Talking is not a lost art at ‘Connecting Community & Culture,’ The Spady Museum’s annual lecture series

Facebook, Twitter, Google +, Tumblr, Yelp, LinkedIn, YouTube … doesn’t anyone talk anymore?

Well, sure we do. But we use more electronic tools than ever before to share thoughts and ideas – sometimes thoughts and ideas really not worth sharing, but that’s another blog. The lost art of simple conversation is not as lost as one might think, given all the other means for connecting with people.

The Spady Museum’s “Connecting Community & Culture” lecture series a perfect example of that. Held annually at the museum, this four-part lecture series is free to the public (donations are welcome) and designed to highlight the rich, cultural heritage of American-Americans in South Florida. Guest lecturers, who will focus on historic preservation and heritage, give a personal presentation, followed by a question and answer session, which has generated lively discussions in the past.

That’s right, discussions. People in the audience raise their hands and pose thoughtful questions about the speaker’s subject, and one question normally leads to another, which leads to folks standing around talking. Used to be, before TV, the internet, cable and video games, this is what people did all the time.

It’s nice to know that, when put in the same room, people still love to talk to one another, learn a thing or two and make a friend.

Please come join us for this series, which begins tomorrow at 5 p.m. (March 1, 2012) with Dr. Anthony Dixon, discussing how to preserve your family’s history and Florida African American Museum Exchange (FAAME) Project. The series will continue with:

March 15: Dr. Tameka Hobbs will speak about the history of Florida Memorial University

March 29: Professor Ralph Johnson discusses West African influences that shaped architecture in black communities.

April 12: Dorothy Patterson will narrate one of the Spady Museum’s “Ride and Remember” trolley tours and talk about the historic sites in the early African-American communities of Delray Beach.

The “Connecting Community & Culture” lecture series is sponsored in part by the Bureau of Historic Preservation, Division of Historical Resources, Florida Department of State, assisted by the Florida Historical Commission, and by the Delray Beach Community Redevelopment Agency. All presentations begin at 5 p.m.

For more information, call 561-279-8883 or visit www.spadymuseum.org

 

 

Black History can be learned in the most surprising places

The Spady Museum kicked off Black History 2012 on February 2 with a spirited discussion of what it means to travel to Africa, courtesy of Sam Spear, Jr. and his wife, Kenya. Both have traveled extensively and adventurously through African countries, sometimes with nothing more than what they could carry and each other.

Their stories are illustrated with the new photo exhibit that is hanging in the Spady Museum now until the end of March.

While the crowd was engaged and asking questions of the Spears, attending a lecture and exhibit is only but one way to celebrate Black History Month. In fact, you can celebrate Black History in ways that may surprise you.

For instance, in 2010, I was charged with writing a magazine series about local organizations and attractions that were celebrating milestone anniversaries. Standing in the International Swimming Hall of Fame in Fort Lauderdale, I receive an impromptu black history lesson. As CEO Bruce Wigo gave me a tour of the galleries, I learned about an enduring myth that he wanted to dispel – that black people can’t swim.

“Until the Civil War, African-Americans and Native Americans were the world’s great swimmers. In fact, some were brought over to the Americas to be swim instructors to white people. But during segregation, they lost access to the beaches, and so generations lost their ability to swim,” he told me.

The Hall has two exhibit areas, one dedicated to the competition of the sport and the other dedicated to the history. Of the two, Bruce enjoyed the history more.

“Above our gift shop is the space that acts as a gallery to the cultural, artistic and historic depictions of swimming from the Roman era and imagery of Japanese, African, Hawaiian and Native American swimmers to contemporary Olympic games and babies in pools. That is my favorite space,” he said.

Paintings and depictions of people of color swimming, diving and fishing dominate the walls. Maybe if we knew we were among the world’s greatest swimmers at one time, today’s Olympians of the water would be a bit more diversified. One can only wonder…

Enjoy Black History Month in new and different ways this year. Look for African culture in every venue. Make it a game. Consider it a challenge. You might be amazed at what you find. I was.

International Swimming Hall of Fame: One Hall of Fame Drive, Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33316; 954-462-6536; http://www.ishof.org

Africans were gifted swimmers, as displayed in exhibits at the International Swimming Hall of Fame