JANUARY 2021
VOLUME 1 ISSUE 5
YEAR IN REVIEW 2020
The official newsletter of The Texas Freedom Colonies Project
TXFCP BIG WINS! The word is spreading about Freedom Colonies as The Texas Freedom Colonies Project (TM) was featured by The Cultural Landscape Foundation. Click HERE to learn more. Additionally, Schuyler Carter was featured on The #DismantlePreservation: (un)Official 40 Under 40 for being one of the many innovative voices pushing preservation in new directions. See the complete list HERE.
The State of the Black Church
Adopt -A- County Campaign The Adopt-A-County Campaign is the team's way of actively connecting with our volunteers and supporters. The goal of the TXFC Project Adopt-ACounty Campaign is to add all missing freedom colony stories and locations to the Atlas by asking descendants and the public to help us locate data. Our October 2020 Coffee Talk discussed and introduced the many ways that you can actively support the project by being a part of our new Adopt-A-County campaign. (You can view this recording on our YouTube channel.) One of the strategies that we used during this year to transition our face 2 face events online and adapt our programming was the introduction of virtual events via zoom. We were able to host a Juneteenth Happy Hour as well as our inaugural orientation for Adopt-A- County volunteers. This venture has been successful and we look forward to hosting more virtual events until we are able to gather in our beloved community events post-COVID. One of the major challenges during this past year of programming is our inability to attend on-site events and glean invaluable information and stories from our community partners.
In Memoriam: Clyde McQueen August 24th, 1926 - May 13th, 2020 Community and descendant partners are at the center of what we do. For our November Coffee Talk, "The State of The Black Church", the research team dedicated the broadcast to the late Clyde McQueen. The research team was joined by a number of special guests including Dr. Rebecca Hankins, Ms. Natearah Austin, and Dr. Tina Henderson whom all provide perspectives related to their own community work as well as church incorporation struggles, church legal issues, the role of the Black church in freedom colonies and the significance/importance of preserving black churches.
freedomcoloniesproject@gmail.com | www.thetexasfreedomcoloniesproject.com | http://bit.ly/txfcpatlastwo
NOVEMBER
Source: Clyde McQueen Collection, 1944-1999/Floyd & Louise Chapman Texas & Borderlands Collection
Coffee Talk Series Success!
DESCENDANT FLASHBACKS
TxFCP Launches a Monthly Live Show About Freedom Colonies and Grassroots Preservationists
In 2020, The Project launched a monthly Coffee Talk series that takes place via Facebook Live. During the Coffee Talks our project team members, partners, descendants, and everyone who wants to join, use this space to discuss and learn, inform and celebrate, teach and collaborate, all while building bonds and having fun!
Coffee Talks of 2020 June 2020 - Legacy of Juneteenth July 2020 - Museum Curation & Preserving Black Settlements August 2020- Honoring Our Ancestors October 2020- Adopt -A- County November 2020- The State of The Black Church December 2020- Calling Forth Freedom
All of our coffee talks are uploaded in their entirety to our YouTube Channel. This is all thanks to the Whiting Foundation, which is supporting our enhanced, online research through the Whiting Public Engagement Fellowship. For our most recent Coffee Talk, Dr. Naya Jones and Dr. Andrea Roberts talked about their latest collaboration. Dr. Jones bridges research + practice as a geographer, healing arts practitioner, cultural worker, and strategist.
DECEMBER
Dr. Andrea Roberts
Dr. Naya Jones
Note: Photos taken Pre-COVID
FEATURED TEAM P C F MEMBERS X T Natalie Franz
Joined Team: 2021 Hometown: Upstate New York Education: BA- Bard College Master’s Coursework- Cornell University Natalie Franz, a historic preservation planner, comes to Texas from Denver, Colorado. For the last decade she has been a planner for the Midwest Region of the National Park Service - whose 60+ parks range from Middle Woodland period burial mounds to prominent Civil Rights sites. Natalie hopes her skills and enthusiasm will be an asset to the Texas Freedom Colonies Project. Natalie enjoys walks, talks, and historic sites.
Valentina Aduen
Joined Team: 2020 Hometown: Barranquilla, Colombia Education: BA- Universidad Autonoma del Caribe Master’s-Fairfield University Valentina is a 2nd-year Communication doctoral student and co-convener of the Texas A&M Latinx Studies Working Group. Her research focuses on mobility justice, exploring how place and mobility construct race and identity. She is interested in rhetoric, media, and the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT's) in society, as she engages with the experiences of immigrants, displaced populations, vulnerable populations, Latinx, Chicanx, Black, and Indigenous people. We look forward to all that Valentina continues to bring to the team.
freedomcoloniesproject@gmail.com | www.thetexasfreedomcoloniesproject.com | http://bit.ly/txfcpatlastwo
UPCOMING EVENTS 2021 Conferences and Presentations Our 2021 schedule is rapidly filling up with events that are sure to be very exciting opportunities for The Project! January January 22: Columbia University January 27: UMD Preservation Conference February February 3: Real Places Conference (Learn More HERE) February 3: Osher Map Library Lecture February 5: ASLA Racial Justice Webinar February 13: CHC Symposium at TAMU February 25: TxFCP x BHM Coffee Talk March March 11: UPenn Student Design Justice Conference March 25: Texas A&M Race, Identity, & Social Equity (RISE) Conference March TBD: Adopt A County Virtual Meet-Up April April 7: Black Ecologies Conference (Arizona State, JT Roane) April 16: Tulane Preservation Policy Conference April 17: Edges University of North Texas Lecture May May 5-7: APA National Planning Conference
Send us information about your events, FB pages or websites! News and Media Mentions Decipher City Blog, highlighted the rewarding community outreach efforts of The Project in Crowdsourcing Heritage: The Texas Freedom Colonies Project, . (January 31, 2020) We were in the New York Times! "7 Things to Do this Weekend" (June 18 2020). "How to Celebrate Juneteenth in N.Y.C." New York Times. (June 19 2020). "11 Ways to Celebrate Juneteenth in NYC" 6sqft. (June 19 2020). "Chronicling Black Resistance to Disaster." MIT News. (June 24 2020). "Andrea Roberts is Working to Define What Free Black Space Is." The Texas Observer. (July 23 2020). "The City Planners' Case for Defunding the Police." Bloomberg CityLab. (August 6 2020).
Reading List Publications Juneteenth Reading List (June 2020) Social Justice & Inclusion in Historic Preservation: A Bibliography (July 2020) Texas Freedom Colonies: A Bibliography (July 2020)
Academic Publication Roberts, A.R. (2020). Preservation without Representation: Making CLG Programs Vehicles for Inclusive Leadership, Historic Preservation, and Engagement. Societies, 10(3), 60. Jennifer Blanks, Alexander Abuabara, Andrea Roberts, and Joy Semien (2021) Preservation at the Intersections: Patterns of Disproportionate Multihazard Risk and Vulnerability in Louisiana's Historic African American Cemeteries | Environmental Justice
Reclaiming Spaces and Places Dr. Roberts was a part of the "Reclaiming Spaces and Places" Session during the annual grassroots (un)conference with Next City and BlackSpace. The theme for 2020's virtual conference was "reclaiming" and its goal was to "position BIPOC urbanists, designers, and activists as defiant catalysts for liberation and equity." (Next City 2020). You can view the video of Dr. Roberts' session HERE.
freedomcoloniesproject@gmail.com | www.thetexasfreedomcoloniesproject.com | http://bit.ly/txfcpatlastwo
Take Action! What is the Texas Freedom Colonies Project? The Texas Freedom Colonies Project is an educational, social justice initiative dedicated to preserving the heritage of Texas' historic African American settlements, and the planners and preservationists that made them possible. We are researchers who map disappearing places and cocreate resilience strategies with endangered communities.
DONATE! https://give.am/TexasFreedomColoniesProject
How can you help us? Submit a Story Submit a freedom colony or memory by accessing our surveys either on paper or online here. Use the "Share your story" tab on the Atlas to access the survey where you can input your story, information, photos, videos, and locations. For assistance, contact us at freedomcoloniesproject@gmail.com or watch our instructional YouTube here.
You can now send us donations electronically through the Texas A&M Foundation portal! Scan the QR code above or click on the link!
Thank you to our supporters!
Spread the Word Follow us on all our social media channel and share our information with friends, family, and colleagues. Join our Advisory Board The board is a group of volunteers with expertise that can help descendants and the Project do its work. You must send a resume and 2-3 paragraphs explaining why you think you should be considered.
.... AND THOSE UNAMED BUT STILL APPRECIATED!
Want to use our logo or our research? If you are an affiliate site or project and would like to use our Atlas, its images, or our logo - please contact us for permission or cite us. Fill out a request form Due to the large volume of requests we receive, we have created a form in which you can ask to form a partnership with the project, learn about our activities, or volunteer. You can access the Google Form here. Did we miss something? If you mentioned us in an article, post, or video, please let us know so we can add it to our list of media mentions!
freedomcoloniesproject@gmail.com | www.thetexasfreedomcoloniesproject.com | http://bit.ly/txfcpatlastwo