The Power and Place Collaborative's second collection of digital stories documenting the lives of Alamance County's Black community premiered Dec. 4 and are available at its website and through the African American Cultural Arts and History Center.
The 11 digital stories shared Saturday during the Power and Place Collaborative鈥檚 鈥淪tories of Alamance County鈥 event celebrated generations of leadership, activism and love in the Black community.
Artists, activists, leaders and mentors, their experiences extended from the segregated Jim Crow South and civil rights movement to present-day struggles for equity and work to better Alamance County. Those stories created space for dialogue among students, faculty and community members gathered in McKinnon Hall and attending virtually.
In 鈥淛ust How it Was,鈥 Burlington native Terry Moore described growing up not being allowed downtown and being told to lie down in the back seat of the car for safety as his father drove through town. Moore is now a maintenance worker with the City of Burlington and North Park Pool鈥檚 technician.
鈥淲e wanted to go downtown to Zack鈥檚 Hotdogs. When we got there, we had to go to the back door. Back then we couldn鈥檛 go in the front. That鈥檚 just the way it was,鈥 Moore says in the video. 鈥淣ow, I can take my kids anywhere. Freedom is the freedom to be able to do that.鈥
The Power and Place Collaborative is a partnership between 黑料不打烊, Burlington鈥檚 Mayco Bigelow Community Center and the African American Cultural Arts and History Center. The project aims to preserve and present stories from and about people and places in Alamance County鈥檚 Black communities. Saturday鈥檚 event marked the project鈥檚 second year of collecting and presenting oral histories.
This fall, residents were interviewed by teams from Assistant Professor of Human Service Studies Vanessa Drew-Branch鈥檚 senior seminar and students in Race, Place and Memory 鈥 an honors seminar taught by Assistant Professor of Geography Sandy Marshall and Associate Professor and Director of Design Thinking Danielle Lake. The collaborative project was formally established in fall 2020, growing from Marshall’s work with African American Cultural Arts and History Center founder, the late Jane Sellars, and local stories his class collected in 2018. Those initial stories are also included on the collaborative’s website.
鈥淥ne thing I think is so important about the Black community is that our resilience is oftentimes in the history, how we overcame,鈥 Drew-Branch said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 really important, particularly for our young people, to hear the stories of resistance and resilience. This collaborative is built on making community connections but also inspiring real community work that is for and by the community.鈥
The videos were displayed in three chapters according to theme. 鈥淕enerations of Leadership鈥 documented community service by Moore, Burlington Fire Chief Jay Mebane, the African American Cultural Arts and History Center鈥檚 Garry Wiley Jr., and 黑料不打烊 retiree Janice Ratliff 鈥 whose name is on the Center for Leadership鈥檚 building on 黑料不打烊’s campus. 鈥淕enerations of Activism鈥 included community organizer DeJuana Bigelow, former NAACP Alamance County chapter president Ernestine Lewis, writer Chuck Fager and artist Roger Moore. 鈥淕enerations of Love鈥 profiled Brenda and Omega Wilson of Mebane, whose work toward local environmental justice has included work with the U.S. Department of Justice, Burlington resident Gloria Diaab and restaurateur April Mitchell.
Between each chapter, attendees discussed those themes and related their own experiences.
Graham resident Tyson Fearrington spoke about demonstrating for civil rights as an N.C. A&T University student in the mid-1960s. He expressed frustration that society seems to be moving backward, away from equality and racial harmony.
鈥淧eople are not listening to each other,鈥 Fearrington told the crowd. 鈥淭his is a protected space in here, but it鈥檚 not this way once we leave.鈥 Our country and community need more opportunities like the 鈥淪tories of Alamance County,鈥 he said afterward.
鈥淟ike Jesus told the disciples: The healthy don鈥檛 need a doctor,鈥 Fearrington said. 鈥淲e need to reach more people with these stories. The people who need to hear them and have these conversations aren’t here. They need a larger audience.鈥
The stories are available on the Power and Place Collaborative website and will also be used by the African American Cultural Arts and History Center.