Banners of 212 Black women leaders are lining lamp posts for two miles along Blue Hill Avenue in Roxbury. This is the largest public art project in Boston’s history. In celebration of Women’s History Month, people from the community gathered on March 9th to honor these women. Among the women featured on the banners are Margaret Burnham, first African American woman judge in Massachusetts and University Distinguished Professor, Northeastern School of Law, and De Ama Battle, renowned dancer and choreographer also honored in our project Black Artists of Boston.

The celebration began with a mile-long march along Blue Hill Avenue; participants took turns shouting out the names of the women on the banners, followed by the crowd behind echoing the phrase, “A Black woman who led!” Along the march route, the group paused to watch the performances of young cheerleaders from the Neighborhood House Charter School.

The march ended at the Thelma D. Burns building on Warren Street (named after community activist Thelma Burns also honored on the banners along Blue Hill Avenue). Replicas of the portraits from the banners decorated a large gathering space. Marchers, community members and some of the women honored on the banners and their families gathered for a celebration that included moving speeches by organizers, honorees, and community leaders as well as lively performances of poetry, music, and dance. Many people took photos of and with the banners. Some were enthusiastically filling out cards with the question, “Who are the Black women who lead in your life?”

The event opened up with a grounding practice that invited the audience to repeat affirmations. Young girls eagerly repeated the words “I am free. I am a presence. I am enough,” led by Dzidzor Azaglo. The event featured the voices of Ed Gaskin, founder of the Black Women Lead Project and Executive Director of Grove Hall Main Streets, Jessica Reynoso, organizer of the event, and many other speakers. Old friends embraced as they reunited, and admired the performances while enjoying the refreshments catered by Everybody Gotta Eat. Reckonings Multimedia Editor Co-op Jeta Perjuci shot and edited a highlight video of the march and celebration.

The event and the public art project along Blue Hill aim to recognize Black women leaders who helped shape Boston and inspire members of the community. This was certainly the case during the march and program on the Saturday morning of March 9th. Join us in celebrating the black women who have contributed and shaped Boston.

Who are the Black women who lead in your life?

The project and march are a collaboration between Grove Hall Main Streets, Reckonings Project, Northeastern University Archives, and Northeastern City and Community Affairs. You can find out more about the Black Women Lead Project here.

To celebrate its 75th anniversary, a joint team from Freedom House and Reckonings has been working on The Freedom House 75th Artifact Project. This is an intergenerational collaboration that will authentically share the stories of folks who have made a significant impact on the Boston community – inspired by their work at Freedom House. Today, Freedom House is a non-profit organization supporting Black and Brown students to achieve academic success, to develop as leaders, and to give back to community by providing a safe space for learning and community-building.

By preparing questions, conducting and recording interviews, and selecting quotes, Freedom House junior coaches Alex Mella and Kevin Williams see first-hand the significant impact that Freedom House members have made on the community around them. For the entire team it has been moving to see how inspired the interview partners are by their exchanges with Alex and Kevin.

The project photographer, Nicola Webbe, as well as Alex and Kevin, actively co-create with the Reckonings team to figure out the logistics of the project – from building an in-depth timeline of the history of Freedom House with Reckonings doctoral assistant Halima Haruna; to refining the process of audio-recording with doctoral student Dipa Desai; to designing pages for online and print publication with Greg Lord, Dzidzor Azaglo, Halima Haruna, Jeta Perjuci, and Uta Poiger.

This hands-on work requires hours of research, patience, teamwork, and creativity. It is a great learning and intergenerational experience that explores the history and impact of Freedom House, the influence of the Snowden family, and the relationship within the Grove Hall, Roxbury, and Dorchester communities. Together with Freedom House scholars and staff, we imagine a living project that will engage community members during this year of celebration and well beyond to be a witness to the impact of Freedom House and the people who are shaping our communities.

With support from the Mellon Foundation, we are able to launch the Angel David Nieves Memorial Mellon Scholarship, which provides funding for Master’s students in the College of Social Sciences and Humanities at Northeastern to pursue an internship opportunity, working about 300 hours over the summer at one of our Reckonings-affiliated partner organizations or with a mentor. Our dear colleague, collaborator, and friend Dr. Angel David Nieves passed away on December 5, 2023, and this named scholarship is one small way to honor and remember his brilliant work, especially with students, community organizations, and in the digital and public humanities.

Reckonings welcomed guest speaker Judith Opoku-Boateng, Senior Archivist at the J. H. Kwabena Nketia Archives of the Institute of African Studies, University of Ghana, as she explored why and how the preservation of institutional and community heritage as well as collective memory is paramount. Opoku-Boateng spoke about the intersection of archiving practices and community engagement, emphasizing the vital role of inclusive approaches in sustaining cultural legacy. Drawing from personal experience and best practices, she delved into strategies for collaboratively archiving cultural materials while fostering meaningful community involvement. From grassroots initiatives to institutional partnerships, Opoku-Boateng highlighted the power of participatory archiving in safeguarding diverse narratives and fostering a sense of belonging. Furthermore, navigating complexities of representation, and ensuring inclusivity in archival processes, she spoke about her goal of advancing the discourse on community-driven archiving as a transformative force in cultural preservation efforts.

In collaboration with Reckonings, students in Dr. Denise Khor’s Fall 2023 course, Asian American Cinemas developed a publicly available timeline following the history of our partner organization Asian American Resource Workshop (AARW). AARW is a member-led, nonprofit organization representing pan-Asian communities in Greater Boston. Since their founding in 1979, AARW has worked to create “a future that honors all Asian Pacific Islander communities” through “political education, creative expression, and issue-based and neighborhood organizing.” (Learn more about AARW here: www.aarw.org.) AARW’s archives are held by Northeastern University Archives and Special Collections. The students’ research and technical process was guided by Dr. Khor, Arpita Joyce and Kevin Lam from AARW, Greg Lord from Reckonings, Molly Brown from NU Archives and Special Collections, and service-learning teaching assistant Cailin Roles. Dr. Khor’s students worked with both the Omeka S archive platform and TimelineJS, creating an interactive timeline that highlights important dates and pairs them with both historical documents and media. Explore the AARW Through the Years interactive timeline here.

Molly Brown also showed items from the AARW collections and Arpita Joyce spoke about AARW’s media and community advocacy at the November symposium “Remember! Asian Americans and the Archive,” organized by Dr. Khor. This day-long event was the inaugural symposium for Asian American Studies at Northeastern University, designed to bring together scholars, student activists, and community organizers to think about the politics of the archive and its role in shaping what is forgotten and what is remembered.

Napoleon Jones-Henderson, one of the artists featured in the Black Artists of Boston project has received a number of honors. In October Black Heritage Trail of New England honored him as Black Heritage Trail of New Hampshire 2023 Citizen of the Year at the conference 17th Annual Black New England Conference, “I, Too, Sing: Art, Music, and Writing in Our BIPOC Communities” held at Northeastern in collaboration with the Reckonings Project. On Feb 24th, Jones-Henderson, along with Boston artist Stephen Hamilton, unveiled an art installation at the Golden Jubilee Gala, celebrating the 50th anniversary of Roxbury Community College.

“Living Out Loud: The Intersectionality of Race, Gender, and Sexual Orientation”

Deadline: June 1, 2024

The 18th Annual Black New England Conference will highlight the history of Black LGBTQ trailblazers and their contributions to American history, explore evolving cultural norms, gender roles and presentation, depiction in popular culture, and finally emerging movements. The conference will offer a forward-looking perspective, envisioning potential future trends and possibilities for greater inclusivity, equity, and social change. The Black Heritage Trail of New Hampshire will celebrate success stories of both individuals and institutions that serve as beacons of hope for current generations to authentically live out their identities.

The three facilitated panel discussions will explore themes of:

• Black Queer History is America’s History: History of Black LGBTQ trailblazers and their contributions to American history, and How Black Queer culture shaped history
• Culture: gender roles and presentation; the depictions and influence of queer culture on dress language and art, activism; health disparities and mental health; and Protecting Our Most Vulnerable: Centering Black Queerness in the Fight for Equality
• Moving Forward: Trends for the Future including gender nonconformity, social media, media and beyond

BHTNH invites abstracts for a 10-minute presentation. Abstracts should be no more than 200 words and should be submitted along with a brief biography to info@blackheritagetrailnh.org no later than June 1, 2024.

Notification of acceptance will be sent no later than July 26, 2024.

Join Reckonings community liaison Dzidzor Azaglo and Crystal Bi, a community artist and professor at Mass ART, for a workshop organized with DS4SI. Students will learn about the fundamentals of community archiving including evaluating the materials they have collected in order to create an alternative future. We will explore how these materials might help you better understand what a more formalized archive might look like in the future. This workshop is structured to help those interested in building (but not limited to) a community archive of family histories, neighborhoods, people, places, or things.

Are you interested in learning about the practice of Oral history? Join the Boston Public Library in an interactive oral history workshop led by the BPL Community History Department. The workshop will feature the basics of oral history, interview practices, and a hands-on demonstration of the BPL Oral History Backpack. Come ready to practice interviewing and active listening!

On October 20-21, 2023, the Black Heritage Trail of New Hampshire partnered with Northeastern University and the Reckonings Project to host the 17th Annual Black New England Conference: I, Too, Sing: Art, Music, and Writing in Our BIPOC Communities in the Fenway Center on the Boston campus. The conference focused on how BIPOC artists use the transformative power of the arts for empowerment and social change. Reckonings PI Dr. Kabria Baumgartner served on the organizing committee. By bringing together community members, scholars, independent researchers, and artists, the conference served as both an academic gathering and a lively celebration of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) history, culture, and life.

Over the course of the event, Reckonings Multimedia Editor Co-op Kelsey Zhen recorded video and interviews with the conference participants, assembling the experience into a mini-documentary video that captures the experience of the event and highlights some of the speakers and performances that featured throughout the conference. Watch the full video on the Reckonings YouTube channel here.

“The panelists gathered all challenge the misconception that a single white perspective defines the pinnacle of artistic excellence,” says JerriAnne Boggis, Executive Director at the Black Heritage Trail of New Hampshire. “This conference offers a platform for creators to discuss their work with other communities of color and explore the many ways we learn from each other, build on what’s been done, or create something completely new that empowers us all.”

(GBH) “In What Is Owed?, a new 7-part podcast, GBH News political reporter Saraya Wintersmith seeks to understand what reparations might look like in one of the oldest cities in America, uncovering the lessons for a successful reparations framework through the stories of its architects, past and present.”

With the goal of making oral history practices easier and more accessible for beginners, the Boston Public Library has created the Oral History Backpack. Oral History Backpacks contain tools like high-quality audio recording equipment and guides to help new oral historians document and preserve histories, lowering the daunting barriers of entry and letting anyone become an oral historian. These backpacks can be borrowed from the Boston Public Library.