Thread by @LWieck

Excited for Day 3 of #AASLH2020, starting with Critical Issues Forum: Challenges, Opportunities, and the Future of Historical Organizations

Panelists include: @ERaelGalvez of Creative Strategies 360, Cassie Chinn of @winglukemuseum, @NEHchair
Jon Peede and Gretchen Sorin of
@CoopGradProgram

#AASLH2020.

From the comments: "You're on mute: our new national motto." #AASLH2020 😂

leading off with @ERaelGalvez invoking us to consider those around us who are struggling for breath and the land that we are on. He calls us to recognize how nations and communities come to be imagined. #AASLH2020

.@ERaelGalvez invites us to an open dialogue today, sets an inviting, welcoming space to the panelists for this discussion. What a lovely, grounded opening. #aaslh2020

Gretchen Sorin - starts by invoking covid deaths and deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, before leading off w/ three challenges: 1) pay imbalances, 2) inclusion and community representation, 3) politicization of American history and its confusion with civics. #aaslh2020

Gretchen Sorin points us to moments in history that have forced us to do better, and calls us now to build stronger, more equitable historic institutions. #aaslh2020

Cassie Chinn - speaks of trying to channel her two grandmothers in this time; leads by telling a story of one of her grandmothers and her migrations. Uses this to speak of 1) finding agency and charting our own course...

#aaslh2020

...Cassie Chinn - who gets to decide what stories our institutions tell - importance of community power; 2) think creatively and innovatively about building community wealth building through racial equity lens

#aaslh2020

Cassie Chinn - 3) lead with humanity in our work

@ERaelGalvez thanks Cassie for invoking the grandmothers and bringing them in and I'm over here like 😭 #AASLH2020

.@NEHchair expresses deep concern at historical literacy - what stories are we telling? who's telling them and why?

What's the status of our nation and K-12 ed re: historical literacy?

#aaslh2020

.@NEHchair - "research is the formalizing of curiosities" #aaslh2020

Call to not forget about our love of learning and provide entry points for the next generation.

Cassie Chinn thinks about her own fraught relationship with history as a POC & how that led her into the field. Didn't see her own history in the Seattle Public Schools curric, & it wasn't something talked about in family, but she chose books that filled her curiousity #aaslh2020

Cassie Chinn it wasn't until college when she did an internship at the Wing Luke & found they had done an oral history with her grandma, through which she learned her family history, and how that's helped her commit to this intergenerational storytelling & stewardship #aaslh2020

Cassie Chinn - Wing Luke: we can teach you museum skills, but super interested in people's community skills.

I really love this vision for commitment to mission and growth #aaslh2020

We spent time in one my classes talking about representation (& the lack thereof) this week after watching a Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie TedTalk. Students sharing their own stories gets me everytime & pushes me to keep fighting for representation. #aaslh2020

Yes! This has been so key in our work at @StMUPublicHist. We've eliminated some of the barriers of entry that may limit POC or other marginalized folks from entering our program. This is so key to everything we do!

#aaslh2020

Gretchen Sorin - Slavery is not a terrible thing to talk about. "My ancestors helped build this country" and it is essential to tell these stories in our schools.

#aaslh2020

.@ERaelGalvez speaks to his work of building a database to collect the names of enslaved Native Americans. It's often the names they held as slaves, and yet it is essential that we remember and invoke these names. Aligns w/ Sorin's calls re: remembering slavery
#aaslh2020

.@ERaelGalvez is an absolute MASTER at linking together the words and ideas of the panelists, bringing them together with his own experiences, and elevating all of this to greater relevance.

#AASLH2020

.@ERaelGalvez - history has ALWAYS been political but this politicization seems to be ramping up, even over the last month. Asks panelists what can we do?

#aaslh2020

Gretchen Sorin - the importance of humanizing historical actors, looking at examples of where we have failed. Realizing our heroes weren't perfect, but humans like us (e.g. MLK Jr.). #AASLH2020

Cassie Chinn: working with youth artists collaborative (Paradise Island South): helps provide stories that can direct museum's future directions. Diving into history of Black & Brown solidarity, shared lived experiences & spur action moving forward.

#AASLH2020

correction: Paradise Island Souf #aaslh2020

Gretchen Sorin - one way to achieve representation in K-12 schools is to encourage kids to do oral histories.

I love this idea!! #AASLH2020

Gretchen Sorin's metaphors are on point.

We've been looking at our nation's foundational stories through a toilet paper roll. We need to expand our view! #AASLH2020

Question:

Response:

@Unrollme

Fangirling all of these panelists for their wise, inspiring words. <3 #AASLH2020

What an amazing session, @AASLH