DTU JOURNAL ENTRY 1: CONTINUING THE FREEDOM FIGHTING LEGACY OF MY ANCESTORS

Taylor Burris (NNPA/DTU Journalism Fellow)

Sitting on an old couch in North Carolina, reflecting on a recent immersion trip to Detroit for the National Newspaper Publishers Association’s “Discover The Unexpected” Journalism Fellowship program, I spoke with my partner Ayron Lewallen about our experiences at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History.

“In school that history is left out or they try and glamorize slavery and what it really was. So, to be able to experience the museum and look at some of the hidden facts and hidden knowledge that I wouldn’t have known if I had not gone to the museum, was really good,” said Lewallen. “And seeing other people’s reactions and seeing how important our history is and seeing how necessary that museum is for telling our stories was cool.”

The life-sized wax figures and the anguished screams of our ancestors that moaned and creaked from the museum’s speakers, recreated the most brutal depictions of American slavery, and gave us, as young, Black journalist, a powerful reflection of our history that also included exhibits that showed our birthright as kings and queens in Africa. The museum tour not only forced us to see how much we have overcome, but also of how far we still have to go.

For me, as an African American woman, my reaction could only be described in one word: heartbreaking. As we slowly walked from Africa, through the slave trade and the Middle Passage, through more than 300 years of American slavery all the way to Motown, I realized that, today, in a lot of ways, we are losing ground in the Black community when it comes to the gains we’ve made towards equity in American society. From high rates of childhood poverty, to the lack of access to high-quality schools, the mass incarceration of Black men and women, the murder of unarmed Blacks by police, and the inaccurate portrayal of Blacks in the media, sometimes it feels like we’re going through the Middle Passage, again. We have been forced back into an ocean of uncertainty, unsure of whether the future holds promise or destruction.

Our tour guide showed us a sepia picture of a Black man wearing a belled iron collar paired with an iron rod constraining his left leg. The possibility of one day making it back to freedom kept him running towards that freedom. No matter the setback, the beatings, the hounds that tracked him mercilessly, or his physical chains, he kept on running. I wonder if the Black community, today, has lost its will to fight for our freedom.

Our ancestors fought hard for their offspring to obtain the freedom that they could only dream of and because they wanted to secure our liberty, they risked their lives tirelessly. In 2017, we have settled for walking in a conventional life, with tainted ideologies obstructing us from seeing the truth that our minds are enslaved.

With the emergence of unconventional politicians, rapidly advancing technology, secret atomic bombs, we still allow ourselves to be distracted by pop culture and well-crafted media narratives, but failing to pay attention to the real issues that have the power to destroy the Black community.

According to a study conducted by The Guardian police killed 1,092 citizens in 2016 and out of that number more than 250 were African American; that is 250 too many. As a marginalized community, it is crucial that Black people focus on addressing the issues that perpetuate our oppression, especially those issues that greatly affect our children. This starts with educating African American families about the history of the atrocities that we suffered and reminding everyone of our royal roots and rich history in Africa.

As a Black, female journalist I will continue to fight for my freedom with or without my chains, because every day that I don’t fight is a day that my ancestors fought and died for nothing.

Taylor Burris is a 2017 NNPA “Discover The Unexpected” Journalism Fellow and a student at Spelman College. This summer, Taylor is writing for The Carolinian, a member newspaper of the NNPA. Follow Taylor on Twitter @tburris24.