This article was originally published on Word In Black.
Overview:
With some 3 million visitors a year, the National Museum of African American History and Culture is one of the most popular attractions on the National Mall in Washington. It houses everything from slave trade records to the prop spaceship Parliament-Funkadelic used in its concerts.
President Donald Trump’s crusade against diversity has attacked nearly everything touching on race, from freezing federal investigations of civil rights violations to scrubbing Harriet Tubman from a website on the Underground Railroad.
But when he came for the Smithsonian Museum’s National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C. — a.k.a. The Blacksonian — Rev. Dr. Otis Moss III, senior pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, came up with a backup plan.
On March 27, Trump signed an executive order, “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History,” declaring NMAAHC — one of the most popular attractions in Washington, with some 3 million visitors a year — and a few others as institutions that divide America. The order states that the museums undermine the nation’s “remarkable” history by casting it “in a negative light,” and directs Vice President JD Vance to clear the museum of its liberal “ideology.”
Ten days before the order, Kevin Young, the NMAAHC’s director, went on indefinite personal leave. The cascade of bad news left historians on edge and Black Americans concerned that the groundbreaking museum would survive Trump 2.0.
Enter Rev. Moss — and the Trinity congregation.
Last Sunday, Moss came to the rescue of NMAAHC by announcing that Trinity “is placing the museum in our annual budget.” He then asked parishioners to join him by donating $25 to the museum, the price of a basic membership, to show their faith.
It’s good news, given that the National Museum of African American History and Culture is not a federal institution and is principally funded by donations. Only a small portion of its financial support comes from the federal government.
Moss also pointed out that Vance, the vice president, is merely one of 17 members of the NMAAHC’s governing board. As such, Moss said, Vance has no legal authority to make unilateral decisions concerning the museum.
To seal the funding deal, Moss officially opened the floor for a motion. More than one member placed his proposal into a motion. When called for a vote, the contingent of ayes had their say.
It’s unclear exactly how much money Trinity collected, or how much the church will donate to the museum. But no matter how that happens, the reverend said, approving a plan to save NMAAHC is a point of pride.
“When people ask why you contributed to the museum,” he said, “just tell them, ‘I go to a church that is unashamedly black and unapologetically Christian.’”
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