On The Record with Rayvn Manuel

American culture and history is meant to be shared, according to senior application developer at the National Museum of African American History and Culture, and Army veteran Rayvn Manuel. She talks with Carolyn and Mark about some of her goals in her work at the Smithsonian and the importance of sharing our stories and understanding our history. Episode Table of Contents[00:36] On the Record With an Army Veteran [09:18] A Change of Name on the Record [16:35] Growing up in a Lot of Racism Episode Links and Resources On the Record With an Army VeteranCarolyn: We had the pleasure of speaking with https://www.linkedin.com/in/rayvnkm/ (Rayvn Manuel) in November of last year. She’s a senior application developer at the National Museum of African American History and Culture and an army veteran. Following our regular recorded episode, Rayvn spoke to us about her opinion on some topics surrounding our history and culture in America. I went to the museum. When I got there, I felt a little bit like an intruder. It’s like I had no right to be there. Can you talk about that? Have you talked to other people who have felt that? Rayvn: Yes, I have. One of my really good friends, Chelsea, we were talking. I make costumes, and I make costumes for Renaissance Fair. Carolyn: I want to see pictures. Rayvn: I don't even let my kids see pictures of me in my costumes, but I love it. I was making her costume and she was just telling me how uncomfortable she feels. She's not African American, she's Caucasian American. She was telling me how she is confused about what to do because she has so much empathy for what's going on with Black Lives Matter. There are certain people in the African American community that will embrace people who are trying to understand. Then there are also other people who actually will make you feel like you feel, Carolyn. It’s like, you'll never understand so don't even try to understand. She's like, "Well, what do I do? So I don't want to come like I'm condescending and I don't want to feel like w