I write to praise the Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association for its wonderful full-page ad in the June 19 Recorder entitled “My Life Is My Own.” This full color page, sponsored by Tim Neumann, Tom Mershon and Carol and Peter Letson, reminded us, or taught us, perhaps, about some of the many Black people in America who live or lived exceptional lives among us.
Too often ignored by history, these people played, and continue to play, important roles right here in New England and beyond. Their lives, Black lives, too often abused, ignored, hated, brutalized, matter.
The association launched an on-going project 25 years ago entitled African Americans in Early Rural New England, a project that continues to this day. Thanks to them, I discovered Lucy Terry Prince, a slave girl in old Deerfield in the mid-1700s who learned to read and write, won her freedom, married, raised a large family and fought in the courts to protect the land she and her husband purchased and farmed.
An online search of some of the many accomplishments of Black Americans will lead to inventions, medical, biological, botanical and scientific discoveries that might surprise and should impress all who dare to look. More than athletes and musicians, Black Americans have shown themselves to be worthy of as much respect as every other human being. In fact, given all that they have had to struggle against, their accomplishments have been remarkable indeed.
The social isolation of COVID-19 is a perfect opportunity for all of us to grow our minds and expand our knowledge. Researching Black accomplishments throughout American history would be a perfect project during these times in which we have all become painfully aware of how little Black lives have been valued in our country. Perhaps such research would enable an opening of the minds and hearts that have been closed by prejudice and racism to start to see the beauty and value of the Black lives in our midst. Because, just like white lives, Black lives really do matter!
Louise Amyot
Greenfield