In Long Road to Hard Truth: The 100 Year Mission to Create the National Museum of African American History and Culture; Robert L. Wilkins tells the story of how his curiosity about why there wasn't a national museum dedicated to African American history and culture became an obsession-eventually leading him to quit his job as an attorney when his wife was seven months pregnant with their second child; and make it his mission to help the museum become a reality. Long Road to Hard Truth chronicles the early history; when staunch advocates sought to create a monument for Black soldiers fifty years after the end of the Civil War and in response to the pervasive indignities of the time; including lynching; Jim Crow segregation; and the slander of the racist film Birth of a Nation. The movement soon evolved to envision creating a national museum; and Wilkins follows the endless obstacles through the decades; culminating in his honor of becoming a member of the Presidential Commission that wrote the plan for creating the museum and how; with support of both Black and White Democrats and Republicans; Congress finally authorized the museum. In September 2016; exactly 100 years after the movement to create it began; the Smithsonian will open the National Museum of African American History and Culture. The book's title is inspired in part by James Baldwin; who testified in Congress in 1968 that "My history… contains the truth about America. It is going to be hard to teach it." Long Road to Hard Truth concludes that this journey took 100 years because many in America are unwilling to confront the history of America's legacy of slavery and discrimination; and that the only reason this museum finally became a reality is that an unlikely; bipartisan coalition of political leaders had the courage and wisdom to declare that America could not; and should not; continue to evade the hard truth.
#1257298 in Books Floodlit Dreams Ltd 2016-05-16Original language:English 9.21 x .67 x 6.14l; #File Name: 0992658551208 pagesFloodlit Dreams Ltd
Review
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. A Hole in OneBy Samuel RomillyNow this is a first; a first for me that is. I have read a book about sport and actually enjoyed it. I know nothing about sport but quite a lot about Hitler.Actually it is not a book about sport but about the history of sport; the odd relationship between golf and the Olympics. And odd it was. Fraser begins with the early days of the modern Olympics; chaotic games played by amateurs with small egos. Just as well as there was little kudos. Players were unaware that they were part of the 1900 Olympics The first player awarded a gold medal for golf was unaware she had won it. It makes you wistful for those halcyon days when sports were played by amateurs for fun; when budgets were small; and there was little razzmatazz; how very different from the bloated and rather ludicrous Olympics of today.Back to the book. Fraser has done his researches and spoken to all the living descendants of the participants in the 1936 event which was associated with but not actually part of the Olympics. He has delved so far as he can into the minor mystery of whether Hitler was on his way to present the trophy when he was told it was Britain and not Germany that had won and turned back in a huff. This was a trope played by the British participants and has all the hallmarks of a good tall tale; although from what we know of Hitler's hysterical personality it is not impossible. The author tells us that the German records; do not confirm that Hitler stayed in Berchtesgaden and travelling to Baden-Baden where the match took place; after the Berlin Olympics. However Mr Fraser does not tell us what the records do reveal of Hitler's movements over the period. Documents may say nothing about Baden-Baden; for instance; but they may say something about Bavaria. In other words we do not know if there was evidence of where Hitler was at the time. That could have been the clincher. Finally finding that there was also a German source for the story leads the author finally to opt for its authenticity. I think it much more likely apocryphal.The book is nicely illustrated and written with journalistic flair; and is full of curious and anecdotes about golf and golfers.
