A Los Angeles community concern: I am putting this out there to our community. I recently posted the sad news of the California African American Museum (CAAM) lost its director who apparently “moved on”, Ms. Charmaine Jefferson, and I had no idea how or why she exited. I posted her farewell letter if you recall. I made this announcement as well to the monthly luncheon meeting of the Golden State Mutual Alumni Association to make them aware that “The Legacy of the Golden State Mutual” exhibit had been extended yet once again (this is a company that my grandfather, Wm. Nickerson Jr., founded). In attendance, was retired Congresswoman Dianne Watson, who pulled me to the side to inform me as to why Charmaine left (or perhaps forced to leave). I’ve never heard of this but, her job as director required not only that she run the facility with staff and exhibits with excellence but, that she raise money for the State of California which funds the museum to keep its doors open and even though Charmaine managed all these years to meet this daunting task, apparently the “well ran dry” if you will. I’ve learned that the governing board, apparently situated in New York and consists of zero Black representation, is looking for someone else to step into Charmaine’s shoes of which it remains “director-less”. So here’s my plea to you FB family, do you know of anyone with fund raising skills that would be a candidate for this position? I suppose he or she need not necessarily be Black, but someone that buys in to the need of ART-CULTURE-HISTORY as represented today by the CAAM facility. It was suggested that I approach Congresswoman Karen Bass about how to go about this and this will be my next step. But, I do know this, this is a wonderful facility that needs to stay open, it’s ours, it’s in the heart of Los Angeles, and we as a people need to fight for its continued existence. I’m just getting started on this but for now..........what say you? Lastly, we need to support the CAAM museum by visiting it. It’s free. Parking is $10 unless you are skillful enough to find free street parking which is a good hike away. Right next door is the California Science Center with plenty of free things for kids to do and it houses the Endeavor space shuttle.
Posted on: Sun, 31 Aug 2014 08:27:07 +0000