By Erika Slocumb.
In the summer of 2024, Brian Boyles asked me to take part in a short documentary film series, working with filmmakers as a history consultant as the filmmakers navigated Western Mass Black history projects funded by Mass Humanities. As a recipient of funding from Mass Humanities, I was excited to be a part of this project.
As the films took shape and the histories came to life, from recorded oral histories, and facsimiles of photos and objects to real people sharing the stories before the camera, I was captivated. But the greatest blessing opportunity was for me to see the story of Mt. Calvary Baptist Church, my family’s church, told in a masterful way, and to see Professor Nelson Stevens honored for all that he did for students and community at UMass and across Springfield. To not only be a part of the development but also the subsequent panel in Springfield brought everything full circle.
As we entered the Springfield Library, Mason Square Branch, we were greeted by the very people whose story we had the honor to share. This was an intergenerational experience, there were grandmothers holding their grandchildren and about half of the Mt. Calvary congregation was in attendance. These were people who have watched me grow up, who have helped raise me into the person I am today, and to see the pride, not in the work that I had done, but rather in the fact that an institution like Mass Humanities and New England Public Media valued their stories enough to collect and broadcast them. Understood the importance of sharing diverse and immersive stories of the legacies and traditions of folks whose family stories transcend even the establishment of this country.
The community showed up, and as we watched Legacies: Stories of Black History in the 413 there were tears, there was laughter and at times there we nodded heads of agreement, but at the end of the showing, each person spoke about the importance of series, not only for their own lives—regardless of where they were from or what race they were—but also for the collective public memory.
For me being a part of the panel last spring was transformative. It brought home for me the value of storytelling, the significance of telling our own stories through our own perspective.
