
The Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC ) was established by an act of Congressin 2003. If you read the article in last Sunday's Washington Post, then you know the museum has now chosen an architectural team for its yet-to-be completed building.
Since a museum is a cultural institution even when it does not have a permanent home, not having a building has not stopped the museum from mounting exhibitions and collecting artifacts
On Monday, October 19, the NMAAHC will host “Sweet Thunder: The Life and Times of Sugar Ray Robinson—A Conversation with Author Wil Haygood”. Haygood, who is also a Washington Post columnist, has written other books including King of the Cats: The Life and Times of Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. and In Black and White: The Life of Sammy Davis, Jr.
This discussion between Haygood and Kevin Merida, an author who works as an editor at the Washington Post, will be held in the Hirshhorn Museum's Ring Auditorium. The event begins at 6:30pm. It is free and seating is available on a first-come, first-served basis.
Lest there be any confusion: Sugar Ray Robinson is the boxer who was Sugar Ray before Sugar Ray Leonard, a boxing descendent of Robinson's who adopted the same nickname.
Robinson, born Walker Smith in 1921, won 175 of the 200 matches he fought in his 26 year career. He also triumphed despite racial discrimination and his flamboyant lifestyle foreshadowed those of today's celebrity athletes. Yet, despite his fame and fortune, Robinson died penniless in 1989.