It will be open through August.īrown said funding for the project was made possible by the Merrimack Repertory Theatre, Greater Lowell Community Foundation and the Lowell Cultural Council.The river's “wild and noble sights,” Thoreau wrote, are “such as they who sit in parlors never dream of.” Illustration by Edward Sorel at the Lowell National Historical Park Visitor Center, at 246 Market St. The free “Hidden in Plain Sight” exhibit is open seven days a week from noon to 5 p.m. Every time someone was interviewed, they asked “is there anyone else we should speak to?” The goal was to include as many as possible.īrown hopes the book and exhibition can inspire other voices and other communities to share their history and bring it to the forefront.īooks will be on sale at the Merrimack Valley Black and Brown Voices Holiday Market at Mill No. Together, they reached out to people they knew personally and through social media. To find stories, Brown said Free Soil Arts Collective worked closely with The Kindred Project. I think we need to encourage more of this stuff and provide a stage or a platform for more of this to continue,” Robinson said. “I think people are a lot more open minded to hearing these stories and they appreciate and respect these stories. Robinson said as someone born and raised in Lowell, things have changed throughout his lifetime. But that’s also juxtaposed with the stories of joy and triumph, despite that,” Brown said. “We have stories of Black people’s experiences and the Black neighborhoods where people were displaced. “I have different experiences than a lot of others and now it kind of translated into being the first elected Black city councilor.”īrown said “Hidden in Plain Sight,” is about providing a complete picture of the Black experience in Lowell. “I came from a different place than a lot of the others in the community because I became employed by the city of Lowell as one of the few minorities and then I went on to become the basically first Black union president of AFSCME local 1705 while I was employed with the city,” Robinson said. However, he said it was an honor to be part of the project. He said he preferred to focus on his qualifications and how he could make a difference for the city’s residents. He had been having conversations with many in the community and consistently heard about Free Soil Arts Collective and Brown.īecoming Lowell’s first Black councilor was not a part of Robinson’s campaign. Robinson got involved with the project shortly after announcing his candidacy for City Council. Stacey Thompson, a former teacher who was elected to the School Committee this year, is another story. Robinson is another person whose story is told through “Hidden in Plain Sight.” This year, Lowell elected its first Black city councilor - Corey Robinson of Centralville. But she continued, she still did it,” Brown said. “She wanted to fight injustice and one point she had to go someplace else to do that to continue that work. I think that’s really impactful,” Brown said of “Hidden in Plain Sight.”Īfter leaving Lowell, Malbory would find a city that embraced her in Atlanta, Ga. We have this permanent, tangible thing that can’t be ignored anymore. “It helps to archive and it helps to kind of prove that we exist.
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