Diversity, Equity, Accessibility, and Inclusion

Ceding Authority and Seeding Trust

By Ben Garcia, Kelly Hyberger, Brandie Macdonald, and Jaclyn Roessel

This article originally appeared in the July/August 2019 issue of Museum magazine, a benefit of AAM membership. Through a decolonizing collections practice, the San Diego Museum of Man is creating a more ethical standard for the Indigenous …
Time for New Norms: Museums must address their systemic inequities if they want to be truly inclusive—and relevant—institutions.

By Chris Taylor

This article originally appeared in the July/August 2019 issue of Museum magazine, a benefit of AAM membership. In American history, the Civil Rights Movement is held up as a beacon of progress and equality, a momentous time in our …
Building an Equitable Future: Museums and Reparations

By Elizabeth Merritt

Today is Juneteenth, commemorating the emancipation of enslaved black people in America. This holiday is a big deal here in my home town of Washington D.C. Not coincidentally, today the writer Ta-Nehisi Coates will trek up Capitol Hill to …
An Intergenerational “School of Drag” Connects LGBTQIA+ Youth and Elders

By Eli Burke

Last year, 20 organizations enrolled in a special museum cohort of Aroha Philanthropies’ Seeding Vitality Arts program. With funding from Aroha, and training provided by Lifetime Arts, these museums are developing high quality, …
What Happened at #AAM2019? Let Our Social Media Journalists Fill You In

By Joseph O'Neill

Each year, AAM invites a group of passionate museum professionals who are active and skilled on social media to attend the Annual Meeting & MuseumExpo as Social Media Journalists. Like any other attendees, they follow their curiosity …
Flies in the Buttermilk: Museums, Diversity, and the Will to Change

By Lonnie G. Bunch Ill

This essay originally appeared in the July/August 2000 issue of Museum News, a publication of the American Alliance of Museums. Lonnie G. Bunch III later became the founding director of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American …
We Need a Radically Different System

By Kippen de Alba Chu

Prepared Remarks of Kippen de Alba Chu Board Chair of the American Alliance of Museums 2019 Annual Meeting & MuseumExpo May 21, 2019 As AAM’s unprecedented national initiative Facing Change gets underway in five cities across the US, …
Financial Sustainability Is Everyone’s Responsibility

By Laura Lott

Prepared Remarks of Laura L. Lott President & CEO of the American Alliance of Museums Opening General Session of the 2019 Annual Meeting & MuseumExpo May 20, 2019 Good morning and welcome to the 2019 AAM Annual Meeting, the largest …
#AAM2019 Keynote: Kippen de Alba Chu and Kimberly Drew

By American Alliance of Museums

< Disclaimer: This video is unedited and contains several “unbeeped” profanities. Transcript Kippen de Alba Chu: Good morning, everyone. Yeah, this morning’s script was changed on me, so I’m going to go back to …
American Alliance of Museums Names Task Force For Its National Diversity, Equity, Accessibility, And Inclusion Initiative

By American Alliance of Museums

ARLINGTON, VA – May 14, 2019 – The American Alliance of Museums (AAM) today announced the members of a task force charged with developing recommendations to embed diversity, equity, accessibility, and inclusion more deeply into its …