The National Museum of African American History & Culture has named its new director: Kevin Young, a writer, poet, and editor who currently runs the New York Public Library’s Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. Young will succeed founding director Lonnie Bunch, who was promoted to Secretary of the Smithsonian last November.
In New York, Young is known for popular programs like the Black Comic Book Festival and, more recently, a Black Liberation Reading List. Before working at the Schomburg Center, he was a creative writing professor at Emory University in Atlanta. The accomplished scholar has written 13 books of poetry, essays, and cultural criticism, and he currently edits poetry at The New Yorker.
“Having visited the museum myself with my family, I know what a powerful place it is, transforming visitors both in-person and online, and revealing the centrality of African American culture to the American experience,” writes Young in a press release. “I am eager to engage further directions in the museum’s mission, embracing our digital present and future while furthering conversations around Black history, art, liberation and joy.”
Young will start in the new role on January 11, 2021.
Rosa is a senior editor at Bitch Magazine. She’s written for Washingtonian and Smithsonian magazine.
