{"@context":"http://iiif.io/api/presentation/3/context.json","id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/iiif/df6k070011/manifest","type":"Manifest","label":{"en":["Oral history interview with Erica Veal"]},"logo":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/organizations/logo_images/000/000/212/original/LOHI_aviarybanner2.jpg?1741032082","metadata":[{"label":{"en":["Date"]},"value":{"en":["2021-11-19"]}},{"label":{"en":["Language"]},"value":{"en":["English"]}},{"label":{"en":["Rights Statement"]},"value":{"en":["\u003cp\u003eCopyright © Avery Research Center for African American History and Culture.\u003c/p\u003e"]}},{"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":["Veal, Erica, 1985-"]}},{"label":{"en":["Interviewer"]},"value":{"en":["Brown, Millicent E., 1948-"]}},{"label":{"en":["Subject - Topical"]},"value":{"en":["Black lives matter movement","African Americans","Political activists","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","Avery Research Center for African American History and Culture (Charleston, S.C.)","Lowcountry Action Committee (Charleston, S.C.)"]}},{"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 1168.001.014"]}},{"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"]}}],"requiredStatement":{"label":{"en":["Attribution"]},"value":{"en":["\u003cp\u003eCopyright \u0026copy; Avery Research Center for African American History and Culture.\u003c/p\u003e"]}},"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/000/298/963/small/open-uri20251217-4125201-4jl77c_1766000385.jpg?1766000387","type":"Image","format":"image/jpeg"}],"items":[{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963","type":"Canvas","label":{"en":["Media File 1 of 1 - open-uri20251217-4125201-4jl77c.mp4"]},"duration":2040.575,"width":640,"height":360,"thumbnail":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/collection_resource_files/thumbnails/000/298/963/small/open-uri20251217-4125201-4jl77c_1766000385.jpg?1766000387","type":"Image","format":"image/jpeg"}],"items":[{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963/content/1","type":"AnnotationPage","items":[{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963/content/1/annotation/1","type":"Annotation","motivation":"painting","body":{"id":"https://aviary-p-cofc.s3.wasabisys.com/collection_resource_files/resource_files/000/298/963/original/open-uri20251217-4125201-4jl77c.mp4?1766000382","type":"Video","format":"video/mp4","duration":2040.575,"width":640,"height":360},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963","metadata":[]}]}],"annotations":[{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963/transcript/87842","type":"AnnotationPage","label":{"en":["DTA Interview - Erica Veal - Edited Transcript.docx [Transcript]"]},"items":[{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963/transcript/87842/annotation/1","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"MILLICENT BROWN\n\n...start asking you to give us your name and to spell it for us.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963#t=0.0,4.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963/transcript/87842/annotation/2","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"ERICA VEAL\n\nErica Veal, E-R-I-C-A, V-E-A-L.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963#t=4.0,9.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963/transcript/87842/annotation/3","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"MILLICENT BROWN\n\nOkay. Where were you born, Erica?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963#t=9.0,10.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963/transcript/87842/annotation/4","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"ERICA VEAL\n\nSan Francisco, California.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963#t=10.0,12.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963/transcript/87842/annotation/5","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"MILLICENT BROWN\n\nOkay. And what do you do now?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963#t=12.0,15.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963/transcript/87842/annotation/6","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"ERICA VEAL\n\nI am the project archivist and interpretation specialist at the Avery Research Center for African American History and Culture.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963#t=15.0,23.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963/transcript/87842/annotation/7","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"MILLICENT BROWN\n\nWhich is located at?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963#t=23.0,25.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963/transcript/87842/annotation/8","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"ERICA VEAL\n\n125 Bull Street in Charleston, South Carolina.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963#t=25.0,29.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963/transcript/87842/annotation/9","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"MILLICENT BROWN\n\nWith the College of Charleston?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963#t=29.0,30.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963/transcript/87842/annotation/10","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"ERICA VEAL\n\nCorrect, with the College of Charleston.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963#t=30.0,31.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963/transcript/87842/annotation/11","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"MILLICENT BROWN\n\nYeah, okay. Let's get started asking you, since you had shared with us that you were actually born in California, and went through at least your early teen years there, tell us about transitioning from California to South Carolina.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963#t=31.0,50.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963/transcript/87842/annotation/12","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"ERICA VEAL\n\nThat was one of the worst times of my life when I moved to Cayce, South Carolina. And I lived in West Columbia when I was 13. It was very difficult. It was very traumatic.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963#t=50.0,64.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963/transcript/87842/annotation/13","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"MILLICENT BROWN\n\nTell us about it. What made for trauma?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963#t=64.0,67.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963/transcript/87842/annotation/14","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"ERICA VEAL\n\nWell, I wasn't used to being around so many Black people, so that was a lot. And I just got picked on a lot from the way I talked. They always said I talked white, and I was proper, and just spread a lot of rumors about me just because I was different, so it was just a difficult transition.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963#t=67.0,86.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963/transcript/87842/annotation/15","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"MILLICENT BROWN\n\nDid you understand that difference to be based on being from California or because you were African American? What's the difference that seemed to make you stand out?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963#t=86.0,101.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963/transcript/87842/annotation/16","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"ERICA VEAL\n\nI think it had to do with me being from California, primarily, and just the way that I communicated. The school was really segregated, and I came from a really diverse environment. I went to a performing arts school most of my life, so I was just used to being open and hanging out with different groups of people, so I had a lot of white friends. And all those things just kind of made me a target.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963#t=101.0,129.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963/transcript/87842/annotation/17","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"MILLICENT BROWN\n\nYou ended up graduating from high school and going on to college at Columbia College. Ever consider going to an HBCU?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963#t=129.0,141.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963/transcript/87842/annotation/18","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"ERICA VEAL\n\nI did. Yeah, I looked at a lot of HBCUs, but by the time I actually got to start applying to colleges, I had a boyfriend and he had already graduated high school, and he was in Columbia, so I didn't really want to leave Columbia.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963#t=141.0,159.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963/transcript/87842/annotation/19","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"MILLICENT BROWN\n\nOkay. You left the Columbia College environment and went to another predominantly white school - the College of Charleston.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963#t=159.0,169.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963/transcript/87842/annotation/20","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"ERICA VEAL\n\nRight.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963#t=169.0,170.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963/transcript/87842/annotation/21","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"MILLICENT BROWN\n\nCan you just share with us a little bit about what made that decision?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963#t=170.0,176.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963/transcript/87842/annotation/22","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"ERICA VEAL\n\nWell, I had studied abroad during my years at Columbia College. I went to Salamanca, Spain for six months, and then I went back and visited a few times. I made some friends there. And so I was actually considering going and getting a Master's at the University of Salamanca, and I applied to one school in-state, just as a fallback, which was the College of Charleston. And I got in and I was offered an assistantship, a graduate assistantship at the Avery Research Center, which I didn't know existed. And since I had already been to Spain and I had never worked in an African American history museum, I thought this was a better opportunity, so that really is what influenced my decision to move to Charleston.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963#t=176.0,219.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963/transcript/87842/annotation/23","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"CREW\n\nHold on one second. Can I get your mask real quick?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963#t=219.0,228.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963/transcript/87842/annotation/24","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"ERICA VEAL\n\nYep. I can- CREW\n\n[inaudible","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963#t=228.0,229.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963/transcript/87842/annotation/25","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"CREW\n\n[inaudible","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963#t=229.0,229.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963/transcript/87842/annotation/26","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"CREW\n\n[inaudible ].","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963#t=229.0,230.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963/transcript/87842/annotation/27","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"MILLICENT BROWN\n\nYou mentioned in your bio about this introduction to the Black Lives Matter world, if you will. Would you tell us something of what that was all about? Your introduction to this political movement?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963#t=230.0,248.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963/transcript/87842/annotation/28","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"ERICA VEAL\n\nWell, I guess I was following it on social media, first and foremost, and I was inspired to get out into the community as the movement began to take off because of the influence that James Eber Campbell had in my life. And I studied him for my graduate research, and one of the things that I took away from studying his life is a sense of social responsibility and political education.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963#t=248.0,275.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963/transcript/87842/annotation/29","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"ERICA VEAL\n\nAnd so, I just was finishing up my Master's thesis on him when Mike Brown was killed. And, you know, there was a lot going on with police brutality and vigilantism in the community, and so that was the straw for me, that really pushed me over the edge to get out in the community. And there was a National Moment of Silence 2014 effort, and I went out and did some demonstrating in Marion Square in downtown Charleston, during that. And I just continued to try to organize online and connect with people locally. And eventually, I stumbled across the Black Lives Matter Charleston Facebook page.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963#t=275.0,321.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963/transcript/87842/annotation/30","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"MILLICENT BROWN\n\nAnd what kind of world did that open up for you?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963#t=321.0,324.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963/transcript/87842/annotation/31","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"ERICA VEAL\n\nIt opened up a very large organizing community for me, and I just connected casually with folks online up until the Walter Scott rally in April 8th, 2015. Four days after Walter Scott was killed, that rally was held once the video footage was released, that Feidin Santana recorded on his way to work that day, the day Walter Scott was killed. And so when that video came out, I guess the Black Lives Matter Charleston Chapter, they scheduled that rally in front of the North Charleston City Hall and I saw it on Facebook. And I was having a really bad day that day and I needed to get out the house, and so I went. And that just started me on a different trajectory.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963#t=324.0,371.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963/transcript/87842/annotation/32","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"MILLICENT BROWN\n\nAnd I hear you, but I'd like to ask you, tell us how you were feeling. You said you needed to get out. Tell us about that.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963#t=371.0,382.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963/transcript/87842/annotation/33","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"ERICA VEAL\n\nI was in a really bad relationship and I was having some difficulties in that relationship, so I needed to get out of the house because it wasn’t a healthy... It was a really toxic situation. So, I just left and went to that rally. And it was very powerful because I could hear the voice of the higher power speaking to me when I got there. He said I was blocking my blessings. That's what I heard when I saw Muhiyidin speaking.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963#t=382.0,412.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963/transcript/87842/annotation/34","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"MILLICENT BROWN\n\nAnd you mentioned Muhiyidin d'Baha before. Let's ask you to just share what kind of impact he had. What is it that you heard in him? What was it? How he spoke? What he spoke? What is it that moved you so?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963#t=412.0,432.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963/transcript/87842/annotation/35","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"ERICA VEAL\n\nIt was more... I really feel it was something from the higher power, like I said. It wasn't so much what he was saying. It was I just knew that I was supposed to be... He was supposed to be in my life. And whatever situation that I was in, I knew I had to get out of it because, like I said, I kept hearing, “You're going to block your blessing.” Like, “He's your blessing.” And so I just was sizing him up, sizing up the whole event.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963#t=432.0,462.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963/transcript/87842/annotation/36","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"ERICA VEAL\n\nAnd then there was a Black Lives Matter Charleston organizational meeting later that evening at the ILA Hall, so I attended that. And I was one of the first people to get there; the chairs were set up in a really big circle, and I was one of the first people in there. And people slowly kind of trickled in, and then there was only one seat left and it was next to me, and then Muhiyidin walked in, and he sat there. And I felt all this energy between him, and I leaned away because it was just really powerful. And I saw he had a burn on his hand, and I have a really big scar on my leg from some surgeries that I had as a child. It's just all these little things that just made me feel like he was somebody that I was supposed to have in my life.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963#t=462.0,512.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963/transcript/87842/annotation/37","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"MILLICENT BROWN\n\nDo you think you are unique in that? How do you describe the others who were sitting there that night?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963#t=512.0,523.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963/transcript/87842/annotation/38","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"ERICA VEAL\n\nPretty much everyone that's in my inner circle today was at that meeting that night, so it changed my life in a lot of ways. My best friend, Jessie Parks - I met her that night. Akua Page is like a little sister to me; I met her that night. She was at the organizational meeting. Brandon, Muhiyidin. And obviously, Muhiyidin and I had a much different kind of connection, but like I said, I had some things going on that I had to deal with before I really reached out to him in that way. But I just continued to stay in touch and attend some of the events that he organized in the community that summer, and... I know he had a profound impact on pretty much everybody that he came in contact with.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963#t=523.0,579.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963/transcript/87842/annotation/39","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"MILLICENT BROWN\n\nYou've talked about personal; can you talk to us a little bit about politics? What's happening with your political development? You're sitting in meetings and you're meeting people that obviously have very strong convictions. Can you just talk about that a little bit?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963#t=579.0,602.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963/transcript/87842/annotation/40","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"ERICA VEAL\n\nWell, I was very overwhelmed; I always felt insecure. When I was in a room with people, I always felt that everyone, their political education was farther along than mine, so I was really there to just soak up information and position myself around people that I felt like were on the level that I wanted to be on. I was somebody that assisted in the background a lot, because I felt insecure about my political development, my political education.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963#t=602.0,633.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963/transcript/87842/annotation/41","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"ERICA VEAL\n\nAnd also, something that Mr. Campbell said one day about when he was involved in the community control movement in New York City: there was a teacher strike, I think, that was going on and an event that happened, and he just was like, \"I was just so scared my name was going to be in the paper the next day.\" And I just remember always thinking, “Keep your name out the paper.” So, I always just tried to organize in the background because I was there to learn. A lot of the people that I was around, they had been organizing for years, and I was just getting out on the scene.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963#t=633.0,670.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963/transcript/87842/annotation/42","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"MILLICENT BROWN\n\nAnd what does that look like, that you were “in the background”? I mean, specifically, what are you doing?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963#t=670.0,676.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963/transcript/87842/annotation/43","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"ERICA VEAL\n\nEventually, I started - Muhiyidin asked me to run the Black Lives Matter Charleston Twitter account, so I did that for, like, two and a half years and just kept the community up to date on the different events that the group was planning or just different things that were going on in the community. We had - not a huge following, but we had some really key individuals that were following us - that would share our content, so I just made sure that anything that was posted in the Black Lives Matter Charleston Facebook page, I made sure that I posted that to Twitter, because we had about 10,000 followers on Facebook, but only about 1,000 or so on Twitter. So, there was a few times that Muhiyidin was arrested, and we had to get bail money together. And I would post those kinds of things on Twitter, and then certain people would share them. And we always were able to get the funds together that we needed to get him out of jail, and different things like that.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963#t=676.0,730.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963/transcript/87842/annotation/44","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"MILLICENT BROWN\n\nNow, when this video is played 20 years from now, folks will say, \"What was the big to-do about it?\" - but at the time, what does that mean, that you had to develop a bigger following? How difficult was that? What was happening technologically that you had to tend to, to make this movement more accessible?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963#t=730.0,759.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963/transcript/87842/annotation/45","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"ERICA VEAL\n\nA lot of people, just - even me, for example, I found out about the Walter Scott rally on social media, so a lot of people organize on social media. And there are a lot of activists and organizers in Charleston and a lot of young folks who want to be involved, and they look for ways to be involved by social media. And for whatever reason, Muhiyidin was always in the news. People always wanted an interview, a quote, and they just... The local media really followed him in everything that he did, and so we had to use that to our advantage and just make sure that everything that we were doing, we were putting it out there. So, like I said, even though we might’ve only had 1,000 followers on Twitter, people were looking at our posts; we were getting a lot of activity on the posts that was coming from outside of the people that followed us. So, it was just important for us to have different social media outlets for people to connect with us.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963#t=759.0,823.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963/transcript/87842/annotation/46","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"MILLICENT BROWN\n\nAnd we know that social media works both ways. Were you confronted - not you personally so much, but as a group - were you getting pushback on social media for Muhiyidin's activities for your activities?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963#t=823.0,845.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963/transcript/87842/annotation/47","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"ERICA VEAL\n\nMuhiyidin got death threats all the time. And there was definitely a lot of social media trolls, internet trolls and racists that commented and were in the comments, but that was to be expected, so we didn't typically give that much attention unless it was something really threatening, then we might, you know, make it public.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963#t=845.0,870.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963/transcript/87842/annotation/48","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"MILLICENT BROWN\n\nAnd I know this is hard, but would you be more specific?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963#t=870.0,879.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963/transcript/87842/annotation/49","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"ERICA VEAL\n\nIt's been a while, but I remember there was somebody who was threatening to run over protesters and he used his public account to make certain comments, and so we would screenshot those things and post them publicly so that the community could respond to it the way they felt was best. Some folks might decide to call that person's job or leave a negative review on their place of employment just to try to hold folks accountable for the things that they were saying and doing on social media.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963#t=879.0,921.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963/transcript/87842/annotation/50","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"MILLICENT BROWN\n\nAnd what about on the more supportive side? Were people communicating back to you? In what way? What were they saying?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963#t=921.0,935.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963/transcript/87842/annotation/51","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"ERICA VEAL\n\nJust general things. Just general shows of support. Sometimes people donated cars. CREW\n\nHold on. Are we good on audio? [inaudible","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963#t=935.0,948.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963/transcript/87842/annotation/52","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"CREW\n\nHold on. Are we good on audio? [inaudible","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963#t=948.0,948.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963/transcript/87842/annotation/53","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"CREW\n\nHold on. Are we good on audio? [inaudible ].\n\nYeah.\n\nOkay.\n\nNo, I'm saying I can hear some of that.\n\nOkay, but you think so? Should we wait for a minute, or...?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963#t=948.0,954.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963/transcript/87842/annotation/54","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"ERICA VEAL\n\nHold for audio?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963#t=954.0,955.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963/transcript/87842/annotation/55","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"MILLICENT BROWN\n\nYeah.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963#t=955.0,956.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963/transcript/87842/annotation/56","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"CREW\n\nLet me see what it is.\n\nIt's not like we can stop.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963#t=956.0,958.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963/transcript/87842/annotation/57","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"MILLICENT BROWN\n\nThere's some noise going on out there.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963#t=958.0,959.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963/transcript/87842/annotation/58","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"ERICA VEAL\n\nYeah. Probably the AV guys.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963#t=959.0,964.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963/transcript/87842/annotation/59","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"MILLICENT BROWN\n\nYou're doing fine, honey, but you know how you like to talk around things?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963#t=964.0,970.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963/transcript/87842/annotation/60","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"ERICA VEAL\n\n[Laughter.] I don't remember too much. Some of it I just don't remember. MILLICENT BROWN\n\nYeah, it's okay. That's okay. It's okay, I'm just jugging at you just a little bit.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963#t=970.0,978.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963/transcript/87842/annotation/61","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"MILLICENT BROWN\n\nYeah, it's okay. That's okay. It's okay, I'm just jugging at you just a little bit.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963#t=978.0,978.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963/transcript/87842/annotation/62","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"MILLICENT BROWN\n\nYeah, it's okay. That's okay. It's okay, I'm just jugging at you just a little bit. ERICA VEAL\n\nYeah, it's okay. It's fine.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963#t=978.0,991.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963/transcript/87842/annotation/63","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"CREW\n\nAll right, and we're back.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963#t=991.0,992.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963/transcript/87842/annotation/64","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"CREW\n\nWe're good.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963#t=992.0,993.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963/transcript/87842/annotation/65","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"MILLICENT BROWN\n\nYeah, I was just saying that I'm curious, so that we know what kinds of things that the community is saying back to you. What's encouraging this work, from the responses?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963#t=993.0,1009.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963/transcript/87842/annotation/66","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"ERICA VEAL\n\nWell, I would say, even though there were a lot of lead organizers in Black Lives Matter Charleston - it was a decentralized organization - Muhiyidin was definitely the lead organizer. In the community's eyes, he was the leader of the local movement, and so there was a lot of support for his work overall, but I don't think that's what fazed him. I don't think that is what encouraged his work necessarily. His dedication to the community was directly related to his spirituality and his religion. So, he was Baha'i, and in the Baha'i faith, you are supposed to live a life of service as a way of giving thanks to the higher power. Not only that, he was an initiate of the Sant Mat, so he practiced light and sound meditation, and that is also a very service-oriented spiritual path. He used to meditate for, like, 12 hours a day sometimes. And everything that he did in the community was because he was doing it for the higher power.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963#t=1009.0,1085.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963/transcript/87842/annotation/67","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"MILLICENT BROWN\n\nHow does that mix with the very real and dire circumstances being faced by Black folks in the community? How do you see this mixture of personal spirituality with people getting shot on the streets?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963#t=1085.0,1115.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963/transcript/87842/annotation/68","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"ERICA VEAL\n\nI think spirituality is really important, and I think it separates - it's a terrible saying - but it separates the men from the boys, in a lot of ways, the serious organizers from maybe the less... The people who are going to be able to maintain it more long-term, because organizing can be very draining. And, at least what I saw in Muhiyidin, it was his spiritual path that was always pushing him forward and pushing him to go out into the community every day. So, I don't think he took this world very seriously, because of his meditation, but he did what he did just to give thanks. The state of the Black community, the experiences that we suffer at the hands of the police was just an opportunity for him to express his spirituality.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963#t=1115.0,1171.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963/transcript/87842/annotation/69","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"MILLICENT BROWN\n\nDo you think that was understood on those grounds by your followers of the Black Lives Matter of Charleston?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963#t=1171.0,1178.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963/transcript/87842/annotation/70","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"ERICA VEAL\n\nNo. I don't think so at all. I think that when he did talk about spirituality, people just didn't know how to take it. Maybe spiritual people understood, but I don't think the majority of the following really grasped that. They kind of... That's when their eyes would start to glaze a little bit, gloss over, when he would talk about those things. They didn't really grasp what his motivation was, but they were still pulled to him for that same reason, though, even though they didn't understand it. That's what separated him from a lot of the people in the community, his passion and his intelligence. He was very insightful and very wise, and it seemed like so many people got direction from him. We couldn't go out on a date without seeing somebody and them wanting to pull him to the side for 30, 40 minutes and just run so many things by him. It was like they couldn't make decisions without asking him first.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963#t=1178.0,1238.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963/transcript/87842/annotation/71","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"MILLICENT BROWN\n\nHow did that make you feel?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963#t=1238.0,1240.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963/transcript/87842/annotation/72","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"ERICA VEAL\n\nI was used to it. You can't be with a person like that and not be prepared to deal with those kinds of things. When I finally reached out to him and asked him if he wanted to hang out - this was in August 31st, 2015 - so I had met him on April 8th, and August I asked him if he wanted to hang out. We went on our first date September 1st, and we were basically together from that point. One of the things that he told me in the very beginning, he's like, \"You should look into Coretta Scott King and Betty Shabazz and what their experiences were.\"","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963#t=1240.0,1277.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963/transcript/87842/annotation/73","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"ERICA VEAL\n\nHe definitely knew he wasn't going to be around forever. And I had a lot of premonitions about his death while we were together, so it's not something that I focused on. I knew he was here to serve and put in a certain amount of work, and I allowed him to do that, but I also tried to make sure that he enjoyed life. But he always told me the community was going to come first, and that was something that I was going to have to accept if I was with him. And I was fine with that.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963#t=1277.0,1306.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963/transcript/87842/annotation/74","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"MILLICENT BROWN\n\nYou were “fine with it.” Now, I'm not going to let you get away with that. Talk about what that means, to be someone willing to stand by her man.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963#t=1306.0,1324.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963/transcript/87842/annotation/75","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"ERICA VEAL\n\nI looked at that as a challenge. I felt like, because he told me his previous relationships didn't work out because they couldn't accept the fact that the community, his service came first, and so I just saw that as a challenge. So, I was like, \"Well, that's not going to bother me.\" And it didn't, and I didn't allow it to.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963#t=1324.0,1344.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963/transcript/87842/annotation/76","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"MILLICENT BROWN\n\nWhere did that come from, Erica? That spirit, that reception to his ideas? Where did that come from?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963#t=1344.0,1353.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963/transcript/87842/annotation/77","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"ERICA VEAL\n\nI just feel like it was where I was supposed to be at the time; I think it wasn't me, it was the higher power just putting me where He wanted me.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963#t=1353.0,1363.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963/transcript/87842/annotation/78","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"MILLICENT BROWN\n\nWould you talk a little bit about the transition from Black Lives Matter, as an organization, to your actually becoming a founder of the Lowcountry Action Committee?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963#t=1363.0,1378.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963/transcript/87842/annotation/79","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"ERICA VEAL\n\nWell, I took some time off from organizing after Muhiyidin was killed, and eventually I was offered a full-time position at the Avery again; I had left the Avery after about three years working as a grad student. And I worked for Charleston County Parks for seven years, and I resigned about six months before Muhiyidin passed. And we spent most of that time together just traveling. And so we were visiting the Gulf Coast - we went to New Orleans for about three weeks, and we went to Houston - Beaumont, Texas for about three weeks, and then we went to Houston for three weeks - and I have family all throughout that area. And Mardi Gras was coming up, and so Muhiyidin had never been to Mardi Gras in New Orleans, and so he wanted to visit New Orleans one more time to go to Mardi Gras before we drove back to South Carolina, and that's when he was killed.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963#t=1378.0,1433.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963/transcript/87842/annotation/80","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"ERICA VEAL\n\nAnd so I spent about just two and a half years just grieving really, really hard. And eventually, you know, as I was starting to break out of that, I was offered a full-time position at the Avery Research Center again. My supervisor that had trained me when I was a grad student retired, and she suggested that I take her position.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963#t=1433.0,1452.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963/transcript/87842/annotation/81","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"MILLICENT BROWN\n\nWho was that?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963#t=1452.0,1453.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963/transcript/87842/annotation/82","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"ERICA VEAL\n\nDeborah Wright. She's a reference archivist.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963#t=1453.0,1457.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963/transcript/87842/annotation/83","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"ERICA VEAL\n\nAnd so I came back to Avery and I started working and training some graduate students. Joshua Parks was one of my student employees, and we just had a really powerful connection on a lot of levels. The more I worked with him, the more I realized we had a lot in common. And eventually once COVID hit and we were all working from home, he reached out to me - and this was during the George Floyd protests. There was a lot going on in the community again. It had been a while since we really had that type of momentum in the community, since really the Walter Scott - church shooting era. And so during that time, he was doing some organizing and wanting to form a group. And he had been – just, kind of, being from Jacksonville - he had been just observing the organizing community during the short time that he had been here at that time. And so by the time George Floyd came around, he was ready to start putting in work in Charleston. And so we started organizing, and eventually the Lowcountry Action Committee came to be.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963#t=1457.0,1520.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963/transcript/87842/annotation/84","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"MILLICENT BROWN\n\nWe need details. [Laughter.] How did it come to be? How do you recruit? Who do you get to support you?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963#t=1520.0,1528.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963/transcript/87842/annotation/85","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"ERICA VEAL\n\nThat was more of Joshua's... [Laughter.] There's a lot of us, you know, who work and who organize in the Lowcountry Action Committee, so it's basically like a collective of artists and veteran organizers and photographers and archivists and historians. And so, we did a lot of political education in the first six to nine months. We just did a lot of internal developing, so we can all get on the same page about our politics and our political line.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963#t=1528.0,1561.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963/transcript/87842/annotation/86","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"ERICA VEAL\n\nAnd we had some opportunities to organize around – like, for example, with Fresh Future Farm and the issues they were having with the City of North Charleston, and Metanoia trying to purchase the land that the farm sits on. So, that was one of our first campaigns that we pushed out on social media. And then we co-founded the Charleston People's Budget Coalition. And later, we co-founded the Justice for All Coalition around the death of Jamal Sutherland.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963#t=1561.0,1590.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963/transcript/87842/annotation/87","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"ERICA VEAL\n\nWe've launched some mutual aid programs on the east side of downtown Charleston, just feeding the people. And every month, we provide them with staple pantry items and organic produce and educational materials, and just trying to mobilize and raise the class consciousness of the community. It's still work that we're doing, and a lot of political education internally. And I think that's the difference between what I see now and what I was experiencing five, six years ago when I first started organizing in Charleston, is the focus, the emphasis on the importance of political education. I didn't really hear a lot of conversations about that previously.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963#t=1590.0,1637.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963/transcript/87842/annotation/88","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"MILLICENT BROWN\n\nWhat was the reception like from the many other organizations that existed and still exist in the Charleston area who are doing some of the same things you're talking about? Is there a coalition broadening? Or, how would you define what was happening?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963#t=1637.0,1660.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963/transcript/87842/annotation/89","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"ERICA VEAL\n\nThere's definitely a lot of coalition-building going on. It also seems like - it reminded me of five, six years ago - folks looking for a lot of direction. And I think they see some of the work that Lowcountry Action Committee is doing and how organized we are, and all that is directly related to the political education that we do. And so as we have been in coalition with a lot of different organizations, many of them seem to not have an emphasis on political education, and so we tend to find ourselves rising to the top of conversations and leading a lot of discussions when we are in different groups in different settings. I think it's all related to that.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963#t=1660.0,1704.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963/transcript/87842/annotation/90","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"MILLICENT BROWN\n\nMaybe you could define political education a little bit better, then. What do you mean by political education?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963#t=1704.0,1713.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963/transcript/87842/annotation/91","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"ERICA VEAL\n\nWe study past movements, past organizers and activists and their successes and their failures. We do that a lot. We read a lot of articles. We watch videos together. We watch speeches and we analyze them and discuss them as a group, regularly.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963#t=1713.0,1739.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963/transcript/87842/annotation/92","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"MILLICENT BROWN\n\nDo you have, in retrospect, regrets? Or thoughts on things you would do differently, if you could replay the last five or six years?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963#t=1739.0,1761.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963/transcript/87842/annotation/93","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"ERICA VEAL\n\nNo. I don't have any regrets, and I did the best that I could at the time. Once Muhiyidin and I became partners - which was very, it happened really quickly - once it was official, I focused a lot of my energy on making sure that he was solid, and making sure he was fed, making sure his clothes were washed and starched because he was always doing speaking engagements and interviews, and helping him with his speeches, making sure he was staying on topic, being concise and not rambling and losing people. I would analyze his speeches, and then we would go over them together, and just doing things like that and different things that he might ask me to do if they had protests.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963#t=1761.0,1808.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963/transcript/87842/annotation/94","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"ERICA VEAL\n\nLike I said, Mr. Campbell's voice was always playing in my head in terms of, like, not having my name in the paper, so I always just did a lot of behind-the-scenes stuff. So, if he was organizing the rally and he's like, \"Hey, we need a whole bunch of green shirts for this sit-in we're about to do,\" then I went and got the green shirts, and I gave him the green shirts and dropped them off and left. I did the best I could at the time. I did what I thought was needed, and I gained a lot of insight from that time period.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963#t=1808.0,1839.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963/transcript/87842/annotation/95","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"MILLICENT BROWN\n\nI'm going to ask you two things. Tell us about the future for Erica, and then we're going to say, “What about the future for the Charleston area?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963#t=1839.0,1852.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963/transcript/87842/annotation/96","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"ERICA VEAL\n\nWell, I take things one at a time. That's something that when you lose somebody suddenly and tragically the way that I did, it's hard for me to look far in the future. I want to be of service. I became initiated into the same meditation path that Muhiyidin was initiated into, so it helped me grieve. It helped me understand him better, feel connected to him after he transitioned from the physical. So, being of service is very important to me, so I plan to just do that in any way that I can, whether it's through Lowcountry Action Committee or building coalition with the Black and brown community in Charleston – which, I think there's a lot of opportunity there to connect the Black and Hispanic community - continuing to be of service at the Avery Research Center. Whatever is put in front of me, that's what I plan to pursue.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963#t=1852.0,1907.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963/transcript/87842/annotation/97","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"ERICA VEAL\n\nIn terms of Charleston, I think Charleston has always been really influential since the colonial era. What happens in Charleston has typically been replicated throughout the rest of the South. And as organizers, I think that the same thing applies, so just continuing to build, develop within the Lowcountry Action Committee, and hopefully have a positive impact and influence on the local organizing community, which would then trickle throughout other communities.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963#t=1907.0,1942.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963/transcript/87842/annotation/98","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"MILLICENT BROWN\n\nDo you feel optimistic about the possibilities of change for people of color in this area, or even in the country?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963#t=1942.0,1963.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963/transcript/87842/annotation/99","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"ERICA VEAL\n\nI don't know if that matters to me as much as just being of service. I don't have any control over those kinds of things. So, that's what I'm working towards, but I think what matters most is that I'm putting in effort. It's between me and God and my relationship with God. So, that's what I'm going to do; whether it's successful or not, I still get points for trying.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963#t=1963.0,1990.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963/transcript/87842/annotation/100","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"MILLICENT BROWN\n\nIs there anything else that you would like to just share for whomever it is that listens to your words in the future?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963#t=1990.0,2002.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963/transcript/87842/annotation/101","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"ERICA VEAL\n\nI think it's really important to have a spiritual path and that it gives you discipline, it gives you principle, and it gives you direction. And I think our movements in the Black community have always had a strong spiritual foundation, and we should have a sense of social responsibility to our community and develop ourselves politically by studying past movements and organizers and activists. I think that's important.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963#t=2002.0,2034.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963/transcript/87842/annotation/102","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"MILLICENT BROWN\n\nOkay. Thank you so much.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963#t=2034.0,2035.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963/transcript/87842/annotation/103","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"ERICA VEAL\n\nThanks.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963#t=2035.0,2040.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963/transcript/87842/annotation/104","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"CREW\n\nThat's good. [inaudible","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963#t=2040.0,2041.0"},{"id":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963/transcript/87842/annotation/105","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"].","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://lcdl.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3440/collection_resources/164245/file/298963#t=2041.0,2041.5"}]}]}]}