Iowa Griot 18.3

VOLUME 18, ISSUE 3 FALL 2018

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African American Museum of Iowa 55 12th Avenue SE Cedar Rapids, IA 52401 Phone: (319) 862-2101 Toll-free: 877-526-1863 Fax: (319) 862-2105

LETTER FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Dr. Vincent Reid (Robins), President Ben Hoover (Cedar Rapids), Vice President Doris Montag (Iowa City), Treasurer Tonya Scott (Ft. Madison), Secretary Rudolph Simms (Des Moines), Past President Anthony Betters, Jr. (Cedar Rapids) Jamarco Clark (Cedar Rapids) Ruth Hairston (Cedar Rapids) Dr. Benny Hawkins (Coralville) Nancy Humbles (Cedar Rapids) LaShonda Kennedy (Palo Alto, CA) Christopher Lindell (Marion) Candice Luter (Cedar Rapids) Judge Kevin McKeever (Iowa City) Ramadhan Muzo (Cedar Rapids) Scott Olson (Cedar Rapids) Dr. Neil Patrick (Afton) Dr. Jacqueline Thompson (Atlantic)

As we close in on the end of our 25th anniversary year, the fall brings exciting things to come at the Museum. We’ve celebrated this milestone year with lots of fantastic programs and events. My personal highlight was the installation of the long-awaited MLK, Jr. Memorial Bridge banners, which were installed right in time for the Museum’s annual Juneteenth celebration. The banners create a welcoming entrance into the district and have brought much fanfare and positive responses from the community. Speaking of Juneteenth, the two-day affair was both educational and entertaining; a reminder of the significance of why we celebrate June 19 and a display of community harmony.

You may have noticed the increase in our programming AND in our efforts to not only promote those programs but bring increased visibility and awareness to the Museum and our mission to preserve, exhibit, and educate. The Museum team works tirelessly to ensure our resources benefit you, our members, and all Iowans. Most importantly, we work to be sure the Museum’s resources are available for a long time to come. Sharing the authentic stories of Iowa’s African American history and culture is our passion. We connect local history to relevant nationwide social issues. This is one reason we have been so excited to bring this new exhibit to life. Driven By Hope, which explores African American migration to Iowa following the Civil War through the Great Depression, will be on display through August 2, 2019. Be sure to come explore the gallery and join us for any of our programs.

As always, I hope to see you during your next visit!

Staff

Warmly, LaNisha

What is a Griot?

A griot (pronounced gree-oh) is the member of a group who keeps the history.

The Iowa Griot is the membership newsletter of the African American Museum of Iowa.

Board of Directors

LaNisha Cassell, Executive Director Brianna Kim, Director of Operations Felicite Wolfe, Curator Sean Donaldson, Museum Educator Diana Henry, Education Assistant Veronica Weeks, Communications Associate Arrien Hansel, Operations Coordinator

Membership & Subscriptions The Iowa Griot is published quarterly and is provided for members of the African American Heritage Foundation of Iowa.

The Iowa Griot is copyright ©African American Heritage Foundation of Iowa.

Reproduction in whole or part without the written consent of the African American Heritage Foundation of Iowa is prohibited.

By submitting a manuscript or illustration, the author warrants to the African American Heritage Foundation of Iowa that the material does not infringe on the copyright of another party and that the author assumes full responsibility for any such copyright infringement as may arise following publication.

The Iowa Griot is not a scholarly publication. Opinions expressed by featured authors do not necessarily reflect the principles or policies of the African American Heritage Foundation of Iowa, its board, membership, staff, editor or publisher(s).

Neither the African American Heritage Foundation of Iowa board, membership, staff, editor or publisher(s) make any warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the contents of this publication or to goods and services that may be advertised herein. The African American Heritage Foundation of Iowa reserves the right to revise, edit, or refuse any material submitted for publication in The Iowa Griot.

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S TA F F N E W S The AAMI team is finally complete with the addition of Arrien Hansel as the Museum’s new Operations Coordinator. Arrien was a Collections intern for a full year before expressing interest in the vacancy. A graduate of Iowa State University and lover of history, Arrien rounds out the team nicely. As we come to the end of 2018, the Museum will be saying a fond farewell to two mainstays on its Board of Directors. Two-term (six years) directors, Rudy Simms and Dr. Jacqueline Thompson will be completing their final term this December.

The board couldn’t have asked for more dedicated individuals and wish them much success in their future endeavors.

ON THE COVER Our newest exhibit, Driven By Hope, opened on September 8, 2018. Check out page 3 to learn more about the exhibit.

The image on the cover is part of a panel in the exhibit, indicating paths of the Great Migration, including the word “Present” to remind us it’s still happening today. At the end of Driven By Hope, there is a video of present day migrants and the obstacles they face. This exhibit runs through August 2, 2019.

HOPE DRIVEN BY

Eric Hyde, with wife Lois (l) and mother Betty(r), generously loaned items from his great grandfather, entrepreneur and civil rights advocate Robert N. Hyde.

migration and immigration through a video oral history project in which modern immigrants and migrants of various backgrounds discuss the struggles they have faced in moving to and living in Iowa.

The oral history is just one of many interactive and immersive environments in the exhibit. Also Included are a meatpacking plant and barn generously built by the Local 308 Carpenters Union Apprenticeship Program. There is also a scale model of a boxcar home, built by volunteer carpenter Andy Spencer.

Interactives include using a toy train to plot your migration path from South to North, learning about life as a sharecropper, trying to navigate daily life under Jim Crow laws, and more.

Driven By Hope was made possible by the support of: The Greater Cedar Rapids Community Foundation Program Fund, Hy-Vee, Rockwell Collins Foundation, Kum & Go, AEGON Transamerica Foundation, McIntyre Foundation, Diamond V, Great American Financial Services, and Lil’ Drug Store Products, Inc. Driven By Hope runs through August 2, 2019.

Driven By Hope looks at African American migration to Iowa from the end of the Civil War to the Great Depression (1865-1930). Visitors will learn about some of the major events in the American South that that forced African Americans to move North, and more specifically, to the state of Iowa.

Several individual stories focus on why they made Iowa home and the issues they faced living in Iowa. There is also a contemporary tie to the issues on

Former AAMI director Tom Moore and his wife Lillie discussing an exhibit panel.

On Friday, September 7, our new exhibit Driven By Hope, opened with a warm and lively member and donor reception. Over 50 guests came to view the exhibit, enjoy refreshments, and listen to blues musician Clayton Ryan perform in the exhibit gallery. After speeches and thank yous were given out by Executive Director LaNisha Cassell and Curator Felicite Wolfe, Communications Associate Veronica Weeks treated guests to a debut showing of Jemar on the Street, an advertising campaign for the exhibit. Please visit the African American Museum of Iowa’s Facebook page to see the video.

CALL FOR Preliminary research is already beginning on our 2019-2020 exhibit that will look at African American hair and its relationship to image, identity, self-esteem, power, and protest. The AAMI is looking for potential loan items including objects, letters, certificates, photographs, etc. related to the hair and beauty industry, especially in Iowa.

We are also interested in hearing stories or recording oral histories of current and former beauticians. Please contact Felicite Wolfe, Curator at fwolfe@blackiowa.org or 319-862-2101 x217.

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Fleeing To Freedom On Saturday, September 22, members of the greater Cedar Rapids community joined the AAMI in Journey To Freedom. Journey to Freedom is a chance to remember the significance of the Underground Railroad here in Iowa with a familyfriendly educational simulation.

The Underground Railroad was a secret network of routes, helpful people that helped African Americans escape bondage during the era of slavery.

While scholars have worked tirelessly to uncover information about the Underground Railroad, specific information about sites and individuals is hard to come by as participating was an offence punishable by law.

However, we know that the Underground Railroad was present in Iowa as early as the 1830s in the Southeastern corner of the state, and in the 1850s would expand across the center of the state.

While Iowa was always a free territory, it struggled with the question of racial integration and equality and national laws made it a crime to help escapees.

As a result, the journey on the Underground Railroad was a dangerous one for all who made the decision to flee enslavement and for those who attempted to aid them. Most often, these freedom seekers traveling through Iowa found themselves traveling East at night, guided only by the stars, hoping to stick to safer routes, and to avoid getting lost too far to the sparsely populated North on their way toward the Great Lakes where they would then turn North to Canada.

Our Journey To Freedom participants had the chance to stake out on their own freedom seeking adventure. Instead of being left to their own devices in the night, participants instead took advantage of a beautiful day to learn how to navigate with the stars, build life-saving fires, and where and how to hide on the prairie. In addition, they discovered stories of Iowa’s safehouses, abolitionists, and conductors and evaded bounty hunters and avoided capture.

This was the first Journey To Freedom held in three years, and we at the African American Museum of Iowa are thrilled at the outcome and excited to build the event in the coming years.

A big thank you to Wickiup Hill Learning Center for hosting the event, and to PepsiCo for sponsoring.

Look out for the announcement on next year’s event and join us on your own Journey To Freedom!

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HolidayTraditions LOST IN TRANSITION

During and after enslavement, the people of the African Diaspora, who lived in the Bahamas, Jamaica, Belize, Honduras and the United States, sought to find ways to hold on to their true selves, and affirm their cultural values and belief systems.

Two holidays, Junanoo and Kwanza, grew from that desire, and each occurs during the winter season, playing a pivotal role in keeping certain African traditions alive.

Junkanoo (also called, Jankunu, Jonkonnu, Jaangkunu, or Wanaragua) was created around the 18th century by enslaved people and celebrated during Christmas and New Year’s eve. It was marked by a combination of drumming, processional music, costuming, and mask dance. Historians and popular scholars have debated back and forth about whether Junkanoo is a religious or secular holiday.

Some academics have been conducting investigations to recover related history and deeper meanings of the holiday. For example, Orlando Patterson placed the Jamaican Junkanoo tradition in three clusters connected with West African festival traditions: the yam festival of the Mmo secret society, the Egungun masquerades of the Yoruba and Homowo, and the yam festival of the Ga people. All three of these heavily celebrated festivals are filled with spiritual purpose and closely tied to rites of ancestor veneration.

Employing ethnographic methodology to circumvent the limitations of the written record, scholars have discerned the different ways Jankunu developed in Jamaica, the Bahamas, and Belize. Each country revealed a shared cultural memory of African descent in the Americans in which spirituality was central to the life of the people. Thus, for the deeper spiritual meaning or essence to survive its appearance is masked in a secular presentation.

Lastly, turning to the United States,

Kwanzaa is considered by some to be one of the more lasting innovations of the black nationalist movement of the 1960s.

Unlike Jankunu, it is a purely secular creation. Its founder, Dr. Ron Karenga, wanted to bring about a cultural revolution in the mindset and behavior of blacks in American society. Karenga established a pan-African organization which was built around seven principles or Nguso Saba, in Swahili--the adopted language of the black nationalist). ● Unity – Umoja ● Self-determination – Kujichagulia ● Collective work and Responsibility – Ujima ● Cooperative economics – Ujamaa ● Purpose – Nia ● Creativity – Kuumba ● Faith – Imani The above seven principles became part of the permanent Kwanzaa ritual, which takes place after Christmas over a period of seven days. On each of the seven days of Kwanzaa, participants affirm one of the values with a brief description about how they practiced the principle during the year. Karenga designed the ritual celebration, coincidentally, to include aspects of West African yam festivals and didn’t want the holiday associated with materialism.

By the 1990’s, like Christmas, Kwanzaa was highly commercialized with stores offering a variety of products. Parties and parades became commonplace. So, while it’s true that Kwanzaa rituals and celebrations are still taking place throughout black America, especially in cultural spaces such as museums, libraries, community centers, and universities; it’s equally true that the commercialized excesses that Karenga wanted to avoid still represent a challenge to the original purpose and principles of Kwanzaa.

VOLUNTEER SPOTLIGHTS

SUMMER

INTERNS Left to Right: Dacey, Zuri, Wibby, Devan, CheLynn

Summer is a popular time for many college students to enhance their education with hands-on experience through an internship, and we had a great group this summer! Devan Matthew, an anthropology major at St. Cloud State University, and Dacey Messinger, a history major at Iowa State University, interned in our Education department. Devan and Dacey both worked on researching, planning, and preparing for “Journey to Freedom” (see page 4 for a recap of this event).

CheLynn Taylor, a public relations major at the University of Northern Iowa, interned in our Communications department. Her primary project was working with Dacey and Devan on promoting “Journey to Freedom.” Our Curatorial department hosted two Cornell College interns this summer — art history major Azurite (Zuri) Montgomery and history major Elizabeth (Wibby) Coghlan. Zuri worked on projects related to our newest exhibit, Driven By Hope, including research, writing, object selection, and interactive planning.

Wibby spent the summer focusing primarily on collections management and exhibit development.

Check out her blog at blogs.cornellcollege.edu/cornellfellows/category/2017-2018/elizabeth-coghlan-19/ Anthony Betters, Jr., Owner/Director of Visiting Angels, joined the AAMI’s Board of Directors in 2018 shortly after moving to Iowa from Texas.

ANTHONY

BETTERS, JR.

“The museum is a very special place that provides individuals with the opportunity to follow the African American culture in Iowa.... It means a lot to me to know that moving from Texas to Iowa to start a business, that I have a reminder of the African Americans who paved the way before me. Being a part of the board is to better understand how the museum operates, and to meet the Iowans who help the museum run behind the scenes....

Most importantly I serve on the board to be apart of place that impacts the community, and that can teach me different ways to grow as a businessman. I am truly honored to be a part of the board, and plan on having bigger roles in the future that will help the museum!”

Are you interested in volunteering at the AAMI? Check out blackiowa.org/volunteer for more information!

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2018 More than 350 guests packed the banquet hall at The Hotel at Kirkwood Center on October 4, 2018, to honor Dr. A. Dale Abel, Dr. Venise Berry, Shelby Humbles, Jr., and Rudy Simms, the African American Museum of Iowa’s 2018 History Makers. From as far as Washington, DC, and representing communities across Iowa, family, friends, community leaders, and public officials came to help the Museum recognize the contributions of our four honorees.

The evening started with a cocktail hour where guests were able to shop the Museum’s “pop-up” store and buy chances to win the grand prize after playing Heads or Tails. The program kicked off with Museum highlights and a special recognition of the organization’s founders. In its 25th anniversary year, the Museum’s achievements were especially noteworthy. Akwi Nji, Communications Director for the Cedar Rapids Community School District, served as the Mistress of Ceremonies, keeping Gala attendees engaged and delighted. After a delicious meal prepared

by Kirkwood’s culinary team, guests welcomed the honorees to the stage. Nominated by their peers, each honoree thanked their families, communities, and mentors during their address to the audience. Their inspirational stories and words of thanks were met with many rounds of congratulatory applause and accolades.

The only major fundraiser the Museum hosts, the event also served to share the highlights of the past year and a preview of how this 25th anniversary year will wrap up.

Executive Director LaNisha Cassell thanked her team by name and shared their ongoing vision to build a community that comes together to foster greater understanding and appreciation of Iowa’s African American history and culture through conversation, engagement, and reflection. The event closed with the AAMI Board of Directors President Dr. Vincent Reid and Vice President Benjamin Hoover, encouraging continued support of the Museum’s mission to preserve, exhibit, and teach the African American history of Iowa.

Visit the Museum online at www.BlackIowa.org or our social media platforms for more event photos. pagesix

Enticing Events

The AAMI is continuously hosting new and intriguing programming.

Join us for the following upcoming events:

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20 Join us for a performance from MUSICIAN RAY BLUE. Ray Blue’s music can be described as a fusion of straight-ahead jazz and rhythmic groove. Ray is a New York bred saxophonist, composer, arranger, and educator who performs locally, nationally, and internationally, he is also the founder of Cross-Cultural Connection, Inc., an organization that promotes jazz culture, performance, and education. You won’t want to miss this night of jazz and groove – join us at the Museum at 7:00 pm. This performance costs $10 per person.

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 30 Join the AAMI for A NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM. The Museum will stay open until 9:00 pm.

In addition to extended hours, we are offering free guided tours (with the price of normal admission) of Driven By Hope and Endless Possibilities at 5:00 pm, 6:00 pm, 7:00 pm, and 8:00 pm – no group necessary! Tours will last around 45 minutes.

TUESDAY-FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 6-10 Help us support ONE LESS OBSTACLE, www.onelessobstacle.com, with a WINTER WEAR DRIVE. Donate a new item (i.e., hat, gloves, warm socks) and get one free admission (per item).

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 29 The COE COLLEGE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA (CCSO) will be performing at the AAMI at 7:30 pm. The CCSO will be performing William Grant Still’s Danzas de Panama. Join us to learn about William Grant Still, an African-American composer, and the history of the Panamanian folk dances that each movement of the piece represents.

FRIDAY-SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 30-DECEMBER 2 DECK THE DISTRICT is coming this holiday season, the Czech Village & Newbo Districts will be hosting all sorts of exciting programming. Stay tuned to the organizations in the area and our website for more information on the schedule of events.

MONDAY, JANUARY 21, 2019 It’s never too early to celebrate African American history. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. DAY is coming, and in celebration, the African American Museum of Iowa will be open normal hours, 10:00 am – 4:00 pm and will be offering $1 admissions for all guests (children 5 & under will still be free).

For information on all of these events and to see what else is coming soon, visit our website at www.blackiowa.org, like us on Facebook, and follow us on Instagram and Twitter at @blackiowa.

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Non-Profit Organization U.S. Postage Paid Cedar Rapids, IA 52406 Permit No. 943

55 12th Avenue SE Cedar Rapids, IA 52401 Phone (319) 862-2101 Fax (319) 862-2105 www.blackiowa.org