Photographs by Kuwilileni Hauwanga/Capital B
“Woke.”
“Out of control.”
“Nothing about success.”
President Donald Trump on Aug. 19 took to his social media platform to post about what he believes are the failures of the Smithsonian Institution when it comes to depicting the experiences of Black Americans.
He claimed that the Smithsonian — which includes the National Museum of African American History and Culture, or “Blacksonian” — focuses too much on “how bad slavery was” and “how unaccomplished the downtrodden have been.”
Later, on Aug. 21, the White House published an unsigned article calling out Smithsonian exhibitions and museums that it sees as being at odds with its cultural agenda.
But Trump’s rhetoric doesn’t tell the full story.
Though the Blacksonian explores the brutal chapters of U.S. history, including the Transatlantic Slave Trade and the terror of lynching, it also offers many galleries that underscore Black excellence and joy.
One exhibit, for instance, celebrates Shirley Chisholm, the first Black woman elected to Congress and the first Black candidate to seek a major political party’s presidential nomination.
And another exhibit spotlights the iconic red Cadillac of Chuck Berry, the pioneering Black musician who was beloved as the Father of Rock and Roll.
Capital B recently went to the Blacksonian to capture a fuller picture of its offerings — and to observe first hand some of the history that the administration seems intent on sanitizing.
