The 150,000-square-foot International African American Museum of Charleston, South Carolina, is expected to open in January of 2023. The museum will feature the horrors of the slave trade and the resilience of enslaved people through nine exhibition galleries and a memorial garden.
Charleston has chosen to embrace its darker history rather than avoiding it as a result of cultural shifts in the community.
Original post by Jane Recker/Smithsonian Magazine
Read more here:
The Latinos in Heritage Conservation (LHC) was founded in 2014 by a group of heritage practitioners, advocates, scholars, and students to serve as a national network to support the preservation of Latinx spaces in the U.S.
The Mellon Foundation awarded the LHV $750,000, and it granted them access to hire their first executive director Sehila Mota Casper. With their new hire, they also plan to use the money towards growing their office by hiring new people. After developing a bigger staff, they plan on advocating for the inclusion of Latinx heritage and equitable access to historical preservation on local, state, and national levels.
The Latinx heritage and their communities have been often misunderstood and disproportionately preserved compared to other ethnic and cultural sites, and the LHC wants to focus on changing that.
Original post by Priya Chhaya/People Saving Places
Read more here:
Justice Sunshine Suzanna Sykes was confirmed by the U.S. Senate as California’s first Native federal judge.
Sykes is now the fourth active Native federal judge in the nation.
Sykes’ previous achievements include being the Riverside County Superior Court judge, serving in that position since 2013. She worked for the California Indian Legal Services as a juvenile defense attorney with the Southwest Justice Center and as a Riverside County Attorney. Sykes received her law degree from Stanford Law School in 2001 and a bachelor’s degree from Stanford University in 1997.
Original post by Carina Dominguez/Indian Country Today
Read more here:
A newly created blog called BlackWoman.com celebrates the accomplishments of Black women of today and throughout history. This blog features many historical accounts of Black women including their accomplishments in business, technology, government, literature, fashion, entertainment, and sports.
Original post by Black News
Read more here:
https://blacknews.com/news/news-platform-celebrates-success-legacy-black-women-and-moms/
Visit their website at: https://www.blackwoman.com/
Paleoanthropologists found a molar in a cave in Laos that possibly belonged to a member of the Denisovans, a group of humans that lived about 500,000 to 30,000 years ago. If the molar is confirmed, it will be the first fossil evidence of the Denisovans.
Researchers first identified the Denisovans in 2010. Their research depicted that they were from Southeast Asia, specifically in places such as Australia and the Philippines.
The molar found was estimated to be between 131,000 and 164,000 years old, belonging to a female who died between the ages of three and a half and eight and a half. Researchers identified the molar as a Denisovan since it did not resemble the teeth belonging to the Homo sapiens or Homo erectus species.
Original post by Margaret Osborne
Read more here: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/ancient-molar-found-in-laos-could-help-fill-in-a-gap-in-human-history-180980105/
The Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Latino announced its first exhibition will open on June 18th.
The official opening of the National Latino Museum is expected to be in production for eight to twelve years, but the first exhibit premiere is to give the public a preview of what the museum will have to offer.
The exhibition opening this June will be called “¡Presente! A Latino History of the United States”. The exhibit will highlight and showcase the historical and cultural legacy of Latinos in the U.S. in conjunction with a website that includes oral histories, historical biographies, and 3D objects displayed at the gallery.
Original post by Nicole Acevedo/NBC News
Read more here: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/smithsonian-gives-preview-planned-national-latino-museum-first-exhibit-rcna28405
Edith Kanaka’ole is one of five women who will be featured on U.S quarters next year [2023]. This is a part of the American Women Quarters Program.
The United States Mint will issue 20 quarters over the next four years honoring women and their achievements in shaping the nation’s history.
Kanaka’ole died in 1978 and was a composer, chanter, dancer, teacher, and entertainer. The Edith Kanaka’ole Foundation in Hilo was established in 1990 to keep Kanaka’ole’s and her husband’s teachings alive. These teachings consisted of educating others on Hawaiian culture and language. The Edith Kanaka’ole Foundation is still active in the community.
Original post by NBC News
Read more here:
Visit the Edith Kanaka’ole Foundation website at: https://edithkanakaolefoundation.org/index.php
La Plaza Cocina located in downtown Los Angeles, CA, is the first American museum dedicated to Mexican cuisine.
La Plaza Cocina is an extension of LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes, a museum celebrating Mexican American and Latino culture and identity.
The museum extension focuses on all related Mexican cuisine by acknowledging each region of Mexico. There is a kitchen in the museum where individuals can take cooking classes. In the gift shop, visitors may purchase cookbooks, decorative items, and utensils used to prepare traditional dishes.
Original post by Emily Williams/Smithsonian Magazine
Read more here: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/new-museum-in-california-celebrates-rich-history-of-mexican-cuisine-180979806/
Kelly Lehuakeaopuna Uyeoka is a cultural heritage preservationist working to save cultural spaces in Hawai’i. She is the founder and executive director of Huliauapa’a, a nonprofit organization meant to grow Hawai’i’s communities through culturally based forms of innovative learning, leadership development, and collaborative networking.
Huliauapa’a focuses on developing the next generation of Hawaiian cultural heritage stewards through internship programs and building community capacity.
Preserving Hawai’i’s historical and cultural places is an important matter to Uyeoka and the people of the island. It is a place full of history and culture, yet little preservation has taken place, and the destruction of these places has been more common.
Original post by Priya Chhaya/National Trust for Historic Preservation
Read more here: https://savingplaces.org/stories/people-saving-places-kelley-uyeoka-and-protecting-cultural-heritage-in-hawaii#.YjuN0zfMIUo
Carolina Contreras is the founder and CEO of Miss Rizos, providing products designed for curly and Afro-textured hair.
Contreras is Dominican American, and her products will be sold at Sephora, as part of their 2022 Accelerate brand incubator program.
Miss Rizos, Rizos meaning ‘curls’ in Spanish, was once a blog that celebrated natural hair, via the website, social media, and a handful of hair salons.
As a young adult Contreras decided to spend some time in the Dominican Republic. She intended to learn more about Blackness within the Dominican diaspora since it wasn’t a common topic of discussion. Throughout her trip, while she was sunbathing, two professors approached her and suggested that she stop tanning before she got too dark. Contreras was reminded of the current issue of colorism in her country and explained that she was not bothered by getting darker. The professors mentioned she was strict on embracing her blackness, but she had relaxed hair. This was the moment Contreras realized that she had been conditioned to have relaxed hair through society and lack of knowing any other options. After this encounter, she cut her hair and began her natural hair journey, becoming more in touch with her blackness and later finding her purpose.
Original post by: Sheyla Baez/NBC News
Read more here: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/afro-latinas-mission-embrace-natural-hair-gets-push-beauty-giant-rcna16641