Quotes by Lonnie Bunch

“He recognized this was an important niche, but I would also argue that he saw himself as contributing to the uplift of African Americans and contributing to a changing America.”

“Ebony and Jet increased the visibility of blacks and said that there is a diversity of experience in the black community. Not everyone is poor, and there are celebrities.”

“Going past the 70s and 80s there was a great reliance on the celebrity, the movie star and the person who sold a million records. People would argue that Ebony didnt become the journal to discuss substantive and thorny issues.”

“I can still remember the first time I was ever in Jet or Ebony, and suddenly all my mothers sisters said, I guess you are doing OK. It didnt matter that I was in the New York Times or other papers.”

“In some ways, this museum in Washington gets to do something very important, ... It can be a lens to help us all better understand what it means to be an American--to use African-American culture as that lens to understand the history of this country as well.”

“There will be stories in here of great pain, great tragedy, great brutality, ... because you cant run away from that because those are instructive.”

“Its important for this museum to have a good idea of the vision of others.”

“This is too important to fail, because it is holding a nations--holding a peoples--culture in my hands, ... My litmus test will be, Would my ancestors be happy?”

“I want to talk to the elders within the African American community. I want to get their sense, and their blessing, and an artifact or two,”

“[Organizers say they hope the exhibit will bring the unvarnished reality of the bus boycott home to viewers.] In some ways, weve romanticized the civil rights movement, ... We often forget just how strong the walls of segregation were, just how close to the surface racial hatred was. This wasnt simply a walk in the park.”

We want to remember that America is at its best when it’s struggling to live up to its stated ideals.