Navigating the Pandemic and Beyond with Terri Lee Freeman

Prism Of Value

Terri Lee Freeman is a tireless advocate for justice, equity, and inclusion and for making sure that voices that have often been marginalized are heard. In her current role as Executive Director of the Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History and Culture and former post as President of the National Civil Rights Museum, Terri works to bring people together for dialogue and fuller understanding of history. In this podcast, Terri discusses the challenge of keeping cultural institutions viable during the pandemic and providing a safe space for connection, important conversations about race, and inclusive path forward.
Key Takeaways:
0:00 Intro
1:23 Terri shares a little bit of history about Reginald Lewis Museum and why she is excited about leading it
5:24 Terri talks about the role that museum plays in bringing people together, have conversations and just connect
8:47 Terri talks about some examples of how she has made people come together and be able to talk about difficult topics like race, equity, and inclusion at these museums
12:34 Terri talks about the features that museums bring to the table that facilitates conversations of race, equity, and inclusion
15:23 Terri talks about where she gets the energy to keep on advocating for these difficult conversations to happen for so long even when people don’t want to have them
22:01 Terri talks about some of the ways in which she has been navigating through the pandemic especially as a leader
28:59 Terri talks about how they had to pivot to digital and virtual programming in the museum due to the pandemic
30:29 Terri talks about the things that give her optimism that other leaders could use to their benefit too
Books Mentioned:
Inclusive Museum Leader: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/57344518-the-inclusive-museum-leader
Shows Mentioned:
National Civil Rights Museum: https://www.civilrightsmuseum.org/
Greater Washington Community Foundation: https://www.thecommunityfoundation.org/
Black Lives Matter: https://blacklivesmatter.com/
Putting Race on the Table: https://www.puttingracismonthetable.org/
RACE, Are We So Different: https://www.americananthro.org/LearnAndTeach/Content.aspx?ItemNumber=2062
Quotes Mentioned:
“The whole reason for people to come to a museum is not just to take, but also to give.”
“All museums now are trying to figure out how do I better engage the audience?”
“All labor had dignity.”
“If we can’t talk about race here, we can’t talk about it anywhere.”
“Different doesn’t mean bad.”
“We have to acknowledge the past and we have to acknowledge those differences and understand each other’s truths.”
“You can’t exclude more than 50% of the population.”
“You have to put things out there and you have to put it out as the truth.”
“Once we get beyond our issues with race, then we’ll be able to really function as a powerful society.”
“Every day that babies are born, there’s going to be a future.”
“Some things have to be broken for us to fix the situation.”
Guests Social Media Links:
Website: https://www.lewismuseum.org/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/terri-freeman-8879754/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TerriLeeFreeman