Teach the Truth Bus Tour

One of the extracurricular activities provided by the Young People’s Black Pedagogical Activism Lab was the Rosewood bus tour. This tour, organized by Dr. Marvin Dunn, goes from Atlanta, Georgia to Rosewood, Florida to teach the history of Rosewood and the massacre that occurred in 1923. Along the way, we stopped at several lynching sites and learned about the stories of the victims. One stop in Suanne Springs, Florida featured the story of Willie James Howard; a 15-year-old boy who was forced to jump into a lake with his hands and feet tied together. I, along with the other members of the tour, were appalled to find people playing and relaxing in the water where Willie James Howard was murdered. At the entrance to the springs there were signs describing the history of the springs as a place for healing and rejuvenation with no mention of the many lynchings that occurred on the site. The victims of America’s brutal history should be honored, not dismissed and forgotten.

Interestingly, I found myself feeling the same way upon visiting Willie James Howard’s grave. Dr. Dunn explained that it took a lot of time and effort to get a headstone to honor Willie James Howard. However, I was disappointed to see that the words chosen to honor Howard’s life were, “Killed by three racists”. While I understand that it is important to tell the stories of lynchings, I feel that reducing Willie James Howard to a symbol of racial violence is dismissive of his humanity. Preserving the story of Howard’s death is important, but there is also value in understanding who he was in his 15 years of life.