4/14 Social Justice in the Time of Pandemic: Presentations from the National Museum of African American History and Culture

Our fifth museum seminar found us at the National Museum for African American History and Culture (NMAAHC). We were honored once again to have Kinshasha Holman Conwill,  Deputy Director of NMAAHC, join us for the afternoon sharing both her wisdom and her friendship. As is tradition, she began the afternoon with a poem. She had chosen “blessing the boats” by Lucille Clifton which captured the theme of journey that marks working for social justice in the time of pandemic, the theme for our afternoon.

She was followed by Kelly Elaine Navies, Museum Specialist, Oral History Initiative, whose presentation was titled, ” The Power of Storytelling: Voices of Resistance, Hope and Resilience.” The mission of the Museum’s Oral History Initiative is to document, preserve, and interpret African American stories through the art and practice of oral history, a mission exemplified by the Community Curation project. Fellows learned how the Museum has brought its digitization services to diverse communities throughout the United States and has created a truly unique online platform which has allowed for the the preservation and sharing of community history and culture.

Doretha Williams, Center Director, Robert F. Smith Center for the Digitization and Curation of African American History was next with her presentation “Social Justice, Community Equity and Local Histories: Reframing Collaborations through the Robert F. Smith Center for Digitization and Curation of African American History.” The Center is made up of four key components: The Robert F. Smith Explore Your Family History Center, the Community Curation Program, the Great Migration Home Movie Project, and the Internships and Fellowships Program. A video highlighted just how this work is carried out in the community, and Fellows were quick to see both the value in the process and how this could be adapted to work with their students.  These four initiatives together help NMAAHC to expand access to African American history.

Our last presenter, was Auntaneshia Staveloz, Senior Manager, Office of Strategic Partnerships of Education whose presentation was titled, “Making a Way Out of No Way: Empowering African American History and Culture Institutions through Authentic Partnerships and Meaningful Engagement.” Fellows learned that the Office of Strategic Partnerships and Education works to empower African American History and Culture institutions throughout the country as well as internationally through their collaborations with professional trade associations and related museum service organizations. A number of examples were given to illustrate the power that such collaborations can have.

Throughout the afternoon, Fellows were provided with resources to use with their own students, ideas for projects were generated and a wonderful afternoon was had by all.