national museum of african american history and culture
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Lonnie Bunch III Becomes First Ever Black Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution
Try as they may, black excellence can only be denied for so long. To that point, congratulations are in order to Lonnie G. Bunch III—founding director of the National Museum of African American History and Culture—who cracked the code and just became the first black person in the 173-year history of the Smithsonian Institution to…
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It's Bigger Than a Hip-Hop Exhibit: What the Controversy Around White Curators in Black Spaces Reveals [Updated]
It wasn’t breaking news, by any means: Timothy Ann Burnside, a specialist in Curatorial Affairs at the National Museum of African American History and Culture, had been collecting hip-hop artifacts for the Smithsonian for years. But a discussion about her position and her work dominated parts of the Twittersphere this past weekend, as a long-simmering…
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Philly Police Department Seeks to End Implicit Bias With a Field Trip to a Black Museum
Every time there is an incident involving excessive use of force by the police against a black person, there’s a public outcry for change and reform. We want heads to roll. We want officers held accountable and punished. We take to the streets. We protest. We write editorials and articles and commentary on the current…
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Black Panther Display Coming to National Museum of African American History and Culture
The blackest Marvel movie is making its way to America’s blackest museum. Objects from Marvel’s Black Panther will be coming to Washington, D.C., at the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture in a new exhibit celebrating the studio’s blockbuster movie. The objects that will be on display in the museum include “the…
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Oprah Winfrey Celebrated With New Exhibition at National Museum of African American History and Culture
Who is more iconic in contemporary black history than Oprah Winfrey? That was a trick question, and the National Museum of African American History and Culture is celebrating the media powerhouse and trailblazer as such, launching a new exhibition that is all about Winfrey. According to the Washington Post, the new exhibition, titled, “Watching Oprah:…
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Library of Congress Reveals Previously Unknown Portrait of Harriet Tubman in New, Digitized Album
It’s Harriet Tubman, the world’s No. 1 certified badass, as you’ve never seen her before. On Tuesday the Library of Congress announced that it had conserved and digitized a previously unknown portrait of the famed abolitionist and “conductor” of the Underground Railroad as part of an album to be exhibited in the Smithsonian’s National Museum…
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Malcolm X Tells His Story in New Documentary Featuring Rarely and Never-Before-Seen Footage
In front of a rapt audience at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture, Malcolm X’s third daughter, Ilyasah Shabazz, talked about witnessing the assassination of her father at Harlem’s Audubon Theatre and Ballroom on Feb. 21, 1965. “I’m told my mother placed her entire body over my sisters and me that…
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Want to Be a Better White Person? Learn How to Be a Guest
My first (and only) visit to the National Museum of African American History and Culture almost didn’t happen. My wife and I drove to Washington, D.C., after biking from Pittsburgh to Cumberland, Md., on a four-day and 150-mile trek that I still plan to write about eventually, but remain too traumatized by to write about…
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Black Lightning Forecast for Special Martin Luther King Jr. Weekend Premiere
Black Lightning is headed to the nation’s capital on Martin Luther King Jr. weekend. The trailblazing superhero—the first black DC Comics character to have his own stand-alone comic title—will have his own TV series in 2018, but some fans can catch the premiere on Jan. 13 at the National Museum of African American History and…
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The Great Migration: National Museum of African American History and Culture Offers to Digitize Black Family Home Movies for Free
The National Museum of African American History and Culture has launched a new initiative aimed at helping black families preserve their history and analog audiovisual media with a unique digitization service, and it’s completely free! The Great Migration Home Movie Project invites people to schedule an appointment with the museum’s audiovisual conservation team and have…