Inward, Outward, Onward, Upward

Book excerpt: Inward, Outward, Onward, Upward: A Lifelong Journey Towards Anti-Oppression and Inclusion in Museums puts forth an incisive look at diversity, equity, accessibility, inclusion, anti-racism, pro-marginalized people and museums. It asks its readers—museum professionals, paraprofessionals, museum governing bodies, and museum academic programs—to practice the skills of looking inward, developing empathy, working collaboratively across the museum to address the systemic effects of unexamined oppression, and working tirelessly for justice and change. DEAI—or whatever permutation of initials one might apply to this complex, critical concern—is not just about who leads museums and what they look like. It’s about acknowledging and redressing harms to people who have been, and continue to be, unjustly neglected, unfairly treated, willfully minoritized, and historically hidden from museums. It’s about looking at both the systems and the people who have caused harm and seeking to ameliorate them. It’s about being generous enough, brave enough, and vulnerable enough to learn from other people about ourselves, our shared motivations, beliefs, and practices, and to heal our world from the inside out. Leading museum DEAI consultant Cecile Shellman here offers more tools to help us talk, think, and work together. Chapters cover such hard topics as “The Individual and the 21st Century Museum: How Museums Have Changed and Why Individuals Need to Adapt,” “Don’t We All Matter? Why Tolerance and Kindness are Not Enough,” and “Understanding the Relationship between Privilege and Power: Making Decisions and Keeping Promises about DEAI Work.” Shellman offers numerous worksheets and forms that can be used by individuals or in group training sessions.