Excited to learn from some amazing women during the first #aaslh2020 panel: #MeToo, and #BlackLivesMatter: Black Women Leaders Overcoming the Double Burden
Only 4% of museum leadership is women of color!! @HistoryGonWrong sharing statistics about the very low number of women of color in museum fields. #AASLH2020
.@DirectorACM - women of color are so often not even let in the room to have these discussions, because of assumptions that it's white men that lead institutions. #AASLH2020
Fellow white listeners, these statistics are awful and call us to action, but let us not perform our shock - these absences from leadership is not news to women of color, but only shocking because we've had the privilege of not knowing these stats until now. #aalsh2020
Women of color provide us these models of empowering others, and lifting others up... let's watch and learn. #aaslh2020
.@HistoryGonWrong on the lonely climb of women of color into leadership positions -- the majority of POC in museums working in landscaping, giftshop, offices, and not typically in PH roles. This means WOC expend a lot of effort just to thrive in this environment #aaslh2020
.@HistoryGonWrong highlights how much effort is expended on educating others, and on advocating for diversity and inclusion, and changing museum environments. #AASLH2020
@HistoryGonWrong Working at non African American history sites, Joy Kinard has had people ask her why she even chose to work there, and speaks to the assumptions people still make that she doesn't know how to run an institution. She speaks to self-care, letting these things go. #AASLH2020
Joy Kinard speaks to how black female superintendents for NPS work together and support each other, sharing common experiences. #aalsh2020
LaNesha DeBardelaben: "you are each your own genius at something. You are the expert at being you." Commit to this mindset of celebrating possibility as a coping mechanism. Other mechanism: saying no to things that don't align to your core values. Have mentors & comm. #AASLH2020
LaNesha DeBardelaben - speaks to the chains of mentorship through which WOC mentor and support each other. #AASLH2020
All of the panelists echo that our time is short and we have to make strategic decisions on how we spend our time. Melanie Adams says this might mean saying no to being the token Black woman on a hiring committee #AASLH2020
.@HistoryGonWrong speaks to historic patterns of interpreting Black women's behavior -- categorizing passion as "Aggressive Black Woman." Women of color aren't afforded emotional breakdowns. #AASLH2020
Museums cannot be community centers, but they can be at the center of their community. - Felicia Bell referring to recent words by @SmithsonianSec. #AASLH2020
I LOVE when people start by telling us how their thinking about their panel has shifted. Because let's be real - this always happens. I love when people lean into this. #AASLH2020
Goal of panel: to radically re-think what it is museums have to offer communities; how can organizations better support communities. Hoping that audience will feel inspired and empowered to take a risk to make change #AASLH2020
I've been working on creating a digital version of the Old Spanish Trail auto highway travel guide from 1929. Some analysis to come soon, but excited to share this product with y'all! Happy for any feedback!
Many thanks to @ajennyh, @hangryhistorian, and @GloryTurnbull for their advice and for enduring me bombarding them with all sorts of excerpts of the travelog from my deep ride. They are excellent colleagues and pals.
Also, thanks to @KWaldenPhD for helping me problem solve a technical piece of this!