Against Erasure: Preserving The Memory Of Black Communities In Los Angeles And Across The Country

In my grandma’s mediate room, location are six agelong woody shelves that location my great-great-grandfather Jefferson’s individual library. You’ll find Arabian Nights, nan Iliad and Odyssey by Homer, and nan original printing of nan Souls of Black Folks by W. E. B. Du Bois. I’ve passed these books thousands of times. My cousins Naqeeb, Khalid, and I would reenact Xena: Warrior Princess fighting scenes utilizing aged Christmas insubstantial rolls arsenic swords and cut-out insubstantial plates arsenic her infamous Chakram.

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I was of people Xena; my only-child Leo satellite wouldn’t fto maine play a supporting character—ever. There’s a dusty aged domino group sitting connected nan apical shelf, a ceramic brace of bears playing connected a seesaw, and my grandma’s stuffed Dobermann canine sitting watch complete nan books successful our family library.

We bumped up against those bookshelves hundreds of times and placed our cranberry pome Juicy Juice boxes connected nan shelves complete nan years. Along nan broadside of nan wall adjacent nan bookshelves, my dada would measurement our tallness each twelvemonth and people our initials. Today, aft thirty-five years, nan etched grounds of our yearly sprouting is still documented successful bluish and achromatic ink. The casual quality of these books was surely a connection astir nan bequest of our family. It was conscionable there. It was important capable to support and sphere and beryllium respected, but it wasn’t revered. Nor would these books ever beryllium added to nan gait income my grandma and my Aunt Marla would big each summertime connected nan beforehand lawn. They were conscionable portion of nan cloth of nan house, for illustration nan mid-century modern ray fixtures successful nan beforehand room aliases my grandpa’s Don Ho cassette tapes collecting particulate successful nan backmost impermanent room. It each conscionable sat there, not to beryllium engaged but not to beryllium discarded. It sat location waiting. Waiting for me. Waiting to beryllium explored. Waiting to beryllium loved on. I pulled retired nan match, but my dada group nan fire. He taught maine really to attraction for our archive, nan worth of it. He showed maine really and erstwhile we’d commencement sharing nan superb mind, life, and bequest of Jefferson Lewis Edmonds.

I went looking for my great-great-grandfather, Jefferson Lewis Edmonds, successful 2009. I did it because I wanted to beryllium person to my dad. My parents divided erstwhile I was beautiful young. By nan clip I was thirteen my mom and I had moved to Atlanta, conscionable complete 2,000 miles distant from nan City of Angels and nan spot my family had made their location since nan 1880s. Researching and piecing together our family history became thing that helped adjacent nan spread from nan years and miles betwixt my dada and me. When we couldn’t talk astir each nan life that was missed by being isolated for truthful long, we would capable nan aerial pinch stories of Jefferson and his newspaper, The Liberator—and really we’d make judge his bequest successful Los Angeles would beryllium remembered. Jefferson helped america find our measurement backmost to 1 another.

My father’s broadside of nan family ever emphasized nan value of education, investing successful section politics, and sticking to traditions. These were values I had to turn into. Becoming a mother helped maine understand that those values and structures were each powerful forms of emotion and stability, and long-lasting acts of service. I didn’t cognize that digging into my great-great-grandfather’s library, reference his notes, and spending clip pinch our family newspaper would thief illuminate wherever those halfway values came from. I went looking because I was funny and wanted to consciousness a relationship to my dad. What I recovered was that nan seed Jefferson planted for america almost 140 years agone was still taking guidelines and still blooming successful me, my dad, and my full family.

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So galore Black families successful nan United States tin only trace their history backmost to their grandparents. The erasure of our stories and records is devastating. We person movements for illustration Black Lives Matter that thief reside nan brutality and unit against our bodies and psyche. We’ve had movements for illustration nan civilian authorities era successful nan 1960s, that attempted to reside inequality and request argumentation changes and nationalist governmental power. Currently we spot a gyration astir Black rest, for illustration nan powerful activity of nan Nap ministry led by Nap Bishop Tricia Hersey, reminding Black group successful America to exit nan hustle civilization train and attraction connected intelligence wellness and individual dreams. The past frontier that our Black societal movements person not been capable to reside is really we should reconstruct our history, our memories, and our family lore. What becomes of them? So galore of our stories commencement and extremity pinch enslavement. Unknowingly I group retired to alteration that communicative and thief unearth Jefferson’s bequest and that of truthful galore Black Angeleno families successful nan process. I’ve been doing restoration work. I’ve been making room for each nan stories that were thrown to nan bottommost of nan ocean, made to drown. Bit by spot I’ve been bringing them to nan shore, drying them off, and sharing pinch those astir maine nan awesome communicative of my great-great-grandfather, Jefferson Lewis Edmonds.

Since nan commencement of this task I’ve felt a work to make The Liberator public and make it accessible. Our business pinch nan Los Angeles Public Library made that dream a reality. Through backing from nan California State Library system, our family newspaper was digitized and archived online not only for researchers and scholars, but arsenic a assets for Black group to find their family, for illustration I did. I wanted their world to alteration and person meaning by rooting them successful their ain legacies. My activity reaches underneath nan family tree, beyond Black family values, and attempts to analyse our narration pinch nan United States. Jefferson utilized his sound to thief style Black citizenship and, successful this generation, I’m seeking to understand if nan roots of each his efforts still clasp today. Citizenship is simply a nonstop nexus to lineage, and nan Black property served arsenic an effort to create a grounds and an relationship of our existence.

Citizenship is belonging. That is what Jefferson was fighting for. Much for illustration nan Black Lives Matter mantra “Say Their Names,” I person helped to unlock these archives truthful nan world wouldn’t hide what we’ve done, wherever we’ve been, and each nan places we are headed! So I went searching successful nationalist libraries, universities, archives, integer records, and filing cabinets astatine my grandma’s house. I met pinch historians, archivists, and librarians from institutions each complete nan country. I thought I was looking for Jefferson, but what I recovered alternatively was me. I recovered reflections of a clip complete a period agone that intimately reflector nan world successful which I unrecorded today—all nan turmoil, destruction, and societal upheaval of a state grappling pinch humanities and taste amnesia. Jefferson fought nan aforesaid beasts. I didn’t cognize it, but I went looking for his blueprint.

If Jefferson could group a imagination for our family that tin still beryllium accessed successful nan coming day, almost a period and a half later, past what different intentions, visions, prayers, and hopes were passed down for us? My investigation for this book took maine past nan 400 years of American slavery, past nan transatlantic waste and acquisition and onto nan shores of nan Atlantic successful West Africa. What did they wish for us? What committedness did they make to us?

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From We Now Belong to Ourselves: J.L. Edmonds, nan Black Press, and Black Citizenship successful America by Arianne Edmonds. Copyright © 2025. Available from Oxford University Press.