The Beauty of a Quiet Story

I had the honor of manning the Columbia Democratic Club table at the Harriet Tubman Cultural Center on September 16, 2023. For those of you who don’t know, the Harriet Tubman Center used to be Harriet Tubman High School. Harriet Tubman High School operated from 1949-1965 as the segregated high school for black young people. There were so many people who came back to their alma mater to see the renovations and also celebrate their unique experiences here in Howard County. For a lover of history (like me!) the day was full of stories and memories that many who were there were gracious enough to share.

I think of the story of a gentleman who told me how the local white farmers would come in to the school and would remove the strongest to work during certain times of the year. He talked about how he dreaded those days. He was annoyed at the imposition on his body and education, but knew that there was nothing he could do but to acquiesce to the will of those farmers. His face lit up with pride as he told me that he still graduated and went to college. His smile truly lit my day.

There was also the story of the lady who told me about how hard it was to have hand-me down books from the white students. The books were in such disrepair that it was hard for each student to be on the same page at the same time. However, she talked about the skill of the teachers who were able to “make a dollar out of pennies” and fed their curiosities and imaginations with the most flawed of resources. She told me that she went to college and became a teacher and then a principal before retiring.

I met a lovely couple who came to simply honor a friend who is no longer with us. They shared the stories of segregation in Virginia and how lovely they found the Harriet Tubman School. The gentleman told me how he was amazed at how many of our Harriet Tubman graduates went on to college and beyond. He talked about how he moved from a place with no segregation to Virginia where the lines between black and white was rigidly enforced. He held my hands and thanked me for being an educator. He stole my heart.

I learned so much through the beauty of the quiet stories that I heard that day. The pain and progress interwoven through every interaction filled me with an awe for those who suffered hardships to make it possible for us to have what we have today. While we are not in a perfect space at all, I am in awe of what people when through in order to get us to this space. My question is how are we going to honor those quiet stories? How can we use the inspiration of those whose stories made progress possible in order to push us into a stronger and bolder future?

Expunging Records…Giving Hope

It is no secret that the United States leads the world in the amount of people who are incarcerated. There are so many different ways that people here can find themselves entangled into the criminal justice system that it would take a 9,000 page book to list them all. But no matter how you end up in the criminal justice system, most people will find themselves out of the prison system. And then what?

There is the pervasive myth that once you serve your time, you come out of prison/jail with a clean slate. Sadly, that is not true for many people who serve their time. Depending on the conviction, you may have to deal with many long lasting, life constraining after effects. For the millions of people who have encountered the criminal justice system, these effects may seem insurmountable. Some of the constraints that many formerly incarcerated people may have to live with are as follows: being denied certain jobs, being ineligible for financial aid for college/post secondary training, being denied housing, being denied business loans or mortgages, being denied custody of minor children, and so many more. For those living life constrained after serving time, this can make life seem hopeless.

In Maryland, eligible people can access expungement after a period time as determined by different factors. Expungement of a criminal record can truly liberate people as they can now access many of the resources that they had been previously denied. It would seem like expungement should be automatically done as soon as people are eligible. However, it is not. People have to go through the process of expungement. As the process can be costly (most of the cost is in hiring trained professionals to help wade the waters of regulations and court), you can imagine that those who have already had restricted incomes may struggle to be able to obtain final liberation after completing their obligation to society.

On July 29, Columbia Community Care (CCC) offered their second Essential Resources Day to the community. It was a day in which many resources were brought together to help people to gain health,healing and liberation. One of the many resources that was offered to the community was a free expungement clinic.

Run in partnership with lawyers, the expungement clinic gave folks who have convictions the ability to have their situations reviewed with no cost. Yes, this was offered absolutely free of charge to our community. The ability to have a lawyer give you advice about your situation is worth a great deal of money. However, the expungement clinic did not stop there. For those who were determined to be eligible for expungement, the lawyers would then work that case until final determination. FOR FREE!!!! What life giving hope!