February is Black History Month,
but at the Northwest African American Museum,
every day is a celebration of
black history, arts and culture.
Recently we checked in with Nam President
and CEO Lanesha debarred 11 to find
out what's happening now at NAMM.
The Northwest African American Museum
really is a gem in the cultural landscape
of our entire Pacific Northwest region.
Every day we are centering
and celebrating black lives,
black excellence, black history,
black art and black culture.
And we do that while advancing justice
and equity every step of the way.
And we cultivate educational empowerment.
We are here to uplift.
And inform all in our regional community
about African American history,
art and culture and how it can be used
to make us all better to make us whole.
You have had some incredible exhibits.
I've gotten to come see
the Black Panther exhibit.
I learned so much.
The Jimi Hendrix exhibit was
just awesome and I know it's been
hard because of the pandemic.
But recently you created the
African American Cultural Ensemble.
Tell us about that,
yes? In the midst of the pandemic
and the racial reckoning of 2020,
we were inspired by the words
of Doctor Cornell West,
who said we are to never let
despair have the last word.
The Times can be very depressing and hard,
but we as a people must rise above them,
and there is no better way to rise above
anything than with the power of music.
Shine bright.
John. Things are gonna get easier.
Music carries our stories that carries
our hearts higher than situations.
And so Nam created the African
American Cultural ensemble.
In 2020, it launched during the
Juneteenth celebration of 2021
and we are very excited that this
musical group is a spreading.
The message of hope and healing by.
Using African American heritage,
the songs of our history
and the songs of our Future,
they are truly a dynamic musical ensemble
that is performing all over the region
absolutely and there's going to be an
opportunity to hear them soon, right?
Absolutely, the Ace ensemble will
be performing three times this
month during Black History Month.
They will be performing the black
national anthem at the Seattle
Sounders FC game on February 20.
11 They will also be performing at the
crack and game black national anthem,
and they'll be performing on KNKX radio.
Cool. So on the subject of preservation,
you had a very exciting
event with Lonnie Bunch,
who is the nation's first African
American secretary of the Smithsonian.
Can you share a little bit about
his background and creating the
Smithsonian's National Museum of
African American History and Culture?
The Northwest African American Museum was
delighted to host an evening conversation
with Secretary Lonnie Bunch on February 17.
It is available to view on Nancy YouTube
website and it was just an invigorating
conversation between two historians.
Secretary Lonnie Bunch is the world's
most familiar face when it comes to
leading museums and as the nation's first.
African American Secretary
of the Smithsonian.
He provided so many insights,
points of inspiration,
points of information about black history,
about black museums,
and about our collective future and how
we can use history to become better,
to become stronger, to become more united,
to become more equitable.
As a society,
we are just grateful that Lonnie Bunch
has a career that has been an inspiration
to me and so many others in the museum.
Field he was the first curator at
the California African American
Museum in Los Angeles.
He was the first African American head
of the Chicago Historical Society,
and now at the Smithsonian.
And you can find out what's happening
anytime at Nam by going to namnw.org.