The city of Los Angeles has launched the "Our Shared Future" initiative at the national level, it is a series of public programs that seek to bring the community closer, through a trip that allows them to learn about their racial past in Museums and free spaces, giving voice to those who tell their life stories.
This initiative began in 2020 following the murder of George Floyd; Thus, it sought to participate and collaborate with other institutions, the Smithsonian Institute worked in all its scope to address the problems, but not only of racism, but also seeking a better future for all, said Deborah L. Mack, director of the Smithsonian of Our shared future, during a briefing held by Ethnic Media Services.
Thus, together with cultural institutions and museums across the country, they present a series of public programs between December 1 and 17 to explore how race has transformed each of our lives, and how racist events and policies of the past They connect with the inequalities evident in our society today.
?Smithsonian is not a social services agency, but they do work with partners across the country such as cultural institutions, they focus on different areas such as race and well-being, aesthetic and cultural things, since the United States is a highly globalized country.?, explained Deborah L. Mack.
For Mack, it is important to confront ourselves with our history to be able to understand how we got to what it is today, and to be able to use what we have learned and have a better future, in this way we can create and transform society to keep it more united and understanding.
Leticia Rhi Buckley, general director of the Plaza de Cultura y Artes, thinks that it is very important that the stories are told by themselves, because they have experienced the events ?We take them to the past to understand how things are happening and why they happened that way.?, he commented.
?We must understand the past, but it is not what happened years ago, or a year ago, the past is something that we can see a month, a week ago, this is what we must talk about, the challenges we face now and work together in community?, he added.
For Leticia Rhi, uniting communities through experiences is something that can change the future and give better opportunities to everyone, however it is necessary to understand the past as something that is experienced today, not to leave aside the events that hurt to communities and ignore the damage they have done.
?During the last year we worked with the regional organization of Oaxaca in multidisciplinary and intergenerational programming where we seek to work with allies who also want to reach this goal, collaborating to build new systems and achieve the changes that are needed?, he added Leticia Rhi Buckley.
The general director of the Plaza de Cultura y Artes explained that there are few people who carry out these initiatives and that is why they become necessary for the community, something that allows them to move forward as motivation to achieve the changes they hope for.
James Herr, director of the National Center for the Preservation of Democracy at the Japanese American National Museum, celebrates 20 years of space, a place that celebrates the Chinese American experience where the stories being told are part of the history of the United States, seeking to reconcile with the past.
?When we opened, we knew we needed a space to share our stories, we are reclaiming a forgotten story from the past so we don't have to live the same thing again.?, commented James Herr.
In order to face the racial past it is necessary to know the facts, if you do not have that knowledge you do not know what you are facing, in this way you cannot think about being healthy if you do not even have an idea of what you want to heal, for that There is this project, an example of this is the Chinese massacre of 1871, explained the expert.
?The Chinese massacre of 1871 happened in Los Angeles, where there were 2 people who were fighting and during this fight shots were fired and one person was killed, then they went to Chinatown where they murdered 18 children and adult men, now stories like these were forgotten ?, he stressed Herr.
He highlighted that this museum gives the opportunity to tell the stories from the hurt community so that it is as accurate as possible to the event, in this way we seek to have a place where people come together, since the division has increased violence and acts of hate.
"We have to understand our history when rhetoric is harmful, since it can end in violence, so when this rhetoric that hurts is heard, we must stop these speeches so that it does not continue and that is what we are doing now," he concluded. James Herr.
Michael Truong, executive director of the Chinese American Museum, explained that this place is very special for the community, where they seek to have conversations around race since American communities are being marginalized in the United States.
?We have an exhibit coming from the Smithsonian called The Inner Bias or Inner Prejudice, and that looks at the theme of implicit and harmful prejudice. It is important to see prejudice from a scientific point of view since we all have prejudices naturally.?, commented Michael Truong.
For Truong, these projects have great value in the communities, it is hoped that all these experiences, projects and more will help unite people, understand what is happening to build empathy with all communities in the country.
?Museums are spaces where stories are told, our truth is told, but they are also a space where we hope to learn, we create statues to commemorate and remember things that are important, things that we should not forget.?, he concluded Michael Truong.
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