a tive 19 meeting - sankofacollaborative.org...aug 28, 2019 · ts? • ty-ence? • t ou need? 57....
TRANSCRIPT
BUILDING CAPACITY TO PRESENT, INTERPRET, & DISCUSS DIFFICULT
ISSUES IN AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY
THE SANKOFA COLLABORATIVE
AASLH 2019 MEETING
1
WELCO
ME! As you com
e in, please…
•Complete the questionnaire
•Introduce yourself to your table
•Be ready to share what you m
ost want to get from
this w
orkshop
2
WHO
WE ARE &
WHAT W
E’VE DON
E
3
Oh Freedom
Oh freedomOh freedomOf freedom
over me!
And before I’d be a slaveI’ll be buried in m
y graveAnd go hom
e to my Lord and be
free.
No more crying
No more crying
No more crying over m
e!And before…
There’ll be singing…There’ll be shouting…There’ll be praying…
4
Elaine Buck & Beverly M
ills
Trustees, StoutsburgCem
etery Association
Advisors, StoutsburgSourland
African American M
useum
Authors:IF THESE STONES COULD TALK
African American Presence in Hopew
ell Valley, SourlandM
ountain and Surrounding Regions of NJ
5
StoutsburgCem
etery, Hopew
ell, NJ
6
Mt. Zion AM
E, Skillman, N
JBuilt 1866 -Hom
e of the Stoutsburg Sourland African Am
erican Museum
(SSAAM)
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Sam Stephens
The 1719 William
Trent House Museum
Trustee, Trent House Association
Trenton, NJ
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1719 William
Trent House Museum
, Trenton, N
J
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Slaves Listed in 1726 Inventory After Trent’s Death
Acco’tof Negroes viz:A m
an Nam
’dYaft…
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40_”_”a W
oman nam
’dJoan …
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....35_”_”a boy nam
’dBob…
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..30_”_”1 ditto Dick…
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20_”_”a Girle
Nanny…
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.......32_10_”a Child Tom
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...10_”_”
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Slaves Listed in 1726 Inventory After Trent’s Death
3 Negro Men as follow
s viz:Julius…
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…30_”_”
Bossin……
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....30_”_”Harry…
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..45_”_”
Two (W
est?) IndienoM
en, viz:Cupid…
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…45_”_”
Pedro……
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….......35_”_”
11
Bruce DanielsThe Grounds For SculptureHam
ilton, NJ
12
VISUAL FROM GFS
13
14
Joyce J. Scott: Harriet Tubman &
Other Truths
15
Linda Caldwell Epps
President/CEO, 1804 ConsultantsNew
Jersey Historical Society
16
17
The 1967 New
ark Rebellion
I was betw
een the second and third grades w
hen it happened. It was sum
mer vacation, it
was hot, w
e were at in the Hayes Hom
es projects. There w
as trouble, there was gunfire,
Mom
was w
orried, I was terrified. M
om said to
stay down on the floor so w
e wouldn't get hit,
so we craw
led along the floor from room
to room
. We w
ere on the second floor, close to the street. I w
ould forget and stand up and M
om w
ould scream at m
e to get back down.
This went on all day and all that night.
18
History, Mem
ory, andAcknow
ledgement
19
OU
R COLLECTIVE IDEN
TITY
20
21
22
23
Why “Sankofa”?
•What does “Sankofa” m
ean?
•How does this sym
bolize the m
eaning of “Sankofa”?
•How does it represent the focus of our w
ork?
24
Our W
ork Together•
January 2017 Invitational Symposium
“Interpreting African American History At
Historic Sites And Museum
s”•
2017 Workshops
•M
ay “Exploring African American History In New
Jersey”•
Novem
ber “Presenting & Discussing Difficult Topics in African Am
erican History”
•2018 W
orkshop “Telling African American History as N
ew Jersey History”
•2019 W
orkshops•
January “Engage Your Audiences With Difficult Topics in African Am
erican History”
•June “W
hat Do You See? Using The Arts To Enrich Understanding Of The
African American Experience”
•O
ctober “Teaching African American History: A W
orkshop For K-12 Educators”25
Our G
oals for Our W
ork
•Build our own organization’s capacity…
…to present, interpret, and engage others in self-reflection and civil
discourse on the impact and legacy of African Am
erican history on our society today
•Offer opportunities for others involved in sim
ilar work…
•…
to hear from experts w
ith diverse perspectives, share resources and experiences, participate in in-depth discussions, and build netw
orks
26
Share Who You Are &
Why You’re H
ere
Briefly, in just a few m
inutes, please say:
•Your name
•Your organization
•A
recent experience related to why you are here
•What you m
ost want to get from
this workshop
27
CASE STUDIES FO
R REFLECTION
28
The “Peculiar Institution”
•Are your visitors generally expecting to hear or learn about African Am
erican history when they com
e to your site?
•What do you think your visitors’ responses are to w
hat you present about African Am
erican history?
•How prepared is your site/organization to identify and
respond to visitor discomfort about w
hat is presented?
29
Quotes from
Visitors to Plantations•
From w
hite visitors:•
“We felt w
e were being lectured and bashed.”
•“Subjected to a lecture aim
ed to instill guilt”•
“Very racist. If you’re white, don’t go.”
•From
African American visitors:
•The tour guide said, “enslaved m
en and wom
en were treated and fed w
ell on the plantation. In fact, they ‘w
ere like family’ to the ow
ners”… M
y friend and I exchanged “This is bulls—
t” glances throughout the tour.•
The docent told a story about an enslaved wom
an and her family w
ho stayed on the plantation after the ow
ners fled during the Civil War. The docent w
as clear that they likely stayed there only because they had now
here else to go. I appreciated her honesty.
30
Rethinking the Honors Bestow
ed•W
ho in the past is your site/organization most associated
with and for w
hat reason?
•What is presented about the connection this person had
with African Am
erican history?
•How does your site/organization help visitors deal w
ith this connection?
31
Dr. J. Marion Sim
s“Father of Gynecology”
1813-188332
A Simple Law
n Ornam
ent•How
does your site/organization make sure that inform
ation presented to visitors is accurate and com
plete?
•What “m
yths” about your site might visitors have about
people or events associated with African Am
erican history?
•How does your site/organization respond to visitors’
misinform
ation or preconceptions?
33
JOCKO
GRAVES –
LAWN
JOCKEY
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
BUILDIN
G CO
LLABORATIVE RELATIO
NSHIPS
41
How
Our Collaborative Developed
•Started with “ah-ha” m
oment
•Followed by conversations w
ith each other and internally•Reinforced by each organization’s link w
ith consultant•Expanded during search for w
orkshop venue•Strengthened through joint projects (w
orkshops) and internal w
ork•Continued because of dem
onstrated need/interest from
audiences and positive impact for individual organizations
42
Who Are You Currently Engaging?
•Stakeholders •Board/Governing body•Donors/Supporters•Staff•Volunteers/M
embers
•Audiences•Partners
•Peer organizations•Com
munity groups
•Experts
43
What’s M
issing•W
ho is your organization/site not attracting as volunteers or m
embers? As donors/supporters? As audiences?
•How com
mitted are your staff and board/governing body to the
work?
•What is m
issingin term
s of your organization’s/site’s own know
ledge, skills, experiences, resources, visibility?
•Who could be valuable partners that your organization/site is not
engaging?44
Table Work
•Describe Current Stakeholders, Audiences, Partners
•List Potential Stakeholders, Audiences, Partners
•Identify Opportunities To Engage Those Potential Groups
•Identify Challenges In Engaging Those Potential Groups
45
Reporting Out from
Tables
•Who are the frequently m
issing stakeholder or audience groups?
•Who are frequently m
entioned as potential partners?
•What are the m
ost promising opportunities and m
ost difficult challenges in developing relationships w
ith stakeholders, audiences, and partners?
46
Our Lessons Learned
•There is no “quick fix” within our ow
n organizations or in our w
ork together •Trust am
ong individuals as important as organizational
alignment
•Opportunities for partnerships can emerge through
serendipity, but require awareness and action
•Be willing to acknow
ledge what you don’t know
& seek out
those who do
•Recognize the potential risks in forming partnerships &
tackling difficult issues, but be bold
47
QU
ESTION
S BEFORE LU
NCH
•Are we on the right track in term
s of what you are hoping to get from
this w
orkshop?
•Is there anything more you’d like to know
about our work together?
About how our individual organizations have contributed to,
benefited from our w
ork?
•What other questions do you have so far?
•What are you hoping w
e’ll cover in the rest of the workshop?
48
Target Audiences & Agendas
49
We began not to inform
others but to learn how
to improve w
hat we
were doing.
We w
ere surprised to find out that w
e were view
ed as a resource.
50
Our Audiences
•Initial sym
posium -experts and people w
ith experience with goal of
exploring interests and issues
•First tw
o workshops –
broad reach•
Museum
/historic site staff and volunteers•
Educators•
Comm
unity and faith group mem
bers•
University students
•Next three w
orkshops –m
ore targeted in focus•
Museum
/historic site/library professionals•
Artists and those interested in using the arts in their work
•K-12 educators
51
Our W
orkshop Agendas•Shaped by feedback
•Facilitated by support from funders and partners
•Consistently includes 4 components:
•Keynote speaker –
information &
inspiration•
Small group breakout sessions –
examples of w
hat’s being done•
Informal netw
orking•
Feedback
52
Feedback from O
ur Initial Symposium
•Difficult conversations/topics; Multi-narrative interpretive planning
•Resource bank is a great idea and very needed -an internet resource site would be great!
•A follow-up to this Sym
posium ASAP
•Methods to present inform
ation in a non-confrontational way –
how to begin the dialog &
continue the conversation
•More strategies for engagem
ent with com
munity &
various audiences
•The mechanics of accessing historical resources in New
Jersey
53
From O
ur First Workshop
•Strategies for raising awareness about African Am
erican history and eradicating racism today
•Teaching, curriculum, and story telling
•Sharing articles and information on current research
•How to use com
municate about African Am
erican history through other disciplines, especially the arts.
•Research tools
•Organizing for social justice in context of schools, comm
unities, and other contexts (especially through the arts)
•Cross-curricular activities –how
to support incorporating art/artistic perspectives into other spaces
•How to deal w
ith contemporary issues about race, not focus prim
arily on slavery
54
From O
ur Second and Third Workshops
•Have workshops m
ore frequently•M
ore time in w
orkshops —consider tw
o days•W
e need a conversation on White Fragility
•Workshop on m
oving racial justice through political power
•Sessions for attendee questions & dialogue on ow
n concerns •Recruiting diverse
volunteers, board mem
bers, stakeholders•W
orking with consultants -how
to find and use them•The legacy -how
history informstoday's culture
55
What Do You H
ope to Get from
Creating a Capacity-Building Experience?
•Learn?•Build?
•Teach/Share?•Change? •Grow
?•Reap and Sow
?•Fulfill your m
ission?56
Creating a Capacity-Building Experience•W
ho would be your target audience and w
hat do you know
about their current knowledge and skills and their interests?
•What specific goals w
ould you have for creating a capacity-building experience w
ith this audience?
•What w
ould your agenda for this experience be and what
resources would you need?
57
FINDIN
G CO
MM
ON
THREADS INCREATIN
G A SU
PPORTIVE EN
VIRON
MEN
T
58
Wade in the W
aterW
ade in the water
Wade in the w
aterChildren, w
ade in the water
God’s gonnatrouble the w
ater.
Who’s that host all dressed in red
Wade in the w
aterM
ust be the children that Moses led
God’s gonnatrouble the w
ater.
Wade in the w
ater…
Who’s that host all dressed in w
hiteW
ade in the water
Must be the children of the Israelite
Oh, God’s gonna
trouble the water.
Wade in the w
ater…
Who’s that host all dressed in blue
Wade in the w
aterM
ust be the children that’s coming
throughGod’s gonna
trouble the water, yeah
Wade in the w
ater…
59
Why W
e Start with a Song
•What difference do you think this can m
ake?
•What other “openings” m
ight be used in other settings?
60
Table Work
•Share examples of situations from
your experience when
presentation or discussion about African American history w
as com
fortable for those involved
•Share examples w
hen this was uncom
fortable for some or all of those
involved –W
ho was uncom
fortable? How w
as that discomfort
displayed? What w
as the response of others? What w
as the effect on the presentation or discussion?
•What m
ade the difference? Was it the topic? The setting? The m
ix of people involved? W
hat people already knew, believed, or expected? 61
Dynamics of Race
•What resistance or “push back” do w
hites presenting inform
ation or leading discussions on difficult topics face…
From w
hite audiences? From African Am
erican audiences? From
mixed audiences?
•What about w
hen African Americans are presenting
information or leading discussions?
62
Being Prepared to Engage and Respond
•Anticipate, but don’t assume
•Know the facts
•Be open to questions and discussion
•Acknowledge discom
fort, don’t ignore
•Have strategies to defuse or deflect conflict
63
Beyond Individual Preparedness
•Institutional comm
itment to presenting and discussing
difficult topics –w
hat does this look like?•Leadership•M
ission & strategic plan
•Allocation of resources•Benchm
arks and accountability•Engagem
ent and training at all levels•Continuity and sustainability
64
More Q
uestions & Further Discussion
65
Contact Us
•Elaine Buck –sharon.buck@
verizon.net•Bruce Daniels –bdaniels@
atlanticfoundation.org•Linda Caldw
ell Epps -lce@
1804consultants.net•Beverly M
ills –bm
•Sam Stephens –
66