Honoring the Legacy of African American History Keeper

Black History Month has been very busy this year for me.  When black history can be taught 365 days a year, the stress of speaking engagements and other plans will diminish. Our accomplishments and contributions would take more than 28 days to learn, uncover, write, study, rewrite, and celebrate. Those who resist slavery, reconstruction, Jim Crow, and now critical race theory are represented by this year's theme. When I think about resistance, I think of the people in this blog. In order to preserve their family's and community's history, they decided to tell, document, and share it. 

Although the topic of Critical Race Theory is exploding across this nation. It seem as soon as black history move beyond just Dr. Martin Luther King, Harriett Tubman and others black leaders we have learned about all our life. The alarm sound off for those want the truth to remain covered. History can't be erase because some people are uncomfortable with it. Black history is America' History.  I chose to celebrate the legacy of local history icons. Those who chose to preserve the black history in Tangipahoa Parish.

It all started with my mother Isabel Harrell Cook, the family griot who preserved funeral programs and photographs. The youngest brother of my mother, Raymond Harrell, Sr., left his daughter Monteral Harrell a box of photographs. Originally it belonged to my Aunt Ella Harrell Keith.  A very important role in preserving Richardson Funeral Home's funeral programs was played by my first cousin Jo-Ann Lewis Frazier and Eddie Braziel. A collection was started at the Center for Southeast Louisiana Studies. That collection has over one thousand funeral programs for public view. 

As a local historian and genealogist I am interested in getting people into contact with their local communities' history. They will discover a rich and sometimes dark history. It can be uncomfortable to talk about things that have happened in the past. It is because of this that some people have difficulty redressing the past. Others feel that moving on from the past is the most appropriate course of action. The people I'm writing about in this blog life made a difference in preserving local history.