A powerful shared experience– with the Northwest African American Museum at its heart–  brings Plymouth tenants and staff together in a new way.

 

Story and photos by Danielle Montrose, Housing Case Manager, Plymouth Housing Group

 

We had such a wonderful Black History Month this year at Plymouth. Our first event was a trip to the Northwest African American Museum. Social Services Program Manager Mycie Lubin and I went with three Plymouth tenants.

Click here to read Mycie’s story about other Black History Month events at Plymouth, including Renton City Councilmember Greg Taylor’s powerful keynote address.

Tenant Lisa G. showed up first, and she was just lovely.  She got in the van and greeted me so softly I had to lean in to hear her. But she didn’t have a timid voice: her voice was strong and soft all at once.

Chris came next, and he started chatting me up right away.  Asked what building I worked in and what the plan for the day was going to be.

Then MJ got in the van, and he was just brimming with energy and excitement.

When we arrived, we walked together, made small talk, and took photos at the museum entrance.

As soon as we crossed the threshold, everyone became quiet. We looked at photos and read stories about the African American community that helped shape today’s Northwestern African American communities.

 

 

We chatted in hushed voices about the beautiful handwriting in the journal of a young man who lived on a farm in Eastern Washington. As we silently got lost in his words, someone in the group motioned to us to come see the photo of Jimi Hendrix when he was just a young boy playing in a band in the Central District.

Once again we grew silent, each of us lost in our own thoughts about this man, that moment in time, and the moment in time we were experiencing as a group and as individuals.

As time wore on, the group would separate and meet up with one another again. We commented on the Fat Albert lithograph in front of us and discussed how much we loved that cartoon. We wondered out loud what had happened to Michael Jackson as we looked upon the Jackson 5 lithographs– and we all had an opinion on the topic.

We made our way slowly down the timeline on the wall of the museum, again caught up in our own thoughts about what we were reading, seeing, and digesting.

There is a bill of sale at the museum. Even though I have been there before and I have seen this piece of paper, it still pulled a visceral response of overwhelming sadness from me.

 

Lisa was standing near me reading the same thing I had been reading. I realized that no matter how sad I was feeling, I could never ever fathom what she must be feeling as an African American woman gazing at a bill of sale that probably looked very close to, if not exactly like, one that had been used to sell one of her family members at some point during this time in history.

 

I suddenly felt like an intruder in that moment. I moved on because I felt it was almost disrespectful to linger any longer while she was taking in that horrible piece of paper that represented the beginning of an oppression that continues on to this very day.

The last exhibit was pretty intense.  The main focus was a blackboard wall. Covering it, in chalk, were racial slurs, comments, and just plain ridiculous things that had been said to people of color at some point. Audience members were encouraged to take a piece of chalk and write a word, phrase, or slur that had been slung at them in their own lives.

Unfortunately, both Mycie and I were able to add our sentence and phrase to the wall. None of the tenants wrote anything. But each one stood there and took it all in— every last horrible word of it.

We agreed that we would love to see something similar to this piece at a future Black History Month event at Plymouth.

We were much quieter on our way out than we had been on our way in. There were no parting photos taken.  Everyone was processing what they had just seen and how that had made them feel.

But then we arrived at Ezell’s, and all of us got an instant spirit lift!  Chris, Lisa, and MJ were so excited (and so was I)! The five of us broke bread in the car and the chatting and laughter ensued.

We talked about the museum and the different exhibits and what our thoughts were.  We discussed upcoming events and some really great documentaries about Black History.

As we dropped the tenants off, I asked if I could record a quote from each of them. They all graciously agreed. Here’s what they told me:

“Learning is a new beginning. “ (MJ)

“Thanks a lot!  Everything was fantastic, and it was a very enjoyable outing and a good dinner!” (Lisa G)

“February is Black History month, and I had a nice time at the African American History Museum. Thank you. Thanks again!” (Chris)

As the recording comes to an end, you hear Mycie and I thanking the tenants for coming and you hear the tenants thanking us for taking them. Just before it cuts off, MJ says, “Don’t work so hard.”

All I can think about when I hear him saying that is how hard each and every one of our tenants at Plymouth have had to work to get to where they are today. I think about how hard all people of color have had to work, and how hard they are still working, to be treated as equals in this country that boasts about freedoms and justice for all, but hasn’t worked hard enough to make that a truth for all the people in this land.

 

I think about how lucky I am to have a choice not to work so hard if I don’t want to. Something I see as just part of my routine, such as eating, brushing my teeth, getting dressed, or hopping on the bus would become a job if I didn’t have the money for a toothbrush or toothpaste, if I had to find a meal by making one from the scraps of others, if my clothes had become stiff with dirt and were wearing apart at the seams, and if I knew when I got on the bus I would be paralyzed by fear and anxiety because my brain had a chemical imbalance which was no fault of my own.

 

I appreciate MJ for saying that. But I hope he realizes that because he has worked hard, and because all of Plymouth’s tenants at one point or another have worked hard, and because they will continue to work hard, and because there will be new tenants that work hard, I too will work as hard as I can right alongside them!!

Never forget…..BLACK HISTORY IS AMERICAN HISTORY!