By Roy E. Finkenbine, HNN — The history of slavery in America is, to a great extent, the history of erasure. For most of the century and a half since…
By Lonnie Bunch, The Washington Post — In his influential treatise on race, “The Fire Next Time,” James Baldwin wrote, “To accept one’s past — one’s history — is not the same thing as drowning in it; it is learning how to use it. An invented past can never be used; it cracks and crumbles under the pressures of life like clay in a season of drought.” Baldwin’s words…
Smithsonian Secretary Goes One-on-One with NNPA President about New Book By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA — Dr. Lonnie Bunch III, the 14th Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, sat down for an exclusive interview with National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) President and CEO Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr., at the National Museum of African American History and Culture. The two discussed Bunch’s timely new book, “A Fool’s Errand: Creating the…
In a historic selection, the Smithsonian has selected Lonnie Bunch, III as the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. Bunch will serve as the 14th Secretary. By Lauren Victoria Burke, NNPA…
By Susannah Hutcheson, USA Today — Our series “How I became a …” digs into the stories of accomplished and influential people, finding out how they got to where they are in their careers. As the director of the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C., Lonnie Bunch spends his days helping Americans understand history that has both brought us together and divided us. The founding…
By Ade Adeniji, Inside Philanthropy — It’s graduation season again, as students around the country don their caps and gowns, receive cheers from family, and then scramble to move out of their dorms. At Morehouse College, the all-male historically black college founded in 1857 in Atlanta, the nearly 400-member class of 2019 watched billionaire private equity veteran Robert F. Smith deliver the commencement address and receive an honorary doctorate. Near…