Whitney Plantation: Remembering Chains

Joy and I visited the Whitney plantation, 45 minutes outside of New Orleans. We discovered the plantation on a previous visit. It was listed as a significant site to visit to know some thing significant of African-American history and the contribution of African Americans to this region and to this country. We knew we wanted to revisit Whitney Plantation.
Najia was our guide and walked us through the experience of the enslaved on this plantation: their brutal life and their resilience in the context of incredible dehumanization. It is a humbling experience,even as it was deeply meaningful and somehow affirming.

Najia is a 23-year-old college student studying criminal justice. She made reference to a relative who had been a slave, and I asked her about that. She discovered it a year ago, via 23 and Me. She said her grandmother had the information but had been reluctant to share it with the family. Najia said that it was very meaningful to discover the name of a family member who had been enslaved.

Names are important to this plantation as the research unfolds many names among the thousands of unnamed enslaved people. In fact we wore name tags with the image of an enslaved child and a bit of their story.

It was a memorable experience…again.