There are 50 comments.

1. Moderator
   James Of England

   Bereket Kelile:

   James Of England:

   I would like to work with someone who could be the point of the spear for this effort in DC. This could require someone to talk with the press and possibly deliver the petitions to the Smithsonian.

   I will try to find out who deals with African American stuff for DCYRs. We gotta have someone.

2. Member
   Saint Augustine

   Who is whiter than Marx? What is more western than Marxist ideology? What, excluding the Gospel, is more multicolored than colorblindness, freedom of markets, freedom of religion, and rule of law?

3. Coolidge
   Joseph Stanko

   Hoyacon: The hideous architecture will probably scare off a fair number of people. What were they thinking?

   Well, according to the web site:

   From one perspective, the building’s architecture follows classical Greco-Roman form in its use of a base and shaft, topped by a capital or corona. In this case, the corona is inspired by the three-tiered crowns used in Yoruban art from West Africa. Moreover, the building’s main entrance is a welcoming porch, which has architectural roots in Africa and throughout the African Diaspora, especially the American South and Caribbean. Finally, by wrapping the entire building in an ornamental bronze-colored metal lattice, Adjaye the architects pays homage to the intricate ironwork that was crafted by enslaved African Americans in Louisiana, South Carolina, and elsewhere.

   Significantly, the enveloping lattice also opens the building to exterior daylight, which can be modulated according to the season. In one sense, this is architecturally practical and sustainable—and will help the building become the first Smithsonian museum to achieve LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold certification. But the openness to light is also symbolic for a museum that seeks to stimulate open dialogues about race and to help promote reconciliation and healing. From the topmost corona, the view reaches ever upward, helping to remind visitors that the museum is an inspirational open to all as a place of meaning, memory, reflection, laughter, and hope.

4. Coolidge
   Joseph Stanko

   Also it claims lead architect Philip Freelon is “the leading designer for African American museums today.” With qualifications like that, he must know what he’s doing…

5. Inactive
   Matty Van

   MLH:I wonder if they have anything on Shelby Steele, Thomas Sowell, Walter E Williams. . .

   Or Booker T. Washington.

6. Inactive
   Matty Van

   Went to the the site for the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture: nmaahc.si.edu

   Went to their SEARCH function, and tried Booker T. Washington, Thomas Sowell, Shelby Steele, Clarence Thomas, and Condoleezza Rice.

   There were a few innocuous words for Booker T. Washington, but there were also no more than a few for his socialist counterpart W.E.B. Du Bois, so that balances out.

   The non-mention of Clarence Thomas is almost balanced out by the near non-mention of liberal justice Thurgood Marshall.

   Incredibly, the search function found no mention of any of the others.

   However, considering the paucity of written information on even liberal heroes, I wonder if the museum basically presents little more than pictures and exhibits.

   Would not seem to be a place for serious scholars or students, just good for a quick walk through for people who want to absorb a bit of the party line without exerting themselves too much.

   Don’t want to prejudge it too harshly, but that’s the impressionI get from their site.

7. Inactive
   PsychLynne

   GLDIII:

   Joseph Stanko:

   Haven’t been to D.C. since childhood. As I remember it, there was the Air and Space Museum, and all the other ones were boring and not really memorable.

   I seem to recall reading somewhere that the downtown Air & Space museum has the most traffic of all of the other museums located on the mall, and about 25% of the annual visits to all of the museums. American and Natural Histories are also very popular, the rest meh…

   And shame on me because I have yet to get out to Udvar-Hazy Air & Space museum, because I so loath the traffic on that side of the beltway. But I have been assured that it is fabulous.

   Udvar Hazy is amazing! And I say that as a non-tech person. The space shuttle and stealth bomber are amazing but it is the running loop of Medal of Honor winners feeling their stories that get us every time.

   Open Invite: if anyone is ever visiting, let me know as well I’ve about 20’minites away and would be happy to feed you after a long museum day.

8. Coolidge
   Michael Brehm

   Sabrdance: One part of me thinks we should count ourselves lucky if they included Frederick Douglas in the exhibits, the way Civil Rights is taught these days.

   Fortunately, the curators have seen it fit to include him. Here’s an interesting fact about Mr. Douglass from their exhibit: Did you know he posthumously changed his party affiliation in 1972 to the Democratic party, and that he voted in every election since then? Imagine that!

9. Inactive
   Casey

   Bereket Kelile:

   Casey:

   Hoyacon: The hideous architecture will probably scare off a fair number of people. What were they thinking?

   Apparently someone used Minecraft to design an African-American museum to look like a box cut afro. And if that’s what you see, you’re a racist.

   It looks like scaffolding to me. I wasn’t impressed.

   I saw one of those at Bed, Bath, and Beyond. You put apples on one level, oranges on one, and bananas on another. Or onions or something.

10. Member
    GrannyDude

    DC Meet-Up in May? African American Museum, followed by critique over supper and, because y’all are connected, beer with cops?

11. Thatcher
    David Carroll

    Good post. This is proof positive that the left really does not care about racial equality. They use racial issue to push the big government/socialist agenda.

    They intimidate dissenters, black and white, using racial pressure. Dissenting white they call racists. Dissenting blacks they call Uncle Toms (or the modern equivalent, since literature seems be deemphasized in modern “education”).

12. Member
    Bereket Kelile

    Post author

    Matty Van:Went to the the site for the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture: nmaahc.si.edu

    The non-mention of Clarence Thomas is almost balanced out by the near non-mention of liberal justice Thurgood Marshall.

    I appreciate your legwork on it because I was looking around the site and wasn’t finding much using the search function. However, I don’t think the site and the actual museum are in parallel in terms of what’s displayed. I think it’s more of an off-shoot mean to whet the appetite of out-of-town-ers to come visit.

    I think the imbalance comes more from the fact that they do talk about Anita Hill. That’s where the only mention of Thomas comes up, and in a negative light at that.

13. Member
    Doctor Robert

    Joseph Stanko: As I remember it, there was the Air and Space Museum, and all the other ones were boring and not really memorable.

    Say it ain’t so, Joe.

    Natural History museum has an outstanding room or two or three of Paleontology, another of stones and another of jewels. I make a point to visit Washington DC when I can just to see these again.

14. Moderator
    James Of England

    Bereket Kelile:

    Matty Van:Went to the the site for the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture: nmaahc.si.edu

    The non-mention of Clarence Thomas is almost balanced out by the near non-mention of liberal justice Thurgood Marshall.

    I appreciate your legwork on it because I was looking around the site and wasn’t finding much using the search function. However, I don’t think the site and the actual museum are in parallel in terms of what’s displayed. I think it’s more of an off-shoot mean to whet the appetite of out-of-town-ers to come visit.

    I think the imbalance comes more from the fact that they do talk about Anita Hill. That’s where the only mention of Thomas comes up, and in a negative light at that.

    I think this is right. It wasn’t that long ago that all museums were simple collections of objects with no websites at all. Some museums have amazing websites, but we shouldn’t read too much into any specific museum not putting a lot of money into that aspect of their existence, particularly when they’ve only just opened. Indeed, I guess I’d kind of prefer to see federally funded institutions taking a budget conscious approach.

15. Inactive
    Casey

    Here’s a model of an early stage design:

    

16. Inactive
    Casey

    Someone cleaned up overnight and when the boss saw the stack in the corner the next morning he shouted “Brilliant!”

17. Member
    Sabrdance

    Michael Brehm:

    Sabrdance: One part of me thinks we should count ourselves lucky if they included Frederick Douglas in the exhibits, the way Civil Rights is taught these days.

    Fortunately, the curators have seen it fit to include him. Here’s an interesting fact about Mr. Douglass from their exhibit: Did you know he posthumously changed his party affiliation in 1972 to the Democratic party, and that he voted in every election since then? Imagine that!

    I didn’t know he died in Chicago.

    Casey:Someone cleaned up overnight and when the boss saw the stack in the corner the next morning he shouted “Brilliant!”

    Man, that person gets around. The Eisenhower Memorial, WWII memorial, 9/11 Memorial…

18. Member
    Podkayne of Israel

    Hoyacon:

    Miffed White Male:On the bright side, if the Smithsonian African-American museum is as boring as the Smithsonian American Indian museum was, nobody will really be paying that much attention anyway.

    The hideous architecture will probably scare off a fair number of people. What were they thinking? I’m curious about what’s inside, but the outside . . .

    What is it, a heat sink?

19. Thatcher
    James Gawron

    Podkayne of Israel:

    Hoyacon:

    Miffed White Male:On the bright side, if the Smithsonian African-American museum is as boring as the Smithsonian American Indian museum was, nobody will really be paying that much attention anyway.

    The hideous architecture will probably scare off a fair number of people. What were they thinking? I’m curious about what’s inside, but the outside . . .

    What is it, a heat sink?

    Po, Hoya, and MWM,

    Tastelessness is the new normal.

    Regards,

    Jim

20. Inactive
    MRK

    How very, very sad.

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