By the time you read this, all three of the Tri-Town land trusts will have a story or trail walk featuring a children’s story written by black authors. These installations add to the growing partnerships between land trusts, libraries and other local institutions, and the organization Tri-Town Against Racism (TTAR.)
On February 11, the Mattapoisett Land Trust story walk opened at their Dunseith Park property (located at the intersection of North Street and Route 6) with the story “Black Is a Rainbow Color.” MLT Education Director Ellen Flynn said that the selection committee, comprised of Flynn, Wendy Copps also of the MLT, Jessica DeCicco-Carey of Mattapoisett Museum and Alison Noyce of TTAR, researched black children’s authors to find just the right book for the installation. They picked “Black Is a Rainbow Color” by Angela Joy.
In this story, a little girl thinks and considers what is black and comes to the realization that black is many things, even if it isn’t a color in the rainbow. She considers her girlfriends’ braids, birds, skillets, stones and black-eyed peas but concludes each time that black is not a rainbow color. Then, expanding the scope of her ponderings, she considers Martin Luther King, Thurgood Marshall’s robe and the role of civil rights activism. All this contemplation sweeps through black history then and now, told gently but clearly, and brings the girl to the conclusion that although black isn’t a rainbow color for her, black is all the colors in her crayon box.
The Sippican Lands Trust installation at Peirson Woods off Point Road is, “The Sun Is So Quiet” by the highly respected author, Nikki Giovanni. Her accomplishments include recognition with a Caldecott Honor, Newberry honor and a Coretta Scott King award. She describes herself as a “…Black American, a daughter, a mother and a professor of English…” Giovanni has also been an activist, giving her time, talent and strength to the early days of civil rights movements. On the story walk, we find words of encouragement and hope.
An example of Giovanni’s work can be found here in a piece titled, Knoxville Tennessee: “I always like summer best, you can eat fresh corn from daddy’s garden and okra and greens and cabbage and lots of barbeque and buttermilk and homemade ice-cream at the church picnic, and listen to Gospel music outside at the church homecoming and go to the mountains with your grandmother and go barefooted and be warm all the time, not only when you go to bed and sleep.”
Rochester’s “trail tales” walk at Lionberger Woods off Haskell Ridge Road will be up after press time, but we found the story that will be used, an inspiration not only for black children but for all children, focusing on the importance of inclusion and acceptance that requires early understanding.
In the RLT selection, “The Year We Learned to Fly” by Jacqueline Woodson, we learn that bored siblings stuck in an inner-city apartment are quarreling constantly. They are stuck with nothing to do, yet their caregiver, their grandmother, uses her experiences and her knowledge of how to handle conflict and trouble to help the children use their minds to gain freedom.
Grandmother tells the children to consider other people and their struggles, but also that no one can take your imagination away from you and by using your mind, you can escape where you are and go wherever you want to go through flights of the mind. When the children move to the suburbs, they are confronted by racism. Here, Woodson with great tenderness confronts the reality of being a minority resident in a predominantly white neighborhood. The children remember their grandmother’s teachings. In the end, these children teach the other children in the neighborhood how to fly.
Alison Noyce, TTAR president, told us, “We are really excited to have Black History Month story walks/trail tales in each of the towns of the Tri-Town. We partner with the land trusts and in Rochester, also Plumb Library to make these happen. It’s a great way for people of all ages to get out in nature, enjoy local trails, while celebrating Black History Month. We want to celebrate hope, joy, inclusion and diversity, while paying tribute, honor and respect to black Americans past and present.” She went on to say, “There are so many wonderful books to choose from. We want to honor black history and use books with beautiful images.”
Another event planned for Black History Month brings opportunity for teens to express their thoughts through art. Noyce shared, “TTAR wanted to honor Black History Month and wanted to create an opportunity for students in Grades 7-12 to let us know what Black History meant to them. It’s a creative-expression contest, so students can submit entries using art, song, video, dance, as long as it is creative and original, the sky’s the limit.
“We have been absolutely floored by the thoughtfulness and talent of the entries. This is our third year offering the contest, but because of Covid this will be the first year of in-person entries, a full exhibit of the entries in collaboration with the Mattapoisett Museum with awards given in person. This year’s theme is Black resistance.”
Works of art and performance will be displayed and/or shown at the Mattapoisett Museum. Submission deadline is Monday, February 20. Details can be found at TriTownAgainstRacism.org.