Extraordinary. Did you know about this before you went to Naples? It seems so unlikely, but so wonderful that someone thought it was important to save this structure.
1) See the best Rosa Parks statue: Wikipedia "Rosa Parks statue (Eugene, Oregon)." That her home was exiled to another country is in keeping with how she was treated in the United States. 2) I spent a week in Nashville and went to a plantation. The preserved lot was small. The house was large but unremarkable, not a Tara mansion. It was closed for renovation. Nearby was a small log cabin. I was stunned to stand there, looking at the home of black people who were owned by the white people in the house, and who were forced to work for them with little opportunity to escape. Then I decided that the one room cabin was probably a replica. No matter, I was standing in the same space where they stood not many years before. I envisioned them. To be there in person is impactful in a way that isn't felt from viewing photos. It hadn't taken much time for me to travel there. The city looked the same as any city. Since then, slavery hasn't seemed distant from me in space or time.
I had not seen or heard of that statue before. It really is dignified. And interesting that it was erected in 2015 - just a year before her house was going to be demolished (leading to Mendoza's purchase).
As for visiting the plantation, what an incredible experience. There really is nothing else like standing on the land where history has happened. The land holds the energy, the land hold the memories. If we allow ourselves to open up, it all comes to us, up through the soil and into our cells. You were able to see it and, I'm sure, feel it in your bones. More of us need to visit these places. More than visiting museums, we need to visit the lands where history took place. This makes all the difference.
So interesting! Thanks for this!
Thank you for reading!
Amazing story, beautifully written. Thank you, Jan!
Extraordinary. Did you know about this before you went to Naples? It seems so unlikely, but so wonderful that someone thought it was important to save this structure.
It was completely a surprise to me, Susie! And yes, so extraordinary!
Wild Jan! Shocking no one in the states saved her house.
I agree!! It took a private citizen to save it. Crazy. Would be great to see it return to the States.
1) See the best Rosa Parks statue: Wikipedia "Rosa Parks statue (Eugene, Oregon)." That her home was exiled to another country is in keeping with how she was treated in the United States. 2) I spent a week in Nashville and went to a plantation. The preserved lot was small. The house was large but unremarkable, not a Tara mansion. It was closed for renovation. Nearby was a small log cabin. I was stunned to stand there, looking at the home of black people who were owned by the white people in the house, and who were forced to work for them with little opportunity to escape. Then I decided that the one room cabin was probably a replica. No matter, I was standing in the same space where they stood not many years before. I envisioned them. To be there in person is impactful in a way that isn't felt from viewing photos. It hadn't taken much time for me to travel there. The city looked the same as any city. Since then, slavery hasn't seemed distant from me in space or time.
Ariel, thank you so much for these comments!
I had not seen or heard of that statue before. It really is dignified. And interesting that it was erected in 2015 - just a year before her house was going to be demolished (leading to Mendoza's purchase).
As for visiting the plantation, what an incredible experience. There really is nothing else like standing on the land where history has happened. The land holds the energy, the land hold the memories. If we allow ourselves to open up, it all comes to us, up through the soil and into our cells. You were able to see it and, I'm sure, feel it in your bones. More of us need to visit these places. More than visiting museums, we need to visit the lands where history took place. This makes all the difference.