Lonnie Bunch Quotations

There must be appropriate tension between stories of real pain, loss and tragedy with those of resiliency, optimism and hope, ... It must give those of the culture a real sense of legitimacy and possibility, but also be a museum that is a lens into what it means to be an American, with a message that all of us are shaped indelibly by this African-American experience.

The North was not heaven, but it was free of the most obvious violence stemming from racism. Blacks were allowed to vote and this gave them opportunities to build black banks and business communities and this contributed to opportunities for education.

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.

It is too soon to think about breaking ground. The next step is design considerations. But we are looking forward to that day.

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,

It's important for this museum to have a good idea of the vision of others.

That support allows me to reach out and do the work we need to do.

This is too important to fail, because it is holding a nation's--holding a people's--culture in my hands, ... My litmus test will be, Would my ancestors be happy?

I can still remember the first time I was ever in Jet or Ebony, and suddenly all my mother's sisters said, 'I guess you are doing OK.' It didn't matter that I was in the New York Times or other papers.

There will be stories in here of great pain, great tragedy, great brutality, ... because you can't run away from that because those are instructive.