Continuing the Legacy

 

There are many things going on in Columbia/HoCo today, but this one has my heart.

Harriet Tubman Cultural Center to open this weekend in Columbia at site of former all-Black high school, Ethan Ehrenhaft, Baltimore Sun

I first became aware of the significance of the Harriet Tubman School in 2017 when I attended a Columbia storytellers event at the Owen Brown Interfaith Center. Bessie Bordenave spoke of her experiences as a student at the Harriet Tubman school. She stressed how teachers and administrators went above and beyond to care for and lift up their students. I learned so much that I had not known in just that one talk. 

It created in me a personal connection to the lives and stories of the students and teachers of Harriet Tubman.

Ms. Bordenave’s talk that evening made a big impression on me. The love and pride she felt for her school helped me enter into a time and place I had never known or experienced. We shouldn’t be afraid of these stories. We should be far more afraid of being ignorant or lacking the empathy to enter into the worlds of people not like us. “The Big Bad and the Very Small Good” Village Green/Town² March 23, 2022

The road from the building’s post-school existence as an hcpss maintenance facility to today, when it opens as the Harriet Tubman Cultural Center, has been both far too long and unnecessarily arduous. The facility was originally set to open in 2021 but was sidelined by a break-in and acts of vicious destruction.  The activists and advocates who labored bring the stories of the Harriet Tubman school to the public must have felt disheartened many times over the years. 

We are extremely fortunate that they did not give up. Our history is incomplete without a rich and truthful telling of segregation in Howard County and the real human beings who lived that experience. 

The Harriet Tubman Foundation was established in 2002 to “address the future of the (former school) building and…to keep the spirit of Harriet Tubman High School alive.” Bessie Bordenave, whose storytelling in 2017 brought the life of the school alive to me, has been a constant and driving force.

Here is the schedule for today’s festivities.

Grand Opening Celebration - - Harriet Tubman Cultural Center,  Saturday Sept 17th, 2022

10:30 AM Ribbon Cutting Ceremony 

11 AM - 4 PM,

Harriet Tubman Day Celebration

Image from Howard County NAACP, Facebook

The Harriet Tubman Cultural Center is located  at 8045 Harriet Tubman Lane in Columbia, Maryland, 21044.

The Top Five

It’s a blast from the past!

On this day in 2024, an extremely brief blog post:

Fear (Village Green/Town², September 16, 2014)

Five things that scare me:

1. Football players beating four year old children
2. Online ads that follow senior citizens around the internet
3. Dancing With the Stars (wow, is that ever creepy!)
4. Open Forums where "anything can happen"
5. Depression

What's your list?

Here are some responses I got from readers in 2014:

1. One-party states (of either party)

2. People who don't accept facts that don't comport with their worldview

3. The X-15 Cruise Basselope*

*sorry for the geek humor, but hey, I'm a geek. :-)

1. Intransigent people

2. religious fundamentalists of any denomination

3. Senseless violence (all violence is senseless)

4. Hatred

5. roller coasters

Clowns

Ferris Wheels

Senior Week (planning has begun)

and what you said ^^^

*****

I’m bringing back that same question today. My answers? 

1. Misogyny 
2. COVID and Long COVID
3. Evangelical Christianity 
4. Open Forums where “anything can happen”
5. Anxiety

This isn’t a complete list, of course. It’s just the top five of what came to mind this morning. There’s plenty going on in the world that is fear-worthy right now. I don’t know whether talking about fear was on your list of Friday things to do but perhaps a fear shared is less frightening. Putting it out there renders it a bit less powerful. 

If you had asked me this question when I was little, my answers would have looked like this:

1. Dead balloons
2. Nightmares 
3. Long car drives at night
4. The Perry Mason theme music
5. Gymnastics/Tumbling in gym class

Even thinking about it now resurrects some of that deep, tingly dread from childhood.

How have you learned to cope with - - and even overcome - -  fear? Are there any childhood fears that still lurk around? 

Any advice on how to render fears less troubling and more toothless would be awesome. 

The Fierce Urgency of Now

 

I’m embarrassed to admit that I did not know the origin of the words “the fierce urgency of now” when I first heard them used by (then) Interim Superintendent of Schools Dr. Michael Martirano. 

Here they are in context:

We are now faced with the fact that tomorrow is today. We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now. In this unfolding conundrum of life and history, there "is" such a thing as being too late. This is no time for apathy or complacency. This is a time for vigorous and positive action. - - Martin Luther King Jr., August 28th, 1963 at the Lincoln Memorial on the Washington, D.C. National Mall.

These words came to mind recently when I learned that the crucially important repairs to Oakland Mills High School had been removed from their place in the list of priorities and moved back. Way back. Take a look.

Spring, 2022:

Fall, 2022:

Oakland Mills High School, which has a high percentage of Black and Brown students as well as students who need food support, has been waiting on crucial repairs since (at least) 2009. The school is operating with the original HVAC system from 1973. 

We’ve all heard the term “deferred maintenance” from home repair shows on television. OMHS needs more than one hundred million dollars worth of work because of maintenance that has been deferred. That’s ten per cent of the entire HCPSS capital improvement budget. In one school, in one village, in Columbia, Maryland.

This is no time for apathy or complacency. 

The needs of this one school have been put off time after time. When do we stop calling this deferred maintenance and start calling it what it is: systemic neglect? This isn’t simply a capital improvements issue. It’s an equity issue. 

In this unfolding conundrum of life and history, there "is" such a thing as being too late. 

Everyone in Howard County should be concerned about this. You shouldn’t need to live in Oakland Mills to care about students who go to school in a substandard, unhealthy educational environment. They are all our children. Pushing a certain segment of students to the side isn’t simply bad for them. It weakens our community as a whole. It compromises (and has been compromising) their daily lives and their futures. Their futures are intertwined with ours.

Why should they do the hard work to invest in themselves if their own school system won’t even invest in them?

It may well be that we will have to repent in this generation…for the appalling silence and indifference of the good people who sit around and say, "Wait on time." Somewhere we must come to see that human progress never rolls in on wheels of inevitability. It comes through the tireless efforts and the persistent work of dedicated individuals. Without this hard work, time becomes an ally of the primitive forces of social stagnation. So we must help time and realize that the time is always right to do right. - -  Martin Luther King, Jr, 1965 commencement address at Oberlin College 

It’s time. Will you help?

This is a time for vigorous and positive action.

Please email the board or sign up to testify on September 22nd.

Email: BOE@hcpss.org

Sign up to testify: https://bit.ly/omhs-testify

One more thing. I’m going to ask you to boost the signal for this because it is such a time sensitive issue. Share this post and pass along the information. The more that people become aware and informed, the more likely they are to engage and participate. 

We are now faced with the fact that tomorrow is today. We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now. 

Splitsville in HoCo

 

Today’s post begins with a tweet from the Howard CountyTimes: 

The decision on whether to activate a virtual instruction day would lie with Superintendent Michael Martirano, who said he prefers the virtual instruction plan over extending the school year into late June.

It’s not about the tweet. 

It contains a link to an article about potential changes to inclement weather school cancellations.

Will traditional snow days go away in Howard County schools, with virtual learning options? Not exactly.(Ethan Ehrenhaft, Baltimore Sun)

It’s not about the article.

It’s about this response to the tweet and the article.

Split the county.

Wait, what? Your first response to a story about snow days is “split the county”?

How would you split it exactly? Straight down the middle? Western Howard County/Everyone else? Columbia/Everyone else? Walkers vs. those who take the bus?

The Howard County School system covers a fairly large geographical area. They have to take into consideration the weather and road conditions throughout the region. Sometimes that looks like canceling school on a day where it’s hazardous in some areas but not in others. That can be frustrating. 

So let’s just split the county. That’ll fix it.

I understand the thought process behind this argument but reading the words gave me a chill. 

Aren’t we split enough already? Don’t we read almost daily the words of someone justifying their own particular divisions? Railing for special treatment for “people like us” while tuning out the needs and humanity of “those people”?

I’m about to go off the rails here, aren’t I? 

What do you think? Will splitting the county solve the problem of snow days? Or - - if you’ll pardon my choice of words - - does it put us on a slippery slope of using division to benefit some and disenfranchise others?

Music on Main

 

This weekend is the 9th annual Ellicott City Music Fest. You can check out the event page here, or immerse yourself in every possible detail about the event at their website.

Although the majority of the event takes place on Saturday, they’re also holding what they call pregame festivities on Friday evening. 

For starters, we’re pre-gaming Friday night on 4 stages – Oella River Band at Town Center Stage (5:30), Shee’s Unhinged at B&O Plaza (6 pm), Swamp Donkey at Wine Bin (6 pm), and Comedy & Big Band at Little Market Cafe (8 pm).

So, even if you’re not available Saturday, you can still pop in Friday and join in the fun. This map looks extremely helpful.

The first ever Main Street Music Fest took place in 2012, back when Patch reporters were still allowed to be actual journalists. Take a look at this piece by Brandie Jefferson:

Main Street 2-For-1: Fall Fest and Music Fest, Brandie Jefferson, Ellicott City Patch

It’s not a long piece, but it has actual information in it and it isn’t a prepackaged press release. I had forgotten that Main Street Music Fest originally appeared alongside a more established Ellicott City Fall Festival. Does that still exist? Did the two merge into one?

In a similar vein, Stone House Collective (remember them?) recently posted about an impromptu musical moment on Main Street.

Lower Main was treated to several hours of wonderful vintage music today ... Joe Fertitta, Past President of the Maryland Accordion Club, brought his beautiful Ukranian Zupan accordion and played for one and all ... we hope he returns soon !

A little research turned up a delightful photo gallery of Mr. Fertitta in the Baltimore Sun.

Joe Fertitta, Maryland Accordion Club, Baltimore Sun, 2014, photos by Jen Rynda

And an entire article!

Catonsville Man Trying to Bring Back the Accordion, Lauren Loricchio, video by Jen Rynda, Baltimore Sun

Joe Fertitta sat on the brick steps of his Cape Cod style home in Catonsville last Thursday, dancing his fingers across the keyboard of his accordion to play his favorite Italian tune, "Flight of the Angels."

It's a sound unlike most popular music heard today.

"We're trying to bring this accordion back alive again, for the young people to learn to play," Fertitta, 82, said.

If you’ve been paying attention, it may have occurred to you that Mr. Fertitta was eighty-two in 2014 and giving impromptu street concerts in 2022. Wow. I wish for all the musicians playing at Main Street Music Fest this weekend such long and musical lives. 

If you go to the festival, or have more to share about Mr. Fertitta, let me know:

Village Green/Town² Comments

The Cricket and Me

 

There is a cricket in the room with me. It has a lot to say. Crickets are supposed to be a sign of good things but I would like to suggest that they do nothing for one’s concentration.

With that being said, here are a few shreds of ideas that might make a good blog post if I could only think straight. 

People on NextDoor are complaining that cricket players are peeing in the woods at Schooley Mill Park Highland. (Not the same cricket.) Are there public restrooms out there? 

An observant HoCoLocal has spotted a potential new business on Snowden River Parkway called Rehoboth Ethiopian Café and Market. 

Photo credit: Kim Steffen, Howard County Eats

Next up - - 

I realized I’ve been meaning to say something about the Columbia Association email newsletter. I like it. It’s engaging and visually appealing. I almost always take the time to read it. They don’t spend all their time trying to sell me a membership, though they do manage to slip it in. Like this:

You don't have to be a member to experience the activities here. However, if you'd like to learn how CA memberships help you do more and more affordably, take a look at our membership options. 

There’s a lot going on during the summer in Columbia which gives CA plenty to talk about. (Besides membership sales, that is.) The Lakefront Live collaboration has been drawing folks to Lake Kittamaqundi throughout the summer. Have you been to any of this year’s Lakefront events? Have you enjoyed them?

Any comments on how it isn’t like they used to do it? Columbians aren’t always good with change, I hear.

There was a letter to the editor in the Howard County Times last year that suggested that CA could do a better job in hosting a variety of diverse performers throughout the summer season at the Lakefront. It looks to me as though they took this suggestion to heart. This year’s line up can be found here if you want to see for yourself.

I wonder if anyone will write a letter to the editor giving CA credit for more diverse programming. Oh,wait. We don’t have letters to the editor anymore.

One last thing. I would like to make a public admission that I saw this:

…and my brain processed it to mean that Downtown Columbia’s Philip Dodge is directing a production of Thornton Wilder’s “Our Town.” I got pretty excited about that for a minute there. I began to imagine a production starring local notables. Have you ever seen those promotional videos for the library’s Evening in the Stacks, featuring folks from around town? Imagine that - - but a full, live theatrical production. 

When I realized my error I had a little pity party but I did create an imaginary cast for my own amusement.

In case I’ve left you wondering what Mr. Dodge is really up to, here goes:

Phillip Dodge, Executive Director of the Downtown Columbia Partnership (DTCP), launches Residences at Vantage Point Arts & Culture Collective’s Fall series of community programs with “Our Town Update,” a preview of upcoming development planned for Downtown Columbia, on Thursday, Sept. 15, 7-8 p.m., in the auditorium at Vantage Point.

No Grover’s Corners, alas. If you’re as fond of “Our Town”as I am you’ll be happy to know it’s being produced by Baltimore’s Center Stage. Performances start Wednesday. 

Holy mackerel. The cricket just stopped. The silence is really, really loud.

Time Will Dim

 

September 11th has become a day one cannot ignore. It is like a huge hole one cannot get around. As I contemplated local stories to write about this morning, I gradually realized that I needed to address the signigicance of this day. It weighs heavily on our shared consciousness.

When I was growing up December 7th was that day for my parents. The horror of the bombings at Pearl Harbor shaped their lives. “…a day that will live in infamy.”

The time is approaching when no one alive has personal memories of December 7th, 1941. It may already have occurred. What remains are dates, times, numbers, memorial markers, newspaper accounts, oral histories. This is the stuff of history books.

September 11th is still so close to us that we remember what we were doing that day, who we were with and what we were thinking. Every year we relieve that litany of feelings and events. 

Fourteen years ago I was watching children play on the playground. It was a beautiful, sunny day. Then another teacher came over and said, "did you hear?" (“Full Circle”, Village Green/Town², 9/11/2015)

We do not think so much about days which bring such horror and grief to other people, or in other nations. After all, we weren’t there. It’s not our story. Those days have been reduced to dates, times, numbers, memorial markers, newspaper accounts or oral histories - - the stuff of history books. They are not three-dimensional to us. They have been flattened by the passing of time.

I’m thinking of the Wounded Knee Massacre or the destruction of Black ‘Wall Street’ in Tulsa, for example. Do we mark those days on our calendars? Do we set aside time to relive sorrow and loss and contemplate the repercussions of those days on generations that followed?

For the most part, we do not.

I’ve been thinking a lot about this as the world has observed the passing of Queen Elizabeth II. So many of us are unaware of the impact of colonial rule on the colonized nations. (Aside from the US, of course.)  We don’t know their stories. Their anger and grief appears to us to be intrusive. Disrespectful.

I’m not suggesting that there is any one acceptable way to feel about the death of a British monarch. I am thinking that there’s a lot we don’t understand if we don’t know very much about British colonialism. Most of what we know has been flattened by the passing of time or altered by those in power.

Someday September 11th will be like that. 

It’s hard to imagine that something that still feels so vivid to us will be flattened and condensed to fit in several columns of a school history textbook. In all that time will we, as Americans, have learned anything? Will we have gained any perspective?

If today is a hard day for you, I honor and respect your grief. If there are other days you wish were observed and not ignored - - I hear you. We need to make more room for the stories we have not known and honor the people we have traditionally forgotten.