BY HARRY COVERSTON, GUEST WRITER TO THE TIMES
Every journey has lessons to offer those who undertake it. In my nine years of working with the Alliance for Truth and Justice (ATJ), I have discovered two important lessons that were not apparent to me prior to beginning that journey.
The first is that while it is critical to uncover and expose atrocities that have marked racial terrorism in America, to own that Shadow as a part of our collective history, it is at least as important – if not more so – to recognize the achievements and contributions to society of a people who have succeeded in the face of limited opportunity and enormous resistance. The second is that in an age of whitewashed official versions of history designed to prevent privileged students from being made uncomfortable, there is more than one way to ensure those untold stories are heard.
They include the use of online sites that are accessible to anyone with an internet connection and thus searchable by those wishing to know more. The ATJ, the local affiliate of the Equal Justice Initiative in Montgomery, AL is making a valuable contribution to that effort with its page devoted to Descendants of the Ocoee Massacre.
ATJ member Penny Walker was initially tasked with contacting descendants seeking support for a then proposed sculpture to commemorate the victims on the 100th anniversary of the massacre in Ocoee. The city’s Human Relations Diversity Board had worked for years to persuade the city commission to acknowledge the massacre and its victims at the centenary commemoration held November 2020. Now an annual event, at last November’s commemoration Ocoee’s mayor dedicated an impressive memorial wall located in Unity Park containing the names of identified victims and survivors of the Ocoee 1920 Election Day Massacre.
When Walker first reported to the ATJ her conversations with a number of the Ocoee descendants, the group realized that it was important to collect, preserve and make available to the public biographical information on the lives of these descendants. Walker’s search began to extend to more descendants, asking them to submit written biographical sketches of themselves and other family members. This effort involved many emails and phone calls, obtaining photos and collaborating with descendants in editing the content before the stories could be published. Ultimately they would be uploaded to the ATJ website with the assistance of member and web designer Corey Grant.
The stories of the descendants cover a range of life experiences and achievements—some modest, some outstanding. All of the descendants had worked hard, led fruitful lives, and served their communities in education, the arts, business, technical fields, health, and public service. Knowing the obstacles that these families had to face after leaving behind everything they had attained in Ocoee makes reading of their subsequent accomplishments moving and inspiring. The city of Ocoee recently linked the ATJ Descendants page to its official website under “Ocoee Remembers.”
As is often the case, journeys made in the name of justice have unexpected impacts on those who undertake them. Initially, when asked to pursue this activity, Walker had wondered, “Why me? There are probably other members more suitable.” But she knew she could handle the assignment. And as she went through the process of hearing and preserving the descendants’ life stories, she realized, “For me personally, this work has been a privilege and a blessing.”
No doubt that is true not only for the ATJ volunteers who brought these stories to light but also for all of us in Orange County who now know a little more of our own story.
The link to the ATJ Descendants site can be accessed at: https://alliancetruthjustice.org/ocoeemassacre/descendents/
The City of Ocoee Remembrance site can be accessed at: https://www.ocoee.org/973/100-Year-Remembrance-Ceremony/adayofremembrance
