Hearing Darren Walker and Other Thoughts About Texas

Darren Walker, President of the Ford Foundation. This amiable, relaxed, yet powerful conversation was a tone-setter and a metaphor for the way the field has changed over the last decade. There was no lecture, no powerpoint, no white guy behind the podium. Instead Walker chatted with Dina Bailey,  CEO of Mountain Top Vision, and an interviewee in our Leadership Matters book. Walker is a slight man, warm and funny, but someone who knows where true north is. His view of history is nuanced, and his approach to the human race generous. "We all romanticize and mythologize our narrative," he said, "because we need to do that. How do we talk about the journey without demonizing the choices that were made?" Asked what quality is needed for today's leadership, Walker had a one-word answer: courage, adding that there are a host of disincentives to leading with courage, but because the risk now is greater than ever, now is the time to speak up, speak out, and be bold. He suggested that even 20 years ago the American narrative was more straightforward, less complex, but less honest. He sees today's national narrative as more oppositional, making leadership difficult. "Great leadership is about bridge building," Walker said, adding, "It's much harder to build a bridge than a wall." He urged the audience to speak up and speak out. "Progress won't be made unless we get uncomfortable. Our boards can be very comfortable with privilege and prestige." He believes what we need from boards today is people comfortable with justice, equity, fairness, and opposition. When Bailey asked him if museums should be neutral, Walker responded with a story, remembering when a Ford Foundation board member asked him why the Foundation supported artists making political art. Walker's response was that art has always been political to some degree or another, and it's naive and dishonest to believe otherwise. "Privileged people and institutions don't like change," he quipped, adding that privilege becomes a collective around the board table. Walker talked about the fact that it's possible to succeed without humility or curiosity because success insulates people from the hard reality of truth telling. He cautioned the audience that sometimes it's necessary to engage with board members in a way that helps them realize they are speaking from privilege. "Trustees want to do right," Walker said, "but we all bring our own bias and limitations." He urged the audience to meet people where they are, and for museum leaders to remind their boards that they are there not just to preserve but to innovate.

****** One sobering note before we close. As part of the AASLH Conference we presented a panel discussion with four interviewees from our book, Women in the Museum, and just as we did at AAM, we asked the audience for a show of hands indicating who had experienced sexual harassment in the workplace. Almost the entire audience raised their hands. Nationally, one in three women experience workplace sexual harassment, and over 71-percent don't report it. Isn't it time the museum field took Darren Walker's advice and stepped up, spoke out, and showed some courage in protecting and supporting its female employees?  Joan Baldwin Photo by Wyona Lynch-McWhite