Category: issues

A Short Look At The History Of Minstrelsy

Wesley Morris, on Ralph Northam’s press conference: “The governor wasn’t arguing that his young self came to see that blackface was wrong because he had learned how minstrelsy wasn’t some cultural niche but was once America’s popular culture and how that popularity helped cement the nation’s perception of black people as hideous and stupid and freakish and dumb and lusty and unworthy of more than torture, exploitation, derision, oppression, neglect and extermination.” – The New York Times

As Facebook Turns 15, Only Disconnect

The 2010 movie Social Network isn’t perfect – though the fact that it looks like a horror movie now feels eerily accurate. But “the movie mocks one of the ideas that, from the beginning and definitely in the nearly 10 years since The Social Network premiered, has become one of Facebook’s own dearest myths: connection. Connection as origin; connection as mission; connection as justification.” – The Atlantic

First Issue: When A Museum Wants To Be Relevant To Its Community – What Does Relevance Mean?

“Our breakthrough moment was when we took ownership of the fact that we didn’t need to write a “social impact statement” (which might be seen as competing with our mission statement). Rather, we simply needed to articulate the problem our community is facing that we are uniquely suited to address, the best solution we believe exists for that problem, and the concrete and tangible outcomes we’re going to measure that will demonstrate our positive social impact.” – Medium

When A Civil Rights Worker Takes Over A Performing Arts Center… New Things Happen

Doug Shipman — the founding CEO of the Center for Civil and Human Rights before taking over running Atlanta’s Woodruff Center — seems the right person to carry the momentum forward into a new era. In his 18 months at the helm of Atlanta’s mecca of high arts, he has taken steps to broaden the arts center’s reach. In his first months on the job, Shipman made a point of meeting with numerous smaller arts groups with a simple message: how can we help each other? His openness and desire to give Woodruff a deeper imprint on Atlanta’s arts community are palpable. – ArtsATL

If New York City Wants To Landmark The Strand Bookstore (Against Its Owner’s Wishes), Just What Will That Protect?

“The Landmarks Preservation Commission exists to safeguard ‘the buildings and places that represent New York City’s cultural, social, economic, political and architectural history.’ But this is not the same thing as safeguarding the city’s cultural, social, economic and political heritage. The emphasis is on buildings and places, not what takes place inside them.” — The New York Times