Deborah Tulani Salahu-Din's areas of expertise include language, academic and creative writing, and the literary history of African Americans from the 18th through 21st centuries. As the curator of language and literature at the National Museum of African American History and Culture, Ms. Salahu-din collects literary objects and develops physical and digital exhibitions around themes of literature, education, and religion. She developed Chez Baldwin, a digital exhibition that explores the life and works of writer and activist James A. Baldwin. Through the lens of his house in the South of France, the exhibition underscores a collection of objects she acquired from Baldwin's Medieval villa in St. Paul de Vence. For the museum's website, she completed a series of blogs titled The Power of Poetry that chronicle the evolution of African American poetry from the 18th century to the present. The blog integrates an oral history interview she coordinated with Haki Madhubuti--a renown poet, publisher, and leading architect of the Black Arts Movement in Chicago during the 1960s and 1970s. As a language specialist, Ms. Salahu-Din spearheaded the development of the Museum's language manual, which offers guiding principles and recommendations on the use of inclusive and controversial language across the Museum's units and platforms. Over the years, Ms. Salahu-Din has edited and been published and quoted in numerous Smithsonian books and magazines.

Positions

• Curator, National Museum of African American History & Culture 2010 - 2025
• Consultant, Booker T. Washington Monument 2011 - 2012
• Senior Writer and Editor, Educational Testing Service 2007 - 2009
• Lecturer, Morgan State University 1997 - 2007
• Consultant, Reginal F. Lewis Museum 1998 - 2003

Geographic Focus

• France  Country
• United States of America  Country