Book Discussion: A Hope in the Unseen

Two Saturdays ago, many of us gathered here at the Banneker-Douglass museum to discuss A Hope in the Unseen... by Ron Suskind. Currently this book is being discussed throughout Maryland, as part of the One Maryland One Book program (you can read more about it here ). We continued this discussion by inviting several speakers to join our panel and share their own experiences.

Our panelists, Kelsey Bush and Kimberley White, contributed to the conversation by telling their stories--as did the moderator, our Librarian Archivist, Joni Jones. They compared their experiences to that of Cedric Jennings, the main character in the book. Although many of the experiences were similar--identifying with the cultural divide between inner city and higher-education culture--other parts of their own narratives reflected a different experience of growing up African American, such as Busch who, raised in the military, grew up in a diverse environment. Encouraging audience participation, we were then able to engage the conversation by relating our own experiences and raise our own questions, particularly as it related to education and raising children in a society which today is very different, yet very much the same.

The conversation continued over lunch, as the panelists joined the crowd in an informal discussion, continuing to work through and process the various issues presented and how they apply to daily life.

While the event itself was very successful and enjoyed by the many participants, it is hoped that the conversation does not end behind these walls. Indeed, the conversation continued the next day at the Bates Legacy Center and through programs throughout Maryland. Interested to see if there is an event in your area? Click here to see what is coming up in the next few weeks. Cannot attend? Leave a comment on our blog!

Attending AAAM's 30th while Obama Makes History

Last week, I, along with Tonya Hardy, the Executive Director for the Maryland Commission on African American History and Culture, had the distinct privilege of representing the Banneker Douglass Museum at the Association of African American Museums (AAAM) National Conference. For thirty years, the AAAM has been the professional nexus for those working in the African American museum niche of the American museum industry.

We were afforded visits to many of the city's diverse cultural institutions, including the McCormick Freedom Museum, the National Museum of Mexican Art, and the Harold Washington Library Center. Impressive places all and, under normal circumstances, I might fill this entry with tales of these sites, their holdings, and their exhibits. But on August 28, 2008, Barack Obama, the United States Senator from Illinois--a man whose father is a black man from Kenya and whose mother was a white woman from Wichita Kansas--delivered his speech in Denver, officially accepting his nomination as the Democratic Party's candidate for US president.

Like many of you, I was glued to the television screen. But that screen happened to be housed in the DuSable Museum of African American History, an institution founded in 1961 to document and disseminate black history and culture. This was the first museum of its kind in the United States, and it is a place where candidate Obama has made appearances.

Approximately 200 AAAM attendees were treated to a lavish meal and saw a spectacular performance by some very talented African drummers and dancers. But all this was only window dressing for the main event--the one unfolding about 1000 miles away. The 80,000 or so lucky souls at Invesco Field can rightly claim to have been on hand for history in the making, but I wouldn't have traded my experience for theirs. We whopped and hollered, and laughed and cried, and we saw that dreams really can come true in America. Being there in Chicago, the city the candidate calls home, at the DuSable, clapping and cheering among the assembled representatives of America's African American museum community, that is a once-in-a-lifetime event, and I too felt as if I were part of an historic moment.

We have seen gifted black orators countless times before in this country, but those speakers, even when they were running for president, were always outsiders demanding their rightful place at the table. This time though, by popular acclaim and consent, the black orator in question will be seated at the table's head. It is his party to lead.

Barack Obama may not win the election in November--and some of us may well support his opponent--but one can't help but swell with pride at the accomplishments of the man and at how far we have come as a country. I wish you could have been there with me.

--Dr. Joni Jones, Librarian-Archivist, SGGL

Image: The DuSable Museum of African American History; source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/80/The_DuSable_Museum.jpg/800px-The_DuSable_Museum.jpg