As a capstone to the supplemental programming for the groundbreaking exhibition “RACE: Are We So Different?,” a youth summitthat was planned and organized by 20 students across Pittsburgh and its suburbs was held on Oct. 22 at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History building.
For several weeks throughout the summer, Carnegie Museum of Natural History, in partnership with YWCA of Greater Pittsburgh, Hip Hop on L.O.C.K., The Labs at Carnegie Libraries of Pittsburgh, Literary Arts Boom and The Andy Warhol Museum, hosted students in a series of workshops about the themes expressed in the exhibition. “RACE: Are We So Different?,” which is a project of the American Anthropological Association in connection with the Science Museum of Minnesota, tackled the science, history, and lived experience of race and racism in an engaging, interactive way.
One key objective of the exhibition was to encourage dialogue among community members relative to race. Other programs in the museum’s Exploration Series specifically welcomed adult audiences to the museum to write, speak, listen, and learn about race and racism in America. By contrast, the Oct. 22 event was specifically for teens: designed, promoted, rehearsed, and participated in by young men and women from Western Pennsylvania.
Teens from different schools were broken up into discussion groups for the day. Together, these groups toured the exhibition and participate in workshops developed by the summer participants. A keynote speech was given by Chaz Kellum, diversity manager for the Pittsburgh Pirates, before the teens rejoined their schools and talked about how they can engage their own communities in an ongoing conversation about race.
The summer workshops were supported in part by the Hive Fund for Connected Learning at The Sprout Fund. “RACE: Are We So Different?” is a project of the American Anthropological Association in collaboration with the Science Museum of Minnesota. The exhibition was created with generous funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Ford Foundation. “RACE: Are We So Different?” is presented locally by EQT Foundation. Additional local support provided by The Hearst Foundation Inc., the Heinz Endowments, The Pittsburgh Foundation, Eden Hall Foundation, The Sprout Fund, Giant Eagle, GlaxoSmith Kline Consumer Healthcare and Dominion Foundation.
(Release by Cecile Shellman.)