Day of Resilience Archives - Harriet Tubman Byway

30 08, 2023

Special events planned for Underground Railroad Month in September 2023

Jill Jasuta2023-09-19T11:24:43-04:00

This is the fifth year that Maryland has declared September as International Underground Railroad Month, honoring the brave men, women, and children who fought for freedom. It’s the month when Harriet Tubman (born here in Dorchester County, Maryland) made her first attempt to escape slavery (Sept. 17) and when abolitionist Frederick Douglass self-liberated himself in Baltimore (Sept. 3).

One way to mark the month is to take the road trip known as the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Byway. This self-guided, scenic driving tour includes more than 30 sites, including the Beacon of Hope, a 12-foot bronze sculpture of Tubman installed a year ago, the well-known “Take My Hand” mural, and the Harriet Tubman Visitor Center. Enrich your experience with the free audio guide.

You can also join in special events:

Day of Resilience – Sept. 9, 2023

The fifth annual Day of Resilience in Cambridge, Maryland – just a few miles from where Harriet Tubman was born – begins with a Drum Processional and Waterside Libations at Long Wharf Marina (High and Water Streets, Cambridge), led by Nana Malaya Rucker-Oparabea. Followed by a ceremony at the Dorchester County Courthouse (206 High St., Cambridge0, which will feature the official dedication of the Harriet Tubman “Beacon of Hope” sculpture to Dorchester County. There will also be a presentation for Melvin Foote, founder of the Constituency for Africa, who comes to this event every year with a delegation of ambassadors from African countries. The program continues at 2pm with a ceremony at the “Take My Hand” Harriet Tubman Mural in Cannery Way (400 block of Race Street, Cambridge), where there also will be vendors beginning at 12:15pm. There is also a “Nubian Queen” quilt exhibit at ArtBar2.0 (420 Race St., Cambridge). See more info and the full schedule.

“Paths to Freedom: Uncle Tom’s Cabin and the Underground Railroad on the Eastern Shore of Maryland” – Sept. 16, 2023, 7pm

This black-box theatrical production by the Community Players of Salisbury happens at the Harriet Tubman Museum & Educational Center in Cambridge, Maryland. The production is based on the novel, Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Audience members, including children, will learn about the causes and effects of the novel, as well as its impact on the Underground Railroad. Located at 424 Race St., Cambridge, MD. Free admission, donations welcome. Free, but reserve at 443-235-3272.

Emancipation Day Celebration – Sept. 17, 2023, 10am-3pm

The event celebrates Harriet Tubman’s self-emancipation on Sept. 17, 1849. The day includes Tubman re-enactor Janice Curtis Greene, music, and family-friendly fun at the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad State Park and Visitor Center, 4068 Golden Hill Rd, Church Creek, MD 21622.

Schedule:

10am-3pm: Traditional Children’s Games including marbles, mancala, and potato sack races.
10am-3pm: Original Team Tubman Park Quest: Get to know real stationmasters and agents on the Underground Railroad with this family-friendly scavenger hunt.
10:30-11;30am: Talk: “A Thread Runs Through Them: Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass Connections to the Eastern Shore, MD.” Join Deanna Mitchell, Superintendent of Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Historical Park.
1pm: Meet Harriet Tubman. Hear Tubman’s story through a reenactment by the Official Griot for the State of Maryland, Janice Curtis Greene.
2:15pm and 2:45pm: Music by Not What You Think. This musical program will express the journey for equality, freedom, and peace exemplified by the life of Harriet Tubman. Not What You Think is an a cappella ensemble dedicated to social justice.

Viewing of “Harriet” Film – Sept. 30, 2023. 7pm

Join the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad State Park & Visitor Center after hours for an outside screening of the award-winning film “Harriet” in the Legacy Garden.

Please bring a blanket or a chair, as well as your own food or drink (alcohol is prohibited). Bug spray is encouraged. This event is contingent upon weather conditions. Rain date is October 7, 2023.

The Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad State Park & Visitor Center is located at 4068 Golden Hill Rd, Church Creek, MD 21622. Questions? Call 410-221-2290.

Special events planned for Underground Railroad Month in September 2023Jill Jasuta2023-09-19T11:24:43-04:00

30 08, 2023

Day of Resilience Sept. 9 includes Tubman sculpture dedication

Jill Jasuta2023-09-02T09:47:01-04:00

The Fifth Annual Day of Resilience in Cambridge, Maryland on Sept. 9, 2023 will feature a procession down High Street to Long Wharf, followed by a ceremony at the Dorchester Courthouse where the Harriet Tubman Beacon of Hope sculpture will be formally dedicated to the Dorchester County Commissioners. The day’s events will continue in the afternoon the Harriet Tubman Take My Hand mural at Cannery Way.

“The fact that it has been five years since our first Day of Resilience is monumental,” said Adrian Holmes, director of Alpha Genesis Community Development Corporation, organizers of the event. “It is a tradition that many people in the community look forward to every year.”

In preparation for the event, the public is invited to join Sculptor Wesley Wofford and his wife, Odyssey Wofford, at 9 a.m. on Monday, Sept. 4, for the first official cleaning of the Harriet Tubman sculpture. The Woffords will supervise the process and teach participants the proper way to clean the sculpture so that the community can take responsibility for it in the future. The public also is invited to participate in the Day of Resilience commemoration and related events on Sept. 9:

Drum Processional and Waterside Libations, which will begin with Nana Malaya Rucker-Oparabea leading a walk at 10:30 a.m. from the Dorchester County Courthouse, continuing down historic High Street to Long Wharf Marina, where ships bearing enslaved persons once docked. Participants are asked to dress in white and meet at the Courthouse, 206 High Street, at 10:15 a.m.
Ceremony at noon at the Courthouse, which will include a decree from Alpha Genesis formally dedicating the sculpture to Dorchester County. The program also will honor Melving Foote and Jeannine Scott, from the Constituency for Africa, who have been involved with the Day of Resilience since the beginning by coordinating discussion forums and the attendance of African ambassadors each year.
Vendor Market at Cannery Way, with food, crafts and other items, will be set up from 12:15-8pm. There also will be music outside throughout the afternoon and inside the Art Bar 2.0 in the evening.
Blessing ceremony at the “Take My Hand” mural, which also is celebrating five years since its installation on the side of the Harriet Tubman Museum, 424 Race Street. The ceremony will take place at 2pm and will include Lovie, who at age 3 was featured in the iconic photo showing her reaching out to take Harriet Tubman’s hand. The program also will include an overview of the public projects planned for the Cannery Way area and neighboring buildings.
Quilt display of approximately 100 handmade quilts at the Art Bar, 420B Race Street. with an evening wine and cheese reception for the Nubian Quilters.

On Sunday, Sept. 10, the Art Bar also will host a Gospel Brunch from 11am to 2pm.

For more information about the schedule for the Day of Resilience and the weekend events and for tickets, visit the Alpha Genesis website. The Day of Resilience was first held in 2019 in Cambridge to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the Transatlantic Slave Trade. That event received gubernatorial, senatorial and congressional citations and received the Outstanding Heritage Project Award from the Heart of Chesapeake Country Heritage Area. The event has grown every year since then, and in 2020, the observance was highlighted by the unveiling of a traveling sculpture of Harriet Tubman. Motivated by the community response to the traveling sculpture, Alpha Genesis led the grassroots drive that raised $250,000 to have the permanent Harriet Tubman statue created specifically for Dorchester County. The permanent sculpture was unveiled in 2022.

Day of Resilience Sept. 9 includes Tubman sculpture dedicationJill Jasuta2023-09-02T09:47:01-04:00

28 08, 2021

Day of Resilience is Sept. 11-12

Jill Jasuta2021-09-07T10:06:07-04:00

The Third Annual Day of Resilience on Sept. 11-12 in Cambridge, Maryland, will commemorate the theme, “Honoring our Ancestors by Reconnecting with Our Roots,” and feature Ambassador Sidique Wai of Sierra Leone as the keynote speaker during a Town Hall Meeting on Africa. The event happens along the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Byway.

The Day of Resilience was first held in 2019 in Cambridge to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the Transatlantic Slave Trade. That event received gubernatorial, senatorial and congressional citations and received the Outstanding Heritage Project Award from the Heart of Chesapeake Country Heritage Area. In 2020, the observance was highlighted by the unveiling of a traveling sculpture of Harriet Tubman at the Dorchester Courthouse.

Each Day of Resilience has built on the previous year’s event. This year’s commemoration also marks one year until a new, permanent Harriet Tubman sculpture is installed at the Dorchester County Courthouse, a place where enslaved ancestors were auctioned and Tubman’s niece was rescued. Next year is the bicentennial celebration of Tubman’s birth, and the statue will be installed at the Dorchester County courthouse to mark that milestone. A fundraising campaign, Harriet’s Journey Home, seeks to raise $250,000 to commission and install the 12-foot bronze statue. To date, there has been $140,000 raised in donations and grants.

On Saturday, Global Sustainable Partnerships will sponsor free health screenings for COVID, diabetes and HIV. Habitat for Humanity will host a community visioning session for the revitalization of the Harriet Tubman mural viewing area. Vendors will be in Cannery Way throughout Saturday. There will be an outdoor fashion show at the Black Lives Matter Mural by Sierra Leone fashion designer Fatamata Koroma, followed by Jazz at the Harriet Tubman “Take My Hand” Mural with artist Reggie Upshaw. For those who would like an extended stay, there will be a bus tour of Underground Railroad sites on Sunday, Sept. 12., followed by a gospel /jazz brunch featuring Suzette Pritchett at the Harriet Tubman Mural in the afternoon.

Saturday, September 11
10:30 a.m. – Meet at courthouse (206 High St., ) then walk to water for commemoration and libations at the water (Long Wharf fishing pier, High and Water Streets)
11:30 a.m. – Processional up High Street to the Dorchester County Courthouse, 206 High St.
Noon – Day of Resilience Ceremony- Dorchester County Courthouse
1:15 p.m. – Lunch on your own at Cannery Way (vendors in Cannery Way; 400 block of Race St.); box lunches for dignitaries at Harriet Tubman Museum.
1:15 p.m. – Community input on Cannery Way improvements (Habitat for Humanity)
1:15 p.m. – Art show opening, Death or Liberty by Artist Sydnie Smith-Jordon, 420 Race St., rear building
2:30 p.m. – Constituency for Africa Town Hall Meeting on Africa with Ambassador Sidique Wai of Sierra Leone
5:30 p.m. – Fashion Show at the Black Lives Matter Mural (400 Block Race Street)
7 p.m. – Jazz at the Harriet Tubman Mural (400 block of Race St.) with Reggie Upshaw
9 p.m. – Artist Reception, Death or Liberty, and After Party at the Art Bar 2.0, 420 Race St., rear building
11 p.m. – End of the Day

Sunday, September 12
11 a.m. Underground Railroad Tour with Harriet Tubman Tours
1:30 p.m. – Gospel/Jazz Brunch at the Harriet Tubman Mural (400 block of Race St.), featuring Suzette Pritchard. $50 per person. Buy tickets.
4 p.m. – End of Day

For more information about the Day of Resilience or how to contribute to the Harriet Tubman Sculpture fundraiser, visit the Alpha Genesis website

Day of Resilience is Sept. 11-12Jill Jasuta2021-09-07T10:06:07-04:00

28 08, 2020

Tubman’s legacy to be celebrated at Day of Resilience Sept. 12

Jill Jasuta2020-09-07T11:27:38-04:00

The Day of Resilience 2020 will celebrate Harriet Tubman’s legacy and more beginning at 12pm on Saturday, September 12, in Cambridge, Maryland, where the road trip known as the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Byway begins. Space is limited for most of the events, but the courthouse program will be streamed live for home viewing on the Day of Resilience Facebook page.

Tubman statue

The highlight of the event is the unveiling of a 9-foot, 2,400-pound bronze sculpture, “Harriet Tubman: Journey to Freedom,” by internationally recognized artist Wesley Wofford. The statue depicts Tubman confidently leading a slave girl on the Underground Railroad to freedom. This sculpture, to be unveiled during a program at the Dorchester County courthouse green (206 High Street, Cambridge, MD) from 12 to 1:30pm as part of the Day of Resilience, will be a temporary outdoor exhibit at the courthouse and will remain on exhibit until October 9.

Wofford, the creator of the statue, said, “There is a lot of embedded symbolism within the narrative of the piece. The contours of the base represent the Maryland/Delaware Peninsula, where Harriet was enslaved, eventually escaped, and continued to return for her freedom raids. The dramatic step up/cut is the Pennsylvania state line, and they are stepping out of the slave states to an elevated freedom. The dress is enveloping the young girl, billowing protectively like a flag, and is meant to represent all the legal protections afforded every United States citizen-a symbol of the future equality to come. Each hand on the sculpture signifies an attribute: Determination, Protection, Fear, and Trust. The slave girl is leaning out to get a better look at where Harriet is taking her with a look of trepidation on her face. She is gripping Harriet’s right arm tightly but her delicate finger grasp is cautiously hopeful. The girl is off balance and tentatively taking a step forward-her left foot precariously hanging off a cliff, illustrating the danger and peril of the journey. The shackles are broken and the atrocities of slavery are left forever behind.” The finale of the unveiling ceremony includes a performance by the award-winning Universal African Dance and Drum Ensemble from Camden, NJ.

Town Hall on Africa

After the programming at the courthouse, the Constituency for Africa (CFA) Town Hall on Africa runs from 3 to 5pm. The event will close with a fundraising jazz concert from 6 to 8pm at the Harriet Tubman Mural in Cannery Way (near 432 Race St., Cambridge), featuring Washington, DC jazz artist Linda Harris. Concert is open only to those with advance, paid tickets. See ticket info.

Related art exhibits

Between programming, visitors are invited to view two exhibitions at the Dorchester Center for the Arts: “Portraits of Black Lives Lost: Showing Their Faces, Telling Their Stories” features paintings of those whose lives were ended by racial violence, and is presented by Artists for Justice. A second, “I Am My Sister Dolls” features the culturally iconic handmade doll line of event organizer Adrian Green Holmes. The exhibits will be open from 12 to 6pm at 321 High Street in Cambridge. Guests may also visit the vendor area at Cannery Way from 1 to 8pm.

Day of Resilience 2020 is being organized by Alpha Genesis, CDC with support from the Constituency for Africa (CFA), Dorchester County, and the City of Cambridge.

ADDITIONAL ACTIVITIES

Harriet Tubman Museum:
The Constituency for Africa (CFA) begins the 2020 Ronald Brown African Affairs Series at the Harriet Tubman Museum in Cambridge, MD. The virtual Harriet Tubman Town Hall on Africa will be broadcast from the Harriet Tubman Museum from 3 to 5pm. Dr. Julianne Malveaux will be the keynote speaker. Dr. Julius Garvey, the Honorable Robert Dussey, Foreign Minister of Togo, and Izmira Aitch, Legislative Assistant to Congresswoman Gwen Moore (D-Wis.), are among the panel speakers.

The Town Hall program includes a live creation of a Salt Art portrait by local artist Miriam Moran. This will be a global event on Zoom with participants from across the country and Africa. The building will not be open to the public, however a Zoom link will be provided.

In addition, from 2 to 2:45pm, CFA will organize a meeting for young leaders in Cambridge, the “Youth Ambassadors” and the Bowtie Boys from Houston, TX, to follow up on a similar meeting last year, and the trip to Washington in February by a 30-person youth delegation that visited the embassies of Mali, Ghana, and Rwanda for briefings.

Cannery Way Park:
A jazz concert fundraiser at the Harriet Tubman Mural will feature Washington, DC Jazz Artist Linda Harris, from 6 to 8pm. Harris has performed in France, Sweden, Panama, New Orleans, New York, and South Carolina. She holds fast to the words of Harriet Tubman – “I had reasoned this out in my mind, there was one of two things I had a right to – liberty or death.” In 2020, the walk for liberty continues as Harris and seven other women walk the 125-mile Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Byway from September 5 to 10, 2020. Harriett’s story motivates Harris in the most amazing ways; she wrote a song called “Freedom” in honor of the journey and will release a music video featuring the video clips from the journey and the Harriet Tubman Mural, “Take My Hand.” During the Sept. 12 concert, Cambridge musician Antone Ennels is the opening artist performing his newly released single “1 Foot.” Concert is open only to those with advance, paid tickets. See ticket info.

For more information, visit AlphaGenesisCDC.org or the Day of Resilience Facebook page.

Please note: both the opening ceremony and closing concert will have limited seating in order to adhere to all social distancing guidelines. Wrist bands, masks and temperature check will be required for each seated event.

For more information, contact info@alphagenesiscdc.org.

Tubman’s legacy to be celebrated at Day of Resilience Sept. 12Jill Jasuta2020-09-07T11:27:38-04:00

24 07, 2019

Day of Resilience set for Sept. 7

Jill Jasuta2019-09-10T10:30:32-04:00

A very special event is happening here in Harriet Tubman Country Saturday, Sept. 7. A Day of Resilience will be the official ribbon cutting for the Harriet Tubman Mural, as well as an event to recognize and reflect on the 400th anniversary of the arrival of the first Africans to be sold into bondage in North America in 1619 at Jamestown. The trans-Atlantic slave trade forced more than 12 million Africans from their homes to work on plantations and in mines in other countries.
Here’s a rundown of events, most of which happen in Cambridge, Maryland.

12pm: Drum call, pouring of libations, dance and spoken word at the Dorchester County Courthouse, which had been the site of slave auctions in the 1800s (It’s also Stop #3 on the Tubman Byway). 206 High St.

12:25 pm: A processional, “The Healing Journey,” from the Courthouse to the Harriet Tubman Mural, several blocks away at 424 Race St.

1pm: Harriet Tubman Mural dedication featuring drumming, guest speakers, and ribbon cutting with the artist Michael Rosato, Dorchester Chamber of Commerce, Maryland State Arts Council, and special guests.

1:45pm: A luncheon for visiting dignitaries at the Harriet Tubman Museum and Educational Center (Stop #5 on the Tubman Byway), 424 Race St., with local restaurants, vendors and food trucks serving the general public.

After the ribbon cutting, there will be several afternoon events happening simultaneously:

2pm: 7th Annual Remembrance Ceremony at the Cambridge Marina. Souls at Sea is an on-water libation and remembrance ceremony commemorating the lives lost in the waters along the Middle Passage.

2:30pm: Constituency for Africa (CFA)’s Harriet Tubman Town Hall Meeting on Africa at Waugh United Methodist Church, 425 High St., will feature Keynote Speaker Dr. Julius Garvey (son of Marcus Mossiah Garvey, the founder of the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA)) and Linda Thomas Greenfield, former assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, as moderator. A panel will feature three ambassadors from Africa:

Ambassador Mahamadou Nimaga, Embassy of the Republic of Mali
Ambassador Monica N. Nashandi, Embassy of the Republic of Namibia
Ambassador Frederic Edem Hegbe, Embassy of the Republic of Togo

3pm: The Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Visitor Center, about a 20 minute drive from Cambridge, will provide a ranger-led introduction tour to the park. It is located amid the landscapes where Harriet Tubman lived and toiled. The Tubman Visitor Center is open until 5pm.

5:30pm: The Gathering at Cannery Way will allow everyone to reflect on the day and continue the celebration of Harriet Tubman. Vendors, music and food will be available.

Shuttle services will be available.

The event is being organized in part by Alpha Genesis Community Dev Corporation and Dorchester Center for the Arts.

Watch for updates on the Facebook event page.

Day of Resilience set for Sept. 7Jill Jasuta2019-09-10T10:30:32-04:00