What Is the Blacksonian’s Role Now?
Earlier this month, Secretary of the Smithsonian Lonnie G.
本月早些时候，史密森学会秘书 Lonnie G.
Bunch III announced he would retire at the end of 2026, after a year and a half of persistent pressure on the Smithsonian from the Trump administration.
在特朗普政府对史密森学会一年半的持续施压之后，邦奇 III 宣布将于 2026 年底退休。
The announcement came just before the 10th anniversary of the opening of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture, the groundbreaking museum Bunch helped bring into existence.
这一消息是在史密森尼国家非裔美国人历史和文化博物馆开馆 10 周年之前宣布的，该博物馆是邦奇帮助建成的开创性博物馆。
The “ Blacksonian ,” as the museum became colloquially known, rode in on a wave of hope when it launched on September 24, 2016.
该博物馆俗称“布莱克森博物馆”，于 2016 年 9 月 24 日开业，掀起了一股希望的浪潮。
The opening ceremony took place on the museum’s grand “porch,” in the heart of the National Mall.
开幕式在国家广场中心的博物馆宏伟的“门廊”举行。
Rising majestically above, the building’s West African-inspired bronze lattice-work façade created a striking juxtaposition with its westward neighbor, the tall, iconic, white-marbled Washington Monument.
这座建筑雄伟地矗立在上方，其西非风格的青铜格子立面与其西边邻居、高大的、标志性的、白色大理石的华盛顿纪念碑形成了惊人的并置。
After a century of dreaming and designing, the world’s largest museum dedicated to African American history and culture was finally open.
经过一个世纪的梦想和设计，世界上最大的致力于非裔美国人历史和文化的博物馆终于开放了。
Then-President Barack Obama and former President George W.
时任总统巴拉克·奥巴马和前总统乔治·W·布什
Bush, who signed the original 2003 law creating the museum, both delivered speeches to mark the occasion.
布什于 2003 年签署了创建博物馆的最初法律，两人都发表了纪念这一时刻的讲话。
As a young Black architect watching the media coverage from afar, my body tingled as 99-year-old Ruth Odom Bonner rang the Freedom Bell, which came to the Blacksonian from a Virginia church founded in 1776 by enslaved and free African Americans.
作为一名年轻的黑人建筑师，远远地观看媒体报道，当 99 岁的露丝·奥多姆·邦纳敲响自由钟时，我的身体感到一阵刺痛，这钟声来自弗吉尼亚州的一座教堂，该教堂于 1776 年由被奴役和自由的非裔美国人建立。
The image of a Black elder just one generation removed from slavery, flanked by the first Black president in front of a museum designed by a team led by Black architects , felt emblematic of where we had once been as a country and where I hoped we had arrived.
在由黑人建筑师领导的团队设计的博物馆前，一位刚刚摆脱奴隶制的黑人长辈的形象，在第一位黑人总统的陪伴下，感觉象征着我们曾经作为一个国家所处的位置，以及我希望我们已经到达的地方。
Fast forward 10 years.
快进 10 年。
Through tiki torches haunting parks in Charlottesville, a police officer’s knee extinguishing George Floyd’s life in Minneapolis, and executive orders to remove “ improper ideology ” from the Smithsonian museums.
提基火炬在夏洛茨维尔的公园里出没，明尼阿波利斯的一名警察用膝盖浇灭了乔治·弗洛伊德的生命，以及从史密森尼博物馆中清除“不当意识形态”的行政命令。
While the building hasn’t changed, everything else has.
虽然建筑没有改变，但其他一切都变了。
Bunch’s resignation feels like the latest indicator of that reality.
邦奇的辞职感觉像是这一现实的最新指标。
So, what is the role of the Blacksonian now—and moving forward?
那么，布莱克森学派现在和未来的角色是什么？
Cultural historian, designer, and architectural scholar Mabel O.
文化历史学家、设计师和建筑学者 Mabel O.
Wilson notes that museums often function as repositories, containers for tangible remembering.
威尔逊指出，博物馆通常充当有形记忆的存储库和容器。
As humans, we rely on stories to help create a shared understanding of who we are: our values, our histories, our hopes.
作为人类，我们依靠故事来帮助建立对我们是谁的共同理解：我们的价值观、我们的历史、我们的希望。
I first visited Washington, D.C., with my eighth-grade civics class in the early ’90s, touring the National Archives, Lincoln Memorial, and several Smithsonian museums.
我第一次访问华盛顿特区是在 90 年代初，当时我正在上八年级的公民课，参观了国家档案馆、林肯纪念堂和几个史密森尼博物馆。
These places were supposed to tell me about the history and values of this country where I was born and where my immigrant parents—who hailed from what would later be derided as “ shithole countries ”—had moved to in search of better opportunities.
这些地方应该告诉我这个我出生的国家的历史和价值观，以及我的移民父母——他们来自后来被嘲笑为“屎洞国家”的地方——为了寻找更好的机会而搬到的地方。
It wasn’t until many years later, well into my adulthood, that I realized how little of that class trip focused on stories of people whose Black skin reflected mine.
直到很多年后，我已经成年了，我才意识到那次班级旅行很少关注那些与我的黑皮肤相似的人的故事。
In the many trips I’ve made to the Blacksonian since it opened, I’ve looked at the kids making their own D.C. pilgrimages.
自布莱克森博物馆开业以来，我曾多次前往该博物馆，我观察过孩子们在华盛顿特区进行自己的朝圣活动。
Their experience learning the country’s history is different now that this museum is part of it.
由于这座博物馆是该国历史的一部分，他们学习该国历史的经历有所不同。
Across 3,000 artifacts, seven floors, and 400 years of the African American experience, the Blacksonian tells an expansive story of America.
布莱克森博物馆通过七层楼的 3,000 件文物和 400 年非裔美国人的经历，讲述了一个广阔的美国故事。
One that is neither simple, nor only good or bad.
一个既不简单，也不只有好或坏的事物。
Bunch said that the goal of the museum was not to leave the visitor with negative feelings or guilt.
邦奇说，博物馆的目标不是让参观者留下负面情绪或内疚感。
But equally important is the museum’s commitment never to shy away from the truth, no matter how complicated.
但同样重要的是，博物馆承诺永远不会回避真相，无论真相多么复杂。
Telling the stories of both “pain and promise” that are embedded in this country’s history is essential work to bridging the gaps that divide us.
讲述这个国家历史中“痛苦与希望”的故事是弥合我们分歧的重要工作。
There are some who see this wrestling as reveling in despair that keeps us divided.
有些人认为这场角力是沉浸在绝望中，导致我们分裂。
It’s a belief that doesn’t always cut along partisan or racial lines.
这种信念并不总是跨越党派或种族界限。
In a 2023 essay in the Atlantic , Bunch recounted a Black woman who stopped him while the museum was still under development.
在 2023 年《大西洋月刊》上发表的一篇文章中，邦奇讲述了一位黑人妇女在博物馆仍在开发过程中阻止了他的故事。
She expressed thanks but also said, “Whatever you do, don’t talk about slavery.” She saw the museum as a chance to move beyond the uncomfortable chains of history.
她表示感谢，但也说：“无论你做什么，都不要谈论奴隶制。”她将博物馆视为摆脱令人不安的历史锁链的机会。
As an architect focused on how trauma and grief intersect with the built environment, I’ve heard a version of this plaintive request before.
作为一名专注于创伤和悲伤如何与建筑环境相交的建筑师，我以前听过这种哀伤请求的一个版本。
A few years ago, I worked with the city of Akron, Ohio, and its residents on a community vision for a decommissioned highway.
几年前，我与俄亥俄州阿克伦市及其居民合作，制定了退役高速公路的社区愿景。
Fifty years ago, a vibrant Black neighborhood had been destroyed to make way for the roadway, a familiar American story of the practice euphemistically named “urban renewal.” I learned that many of those who had been displaced in Akron had stopped talking about what had happened long ago.
五十年前，一个充满活力的黑人社区被摧毁，为道路让路，这是一个熟悉的美国故事，委婉地将这种做法称为“城市更新”。我了解到，许多在阿克伦流离失所的人很久以前就不再谈论发生的事情了。
It was too painful.
太痛苦了。
Lost in that silence was a collective wrestling with the tragedy of destruction, and also the ability to celebrate the vibrancy of what had existed before the highway.
在这种沉默中，人们失去了与毁灭悲剧的集体角力，也失去了庆祝高速公路之前存在的活力的能力。
What’s past is past .
过去的就过去了。
Forgive and forget .
原谅并忘记。
We have sayings for what’s required to forge ahead, but they often mean that our grief goes unprocessed and our ability to repair remains insufficient.
我们有一些关于前进需要什么的说法，但它们通常意味着我们的悲伤没有得到处理，我们的修复能力仍然不足。
Collective visioning of the future requires a collective remembering of the past.
对未来的集体愿景需要对过去的集体记忆。
If we never sit with the discomfort of the hardest truths, can we ever fully understand our brightest moments and our most expansive possibilities?
如果我们从不因最艰难的事实而感到不适，我们能否完全理解我们最光明的时刻和最广阔的可能性？
The Blacksonian’s mission is to help all Americans remember and reconcile, to bridge not only gaps of division but also gaps in “our national memory.” Looking at the news cycle, I suspect we’re still a long way from reconciliation, but reimagining where we could go requires remembering where we’ve been.
布莱克森学会的使命是帮助所有美国人记住并和解，不仅弥合分歧的差距，而且弥合“我们国家记忆”中的差距。看看新闻周期，我怀疑我们距离和解还有很长的路要走，但重新想象我们可以去往的地方需要记住我们曾经去过的地方。
Secretary Bunch may be leaving the Smithsonian, but the museum he helped shape remains, still committed to deep scholarship and serving as a container for the stories of our complicated history.
邦奇部长可能会离开史密森学会，但他帮助塑造的博物馆仍然存在，仍然致力于深入的学术研究，并成为我们复杂历史故事的容器。
A place of truth telling even when there’s not complete readiness to be with that truth.
一个讲真话的地方，即使还没有完全准备好接受真理。
It’ll be hard to erase this building, which was designed specifically around this mission and built to last generations.
这座建筑是专门围绕这一使命而设计并为后几代人建造的，很难抹去。
Recently, I spoke with Wilson, the historian, to discuss what the museum means now and moving forward.
最近，我与历史学家威尔逊进行了交谈，讨论了博物馆现在和未来的意义。
I keep returning to one anecdote she shared.
我不断地想起她分享的一件轶事。
Not long ago, she overheard a young Black woman talking on the phone.
不久前，她无意中听到一位年轻的黑人妇女打电话。
The woman said, “You hear they’re attacking the Blacksonian?
那女人说：“你听说他们正在攻击布莱克森学会吗？
Yeah, ain’t no way we’re not gonna know what’s in there!
是的，我们不可能不知道里面有什么！
…There’s no way you’re going to tell us that doesn’t exist and wasn’t true.”
……你不可能告诉我们这不存在，也不是真的。”
Perhaps the museum’s greatest role in this moment is as a place to practice remembering—using the pain and promise of our shared past to help lay a foundation for a future where reconciliation could be possible.
也许博物馆在此时此刻最重要的作用是作为一个练习记忆的地方——利用我们共同过去的痛苦和希望来帮助为可能和解的未来奠定基础。
Liz Ogbu is an architect, spatial justice activist, and community grief worker.
Liz Ogbu 是一位建筑师、空间正义活动家和社区悲伤工作者。
She is currently working on a book about the intersection of grief and place.
她目前正在写一本关于悲伤与场所交集的书。
Primary editor: Sarah Rothbard | Secondary editor: Eryn Brown
主要编辑：莎拉·罗斯巴德 |二级编辑：Eryn Brown
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