The W. E. B. Du Bois Center for Freedom and Democracy in Great Barrington, Massachusetts has a new executive director. Ny Whitaker is a former White House senior advisor and a New York University professor. The center spent seven months on the search using a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. The nonprofit named for the town’s most famous resident is working on converting the historic Clinton A. M. E. Zion Church into an African American cultural and heritage center. Whitaker spoke with WAMC.
WHITAKER: I'm actually just returned to this side of the town after serving as a White House senior advisor. I'm also an NYU faculty member for over 20 years, and have spent pretty much my entire career working in corporate, nonprofit, and public sector leadership. So, I'm very interested in being able to build a legacy and super excited and taking on this leadership role to work with all of the stakeholders in the community to transform the historic Clinton A.M.E. Zion Church into the W.E.B. DuBois Freedom Center.
WAMC: As you take on this new leadership role, what do you see as the greatest strength of the center that you maybe want to explore expand at its head?
I think it has multiple opportunities here, and we're very positioned for this next phase. First is the opportunity to elevate the rich history of African American culture in the Berkshires. Second is to be able to celebrate the Clinton Church and its role as a convening center for African American leadership and activism and community building in the Berkshires. And last but not least, it’s to celebrate all of the contributions of our namesake, W.E.B. Du Bois, and the fact that his work, his vision, his writings are still relevant today as they were back in his day.
What do you see the center's biggest challenges?
I think as all nonprofits, it's always going to be fundraising and construction. But I don't think that they’re challenges per se, I think they’re opportunities. It's an opportunity for us to educate people about the amazing site and our restoration and reimagining of the Clinton Church, and secondly, it's an opportunity for us to really shed a light on the diverse work of W.E.B. Du Bois and to celebrate him in his hometown.
Give us an update on this long project to rehabilitate the church building into the center. As you take over, where is that process? What is the timeline look like as of early 2024?
So, as of early 2024, we're super excited that we will be announcing next month our programming for this year. We have selected an amazing theme, reflections on democracy, which we believe are very timely, and analyzing the writings of Du Bois, we found a lot of his writings were about the vision, about democracy, about the role of African Americans and their contribution to this country. So, super excited to be able to launch a series of educational programs and public events to celebrate that. And then secondly, in terms of the actual physical space, we are just in the process of completing our design of our museum exhibitions, and also have received a wonderful grant from the Mellon Foundation to support our structural and roof work. So, we are in a process of being able to transition to this next phase, and super excited to give an update to the community next month as to where we are and what comes next.
Are there any new directions you'd like to steer the center towards?
I think that one of the things I want to be able to do is to build community around the center, even though the space is not open. So, looking forward to being able to engage the community in conversation and dialogue, elevating music, the arts, and also visiting scholars in a way to connect the community to our work in advance of our opening of the physical space. And also, just invite the community to continue to support us, to please email us at events@duboisfreedomcenter.org or to call us at 413-673-1032 to begin the conversation and start the excitement around our future opening.
You're building this national experience and national lens to the work of the center. How do you think the work of places like the Freedom Center fit into a larger national conversation about any of the number of issues that W.E.B. Du Bois took up over his life?
I think the space is going to be able to elevate Black thought leadership and artistic expression, it's going to be able to provide conversations about timely issues, and an opportunity to reflect about the recognition of African Americans in social movements, and highlight, of course, the immense work of Du Bois and his collective connection to our past, present and future. I think it's very timely. People post-pandemic are looking for a place and spaces where they can connect safely to have dialogue and discussion, and also to realize that there is so much more that connects us in our interwoven fabric that is our democracy and our America. And so, I'm really excited to be able to be a part of the Berkshires community and to make sure that people know that W.E.B. Du Bois is from this great community, but that his footprint travels all around the world.
