Unhidden Virginia
A reporting project to reveal a few obscure narratives of our American history
What’s so controversial about Black American history? When I began the Unhidden project more than two years ago, I would have considered this a rhetorical question. But it seems that there are forces at work committed to hiding the words and deeds of individuals committed to the cause of liberty and personal freedom, people who through their lives of service and sacrifice that made our nation great. My primary purpose as a journalist on this project is to find the obscure and often overlooked incidents of the past that failed to include the contributions of figures descended from African ancestry. In recent years I had come to discover remarkable and even exciting moments in our national heritage that I never learned about in school and were seldom found reflected in the modern narrative of our collection culture. The stories of our ancestors have been hidden.
Over the next several weeks the Joy Trip Project is back on the road to develop a series of reports on historic sites, monuments and battlefields in the the state of Virginia. My friend, National Geographic photographer Kris Graves and I, will visit locations in Washington D.C., Hampton and Richmond, with a stop in Church Creek Maryland. If you don’t know why these particular places are significant to Black American History you’ll definitely want to follow along on our journey. We have a fairly full production schedule, but we’re always eager to find worthwhile suggestions for spots not to miss. Please feel free to share. Stay up to date by becoming a subscriber.