CityLine: Black history, Black futures

LESSONS OF BLACK HISTORY MONTH FORWARD, HONORING THE DIVERSE VOICES THAT HAVE SHAPED THIS COUNTRY AND THE STORIES THAT SHAPE OUR FUTURE. GOOD MORNING EVERYONE. I’M JESSICA BROWN. AS THE UNITED STATES APPROACHES 250 YEARS OF AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE, A POWERFUL EFFORT IS TAKING SHAPE RIGHT HERE IN BOSTON. IT’S CALLED EVERYONE 250. IT’S A CAMPAIGN DESIGNED TO MAKE SURE THE FULL AMERICAN STORY IS TOLD, NOT JUST THE FAMILIAR NAMES FROM HISTORY BOOKS, BUT THE ARTISTS, ORGANIZERS, EDUCATORS, AND EVERYDAY PEOPLE WHOSE VOICES HAVE GONE OFTEN UNHEARD AND UNTOLD. MORE THAN 100 ORGANIZATIONS ACROSS MASSACHUSETTS ARE PART OF THIS MOVEMENT. AND WHILE IT HONORS THE PAST, THIS CAMPAIGN REALLY HELPS US IMAGINE THE FUTURE. JOINING US THIS MORNING ARE EVERYONE 250 CO-CHAIRS IMARI PARIS JEFFRIES AND JENNY OSTERHOUT. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR BEING WITH US. THANK YOU FOR HAVING US. I’M EXCITED TO TALK ABOUT THIS BECAUSE THIS VISION OF EVERYONE 250 IS SUPER IMPORTANT. HOW DID IT ALL COME TOGETHER? WELL, THE FIRST PERSONS THAT THAT, YOU KNOW, REALLY ORGANIZED THIS WERE JANEY AND OUR DEAR FRIEND DAVID HOUSE, WHO AT THE TIME WAS AT EMERSON COLLEGE. AND YOU KNOW, DAVID’S FROM TENNESSEE. AND SO WHEN, WHEN YOU PUT TWO TENNESSEE BOYS TOGETHER WITH JANEY, YOU KNOW, TROUBLES GOING TO START. SO THAT THAT WAS THE IDEA. WE KNEW WE NEEDED TO GET SOMETHING STARTED TWO YEARS AGO, THE SEMIQUINCENTENNIAL WAS STARTED, AND WE KNEW THAT THERE WERE GOING TO BE STORIES OF TRIANGLE HATS AND WHITE SOCKS AND BLACK STORIES WERE NOT GOING TO BE INCLUDED IN THE CELEBRATIONS. AND WE WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT THAT THAT HAPPENED WHEN YOU CAME TOGETHER AND SAYING, OKAY, WE WANT TO DO THIS. WHAT VOICES, WHAT LOCATIONS, WHAT STORIES WERE YOU LIKE? OKAY, FIRST ON THE LIST, WE HAVE TO GET THESE PEOPLE INVOLVED. OH, WOW. THAT’S HARD. TO BE HONEST. I THINK OUR FIRST THOUGHT WAS THE ARTIST AND THE STORYTELLERS. SO IT WASN’T NECESSARILY WRAPPED AROUND NAMES INITIALLY. INITIALLY IT WAS LIKE, HOW CAN WE GROUND OURSELVES? OUR MULTIPLE COMMUNITIES, OUR CULTURES, OUR SUBCULTURES, HIDDEN CULTURES, OR ERASED CULTURES? AND HOW CAN WE RALLY THEM AROUND ART AND THE IMPORTANCE OF ART AND NARRATIVE AND EXPRESSION AND CREATIVE EXPRESSION. AND THAT WAS KIND OF I THINK OUR VERY FIRST THOUGHT WAS LIKE, HOW DO WE MAKE SURE THAT OUR STORIES ARE TOLD AND THAT WE’RE RECOGNIZING THE POWER OF ARTS AND NARRATIVE WHICH WE SEE NOW, LIKE OUR CURRENT ADMINISTRATION IS ATTACKING ARTS AND NARRATIVES? SO I THINK THAT MAYBE OUR ANCESTORS WERE WORKING THROUGH US EVEN THEN. LIKE, MAKE SURE THAT YOU’RE PROTECTING ARTS AND NARRATIVES. YEAH, ABSOLUTELY. YOU KNOW, AS YOU’RE PUTTING THIS ALL TOGETHER AND YOU’RE CREATING THIS INITIATIVE, YOU KNOW, WHAT IS YOUR HOPE THAT HAPPENS FROM THIS WHEN FOLKS GET INVOLVED? WE HOPE THAT PEOPLE SEE A FULLER AMERICAN STORY, THAT THEY WHEN THEY THINK ABOUT WHAT IT MEANS TO CELEBRATE AMERICA, THAT THEY UNDERSTAND THAT THERE ARE MULTIPLE COLORS, MULTIPLE CULTURES, MULTIPLE PARTS OF THIS AMERICAN DEMOCRACY THAT WERE A PART OF MAKING THIS COUNTRY GREAT, THAT NOT EVERYONE’S AMERICAN STORY STARTED IN 1776, AND THAT THERE WERE MANY PEOPLE WHO WERE HERE THAT COULD NOT GET THEIR STORY INCLUDED IN THE MAINSTREAM NARRATIVE THAT THAT WE MOSTLY SEE WRITTEN IN HISTORY BOOKS, AND THAT IT WAS IMPORTANT FOR US TO ILLUMINATE THOSE STORIES THROUGH MARKERS, THROUGH A WEB PRESENCE, THROUGH STORYTELLING. AND JENNY, WHO IS AN AWARD WINNING JOURNALIST AND WHO HAS BEEN DOING THIS FOR YEARS THROUGH HER BEAUTIFUL RESISTANCE STORYTELLING ONLINE AND THROUGH THROUGH HER WRITING. WE WANTED TO ILLUMINATE THAT EVEN MORE BY INCLUDING 200 OTHER PARTNERS INTO THIS. BY CELEBRATING LOUD AND PROUD THROUGHOUT THE CITY. AND SO THERE’S GOING TO BE A LOT OF WAYS KNOX CANNON AND EVACUATION DAY IS COMING UP ON MARCH 17TH. WE CELEBRATED, YOU KNOW, AROUND SAINT PATRICK’S DAY, BUT WE WANT TO ALSO CELEBRATE BLACK HISTORY MONTH. IT’S THE 100TH ANNIVERSARY OF BLACK HISTORY MONTH, AND THAT IS A PART OF AMERICAN HISTORY. AND WE DID NOT WANT TO OVERLOOK THOSE THOSE HEROES AND SHEROES THAT MADE AMERICA GREAT. ABSOLUTELY. I KNOW A BIG PART OF EVERYONE. 250 IS YOUR MONUMENTS AND MARKERS INITIATIVE. YOU’RE INSTALLING PERMANENT MARKERS AND LOCATIONS AROUND THE STATE. WHAT ARE SOME OF THE LOCATIONS THAT WERE CHOSEN AND WHY? WELL, UNION CHURCH WAS ONE OF THE LOCATIONS THAT WE MOST RECENTLY COMMEMORATED. UNION IS ONE OF THE HISTORIC CHURCHES IN THE SOUTH END. IT WAS ONE OF THE FIRST NAACP CONFERENCES AND ONE OF THE LAST REMAINING HISTORIC BLACK CHURCHES IN IN THE SOUTH END, UNITED SOUTH END SETTLEMENT HOUSES IS ONE OF THE OTHER PLACES THE CHILDREN’S ART CENTER, ONE OF THE FIRST MULTICULTURAL ART CENTERS IN THE CITY. THERE IS THE W.E.B. DU BOIS MONUMENT THAT IS IN IN GREAT BARRINGTON. MANY PEOPLE DON’T REALIZE THAT DU BOIS, WHO IS THE FOUNDER OF THE NAACP, THE FIRST AFRICAN AMERICAN TO GRADUATE FROM HARVARD WITH A PHD, IS FROM MASSACHUSETTS. AND SO THAT IS THE SECOND MONUMENT THAT WE COLLABORATED WITH A GREAT GROUP OF LEADERS OUT IN WESTERN MASS. THERE’S A MARKER OUT THERE, THE UNBOUND MONUMENT. SO I SAW IT FLASH UP EARLIER, KING’S CHAPEL, TO COMMEMORATE THE ENSLAVED PEOPLE WHO WERE ENSLAVED BY THE PARISHIONERS OF THAT PARISH. THERE’S A MARKER TO COMMEMORATE THOSE FOLKS THERE, AND THERE’S 20 OTHER MONUMENTS AND MARKERS THAT WILL BE COMMEMORATED AND MEMORIALIZED. PERMANENT MARKERS. AND IT’S INTERACTIVE. RIGHT, FOLKS? A LOT OF PEOPLE AREN’T AWARE OF THESE LOCATIONS. YEAH, WE WANT TO LIFT THE WE WANT TO LIFT THE WORK OF DA ADAMS, WHO’S A BOSTON LEGEND AND A HISTORIAN. AND I MET DA OVER A DECADE AGO, AND HE WAS TALKING ABOUT HOW IMPORTANT AND NECESSARY IT WAS TO HAVE THIS TYPE OF MARKERS AND THIS TYPE OF PUBLIC RECOGNITION OF BLACK PEOPLE IN THEIR HISTORIES HERE. AND HE’S BEEN PROTECTING, COLLECTING, PRESERVING THIS INFORMATION FOR AS LONG AS HE’S BEEN WRITING AND BEING A HISTORIAN. AND IT’S REALLY ABOUT BEING A CORRECTIVE. AND AND ALSO AFFIRMING PEOPLE LIKE, WE’RE HERE, YOU KNOW, SO MANY PEOPLE WHO ARE NOT FROM MASSACHUSETTS, WHO ARE NOT FROM BOSTON, DON’T THINK WE EXIST HERE. THEY’RE LIKE, WHAT DO YOU MEAN? BLACK PEOPLE IN BOSTON, RIGHT? AND IT’S LIKE, WE’VE ALWAYS BEEN HERE. OUR HISTORY IS HERE. CHANGE MAKING BY OUR PEOPLE, LIKE THE BOYS. PHILLIS WHEATLEY, LIKE ALL THAT WORK IS HERE. HARRIET TUBMAN, SO MUCH. AND THEN EVEN WHEN YOU GET INTO POP CULTURE OR THE NAACP, THERE’S SO MANY FIRSTS THAT ARE HERE THAT HAPPENED HERE. AND I THINK DART WITH WITH EVERYONE 250 AND AMARI AND SO MANY LEADERS ACROSS OUR COMMUNITY ARE WORKING TOGETHER AS A COLLECTIVE TO ENSURE THAT WE MARK THESE SPACES. WE TAKE THIS SPACE AND AS WE’RE TAKING SPACE AND MAKING SPACE, WE ARE WITNESSING OUR STORIES AND ALSO MAKING SURE THAT THE NEXT GENERATION OF CHANGE MAKERS CAN SEE THEMSELVES AND KNOW WHAT’S POSSIBLE AND DREAM EVEN BIGGER. YEAH, AND IT’S REALLY IMPORTANT. LIKE YOU SAID, SO MUCH HISTORY HERE. IT’S JUST NOT AS LOUD AS OTHER IMPORTANT THINGS THAT HAVE HAPPENED HERE IN THIS CITY. SO LIKE YOU WERE SAYING, MAKING THIS LOUD AND PROUD, MARKING THESE LOCATIONS, MARKING THESE MONUMENTS SO IMPORTANT, I WANT TO TALK ABOUT SOMETHING ELSE IMPORTANT PART OF THIS MOVEMENT THAT YOU GUYS ARE HAVING, EVERYONE. 250 THE LIVING ARCHIVE, WHERE FOLKS CAN CONTRIBUTE HERE. IT’S AN EFFORT TO FILL IN SOME OF THE GAPS IN BOSTON’S HISTORY. WHAT KIND OF STORIES ARE YOU LOOKING FOR FOR PART OF THIS LIVING ARCHIVE? WELL, YOU KNOW, I’LL. YEAH, WE’RE JUST TALKING ABOUT. OKAY. YEAH. SO THE LIVING ARCHIVE IS GOING TO BE STORYTELLING THROUGH AN ESSAY, STORYTELLING THROUGH REPORTAGE, STORYTELLING THROUGH POETRY, PHOTOGRAPHY, PORTRAITURE, PAINTING, GRAFFITI. WE RECOGNIZE ALL AUDIO LIKE FILM. WE RECOGNIZE ALL WAYS IN WHICH OUR COMMUNITIES HAVE TOLD STORIES THROUGH MULTIPLE LANGUAGES, THROUGH MUSIC, THROUGH SOUND. AND WE ARE DOING IT THAT WAY. AT THE GALA, WE HAD MUSIC, WE HAD ART, WE HAD A BOOKSHOP. AND AS THIS GOES ON, WE’RE GOING TO HAVE LIVE STORYTELLING. WE’RE GOING TO HAVE ART SHOWS THAT WILL BE CURATED TO TELL OUR STORIES FROM PEOPLE FROM ALL OVER THE COMMUNITY. AND WHEN I SAY PEOPLE FROM ALL OVER THE COMMUNITY, I TRULY MEAN THAT IT’S NOT JUST THE ACADEMICS AND THE HISTORIANS, IT’S THE EVERYDAY PEOPLE. IT’S THE GRAFFITI ARTIST, IT’S THE SPOKEN WORD POET. IT’S YOUR GRANNY WHO YOU ARE RECORDING, YOU KNOW, WITH YOUR PHONE, AND SHE’S TELLING YOU WHAT THE RECIPES ARE BECAUSE IT COULD BE AS SIMPLE AS, WHAT IS THIS RECIPE? WHAT IS THIS FOOD THAT WE’VE BEEN COOKING? AND OUR, YOU KNOW, HAITIAN KITCHEN IN BOSTON FOR GENERATIONS NOW. AND IT’S ABOUT THOSE NUANCES, THOSE NUANCES THAT. SORT OF TEAR AWAY AT THE OTHERING THAT HAPPENS. AND THAT’S REALLY WHAT WE’RE TRYING TO DO WITH THE LIVING ARCHIVE. SO THEY’LL BE A LOT OF DIFFERENT TYPES OF EVENTS AS WE CURATE, AND THEY’LL LIVE IN A LOT OF DIFFERENT PLACES ALL OVER THE CITY. AND HOPEFULLY, YOU KNOW, OUR BIG GOAL IS TO EVENTUALLY TURN THIS INTO A COFFEE TABLE BOOK. THAT’S AMAZING. I’M IT’S IT’S REALLY INCREDIBLE WHAT YOU GUYS ARE DOING BECAUSE IT REALLY MAKES PEOPLE FEEL SEEN. THOSE ARE STORIES, RIGHT? YOUR GRANDMOTHER’S, YOU KNOW, RECIPE. AND THOSE THINGS CAN GET LOST OFTENTIMES. BUT THEY REALLY SHAPE WHERE WE ARE TODAY. YOU HAVE SEVERAL EVENTS IN THE WORKS FOR LATER THIS YEAR REALLY QUICKLY. HOW CAN THEY FIND THEM? THEY CAN FIND THEM ON EMBRACE’S WEBSITE AND EMBRACE BOSTON.ORG OR AT EVERYONE TO 50.ORG AS WELL. WE’RE GOING TO PUT ALL THE INFORMATION ON OUR WEBSITE WCVB.COM. AMARI JANE, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR BEING HERE AND FOR DOING THIS IMPORTANT WORK. WE REALLY APPRECIATE IT. WELL, COMING UP, OVERLOOKED HISTORY AT YOUR FINGERTIPS. THE NEW IMMERSIVE EXPERIENCE BRINGING AFRICAN AMERICAN REVOLUTIONARY FIGURES TO LIFE.