LA launches National Initiative Our Shared Future

Vidya Sethuraman
India Post News Service

The Chinese American Museum (CAM), Japanese American National Museum (JANM), and LA Plaza de Culturas y Artes (LA Plaza)—will present the Smithsonian’s Our Shared Future: Reckoning with Our Racial Past in Los Angeles initiative, a collaborative series of public programs from December 1–17, 2023.

Our Shared Future: Reckoning with Our Racial Past in Los Angeles will conclude with a free family celebration, taking place at CAM, JANM, and LA Plaza and including offerings from other Southern California museums including the Agua Caliente Cultural Museum, Columbia Memorial Space Center, and the Museum of Latin American Art (MoLAA) on Sunday, December 17, from noon to 4 p.m.

Deborah Mack, PhD, Smithsonian Director, Our Shared Future:

Reckoning with Our Racial Past, the Smithsonian Institution said that the Institution was launched in 2020 and was mainly funded by Bank of America. At that time, due to Floyd’s death due to police brutality, the Smithsonian Institution hoped to promote cooperation between museums and related research institutions to study historical legacy issues and build a better inter-ethnic future.

Mack said that ethnic studies is just one of many research topics at the Smithsonian, but the content is broad and includes race and happiness, race and address, race and policy. In December 2022, the Smithsonian Institution held the first large-scale symposium on racial issues in Washington.

Leticia Buckley, CEO, LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes said that without reflecting on the past and digesting history, there is no way to reconcile with history.

Over the years, the Culture and Art Plaza has collected the experiences of Mexican immigrants, including stories of sadness, joy and success, and also promoted the public’s understanding of the history of Mexico’s ancestors through various methods. For example, let everyone understand the history of race through literature, art, and even cooking and food.

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