Tag: Virginia

Maurice Passmore, Jr with children

Oral History Project: Self-Care 2020 (Maurice Passmore, Jr.)

.Reading time 10 minutes.
Maurice Passmore, Jr. with children.

Background: In 2015, Bree Newsome Bass made national headlines when she scaled a 30-foot flag pole at the South Carolina statehouse and took down the Confederate flag. In an article entitled, “Charlottesville Reinforced That Self-Care Is an Essential Part of My Activism,” (SELF Magazine) Bass shares the importance of self-care stating, “I have a tendency to go, go, go until I burn out…self-care did not come naturally to me at first…since committing myself to social justice a few years ago, it’s something I’ve developed out of necessity.” VisitBlackHistory.com has invited participants to take part in an oral history project that will document the role of self-care in this day and time. We are specifically examining the individual impact of COVID-19, witnessing recent police brutality in the Black community, and the subsequent demonstrations that have followed.

Maurice “MoChips” Passmore, Jr self-description: a son, a father, husband, friend. He’s a provider, he is a motivator, he is a competitor, he is an athlete, he is a creator, he is MoChips, he is the artist, he is the emcee, the lyricist, he is the ….I never really have to think about myself in that space but yeah, I’m ….he’s complex and simple at the same time. He is…the dichotomy is crazy. “I always say that one of the most important things in Black liberation or you know what I mean one of the most revolutionary things you can do as a Black man is take care of your Black family. Starting on the inside and working your way out. So, starting at your house and then work your way out to your community and beyond.” -M. Passmore, Jr.

I always say that one of the most important things in Black liberation or you know what I mean one of the most revolutionary things you can do as a Black man is take care of your Black family. Starting on the inside and working your way out. So, starting at your house and then work your way out to your community and beyond. -M. Passmore, Jr.

Oral History Project Self-Care 2020 M. Passmore, Jr. (Index)

00 – :50 Introduction between Sophia V. Nelson (Interviewer) and Maurice Passmore, Jr. (narrator) 

:50 –  2:35 MP gives his definition of self-care. making sure that you are mentally, physically, spiritu:ally intact. I love chess. It keeps the brain sharp. Reading, etcetera. And you know the creativity side I have podcasts, music – just being creative. The brain is a muscle too so you have to keep it active. Desires to improve his spiritual practices. Yoga. 

2:50 – 4:30 MP describes life prior to COVID-19 quarantine. It was hustle-bustle. You go into work, fighting traffic. Raising family in Virginia suburbs. You spend half your life just getting through the traffic. Other one sitting in the office. Waiting for the weekend to get you some still time. Which really isn’t still time because during the week you weren’t able to do most of the things that you needed to do.

4:38 – 7:45 MP describes benefits of working for employer, remotely, during the quarantine. Most people in IT especially…have been able to…you know, if you are in your office working on a computer what is the difference between being at home and working on your computer? You’re more productive. You don’t lose 2 hours in travel. 

7:45 – 12:00 MP describes work-life balance during the quarantine. I used to drive an hour and a half to go get crabs from out near the Chesapeake. I mean the most relaxing chill ride. Not too much traffic driving. Its calm. You get to listen to what you want to listen to…your music…you’re just in your little space. Dealing with road rage and various personalities when commuting to work on a regular day. Raising a child during the quarantine versus years prior. son has been with us the entire time. He knows only that love of his parents this entire time which has been super rewarding.

12:25 – 15:50 MP shares thoughts and concerns about COVID-19 disproportionately affecting the Black community. why do we have all these health issues? Why aren’t we getting taken care of? Why don’t we have better eating habits, better exercise routines, you know better-living situations? Why is the stress level so high? Each one, teach one and get out here and walk. Get out here and…it’s hard when you’re living in these food deserts but you got to find a way to just…that fruit, vegetable intake. Just those things. Work on the preventative methods versus that reactive.

16:09 – 19:30 MP shares the effects of witnessing recent police brutality cases. It affects you to see someone that you feel could have been you in a situation where they lost their life. since the inception of police we have been again disproportionately targeted and brutalized by the people who are air quote…”here to protect and serve your community.” So, another…the rage and the outcries that are pouring out now because of these recents incidents its just expected outcomes. YOu can’t expect people to be quiet or even more importantly to be well behaved in the manner that you feel they should be when they are watching their brothers and their sisters being killed. I don’t want to forget about the sister Breonna Taylor either because they tell you to…they tell you to comply and do xy and z. And I mean this sister was just in her home *laughs* in her bed. It doesn’t get more compliant than that. I wish I had the answers to have a resolution for this but the only thing that I would say is….keep fighting, keep uniting, and nothing was ever given to an oppressed people. It’s only been taken. And I’ll leave it at that. 

20:20 – 25:00 MP details specific activities he’s engaged in as part of his self-care. “Quarantine 15” and gaining weight. Losing normal activities like grocery shopping, now having groceries delivered. The normal exercise you would get from walking around a grocery store you are not getting. Purchased a bike….haven’t road a bike since a child. Went to the beach, took in nature. A lot of driving, sight seeing, enjoying nature. I’ve got a podcast….always done music as far as being in emcee. But, now in this time I have gotten more into the production side. I’ve gotten into videography a little more.

25:00 – end MP gives a description of himself. I’ve lived so many like lives as they would say. Growing up when my father raised me pretty by himself for the majority of my life growing up in the neighborhood where a lot of people were born into circumstances that were challenging. So I’ve seen people get caught up in the environment in the streets. I’ve had to navigate all those of things to become…you know, the person…to become basically a professional, right. Just to become a working-class citizen. Just to get there there was a lot of navigation early on, to survive. 

Maurice Passmore, Jr. with friend, Robert Turner. Photographed at Black Lives Matter Plaza
Maurice Passmore, Jr. in-house production studio set-up

Downloads: Transcript

VBH-OH_Self-Care-2020_M-Passmore-Jr-1-1Download

Content may be used for educational purposes. Must include citation: Nelson, Sophia. Passmore, Maurice Jr.  Self-Care 2020 Oral History interview conducted June 16, 2020. A VisitBlackHistory.com Oral History Project, Atlanta, Georgia. 2020.

A VBH Itinerary: Abraham Lincoln Assassin, John Wilkes Booth

.Reading time 1 minute.

VisitBlackHistory.com itinerary: ⁣
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John Wilkes Booth strongly opposed the abolition of slavery and assassinated President Abraham Lincoln at Ford’s Theater (Washington DC) April 14, 1865. Ford’s Theater offers guided tours.⁣⁣
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John Wilkes Booth then fled to Southern Maryland. One of those stops was Surratt’s Tavern where there were guns and ammunition stored. ⁣⁣
Surratt’s House is now a house museum owned by the Maryland National Capital Park and Planning Commission. It is a house museum that offers tours.⁣⁣
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At some point (historians contend exactly how) Booth injured his leg. He received medical attention in Charles County Maryland at the home of Dr. Samuel Mudd. Dr. Mudd also believed in slavery. Dr. Samuel Mudd House Museum is also open to the public for tours. ⁣⁣
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Pictured is a Virginia Conservation & Development Commission sign installed in 1928. Two miles south of this marker (route 301. Port Royal Green, VA) John Wilkes Booth was killed by Union troops on April 26, 1865.⁣
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Curious to know how the stories of these staunch pro-slavery supporters are interpreted at the named historic sites. Have you visited the mentioned spaces? How do you feel about the way history was interpreted at this site

Soon come: African American Cultural Center in Virginia Beach

.Reading time 1 minute.
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Image 1: Afro American Cultural Center at Yale University, est 1969 //Image 2: conceptual plan of the African American Cultural Center in Virginia Beach.

Yale’s Afro American Cultural Center is recognized as the first of its kind at an Ivy League school and the largest in the Northeast. With years of providing a variety of cultural, spiritual, mentoring, and tutoring services, the current Afro American Cultural Center at Yale dean, Dean Risë Nelson is championing the development of the African American Cultural in Virginia Beach.

In a keynote speech given to those working to bring Virginia Beach’s cultural center to fruition, Dean Nelson shared the following: “We are always a part of the conversation on campus and in New Haven; we do not let ourselves become invisible; our calendar is chock-full of events to bring people in continually… we believe that the history and traditions of the African diaspora should be celebrated by all Americans and members of society; the welcome mat is always out.”

[source: The Virginian-Pilot]

Raw Footage: H. Khalif Khalifa and the Nat Turner Library

.Reading time 9 minutes.

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In November of 2017, I interviewed Mr. Richard Stewart, owner and operator of Petersburg Virginia’s Pocahontas Island Black History Museum. During that time, he asked had I heard of neighboring cultural site, “Nat Turner Land”. I hadn’t. A couple of days after that interview, while spending time with one of my mentors in D.C., he shared that he and a large group of people had just gotten back from visiting “Nat Turner Land”. I knew it was a must for me to place the site on my “Places to Document” list.

In January of this year, as I was traveling from Atlanta for a 3-month stay in D.C., I stopped for an overnight rest in Virginia. The next morning, I looked up “Nat Turner Land” and made an impromptu phone call, to see if I could stop in for a visit and a brief recorded Q&A. To my surprise the site’s founder, Baba H. Khalif Khalifah, said yes and we coordinated a good time for me to stop by. I went expecting to document the history of the landscape. That did not happen. Instead, left having documented something equally as valuable.

H. Khalif Khalifa (Master Printer)

My interview with H. Khalif Khalifa founder of United Brothers Communications Systems (UBCS) introduced me to the inner workings of book publishing and distribution. This resulted in over an hour of documented recordings, which can be viewed in the link above. The interview is raw and unedited. Still, it is a strong resource. Viewers will one, learn just how book publishing and distribution works and cases how it does not work. Secondly, there is an opportunity for enterprising individuals to learn about the ecosystem created by a collective of entrepreneurs, working the streets of New York, the books they sold and what became of their lives after that period in time.

H. Khalif Khalifa had a vision to create a consolidated publishing/distribution house, seeking to establish partnerships with black people “with means”. At first, no one signed on to support him. In time, a gentleman by the name of “Luther” of New York, reached out and offered to act as UBCS’s distributor. Luther had no interest in identifying literary works for print, writing or printing. He simply wanted to create channels of distribution. Khalifa on the other hand was interested in such work and had been doing so even before his dealings with Luther. So, once the two started working together that is what Khalifa continued to do.

According to Khalifa, Luther “developed a means to get them [self-published books] distributed…what he did was set up vending tables on the street, throughout New York City.” Mr. Khalifa said his career has proven that if you can get Black Literature to the marketplace, Black people and others bought it. This added value to the Black community because white bookstore owners would often times purchase a single order of Black literature, sell it, and not restock. This became a disadvantage to the Black community because they were unable to get their hands on previously written materials such as Carter G. Woodson’s “The Mis-Education of the Negro” in addition to the more recent titles being written at that time.

Luther’s business model can be described as having vendors come to him daily, to get a selection of books on consignment. These vendors were not required to pay any upfront costs. Vendors would return the next day, satisfy related costs from the day prior, then get another order of books to sell. He did the same for black bookstores, “he told bookstores if they would give the books shelf space, he would supply the books.” No down payment or upfront costs needed. Khalifa expressed his reservations about this to Luther. Stating it that “was a bad business move.” Khalifa shared that he had seen where Black bookstores would sell books, profit, then restock by going to a competitor. [Sidenote: I wish I would have asked why they would have went to a competitor. Was it pricing? Also, did they at least satisfy any outstanding payments with Luther before doing so?] Yet, Luther’s vision actually worked for a long period of time.

It wasn’t until Luther left New York to spearhead an operation in Chicago, leaving the New York business in the care of his brother, that the NY distribution operation began to fail. Khalifa shared that Luther did not take his advice when he suggested that Luther purchase a brownstone in New York to establish his own brick and mortar. Instead, Luther’s brother took the operation to another side of town, resulting in $14,000 a month in overhead costs, eventually leading to the collapse of the New York distribution business. Luther was able to continue operating in Chicago.

H. Khalif Khalifa, Re-Establishes Family and Business in Virginia

The Nat Turner Library which is located in Dreweryville, VA has served as a repository of information for the liberation of Black people. Khalifa says he doesn’t know anyone who sells more books about Nat Turner than him. He has written three, himself. He also sells books written about Nat Turner by other people. After reading William Styron’s Nat Turner: Ten Black Writers Respond which was a response to Syron’s The Confession of Nat Turner, Khalifa affirmed two things. One, he would someday meet John Henrik Clark who had edited William Styron’s Nat Turner: Ten Black Writers Respond, he also committed his life as a Master Printer, to the sole production of Black literature. He achieved both.

“Nat Turner Land” will celebrate its anniversary on April 28th, 2018. Festivities are planned. I encourage you to visit. For whatever reason, Mr. Khalifa did not share much about the historical significance of his property with me the day I met with him. Nor, did he go into detail about the tours and festivities that take place there Year after Year. Honestly, I don’t think I even realized the value and depth of our conversation until spending time alone with the recorded materials. Nat Turner Library and the story of Baba H. Khalif Khalifah drips black, Red, and green. Each droplet prepared to quench the thirst of the minds and hearts of those looking to learn more about Black Liberation.

My goal is to revisit “Nat Turner Land” whose actually name is Khalifah Kujichagulia Village to gather details about its history and public programming, within the year.

Museum Review – Freedom House Museum

.Reading time 3 minutes.

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Things to do (Virginia) Freedom House Museum || There were about 30 visitors waiting for the 2:30 pm tour. I lucked up, the family standing in line ahead of me had an extra ticket (Thanks Tahima).

Apparently there is quite a demand to tour this particular museum. As one resident shared, “I live in Alexandria and the museum is never open.” An emailed response that I received earlier this week stated the museum will provide guided tours on Saturdays only, from now through to the end of February.

Public History is an interdisciplinary practice. Pictured is an exhibit panel which details University of the District of Columbia’s (UDC) School of Architecture’s contribution to the Freedom House Museum. UDC is an HBCU located in Washington DC. Students were responsible for recreating the slave pen model pictured in the 2nd photo.

Pictured is F. Elliott and another museum goer. Here, Elliott shares that he too picked cotton. In the 60s, in North Carolina he helped his mother perform the task. During that time it was his mother’s primary source of income. He eventually migrated to Maryland and is now a public school teacher. F. Elliott is in the process of writing a book titled “A Way Out” which will detail his days working in North Carolina’s cotton fields, to his time as an educator.

This is an example of the opportunity that museum’s provide for visitors to engage in discourse with various demographics. It also allows for one to identify personal connections to the history that has been interpreted

The Freedom House Museum made use of various mediums to engage visitors. Some of which include video displays, interpretive panels and artifacts. Pictured are a few artifacts currently on display. One of which is a stereoscope. The stereoscope was used as a form of entertainment in the early 19th century. It was also a means to distribute and display images captured in places across the nation. The slides displayed in pictures 2 and 3 are described as a “Georgia Cotton Field”

Archeologist, Pam Cressey shared that the state of Virginia requires that an archaeological dig is performed anytime any major infrastructure changes are made to a property. She assisted with the archaeological dig performed at The Freedom House Museum. When asked if the Civil war artifacts on display had been recovered from that dig she expressed that she wasn’t entirely sure but there is a possibility that they had been.