{"@context":"http://iiif.io/api/presentation/3/context.json","id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/iiif/3775t3hw25/manifest","type":"Manifest","label":{"en":["Oral history interview with Akua Page"]},"logo":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/organizations/logo_images/000/000/212/original/LOHI_aviarybanner2.jpg?1741032082","metadata":[{"label":{"en":["Date"]},"value":{"en":["12/3/21"]}},{"label":{"en":["Description"]},"value":{"en":["Akua Page was born on September 1st, 1993 in Charleston, S.C. and raised in North Charleston. Page is an alumnus of Strayer University and proud member of Gullah Geechee community. Page has dedicated much of her life to Gullah Geechee recognition and visibility as well as to civil rights activism, particularly within the local Black Lives Matter movement. A lead organizer of Black Lives Matter Charleston, she took part in much of the organizing efforts, protest activities and marches against the violence facing Black communities including responses to the officer involved shooting of veteran and father Walter Scott."]}},{"label":{"en":["Language"]},"value":{"en":["English"]}},{"label":{"en":["Rights Statement"]},"value":{"en":["Copyright © Avery Research Center for African American History and Culture."]}},{"label":{"en":["Access Note"]},"value":{"en":["For more information contact the Avery Research Center for African American History and Culture, 125 Bull Street, Charleston, SC 29424."]}},{"label":{"en":["Access Statement"]},"value":{"en":["All rights reserved."]}},{"label":{"en":["Interviewee"]},"value":{"en":["Page, Akua, 1993-"]}},{"label":{"en":["Interviewer"]},"value":{"en":["Brown, Millicent E., 1948-"]}},{"label":{"en":["Subject - Topical"]},"value":{"en":["African Americans","Gullahs","Political activists","Black lives matter movement","Activism","Political participation","Community organization","Social movements"]}},{"label":{"en":["Subject - Personal or Corporate"]},"value":{"en":["d'Baha, Muhiyidin, 1985-2018","Moye, Muhiyidin, 1985-2018","Scott, Walter, 1965-2015"]}},{"label":{"en":["Subject - Geographic"]},"value":{"en":["Charleston (S.C.)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Subject - Geographic County"]},"value":{"en":["Charleston County (S.C.)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Contributing Institution"]},"value":{"en":["Avery Research Center at the College of Charleston"]}},{"label":{"en":["Media Type"]},"value":{"en":["Oral Histories"]}},{"label":{"en":["Resource Locator"]},"value":{"en":["AMN 1168.001.002"]}},{"label":{"en":["Digitization Specifications"]},"value":{"en":["Mp4 derivative audio and video created using Davinci Resolve. Archival masters are all mp4 files."]}},{"label":{"en":["Date Digital"]},"value":{"en":["2022"]}}],"summary":{"en":["Akua Page was born on September 1st, 1993 in Charleston, S.C. and raised in North Charleston. Page is an alumnus of Strayer University and proud member of Gullah Geechee community. Page has dedicated much of her life to Gullah Geechee recognition and visibility as well as to civil rights activism, particularly within the local Black Lives Matter movement. A lead organizer of Black Lives Matter Charleston, she took part in much of the organizing efforts, protest activities and marches against the violence facing Black communities including responses to the officer involved shooting of veteran and father Walter Scott."]},"requiredStatement":{"label":{"en":["Attribution"]},"value":{"en":["Copyright © Avery Research Center for African American History and Culture."]}},"provider":[{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/aboutus","type":"Agent","label":{"en":["Lowcountry Digital Library"]},"homepage":[{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/","type":"Text","label":{"en":["Lowcountry Digital Library"]},"format":"text/html"}],"logo":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/organizations/logo_images/000/000/212/original/LOHI_aviarybanner2.jpg?1741032082","type":"Image"}]}],"thumbnail":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/collection_resource_files/thumbnails/000/298/953/small/open-uri20251217-4125201-r47jdm_1766000192.jpg?1766000193","type":"Image","format":"image/jpeg"}],"items":[{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953","type":"Canvas","label":{"en":["Media File 1 of 1 - open-uri20251217-4125201-r47jdm.mp4"]},"duration":2549.546,"width":640,"height":360,"thumbnail":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/collection_resource_files/thumbnails/000/298/953/small/open-uri20251217-4125201-r47jdm_1766000192.jpg?1766000193","type":"Image","format":"image/jpeg"}],"items":[{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953/content/1","type":"AnnotationPage","items":[{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953/content/1/annotation/1","type":"Annotation","motivation":"painting","body":{"id":"https://aviary-p-cofc.s3.wasabisys.com/collection_resource_files/resource_files/000/298/953/original/open-uri20251217-4125201-r47jdm.mp4?1766000190","type":"Video","format":"video/mp4","duration":2549.546,"width":640,"height":360},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953","metadata":[]}]}],"annotations":[{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953/transcript/87836","type":"AnnotationPage","label":{"en":["DTA Interview - Akua Page pt. 1 - Edited Transcript.docx [Transcript]"]},"items":[{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953/transcript/87836/annotation/1","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"MILLICENT BROWN\n\nYou can start.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953#t=1.0,2.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953/transcript/87836/annotation/2","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"AKUA PAGE\n\nMy name is Akua Page, A-K-U-A, and Page is spelled P-A-G-E. MILLICENT BROWN\n\nAnd you are from where, Akua?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953#t=2.0,9.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953/transcript/87836/annotation/3","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"MILLICENT BROWN\n\nAnd you are from where, Akua?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953#t=9.0,9.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953/transcript/87836/annotation/4","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"MILLICENT BROWN\n\nAnd you are from where, Akua? AKUA PAGE\n\nSo I was raised in North Charleston and born in Charleston at MUSC Downtown.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953#t=9.0,17.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953/transcript/87836/annotation/5","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"MILLICENT BROWN\n\nOkay. So you're good and local.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953#t=17.0,19.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953/transcript/87836/annotation/6","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"AKUA PAGE\n\nYeah.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953#t=19.0,21.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953/transcript/87836/annotation/7","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"MILLICENT BROWN\n\nOkay. And what are you doing now?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953#t=21.0,24.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953/transcript/87836/annotation/8","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"AKUA PAGE\n\nI do a couple things. I don't really know what to describe what I do, but in a nutshell I'm a Geechee educator, and I spend most of my time educating children. Because I feel like, especially just from my experience growing up Geechee, there's a lot of miseducation around what it means to be Geechee, and I know that caused me at a young age to kind of internalize a lot of racism and baggage. So I give back by teaching, sharing in my community about the importance and the power of Gullah Geechee culture, especially that, you know, our history didn't start off with slavery. And so I don't really know to describe it because I teach them, but I also work with a lot of kids who come from rough backgrounds and some are in foster care, some are experiencing situations with the juvenile justice system, so I'm also a mentor in that sense. I guess the package, and I would just say I'm an educator/mentor.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953#t=24.0,83.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953/transcript/87836/annotation/9","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"MILLICENT BROWN\n\nDo you have a full-time job?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953#t=83.0,86.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953/transcript/87836/annotation/10","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"AKUA PAGE\n\nSo I work for myself. My full-time job is just teaching children about Gullah Geechee culture, and now I transition over to where I add juices onto what I'm doing to also increase the health and wellness aspect. Because that's also a big issue I've seen in my community, just especially with COVID. It kind of highlighted with the disparity that was already there, with the diabetes, high blood pressure. But before that, I was teaching at schools, at a public school, for about 10 years, which is why I have such a passion for just teaching kids of my own. Because being a student within Charleston public school system and also being a teacher, I just seen just how deep racism goes. There has been a lot of work done to, I guess, change the system, but there's still a lot more that needs to be done.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953#t=86.0,135.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953/transcript/87836/annotation/11","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"AKUA PAGE\n\nAnd I call it an academic lynching. I don't know if that's too harsh, but just the way they treat, especially children who come in only speaking Geechee because that's their culture. To me, I just call it academic lynching, how they try to teach the culture out of people. But before I jumped off and did my own thing, I was in the public school system for about 10 years as a teacher assistant.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953#t=135.0,158.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953/transcript/87836/annotation/12","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"MILLICENT BROWN\n\nOkay. Okay. Go ahead and just for the record tell us then about your formal training because in order to get into the classroom, you went to college?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953#t=158.0,170.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953/transcript/87836/annotation/13","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"AKUA PAGE\n\nOh yeah. So I went to college. I went to Trident Tech. And then from there I went to... I'm currently still at Strayer University.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953#t=170.0,178.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953/transcript/87836/annotation/14","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"MILLICENT BROWN\n\nI'm sorry, I didn't understand.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953#t=178.0,180.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953/transcript/87836/annotation/15","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"AKUA PAGE\n\nStrayer University.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953#t=180.0,186.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953/transcript/87836/annotation/16","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"MILLICENT BROWN\n\nI think it's really important in talking about your work, you said that you try to explain to people, you know, what is Geechee.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953#t=186.0,197.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953/transcript/87836/annotation/17","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"AKUA PAGE\n\nYeah.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953#t=197.0,198.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953/transcript/87836/annotation/18","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"MILLICENT BROWN\n\nGullah Geechee. Let's talk about that a little bit. Let's hear from you how you help people unpack that term.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953#t=198.0,210.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953/transcript/87836/annotation/19","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"AKUA PAGE\n\nSo I help them unpack because I feel like language says a whole lot. There's so much we can learn just by really analyzing and studying languages. And so just being inside the school system I also noticed how... And even for me, because growing up, if somebody called me Geechee, that was fighting words. Even though we knew we were Geechee, but because of the way we have been mis-educated, you know, even within our own communities, that if somebody called you that, you just be ready to fight. And I guess that also just comes from the trauma of previous generations to where a lot of them, I've heard stories how they were beaten, either by family members or even at certain schools, if they spoke Geechee. So you know they put that onto the next generation, \"Oh, don't speak like that.\"","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953#t=210.0,251.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953/transcript/87836/annotation/20","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"AKUA PAGE\n\nSo with that being said, as I got older and I started just... Because I'm like, “I speak this language, so I know there has to be another story behind it, this just can't just be bad.” So, as I started to really just self-educate and I realized, \"Okay, we come from more than just the plantation. That's not the beginning of our story. It's a chapter in it, but that's not the beginning.” They brought us here because we had the knowledge of agriculture. We really built Charleston, to be honest. So I started to just embrace the culture and how it was created, and being inside the school system, I was educating my co-workers and peers. Because I've seen putting the children in special ed and speech classes, or even as far as just saying, \"These kids are just honestly kind of dumb,\" I'm like, \"That's not the case. They speak a whole different language.\" You know, you have to approach it that way. English is literally a foreign language to them.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953#t=251.0,303.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953/transcript/87836/annotation/21","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"AKUA PAGE\n\nJust again, for me being Geechee, that's things I had to do inside the school system, I would have to – like, I write how I talk, and then I would have to convert it into the English of the classroom, just because I knew what they were going... But if you don't teach them that, they're not going to realize it. So just by getting... Because most of the teachers and just from my experience, I don't know if it's different now, but I left I want to say two, three years ago. So it wasn't that long ago. Most of them, they come from up north, so that's also a huge different culture disconnect. Then once they hear it, a lot of people they just go back into, \"Oh, it's Ebonics. Oh, it's broken English.\" They don't really understand, or, I feel like, appreciate it as a whole, even though there's plenty of documentation like Lorenzo Dow Turner. Plenty of documentation to show this is an actual language, but I guess it's just not appreciated. So just by me coming in...","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953#t=303.0,349.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953/transcript/87836/annotation/22","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"AKUA PAGE\n\nBecause for Black history, before I left, I made the door and I put Black languages of diaspora. So I had all different, from A to Z, you know, different words and sayings that we do, and use that as a teaching moment to educate them this is the actual language, this is how we communicate. Words that end in “-E-R\" in American English, for us Gullah Geechee people and many people of the Black diaspora, we say “-A”, so “teacher” becomes “teacha”. You know, it's not incorrect - that's how we speak. If you was to say “teacher” in Geechee to us, then that would be incorrect, because we have a different type of grammar, rules, and structure. I feel like having to teach them on an academic standpoint of why it's a language and not a – I guess, not like a disability, because that's how I feel like the school system approaches it: as if there's a disability, there's something wrong with these children who speak this way, when there's not. They’re just - they come in with their own culture.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953#t=349.0,408.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953/transcript/87836/annotation/23","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"MILLICENT BROWN\n\nYou sound, obviously, passionate about the need for this kind of sensitivity and revisiting of this culture. Where does that come from? Tell us whether or not you're coming out of a Geechee-speaking family and household... But where does this passion that you're sharing with us come from?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953#t=408.0,439.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953/transcript/87836/annotation/24","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"AKUA PAGE\n\nI feel like my experiences, my childhood experiences, is where my passion comes from because at one point I end up in foster care in my childhood and that's when I really knew, like, that I was Geechee, because growing up, you know, everybody talk like you. We knew other peoples talk different, but I didn't know how big it was until I was in foster care because they had me all over South Carolina and that's when I was exposed to different people and automatically they either thought I was dumb, they thought I couldn't read, just because I came in speaking, you know, the way that I spoke. And it wasn't until I started meeting certain people who actually cared and even taught me the power in which I came from. And that kind of changed my mentality and thought process on what it meant to be Geechee. And then also, the first group home I ended up at was Jenkins Orphanage, and I had no idea that that was a group home created by a Gullah Geechee man for Black children.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953#t=439.0,491.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953/transcript/87836/annotation/25","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"AKUA PAGE\n\nSo just reflecting back on my past, I feel like that's like my steps are guided by my ancestors. I had to experience that so I can come back here now as an adult and teach that and give back to these children because one of the quotes, I think he said he's “the savior of unwanted Black children,” because there’s so many in foster care, which is... and unfortunately it's still like that to this day. It's like a lot of Black children in foster care. And I know, as me being in foster care, my voice was never heard; either it was, like, a language barrier because they couldn't understand me or a lot of time they just wasn't even trying to understand. So. I know I need that to change because a lot of these behavior issues and stuff, it's not that kids are bad. They have trauma in baggies that nobody's trying to even listen or help them unpack because even...","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953#t=491.0,535.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953/transcript/87836/annotation/26","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"AKUA PAGE\n\nI did some couple speaking engagements at the juvenile centers and just by coming in there and telling these kids that, \"You're not bad, you're not broken. You come from people who were scientists, you know, who created beautiful things that you can too.\" And even their whole posture change just being in a jail. You see the light bulb went off in these kids' head and they're just like... You can tell nobody ever told them that they mattered or that they came from somebody. And how I, you know, I would try to educate my coworkers inside the school system, if you're telling them that their history starts off with slavery and this - how do you think they're going to react? To me, it's never coincidence around that time you have a lot of more behavior issues when they talk about slavery because you're telling them that they came from nothing but a slave, so what kind of behavior do you expect to get from them? They don't have anything to draw from, any, like, aspirations; any motivations.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953#t=535.0,582.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953/transcript/87836/annotation/27","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"AKUA PAGE\n\nBecause even – like, I grew up in Charleston, but I had to educate myself on who Septima Clark was, on who Denmark Vesey was, who Esau Jenkins was. You know? Like, nobody educated us on that, and they wonder why they have so many behavior issues. It's like, you know, the mis-education. So that's where I'm really passionate about. Because I feel like that’s - to me at least, I think that's the solution to help with, like, even with the literacy gap that's always talking about, which I call that, really, an opportunity gap, because they don't have the opportunity to effectively learn inside school if you're not including their culture into the curriculum, you know? And that's where we get the school-to-prison pipeline because if they don't see their culture reflected, why would they sit down and study and learn and be attentive? We're not getting to the root causes of the issues, like what's going on with them? How are they able to even learn if they don't have food to eat?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953#t=582.0,637.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953/transcript/87836/annotation/28","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"MILLICENT BROWN\n\nThe power of language is what you're talking about. Can you talk a little bit about how that becomes a kind of activism? Because we use the word activism very loosely. Do you see the work that you do around language as a kind of activism?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953#t=637.0,665.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953/transcript/87836/annotation/29","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"AKUA PAGE\n\nDefinitely. And that's the call. I just read a book this year called Linguistic Justice. And that's the field, I guess, I've been leaning towards, is language activism because that's the root of everything. Because even I've been into a lot of different spaces about how to...and you know, like “anti-racism”. But it's like a lot of people still play onto that, I feel like, the respectability politics, and I'm like, \"We got to really reach people where they are.\" And that really comes from appreciating Black languages, whether it’s Gullah Geechee or a different form of Black languages; in Baltimore, or you know, wherever you go, Black people, we have our languages where we're at. And once we really honor that and see that, then we can really have a serious conversation and really see how to really build ourselves up from where we are at. Because it starts with language.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953#t=665.0,720.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953/transcript/87836/annotation/30","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"AKUA PAGE\n\nWhen I'm inside the school systems and really talking to these children, the biggest issue they'll say they feel like nobody's listening to them or nobody's understanding them, and that comes from down, I feel like, the huge language barrier. And it's like as soon as they open their mouth, they always have... If you're constantly having somebody correcting you, \"Oh, that's bad, don't talk like that,\" then either you're going to act out or you're going to shut down. So how can you even connect with them? Or even, like I said, I now started helping out by making juices to try to help with the health disparities in my community, and some of the biggest issues,","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953#t=720.0,753.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953/transcript/87836/annotation/31","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"AKUA PAGE\n\nI hear even elders talk about they go to the hospital and even they feel like the doctors are not understanding them or listening to them because, you know, they’ll say, like, you know, “Sumthin goin on with my suga.” Just me being Gullah Geechee, I know that translates to, clearly, diabetes or something going on, but even the most educated person, like, you know, doctors, they don't understand that though. Because they don't understand this person language, and unfortunately we have biases. So a lot of them, I guess, they see a person come in only speaking Geechee and they kind of just write them off. So even within that...","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953#t=753.0,783.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953/transcript/87836/annotation/32","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"AKUA PAGE\n\nI feel like language is definitely...it’s power. Which it is, because even the fact that, I feel like, people still consider Gullah Geechee not a language? To me that ties into racism, because who said English is a language? You know? Somebody created that, you know, just like how our ancestors created Gullah Geechee. You know, like what’s - really, who determines what's a language and what's not a language? Who's determined that this is standard English and this is not? You know? So, I feel like once we put both on the same playing field, then we'll really start to see a different conversation, and different behavior happen, at least within the school system. That’s like – I guess I kind of focus on that, because I really feel like education, at least, like, for me, that's what helped me throughout my challenges, was really self-education. And I feel like a lot of it - the issues in the community - it starts with hitting our youth, letting them know who they are and where they come from.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953#t=783.0,834.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953/transcript/87836/annotation/33","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"MILLICENT BROWN\n\nCan you talk a little bit about how you made that bridge? Because you're talking about bridging.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953#t=834.0,839.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953/transcript/87836/annotation/34","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"AKUA PAGE\n\nYeah.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953#t=839.0,840.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953/transcript/87836/annotation/35","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"MILLICENT BROWN\n\nHow did you make that bridge work?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953#t=840.0,846.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953/transcript/87836/annotation/36","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"AKUA PAGE\n\nI made that bridge work, honestly, I would really say just self-education. Because as soon as I graduated - I graduated from Stall High School, I want to say 2011 - I was around 17 years old and that's when I finally, like... And it's so sad because that's when I finally took on, I just signed up for all the African American history classes, because I always been interested in it, but you know, we don't really have any say-so over what we learn inside the schools, so... And that's when it really just opened my eyes to everything. I'm like, \"Wow, I had no idea that we contributed so much to history,\" especially, you know, just us being as Gullah Geechee people. And just seeing how that empowered me when I really, I guess I started just advocating and really pushing my activism like, \"This is what it is, you know? This is where we came from, this is what it is. Our language is not broken. There's power in that.\"","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953#t=846.0,895.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953/transcript/87836/annotation/37","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"AKUA PAGE\n\nThe fact that how Gullah Geechee even was created: you had Africans that came from different cultures and backgrounds, you know? And they had to - was forced to – was forced in, like, a very messed up situation on plantations, but they came together and gave birth to a whole new culture – you know, what we have as Gullah Geechee. There's power in that. So I feel like, in a way, that was me - creating that bridge was me - taking my power back that I feel like was robbed from us. Because even now, I think there's, like, a conversation where even some of my peers would feel like we don't have a culture and I'm like, \"We have one. You just have to look at it from a different lens.” You know, we have a culture and that's where our power is at.\n\nAnd so that's how I created that, that bridge - by just educating myself on my culture, honoring my ancestors. Because I tell everybody all day, because, like I said, my passion is making sure kids are okay and straight. So I do, like, a lot of research and see how I can help out with the foster care issue. So, Daniel Joseph Jenkins, I talk about him a lot - and that was also, you know, like one of the biggest issues, because a lot of these kids, they didn't have any formal education. They didn't have nowhere to go. I forgot the law of it, but even if... During that time if you were just an orphan, they even had certain laws to where they can just throw these kids in jail, which I still kind of feel like is still happening today because if you're just out here as a kid, you can't fend for yourself, you're going to end up getting in probably dangerous situations that might have you involved with the criminal justice system.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953#t=895.0,984.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953/transcript/87836/annotation/38","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"AKUA PAGE\n\nSo again, it's just going back to language because it’s like, when these kids interact with police or with anybody else, they're speaking in the only language that they know how. And people don't know how to, I feel like, respond to them on that level.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953#t=984.0,1001.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953/transcript/87836/annotation/39","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"MILLICENT BROWN\n\nWhat's the response been, to the work you've been doing since, well, you came out of high school in - you said - 2011? AKUA PAGE\n\nYeah.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953#t=1001.0,1010.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953/transcript/87836/annotation/40","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"AKUA PAGE\n\nYeah.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953#t=1010.0,1010.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953/transcript/87836/annotation/41","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"AKUA PAGE\n\nYeah. MILLICENT BROWN\n\nYeah. So we're talking 10 years. What has the response been from the general community, from the educational community? What obstacles or supports have you encountered?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953#t=1010.0,1028.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953/transcript/87836/annotation/42","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"AKUA PAGE\n\nSo it was interesting, when I was in the school, so I always pushed that Gullah Geechee is a real language. These kids speak Gullah Geechee, we need to teach English as a Second Language, right? It was falling on deaf ears. But it wasn't until I actually left the school system, and now I'm hearing back, \"Oh, Ms. Page, we're teaching the kids about Gullah Geechee culture. We're teaching them about African American Vernacular English.\" So, I would say, I guess, it wasn't appreciated while I was there - and I don't know what happened, but I'm glad it finally happened - but I feel like now it is. Because now, I feel like - I want to say I recently did, like, a Zoom thing with one of the former schools I was at, and even the kids, they were asking me, they said, \"Oh, I taught so-and-so about Gullah Geechee being a language and how we're trilingual, we speak Gullah Geechee, African American Vernacular English, and we also know how to speak American English.\"","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953#t=1028.0,1074.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953/transcript/87836/annotation/43","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"AKUA PAGE\n\nSo I feel like it's changes; I planted my seeds and I'm seeing that they're growing. I planted my seeds in everywhere that I go to. So over the summer I was also working with... It wasn't an afterschool program, but it was like a learning hub for kids who had to switch over to virtual learning. And even there as well too, like, now these kids just have a different perspective on how they talk. They know they speak more than one language, so they don't look at it as bad or broken. And if somebody tells them that their language is bad or broken, they now know how to respond without shutting down or without, you know, without doing anything that might cause them to get in trouble.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953#t=1074.0,1121.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953/transcript/87836/annotation/44","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"MILLICENT BROWN\n\nWhat kind of activities has this work led you to beyond the teaching aspect? Have you been involved with political organizing, or with some of the kinds of activism we associate in the aftermath of Walter Scott, with the Emanuel massacre? Where have you been in that space?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953#t=1121.0,1154.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953/transcript/87836/annotation/45","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"AKUA PAGE\n\nSo I have been involved with Black Lives Matter Charleston when it was first created. So it was kind of weird, because it was before I think even Black Lives Matter as a org became big. Not sure what... I want to say it happened right after Denzel Curnell was...that situation, I forgot what year that was - and that was-","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953#t=1154.0,1178.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953/transcript/87836/annotation/46","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"MILLICENT BROWN\n\nDescribe the situation, for the record.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953#t=1178.0,1180.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953/transcript/87836/annotation/47","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"AKUA PAGE\n\nOkay, for the record. So Denzel Curnell, I want to say he was 17, 18 years old, from, I want to say it was, community in downtown Charleston, and he was shot. We have reasons to believe the police was the one that shot him just because they said he was shot on the right side of his head and he was left-handed, but there was no cameras unfortunately, and you know, he's dead, the police was there. So after that happened, that's when we all met. It was – I want to say it was me, Muhiyidin, rest in peace, a couple other folks, and we met at Riverfront Park. And that's when we kind of, you know, just discussed everything that’s going on, because it all ties into how Gullah Geechee people, Black people are treated. And so being me, just being involved with that, advocating for Gullah Geechee people, I automatically was involved with, like, \"Okay, what's going on with this?\"","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953#t=1180.0,1235.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953/transcript/87836/annotation/48","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"AKUA PAGE\n\nAnd so that lead me towards entering that space and to really see, how can we make things better for Black people in Charleston? Like, we should be able to walk out our house, you know? It doesn't matter if it's in a summer, we have a hoodie on - that's just what we do. That shouldn't be a reason for police or anybody to stop us. So, I entered those spaces to see how can we just make things not even equality, like, equitable for everybody because there's clearly a difference with how we're treated and how other people are treated within, you know, within Charleston. That's what led me towards that type of activism. And I don't know, like, am I able to say, to go into detail, the type of stuff we did?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953#t=1235.0,1283.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953/transcript/87836/annotation/49","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"MILLICENT BROWN\n\nYeah, as much as you want, certainly.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953#t=1283.0,1284.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953/transcript/87836/annotation/50","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"AKUA PAGE\n\nOkay. Yeah, so I want to say, then, after that happened, the situation happened with Walter Scott, it was just like... And I want to say these things have been happening, but now the - we finally focused and zeroed in and organized with other folks that really wanted to create a change because even throughout of that, we started doing cop watches to see, like, what exactly is happening in the city and then-","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953#t=1284.0,1310.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953/transcript/87836/annotation/51","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"MILLICENT BROWN\n\nDescribe a cop watch.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953#t=1310.0,1312.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953/transcript/87836/annotation/52","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"AKUA PAGE\n\nSo the cop watch is where - which, Muhiyidin kind of led that – basically, somebody, I guess they donated, we had these different digital cameras, and anytime we saw somebody pulled over by police, we pulled up with them, you know? We pulled up with them, we had our cameras out, let them know, \"Hey, we're right here. We are with you, not by yourself.\" That's the biggest thing. I feel like a lot of people feel like they're alone, so they can't fight. Because it's not just one individual person, it's a system. Racism is a system. It's not like an individual feeling. It's a system, you know? That's the biggest issue. So we'll just pull up - and we did it late at night because that's usually when a lot of activity is happening on – so, we'll just be driving around - if we see somebody get pulled over, we'll pull over with them to make sure they're okay.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953#t=1312.0,1364.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953/transcript/87836/annotation/53","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"MILLICENT BROWN\n\nTalk a little bit more about how that got organized. That's a pretty intense kind of an activity, so we'd like to know a little bit more about that.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953#t=1364.0,1375.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953/transcript/87836/annotation/54","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"AKUA PAGE\n\nSo that got organized because when we first started, there were a lot of people within Black Lives Matter Charleston, you know? Like, we met a lot of different places, but there were, like, a lot of people, and we - I want to say we drew little circles, we had workshops that [inaudible","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953#t=1375.0,1388.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953/transcript/87836/annotation/55","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"] and we wrote down, \"Okay, what are all the issues within the community? You know, we have police brutality, we have the mis-education in school system, you know, we have food insecurity,” and we just pinpoint, “Okay, what area can people tackle and how can we make things better?” That was the biggest thing: like, how can we really create change? Because we can protest all day, we can talk all day, but it's like, what else are we going to do? So, to where tomorrow we don't have to keep out here, protesting, doing the same thing. So that's kind of how that started.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953#t=1388.0,1422.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953/transcript/87836/annotation/56","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"AKUA PAGE\n\nWe put people in positions who was willing and ready to work. And the police brutality, that was just one of the biggest concerns. Because t was like a lot of people who ended up coming in calling like, \"Hey, my brother, my so-and-so was beat up by the police.\" Or even, \"Hey, my sister, my mother, so-and-so, has been incarcerated over something that's as petty as a debt.\" So, be organized to figure out how can we as a community respond to these situations and also how can we help?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953#t=1422.0,1453.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953/transcript/87836/annotation/57","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"AKUA PAGE\n\nAnd we even tried to organize a situation to where it's like... Because being that the situation with slavery, there was no mental health treatment or anything. So, I feel like we have a lot of mental illnesses within the community, and there's no way for people to turn. And people usually call the police because they don't know what else to do if their loved one is facing a crisis, but a lot of times, you know, that end up making the situation worse because I guess the police don't know how to de-escalate somebody going through a mental health crisis, so they end up shooting the person, you know, most of the time.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953#t=1453.0,1485.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953/transcript/87836/annotation/58","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"AKUA PAGE\n\nSo we even organized to figure out what other alternative can people call, you know? Since it's not safe to call the police when your loved one is in a crisis, or if you're in a crisis. So we also had that, to try to defuse certain situations just to kind of... Because I feel like until there's a serious situation, a serious conversation, a serious action that happens from the root of how - because we know the police was created out of the slavery system – you know, until that is serious conversation, because it’s just like, honestly, we need to learn. How can we police ourselves? How can we help our own community? Because this is not working.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953#t=1485.0,1527.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953/transcript/87836/annotation/59","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"AKUA PAGE\n\nYou shouldn't be throwing people in jail just because they was driving without a license, you know, instead of giving them the resources that they need. You shouldn't be throwing people in jail who's experiencing a mental health crisis, you know - where all the mental health resources at, you know? So we just using really what we had to figure out a way to just help our community and build it up because, again, it wasn't safe at all, because even with the Walter Scott situation - and that, really, I want to say even traumatized me in a way - because after that happened, we went to the spot where it happened. We had all the teddy bears and stuff out.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953#t=1527.0,1566.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953/transcript/87836/annotation/60","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"AKUA PAGE\n\nBut even, like, the people that owned the pawn shop behind it, they were just so nasty about it. Like right after that, they threw away all the stuff, all the signage, they were... And we was even on the verge of trying to raise funds to even just buy the lot, turn into, you know, a memorial site for him. And they was just like, \"A million dollars,\" you know? Just, like, a crazy amount. And it’s just like, you know what happened. It's not like he was out here creating any crime, you know? He was just... And like, it was just a disregard for humanity, for his humanity. And I feel like if you disregard his humanity, then you disregard all Black people humanity.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953#t=1566.0,1602.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953/transcript/87836/annotation/61","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"AKUA PAGE\n\nSo, we’re just like, we were just really just fed up with the system as a whole, and we knew that we wouldn't really see any justice or any sincere help on that side. So it was just like we really had to, really, I feel like go back to how our ancestors did it because they did mutual aid. Because they knew - especially coming out of slavery, even during those times - that you couldn't rely on that system to help you, you know? Or, if they do help, there's always, like, a string on the end of that help. It's not really help. So, we really just had to utilize what we had at our fingertips to figure out a way to make things better, be it passing out food to people in need, be it finding resources, because there are a lot of people out here...","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953#t=1602.0,1643.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953/transcript/87836/annotation/62","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"AKUA PAGE\n\n...even still to this day, there's a lot of huge conversation about Gullah Geechee and land loss, but there's also Charleston – especially North Charleston - is the number one city for evictions in America, you know? And like, it’s high, and there's nobody helping with that. Yet there's so much funding and money that's pooled into the jail system, yet these resources lack. So even pushing that conversation into the universe and atmosphere, like, “How do we relocate those funds to really help the community?” Because we already know, like the stats already show, if they need those, that putting more police in areas does not stop crime. Putting more resources in there is what prevents crime. You know? So just having those conversations.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953#t=1643.0,1684.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953/transcript/87836/annotation/63","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"AKUA PAGE\n\nAnd sometimes a lot of people didn't even want to have those conversations. We tried to, as the Black Lives Matter Charleston, sit down, you know, with police, sit down with people, and, like the mayor, and were just brushed off. It was like, \"No, we don't have to sit down with y'all.\", you know? So, it's only now that I feel like people either have a change of heart or they just want to look good for the media is what I feel like. But back in the day when we was really out here, like, really ready and trying to have these conversations before, you know, everybody now has an anti-racist poster or sticker in their office. Like, none of these people were listening to us at all.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953#t=1684.0,1721.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953/transcript/87836/annotation/64","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"MILLICENT BROWN\n\nYou don't see that as a sign of some impact that you had?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953#t=1721.0,1728.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953/transcript/87836/annotation/65","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"AKUA PAGE\n\nI do. I feel like it's a little bit of both. The seeds we planted, maybe they just weren't - I guess some of these people weren't ready to have these conversations, but now, since it's bigger on a global scale, I guess they are now or are more motivated too. But during that time, like, I didn't see it because it was more frustrating. Because I'm just like... Even people from my own community who label themselves activists, I was just like, \"Yo, this is what's happening.\" And most of the activism we did - which is why I loved Black Lives Matter that we created in Charleston - was in the hood because that's where a lot of the issues were at, a lot of people who were victims of police brutality, a lot of people who were victims of these health disparities, you know, low access to food, healthcare, it was in the hood. But certain people just didn't want to go there.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953#t=1728.0,1778.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953/transcript/87836/annotation/66","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"AKUA PAGE\n\nAnd I'm just like, \"You can't have that same mentality that racist people have towards your own people. They're still human, they just need help.\" You know? And we really had to go into the trenches to really organize. And that was honestly where we had a lot of activity and people ready, ready and willing to do what needed to be done to really create change within the city.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953#t=1778.0,1804.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953/transcript/87836/annotation/67","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"MILLICENT BROWN\n\nWould you talk a little bit more - and you can decide how specific you want to get - but you keep saying “we”.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953#t=1804.0,1812.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953/transcript/87836/annotation/68","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"AKUA PAGE\n\nYes. Okay, yeah, yeah. My bad.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953#t=1812.0,1816.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953/transcript/87836/annotation/69","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"MILLICENT BROWN\n\nJust talk - no, no, just talk a little bit about the “we”.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953#t=1816.0,1821.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953/transcript/87836/annotation/70","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"AKUA PAGE\n\nMuhiyidin, he was like - even though he hated that term, but he was basically leader of Black Lives Matter Charleston. So it was me, Muhiyidin, I want to say... What's his name? Donald. It was a couple of other folks. It was a couple other different people, but I want to say those are names that come into my head right now. And we would be out, like, constantly, I want to say once a week, whether it be downtown protesting just to create awareness or organizing. We even did, you know, like, fun stuff, artistic stuff because that's also a part of our culture - just organized that.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953#t=1821.0,1854.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953/transcript/87836/annotation/71","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"AKUA PAGE\n\nI want to say they did like a... I want to call it like, a Black Lives Matter exhibit, where we invited different artists to come out and they had different pictures to express their feelings about just the situation and what was going on. But I want to say the main ones I saw was - it was me, Muhiyidin, Donald Cid...I do forgot. I apologize for the people names I am forgetting because it was, it was a lot of us. It was a lot of us.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953#t=1854.0,1883.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953/transcript/87836/annotation/72","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"MILLICENT BROWN\n\nWhen you say “a lot”, I mean, help us-","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953#t=1883.0,1886.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953/transcript/87836/annotation/73","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"AKUA PAGE\n\nIn the beginning, I want to say we had at least...I want to say - because we would meet in probably a room like this or maybe even a little bit bigger - it would be a circle - so I want to say at least between 50, but less than 100 at a time. Of course it started to go down some, but I would say it was just a lot of us just building, organizing. We would do workshops and stuff to figure out again what areas and expertise people had, and how can we utilize that to change and make things better. Because it’s like, to me, there's always a position and role that people can play within activism or revolution, you know? Because there's - especially just being in this country - there's a lot of work that needs to be done. So, just pick what your skills are, tackle it, let's go, let's do it.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953#t=1886.0,1935.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953/transcript/87836/annotation/74","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"AKUA PAGE\n\nSo we would do that, but - I can be as real as possible within this?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953#t=1935.0,1939.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953/transcript/87836/annotation/75","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"MILLICENT BROWN\n\nOf course.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953#t=1939.0,1940.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953/transcript/87836/annotation/76","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"AKUA PAGE\n\nOkay, so but even within that - and that was my biggest thing, because.... But there were also people, you know, who just coming in trying to sabotage us, just like the Black Panthers. And people think those moves and stuff are just, like, for show, but stuff like that really happened, you know? because there were plenty of people who... Like I said, we were open to whoever claimed that they were willing to help. But even within those scenarios, we had – like, it was this one dude, he called himself some “DJ”, something, I forgot his name, but he was just basically pretending. I want to say, I guess, like an opp or a spy just coming in pretending they want to help, but really they're just trying to sabotage. And it is crazy to believe because it's not like we're out here, you know, trying to rob a bank or anything. We're out here trying to feed communities, trying to build schools, build hospitals, really create - just create stuff that people need. And you just have this individuals coming in to trying to sabotage situations. That was even-","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953#t=1940.0,1994.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953/transcript/87836/annotation/77","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"MILLICENT BROWN\n\nDefine, or give an example - when you say “sabotage”, how does somebody sabotage that kind of organizing?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953#t=1994.0,2001.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953/transcript/87836/annotation/78","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"AKUA PAGE\n\nFor example, we would meet at a secret location – because, you know, you don't want everybody know what we doing – like for one, one situation I remember, we all met and was like, \"Okay, so we are going to organize this protest at this location, and then after that, this is what we're going to do.\" Matter of fact, we said we was going to do it at Tanger Outlet. We went there and it was just a bunch of police. And if anybody ever been to Tanger Outlet, you know police just don't randomly just be there walking around shopping. You know? So, I'm just like, \"Okay, somebody's leaking what we're doing, our strategies and just sabotaging our moves and motives.\" And even when we was organized to be like, “Okay,” - because we started getting, you know responses of the mayor, especially when we first started getting active - and we was like, \"Okay, we're not going to sit down with him unless you abide by...\"","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953#t=2001.0,2049.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953/transcript/87836/annotation/79","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"AKUA PAGE\n\nWe had a list of demands, just like how the Black Panther had the Ten-Point Plan, you know. And there'll be certain people of the group went behind our back and end up meeting with the mayor anyway to kind of, I guess... I don't know what their goal was, but it was just like, “You sabotaging what we're trying to do. If we all stand firm on this...Like, no, these are the lists of demands. You can't be - go behind our back and sit down and talk to them by yourself and create your own list, for whatever reason, or whatever ulterior motive you had.” So, those kinds of things just sabotage everything, especially being that we had to be careful, because my thing is I read a lot, especially about Assata Shakur and stuff.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953#t=2049.0,2087.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953/transcript/87836/annotation/80","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"AKUA PAGE\n\nSo I'm not going to be naive to anything and be like “The work we're doing...” - even though again, it's not like we out here trying to rob banks, you know, we just trying to make sure everybody's good, they got their basic necessities met, you know? But I guess you just have certain people who feel threatened by that, who feel threatened by either Black unity, Black upliftment, for some reason. And it was just certain people in the camp who just really wasn’t - they wasn't really about activism, they were really about, how I would describe them, is chaos or even... And that's what I tell people now with activism. We even have people we'll be out here protesting because that's necessary part of it, and they'll be trying to get people to basically riot and stuff. And I feel that's also a way you're trying to sabotage the work we're doing, you know?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953#t=2087.0,2132.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953/transcript/87836/annotation/81","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"AKUA PAGE\n\nBecause one thing we didn't want is our organization to be labeled, you know, like a terrorist. Because then that would just distract from the work we're doing - kind like the same thing like how they tried to do with the Black Panthers, you know, but you'll have people who I feel like were honestly plants, and we even had folks collect... When Ferguson happened with Mike Brown, we had different people from Ferguson that came down too. Because they was doing the same thing up there was like, \"Hey, watch out for this person, that person, because they'll get y'all to try to riot, break windows, do this, and then nobody's going to be here to bail y'all out. Everything's going to be chaotic, so just be on your Ps and Qs.\"","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953#t=2132.0,2165.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953/transcript/87836/annotation/82","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"AKUA PAGE\n\nAnd so it was just like a lot of just... A couple people in there who weren't really for the movement. They were just pretending to be. And I guess maybe that was just their goal, to be a product of disruption is what I consider. Because you take away, you distract from the actual work that needs to be done, when you have people... You getting people to like, \"Oh, let's break this. Let's set this on fire, let's do this, let's do that.\" Because even with MLK, when they organized those protests and boycotts, they had lawyers on standby, they had bail money on standby. You don't want to incite people and tell them to do certain things when you don't have certain things in place. And once they do it, you disappear. Like...","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953#t=2165.0,2209.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953/transcript/87836/annotation/83","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"MILLICENT BROWN\n\nIt sounds like, obviously, as a result of your involvement you've learned a lot about the difficulty of bringing about systemic change. How would you, especially through this interview - because 20 years from now when someone listens to what you've just shared, you know - how are you going to explain or describe your level of optimism? Do you feel that what you learned, the good and the bad... Where are you going to end up with that? How do you feel about the possibility of change?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953#t=2209.0,2264.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953/transcript/87836/annotation/84","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"AKUA PAGE\n\nI feel like the possibility of change, I feel like it's possible, but I also feel like you don't need a bunch of people. I feel like that's where it gets confusing, that you think you need a lot of people, but honestly, some of the most effective work we've done within my activism work is with a small group, like maybe 10, 12, max. We was like, \"This is what it is. This is what we're going to do.\" Because we put on, like, a lot of - especially when it was community-based, like I said - right, like there was just us, just organizing to pass out food. And even during those moments, we're also educating even small little kids about just political education, knowing about who the mayor is, knowing about these people who are running for office, knowing about these things that affect your life, you know? Knowing about these bills that are being signed locally within the city, you know, being educated on that, so you can know not to vote for these people. Also, if you want to step into that position, you can.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953#t=2264.0,2318.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953/transcript/87836/annotation/85","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"AKUA PAGE\n\nAnd honestly, I feel like some of our biggest accomplishments were when we were just a small, tight group and everybody just knew what role to play. So, I think my takeaway from that, it's just knowing that you can do a lot with a small group who's willing and ready, and that you don't need a big group to create change. As long as you just - y'all have that mission, y'all have that goal, y'all see it, y'all can execute it and make it happen.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953#t=2318.0,2350.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953/transcript/87836/annotation/86","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"MILLICENT BROWN\n\nIs there anything else that you want to leave... And, I - you're so young, it's hard to use the word legacy, because you've got much more ahead of you, I'm sure, but maybe that's the way I should phrase it. Where do you see yourself going in the future?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953#t=2350.0,2372.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953/transcript/87836/annotation/87","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"AKUA PAGE\n\nIn the future, I honestly, I listen to my ancestors. I feel like they're guiding my steps. And in the future, I see myself going just creating a community like how they did. A lot of these communities in Charleston were created by us: Liberty Hill, Maryville, the Hike. We created our own communities, because we knew, again, that the society that we were forced to be a part of was not beneficial to us as a whole. So I feel like where I'm going at is creating our own community, going back to land, farming and having our own communities, to where we can dictate and we show and we actually look out and care for one another, not just – not us just struggling trying to figure out how to make ends meet, but having our own community going back again, going back to farming, our relationship with the land, rebuilding that, because I also feel like slavery kind of separated us, or it created trauma within us, but that land is our strength and our power. So that's what I draw on from my legacy that I see.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953#t=2372.0,2439.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953/transcript/87836/annotation/88","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"MILLICENT BROWN\n\nThe fact that the 21st century is quite real. In other words, there are demographic shifts, you know, there are economic shifts, there are class divisions within Black communities. Do you see the opportunity for new problem-solving methods and approaches?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953#t=2439.0,2470.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953/transcript/87836/annotation/89","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"AKUA PAGE\n\nI do, because - and also that's what I loved about Black Lives Matter Charleston, how we created – because we also had moments to where we had to... It was just Black-only spaces. Because we had to have time so where we can have this conversation like how you mentioned. Even within our own communities like colorism, classism, like how you mentioned. So we can also unpack the trauma within our own communities. And I do see that happening more. And that's also the way I see to really liberate us, because we can't, like... How I feel like just from learning and being involved with so many different activism work, we didn't create racism.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953#t=2470.0,2505.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953/transcript/87836/annotation/90","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"AKUA PAGE\n\nSo it's like we can't really challenge it... Like, we can challenge it, but I feel like we rebuild up our own communities. We can protect ourselves from it, but we can't destroy something we didn't create, you know? What we can do is, though, we can create a different system. And that's really the mindset and wave I’m on. It’s like, the system was created - America was founded - on racism and white supremacy. There's no reforming that, you know? You can reform it, but it's still going to be the same thing. You have to create a whole new system. And that's, you know, I guess you can say the path I'm on, is really just creating a whole new system.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953#t=2505.0,2543.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953/transcript/87836/annotation/91","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"MILLICENT BROWN\n\nThank you so much.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953#t=2543.0,2544.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953/transcript/87836/annotation/92","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"AKUA PAGE\n\nNo, thank you.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953#t=2544.0,2545.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953/transcript/87836/annotation/93","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"MILLICENT BROWN\n\nWe appreciate it.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164238/file/298953#t=2545.0,2547.5"}]}]}]}