Field Trip To Emancipation Park:

Reflecting on a grounding of family members in the  contributions of the formerly enslaved within the communities in which we reside.
December 2020



    Took my niece and nephews on a brief tour of the Black experience. Had them take turns reading the texts of the influential leaders that not only founded Emancipation Park, but went on to do even greater things within and outside the Third Ward community.

    I also took them to Freedmen's Town (4th Ward) and the Gregory school and spoke to them about the importance of what those formerly enslaved persons achieved even in the face of tremendous adversity. I elaborated on the bricks that make the road, the shotgun homes and the impending threat of displacement by outside development interests.

    I felt it was important to plant a seed that could illuminate how we are a community connected via perseverance through unimaginable obstacles and imperceivable obstructions. I wanted to impart that the struggle continues with each generation and that each leg of this relay should be easier than the next.

    I feel that they should know that we all share the responsibility to not only build towards a future for ourselves and our families, but for our global community as well.