four-year term position specializing in the history of women in Aviation, Spaceflight or Astronomy. Training and work experience in history, museum studies, sociology, anthropology and other fields are acceptable. This position was first advertised in August, but for solely technical reasons, it had to be reissued. If you applied before, please bear with us and resubmit your application.
The Evolution of Museums
What They Were and What They Must Become
Museums, I believe, began as the showcase for european colonial conquest. A place where they could floss over their conquest and a physical buttress to their white supreamist philosophical underpinnings. A manifestation of the “Trophy Collection” mentality that is still seen in the “Big Game” hunter. We seem to only find this crass display of spoiled booty in eurape and their colonial possessions. This is also carried out under the rubric of Anthropology and Archeology. Indigenous populations don’t appear to have a need to display their culture and its artifacts in such a manner. However, archeological activities find that cultural artifacts, of indigenous populations, are part of their individual homes and environment.
Now to complete this picture I would be remiss if I failed to introduce the element of commercialism, effectively turning this display of white supremacy into a tourism/commercial enterprise that has become part of the GNP of countries that participate in this paradigm.
In creating and developing programming to “Keep them coming back”, we find many adjunct activities designed to enhance their economic “Bottom Line”. Most museums have adopted a structural and governing foundation that inextricably binds them to a european paradigm in spite of what their purpose statements might suggest. Culturally specific museums, as it turns out, owe a commitment to the culture they claim to represent. African American museums are special indeed. African American museums, as its people and culture, are diametrically opposite to that created by and for europeans. African American museums must speak to the spiritual, educational and restorative needs of the African American Community. It must become for many the first step on the road to Reparations for “Our Representations Begin With Us”
African Americans Museums have become the physical cultural incubators the sacred space that protects African people while we organize to rid ourselves of the YURUGU virus and stimulate cultural restoration. They, museums, have become much more than buildings to house artifacts of cultural relevance and indeed are temples of spiritual healing the healing we never got upon legal emancipation.
So you see, the “corporate mind” can no longer dominate how the African Cultural Memory will be maintained. That is the responsibility of a broader range of cultural representation.
Our Collective Cultural mission is to create a better future for ourself and our children than the one in which we find ourselves. We do as much as we can as individuals then we create institutions to take our mission and message into the future/eternity. And as such, institutions are VITAL to our Cultural integrity, Immortality and Cultural Image. Dr. Charles H. Wright must have known this for he indeed was inspired and driven to create and develop an institution, The Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, to carry out this function.
“He who pays the piper calls the tune. If you say 'He who pays the piper' or 'He who pays the piper calls the tune', you mean that the person who provides the money for something decides what will be done, or has a right to decide what will be done.”
Coming from european culture, this thinking is clearly an adjunct of the european asili of which African people are under no obligation to embrace as it is antithetical to African Cultural integrity. It is a compromise of African Cultural Integrity to do so and any African who does violates the fundamentals of maintaining African Cultural Integrity. In America, from its beginnings until now, there is and has been a Clash of Cultures. No one culture has the right to dominate how this country is to evolve. The attempt at european dominance and governance has been a dismal failure resulting in the traumatic experience of our ancestors and us. Our therapy and recovery from this trauma can be approached within museums that allow us to control the narrative of our experiences within the American Experiment. To maintain and sanctify these sacred spaces they must be owned and operated by African Americans exclusively.
Therefore the Non African Members of the Wright’s Board must consider abdication their positions in favor of a Board that reflects the culture of the people it is designed to represent. Culturally specific institutions (museums) must, by definition, be organized and operated to represent the specific culture it was created to represent. Cultural others may and are invited to make financial contributions but can not govern how the institution is operated or how the cultural narrative is expressed. Cultural integrity is of vital importance for without it the institution remains a tool for others to use their economic superiority to control our cultural narrative.
Detroit and the Africans in it, have a long history with the “American Experiment”. Our history is replete with example after example of Africans organizing and resisting efforts to deny them their humanity, “And Still We Rise”. From the Church, the Underground Railroad, the U. N. I.A. (Universal Negro Improvement Association). , Union Organizing, The Nation of Islam, The Republic of New Africa, The Black Panther Party For Self Defense, New Era and others too numerous to mention here, Blacks in Detroit clearly have a story to tell and a proud legacy for our children as envisioned by the Honorable Dr. Charles H. Wright. May their efforts be rewarded and Our institutions tell “Ourstory”.
The excellent educational programing at The Wright has resulted in better informed and conscious attendee. Since consciousnesses compels action the Black Community has organized as we always have to contribute to the betterment of our condition. And we find ourselves in concert with like minded people nation wide establishing a nexus and critical mass of cultural consciousness. Yesterday’s New York Times article echoes these sentiments.
New Scrutiny of Museum Boards Takes Aim at World of Wealth and Status
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/02/arts/design/whitney-art-museums-trustees.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share
From the article: “We need to define trusteeship beyond people of financial wealth,” said Darren Walker, president of the Ford Foundation, which supports and advises nonprofits. “Expand the number of board members and bring in people with other assets besides money that the museum needs. What’s interesting to me is the lack of energy, focus and creativity to figure this out.”
Some institutions have occasionally tried over the years to vary their boards to include members with other strengths who are not expected to “give or get” at the same level as wealthier trustees. The MoMA board, for example, includes the actress and playwright Anna Deavere Smith; the Whitney has the scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr.; the Guggenheim has the artist Rashid Johnson. Although benefiting from the input of these types of members — expertise, new perspectives, creative thinking — institutions still have to find trustees who can help pay their fixed, and often formidable, costs (like security, building maintenance, art insurance, shipping).
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