Recently, I spent some long overdue time with an old family friend. Needless to say the time that we spent together was priceless. I was reminded of why it's important to preserve the past while enhancing the present and the future. Post our conversation, the theme that resonated with me most has been accountability. If a person decided to research the history of the pioneers and settlers all across the world, most would find that they all shared in the responsibility to build a solid today and forecast good things for tomorrow, all by holding one another accountable. Accountability is characteristic that is rapidly fading to black. I mean that in a very literal sense. Some may say that I'm out of touch because of my expectations... Arguably, that may be a valid point. However, having high expectations of people is unrealistic period, because people change as much as the wind blows.
In the my early days of training to be a visual media-journalist I was taught that the film doesn't lie. During my senior year at East Carolina University, I had a professor by the name of Dr. Robert Caprio, and he would always say to us, "if you shoot enough images eventually there will be no need for words to describe any one of them". That's a statement that I've always held onto. What he meant was, if you take enough shots, eventually you'll learn how to tell the story so that you don't have to explain what every image means.
A few years ago I took a still shot of the train tracks overlooking the Centennial Street bridge in my hometown of High Point, North Carolina. Dr. Caprio's statement started ringing in my head. In retrospect, that shot began to represent more elements than just art. For me it represents the corridors of a layered social economic educational cast system. What do I mean by this? It's the continental divide between the educators like the Rosetta C. Baldwins of the world, and the real meaning of the "No Child Left Behind Act".
As I get older, those tracks represent the haves, the have nots, the I wishes and the I've got what you want residents. In my recent visits I was told that race is a major factor in the continental divide. I'd be a fool to believe that race isn't a factor but it's not the final determining factor. From where I sit, EDUCATION is. It's the fundamental foundation that separates all of the above. It's the one common denominator that represents freedom for everyone.
After I took these images, I had to find out where these raw visual emotions where coming from. They lead me to The Rosetta C. Baldwin Historical African American Museum. I soon realized that just because I was never a student of Ms. Baldwin, it didn't mean that I was never a student. My educational foundation was passed down to me from her former students which makes me a former student. Ms. Baldwin taught long before it was given a title that the "No Child Left Behind Act" really represents action. In order for children of all colors not to be left behind, especially children of color, there has to be one thing that oversees their success. One man or one woman that believes in a community more than the community itself. The success of the African American community in High Point started in a small house, with a small statured woman, who had prior and post her death global influence.
Although my children aren't residents of High Point, North Carolina, they will visit this place because "daddy" is a byproduct of the rich history inside of it. Hopefully they too will get a glimpse of what I was afforded as a child.
So I challenge everyone reading this blog to visit The Rosetta C. Baldwin Historical African American Museum located in High Point, North Carolina.
Special thanks to Mr. Julius Clark, Museum Director for preserving the legacy of our community.
After I took these images, I had to find out where these raw visual emotions where coming from. They lead me to The Rosetta C. Baldwin Historical African American Museum. I soon realized that just because I was never a student of Ms. Baldwin, it didn't mean that I was never a student. My educational foundation was passed down to me from her former students which makes me a former student. Ms. Baldwin taught long before it was given a title that the "No Child Left Behind Act" really represents action. In order for children of all colors not to be left behind, especially children of color, there has to be one thing that oversees their success. One man or one woman that believes in a community more than the community itself. The success of the African American community in High Point started in a small house, with a small statured woman, who had prior and post her death global influence.
Although my children aren't residents of High Point, North Carolina, they will visit this place because "daddy" is a byproduct of the rich history inside of it. Hopefully they too will get a glimpse of what I was afforded as a child.
So I challenge everyone reading this blog to visit The Rosetta C. Baldwin Historical African American Museum located in High Point, North Carolina.
Special thanks to Mr. Julius Clark, Museum Director for preserving the legacy of our community.
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