{"id":152251,"date":"2026-02-05T15:36:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-05T15:36:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/152251\/"},"modified":"2026-02-05T15:36:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-05T15:36:08","slug":"carver-museum-celebrates-100-years-of-black-history-month-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/152251\/","title":{"rendered":"Carver Museum celebrates 100 years of Black History Month"},"content":{"rendered":"

AUSTIN, Texas \u2014 Marking 100 years of Black History Month can come with complex emotions in a state like Texas.<\/p>\n

Alongside many other southern states, Texas harbors a past of slavery and segregation. Enslaved people in Galveston were the last to know of their freedom.<\/p>\n

But the Lone Star State is also home to rich, significant Black culture and achievements. Famous politicians like Barbara Jordan and international superstars like Beyonce came from Texas. And those Galveston slaves learning of their emancipation led to the Juneteenth holiday.<\/p>\n

The George Washington Carver Museum<\/a> in Austin honors and teaches both sides of Black history all year long, but things ramp up a bit during Black History Month \u2014 especially when marking this year\u2019s centennial milestone.<\/p>\n

The museum, which opened in 1980, is presenting a variety of events throughout February<\/a>, including a kick-off block party, gospel performance, Guinean dance workshop, kid\u2019s day, movie screening and panels featuring representatives from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU).<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you don\u2019t take the time to study and honor the past, you\u2019re doomed to repeat the mistakes, so we take that very seriously here,\u201d said Christine Pasculado, a non-Black Filipino ally who serves as the museum\u2019s marketing\u00a0and public programs supervisor. \u201cBut it is also a celebration of\u2026 all the ways in which Black Americans really shaped the culture of our country. In many ways, we see their contributions as a baseline.\u201d<\/p>\n

Enduring federal changes<\/p>\n

Aside from the centennial, this year\u2019s Austin celebrations are significant for another reason: it\u2019s the first Black History Month since the city lost National Education Association (NEA) grant funding in May<\/a>. These budget cuts from the Trump administration impacted arts organizations under the city\u2019s government, including the Carver Museum.<\/p>\n

Pasculado said the changes that followed are a \u201cdelicate topic.\u201d The museum received a list of words<\/a> it couldn\u2019t use in marketing and communications. One of the words was \u201cBlack.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe as an institution recognize that this is not the first time communities of color have been censored,\u201d Pasculado said. \u201cThis is not the first time communities of color have had to strategize with communication around mobilization, around education.\u201d<\/p>\n

The museum\u2019s team of writers and researchers had to adapt and adjust their language without sacrificing programming and exhibitions, Pasculado said. She likened it to Black spirituals, which were Gospel-rooted songs coded with instructions on how to escape slavery.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything that the administration is putting us through as a people, as a community \u2014 it\u2019s all been done before,\u201d Pasculado said. \u201cWe definitely chose to stand 10 toes down. We chose not to fall back or cower.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dance, education and song in Austin<\/p>\n

Now, Pasculado and her team are about to enjoy the fruits of their labor with their first two Black History Month events: a gospel performance Thursday evening and a kick-off block party Saturday from noon to 6 p.m.<\/p>\n

On Feb. 13, the museum will host a screening of \u201cSylvie\u2019s Love,\u201d followed by HBCU Day on Feb. 14 and a Guinean dance workshop and performance on Feb. 19. The month\u2019s celebrations will conclude with Carver Kid\u2019s Day and a genealogy seminar, both on Feb. 28.<\/p>\n

\u201cI also have to give a shout out to Kid\u2019s Day because it\u2019s just so rambunctious and crazy. It\u2019s like energizing,\u201d Pasculado said. \u201cWhen you see children and the joy and then you realize that\u2019s because the Carver team works super hard and now these kids are inspired \u2014 who knows what they\u2019re going to go do after this?\u201d<\/p>\n

Pasculado encourages everyone to show up for both the museum\u2019s events and their Black neighbors with a mind attuned to learning.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt might be scary. It might be kind of weird to know that your white ancestors may have done this that or the other,\u201d Pasculado said. \u201cBut you\u2019re not them, and if you\u2019re willing to make that change and learn and grow, that\u2019s only helping everyone. That\u2019s helping the cause.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"AUSTIN, Texas \u2014 Marking 100 years of Black History Month can come with complex emotions in a state…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":152235,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[132,134,133,5604,56124,63052,30432,223,27],"class_list":["post-152251","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-austin","tag-austin","tag-austin-headlines","tag-austin-news","tag-austin-what-you-need-to-know","tag-black-history-month","tag-black-history-month-2026","tag-hannah-maguire","tag-news","tag-texas"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152251","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=152251"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152251\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/152235"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=152251"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=152251"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=152251"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}