SER BOXLEY

SER BOXLEY’S ORIGINAL ARTICLE AS SUBMITTED TO NATCHEZ DEMOCRAT TOP OF THE MORNING FORUM MAY 18, 2005

BRINGING NATCHEZ TRACE PARKWAY BLACK HISTORY THROUGH THE BACKDOOR

The Natchez Trace Parkway completion into Natchez is expected to bring a "boon" to the Natchez Tourism Industry. That will be great for those who sell history to generate dollars. Sanitized history is the tourism commodity packaged and sold in Natchez for decades.

The Natchez Trace (Parkway) is an integral historic component of the showcased sites and stories told and sold in Mississippi's tourism industry, as well as Natchez.

I can say its all good as the popular culture saying goes.

Showcasing history is an extremely valuable learning tool that teaches us our past contributions over the eons of the cycles of time. What goes around comes around.

As I have stated in my narrative on the JimCrowHistory.org website, we learn from the past, (Sankofa = reach back and take our African culture and live it) there is no way to Sankofa or learn from the future. In a multi-racial world, whole history must prevail so all groups know where they have been and where they fit into the whole of history. Whole history teaches all of us about all of us. Partial history teachers some of us about some of us.

Partial history does have its place as a part of whole history, especially when such part of whole history is a reflection of the history of a singular non-diverse racial cultural group.

Partial history even works where there was/is a presence of multi-cultural diverse racial groups, provided each diverse racial cultural group's history prevails as parts for the whole history.

The late great historian and griot, Dr. John Henrik Clarke has aptly provided a scientific tool for assessing wholistic history prevalence.

He taught us "history is a clock that people use to tell their political and cultural time of day. It is also a compass that people use to find themselves on a map of human geography. The role of history is to tell a people what they have been, where they have been, what they are and where they are. The most important role that history plays is that it has the function of telling a people where they still must go and what they still must be."

In addition, I add that history tells a people how its accomplishments were done, what must be done again (people repeat history) and who must do it.

Applying Dr. John Henrik Clarke's history assessment tool we must be able to know and see how African descendants can collectively find ourselves on the human geography map of the Natchez Trace's (Parkway) history. We must be able to tell the African descendants' collective political and cultural time of day in the Natchez Trace's (Parkway) time line.

Are we able to look at the Natchez Trace's (Parkway) history and know and see what African descendants have been, (originators) where they have been, (world migrations) what they are (sum of two million years plus of human civilization) and where they are (and the struggle continues)?

It is obvious that initial advocates for the establishment of the Natchez Trace Parkway were successful, but at the same time they and subsequent operatives have failed.

However, since that early time of designating the Natchez Trace and Parkway as an official human historical road map, African descendants have been omitted and deleted, especially by national, state and local governments that use African descendants' tax dollars for preserving, presenting and interpreting history relative to the Natchez Trace (Parkway).

It makes one wonder or imagines how it must feel to be members of a people who use Natchez Trace (Parkway) history as a compass to see and find themselves on the map of human history.

Does this mean that because the history of African descendants have been omitted and or deleted from the Natchez Trace's (Parkway) history that we are considered not humans or important enough to have our part of that history preserved, presented and interpreted?

Humanity, culture, history, art, heritage, development contributions and legacies denied African descendants of the past are humanity, culture, history, art, heritage, development contributions and legacies denied African descendants today!

Can a European descendant people who control the institutions of history and thereby steadfastly use them to tell their political and cultural time of day, really overcome their selfishness and allow for other racial people to tell their political and culture history time of day?

What if African descendant people controlled the institutions of history and deleted and omitted the history of European descendants? What would be the claims and outcry of European descendants relative to equal and balance history? What kind of Title Seven Civil Rights lawsuits would be filed based upon leaving them out with the stroke of a pen and the spending of millions of their tax dollars on history preservation, presentation and interpretation that omitted and deleted their history? What kind of human rights claims and charges would be filed in the world human rights court?

This mental shoe on the other foot scenario exercise should help people understand why I have submitted a proposed Equal History and Culture Commemoration Human Rights Act bill to my State of Mississippi Legislative representatives and the State NAACP while asking them to move to have it enacted into law by the State of Mississippi.

The proposed bill essentially says that all future tax funds allocated for history preservation, presentation and interpretation by the State of Mississippi, local governments, as well as federal dollars coming to the State for such purposes be allocated equally to European and African descendants' culture, history, art, heritage, development contributions and legacies.

I am entering into my eleventh year of advocating and fighting for equal history and tourism democracy in Southwest Mississippi-Central Louisiana. The Natchez Trace Parkway remains a target for inclusion of whole history that tells and shows world visitors the humanity, culture, history, art, heritage, development contributions and legacies denied African descendants.

Natchez Trace Parkway and City of Natchez operatives could have made significant strides to showcase the history of slavery and St. Catherine Street African descendants had they accepted my proposal to include a Forks of the Roads-St. Catherine Street Catch-up Corridor extension of the Natchez Trace Parkway into Natchez.

This written and schematic proposal was timely submitted to the Natchez Trace Parkway during the public comment period of choosing the various alternative routes to extend the Parkway into Natchez. At that time, I was chairman of the local NAACP Branch's Economic Reciprocity Committee.

My concern remains as the Natchez Trace Parkway extension into Natchez is completed is the failed showcasing of African descendants' humanity, culture, history, art, heritage, development contributions and legacies. Obviously, the Parkway coming through the European descendants' community via the present route in conjunction with the Liberty Road exchange development showcases the European descendants' community and accrues economics to European descendants' business downtown. My other concern is the Natchez Trace Parkway failure to contribute to the economic development well being of African descendants' businesses in the St. Catherine and Martin L. King Jr. Street Tri-angle at the least.

The Natchez Trace Parkway cannot be totally blamed for the absence or failure in the immediate area of African descendants sharing in the economic developments of the tourism industry. But it certainly must make some catch-up strides assuring inclusion of whole history that tell and show world visitors the humanity, culture, history, art, heritage, development contributions and legacies denied African descendants, as well assuring its product benefits the African descendants business community economically.

By now, making strides of catching up the humanity, culture, history, art, heritage, development contributions and legacies denied African descendants, the Natchez Trace Parkway must bring its Black history through it's back doors. It must Sankofa, "reach back and take it" and bring it into the realm of whole history so African descendant people can be able to use it as a compass to find themselves on the map of the Natchez Trace Parkway's human geography and other people can see us also.

Based upon complaints and suggestions from my person, the Natchez Trace Parkway has made some strides at Mt. Locust's enslavement cemetery and tourists have shown great interest.

Senator Thad Cochran must be thanked and acknowledged for his successful effort that has made $147,000 available to the City of Natchez through Natchez National Historical Park for the conduction of a feasibility study of the Forks of the Roads enslavement markets sites becoming a part of the Park. This is another Sankofa reach back step and include a history of a people deleted and omitted that is part of the Natchez Trace's whole history.

Natchez Mayor Philip West will make a giant catch-up stride toward achieving equal history and tourism democracy in the area when he develops the funds and builds the 2-3 million dollars museum and interpretative center at the Forks of the Roads.

Ser Seshs Ab Heter-CM Boxley, Founder African Research Heritage Program Since 1966

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