From 413 to DC: WMass-raised Smithsonian curator spotlights many hues of Afro-Latino culture
SPRINGFIELD — When Ariana A. Curtis took to the podium at the Springfield Museums on Friday, it was a full-circle moment. It marked her first time giving a public talk in the 413, the same community where she grew up.
"I grew up in East Longmeadow, which is a predominantly white town, and I'm not sure I even referred to myself as the daughter of an immigrant until I went to college," Curtis told a crowd that included her parents and other family members at the D'Amour Museum of Fine Arts.
Curtis, who graduated from East Longmeadow Public Schools and later earned degrees from Duke and American universities, was appointed as the first-ever curator of Latinx studies for the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture.
'Blackness is not one thing'
In her role, Curtis leads the Smithsonian museum's research and helps strengthen collections that center on "Latinidad" — Latin American people and their cultures — through an African American lens.
"Under the umbrella of Latino, Latina and Latinx are people of all shapes, all hues, and all racial identities," Curtis said. "Some people speak Spanish, some people speak Spanglish, and some, like me, grew up speaking English within our Latinx community here."
Curtis' deep connections to both Latino and African American cultures began at home. Her mother is African American and her father is Afro-Panamanian.
"I learned in my family that Blackness is not one thing, that Blackness is multicultural. It's a multi-ethnic racial category. People can share a racial identity that has different national identity, origins and cultural practices," she said.
Ariana A. Curtis, the curator for Latinx Studies at the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, gave a talk at the Springfield Museums on Friday. Curtis grew up in the area and, during her lecture, spoke about how her upbringing in Western Massachusetts influences the work she does today. (Douglas Hook / The Republican)Douglas Hook
Growing up as a student in East Longmeadow schools, Curtis said many adults — teachers, administrators and even other parents — assumed she was part of the Metropolitan Council for Educational Opportunity Program. The program, a state-funded racial integration initiative in Massachusetts public schools, enables students of color from Boston and Springfield to attend schools in neighboring predominantly white districts.
"My peers accepted that I lived in town, we all grew up together, but adults struggled to make sense of that," she said.
Abridged identities
Another major issue she noticed as she grew older was that it was uncommon for people to identify as both Black and Hispanic. When filling out forms, she said, you often had to pick one group to identify with.
"I grew up having to choose one, but I couldn't choose both," she said. "So, I always checked Black, but I knew the data generated from those choices was going to be incomplete."
As a result, a lot of data about the Afro Latino population is inaccurate, she said.
"Identity is not always asked in a consistent way, and sometimes, it's not asked at all," she said.
Most important to her role today is keeping the culture and history of the Afro-Latino community alive, and teaching people that "African American and Black are not synonyms."
"All Black histories and cultures deserve the respect of being named and known," Curtis said.
Curtis' talk at the Springfield Museums, which was free and open to the public as part of an annual Latino Arts Festival, was made possible through an affiliation with the Smithsonian.
Of note: Adrienne Brooks
Her talk also drew peoples' attention to another Springfield native who was pivotal in making the National Museum of African American History and Culture not only a success, but even possible in the first place: Adrienne Brooks, director of advancement emerita for the Smithsonian Institution.
"She's retired from the museum, but because her work was so extraordinary, she earned the title of emerita," Curtis said. "She's a proud graduate of Tapley Elementary, Buckingham Junior High, and Classical High School. And Springfield Museums remains among her favorite places."
Congress provided $270 million to help build the National Museum of African American History and Culture, which opened to the public in 2017. As part of the stipend, the Smithsonian needed to raise an equal amount of $270 million.
"We did not raise $270 million," Curtis said. "Under Adrienne's leadership, we raised more than $400 million, and the excellence of the museum would not be possible without the resources that she stewarded."
Objects from the museum's Latinx collection, curated by Curtis, can be viewed as part of the Smithsonian's online collections and in-person in Washington, D.C.
People gather to listen to Ariana A. Curtis, curator for Latinx studies at the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, giving a lecture on Springfield's influence on her work. (Douglas Hook / The Republican)Douglas Hook
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