Known for her role as the matriarch, Clair Huxtable, in the legendary series, "The Cosby Show," Phylicia Rashad has taken over a new role. She is now the ambassador of the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund (AACHAF), "a $25 million initiative launched by the National Trust for Historic Preservation in partnership with the Ford Foundation, the JPB Foundation, and the Open Society Foundation," according to Black Enterprise.
The project is aimed at preserving African American historical sites through a program called The National Trust's Hands-On Preservation Experience. Chartered by Congress nearly 70 years ago, the Hands-On Preservation Experience has several years of experience leading the preservation of African American historic sites and increasing opportunities for underrepresented communities in the professional field of historical preservation. The program is also targeted towards teaching untold bits of history to Black youth. In addition to preserving Black history, the fund's goal also includes researching how resolving present-day issues that disproportionately affect Black communities is linked with the preservation of historic sites.
Rashad will join academic, arts, government and business leaders on an advisory council for the fund led by chairman Darren Walker, president of the Ford Foundation.
"Without a thorough reckoning with the complex and difficult history of our country, especially when it comes to race, we will not be able to overcome intolerance, injustice, and inequality," said Walker. "We have an opportunity with this Fund to broaden the American narrative to reflect our remarkably rich and diverse history."
Check out why Rashad supports the initiative below: