Grammy Cross, Bethel AME Church, and Reparations - Watson

Thursday, March 03, 2022

Raymond Two Hawks Watson, MINDSETTER™

 

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Raymond Two Hawks Watson PHOTO: file

It was an odd feeling walking into Bethel AME Church this past Monday, February 28, 2022. I was there for Mayor Elorza’s press conference to sign an Executive Order establishing a Municipal Reparations Commission. The Mayor was also unveiling the Reconciliation Framework that my company the Providence Cultural Equity Initiative (www.provcei.org) had collaboratively developed with Roger Williams University (www.rwu.edu) over the past 7 months. While completely humbled and honored to be so intimately involved with developing a viable strategy for engaging reparations in Providence, my thoughts were with my great-great-grandmother Alice Michael Cross. From what I understood Granny Cross was potentially a founder of Bethel AME Church, and most certainly a well-respected member of the church congregation in her time.

My Nana would often take me to visit Granny Cross when I was younger. Granny Cross lived down in the Crossgate Apartments on North Main Street. I loved going to visit Granny Cross because she would ask me how I was doing and I would get to listen to her talk to the adults in the room, mainly her grandchildren and great-grandchildren, about how things used to be. Granny Cross was a full-blood Narragansett, and very proud of it.

I was blessed to not only know Granny Cross, but her daughter “Memah” as well, who I lived with for a time during my early years. I remember the night Memah passed away. It was my first formative encounter with the concept of death. Being only 7 at the time I could not process the fact that “Memah” would not be coming home from the hospital and that I wouldn’t see her anymore.

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The East Side . . . that was something that I associated with Bethel AME Church. Growing up in the neighborhood I recall driving by the church countless times. During my tenure as Executive Director of the Mount Hope Community Center I would pass by and think to myself “Man . . . this church has been here on this East Side for a very long time.” but never fully grasped what that meant; at least not in the way that the A Matter of Truth report articulates the history. Now here I was, at Bethel AME Church with son by my side, about to give remarks on a project that was not only the crowning achievement of my professional career thus far, but more significantly a fitting start to properly honoring the legacy and heritage of my ancestors who were not only a part of the African heritage and Indigenous communities of the East Side, but the City of Providence as a whole.

Not all my memories of Bethel AME Church are fond ones. I distinctly remember sitting in a pew across from my younger cousin watching him sob uncontrollably at the funeral for his father who had been a victim of gun violence on the East Side. I can’t say for certain because I’ve never asked him, but I imagine that due to his age at the time that day might have been my cousin’s first formative encounter with the concept of death. Realizing that he wouldn’t see his father anymore while sitting in a pew at Bethel AME Church; the same church that his great-great-grandmother had potentially been a founder of, and most certainly had been a well-respected member of the church congregation in her time. That memory is tied to Bethel AME Church as well.

I focused my remarks on the 4 overarching goals that our coalition sought to achieve when engaging in this reconciliation work. First, we sought to humanize the historical experiences detailed in the A Matter of Truth report. When examining historical narratives, it can be easy to overlook the fact that what is being read had an actual impact on the lives of individuals; and in this case, individuals who are still living in the City of Providence today. Accordingly, our coalition engaged this work with the intent of not only centering the voices of members of Providence’s African Heritage and Indigenous communities directly or generationally impacted, but also providing space for the public to better understand and relate to the experiences of these communities.

Secondly, our coalition sought to shift the dialogue about reparations away from the typical narrative of colonial-era African enslavement to a conversation about the persisting effects of systemic racism against and marginalization of African heritage and Indigenous communities in Providence embodied in the urban renewal policies of the 1950s and 1960s. These were government-endorsed and funded policies that devastated the quality of life and generational wealth of Providence’s African heritage and Indigenous communities. Discussion about accountability and quantification of harm related to government policies of the 1950s and 1960s is a much more productive dialogue than debating naysayers about the validity of holding them accountable for atrocities from the 1600s and 1700s. The former discussion provides access to legal remedies that the latter is challenged to effectively engage. Through this lens, our coalition determined that reframing the discussion about reparations in Providence was key to the success of our efforts.

Third, we sought to create more opportunities for the public to access and engage with the treasure trove of information presented in the A Matter of Truth report. Respecting the contemporary diversity of public engagement strategies for relaying information, under the leadership of PCEI Chief Creative Officer Donald. W. King, a web portal concept was designed to provide ongoing opportunities for AR/VR engagement with historical artifacts and access for individuals to upload videos sharing their own experiences with urban renewal in Providence. This is a strategy that Mr. King has coined “quilting” to the City’s historical narrative, and our coalition views it as key for sustaining the reconciliation process in Providence.

Lastly, our coalition understood that a project of this magnitude and importance could not be controlled or owned by any one group; it had to belong to the community. Reconciliation occurs on multiple levels, in varying spaces, and knows no bounds in terms of skin color or race; everyone should be a part of the reconciliation process. Our coalition fundamentally believed that any attempt on our part to own or control this project would constitute a violation of the trust placed in our coalition when the African American Ambassadors Group selected us to lead this phase of the initiative. All of this considered our coalition created interactive tools to enable the public to proactively engage with this very important subject matter.

If you haven’t already, I highly suggest you visit the web portal (), download the Reconciliation Framework, and especially watch the mini-documentary. I promise that it will be well worth your time.

As my son and I walked out of Bethel AME Church after the press conference was over, I shook hands with Reverend Jenkins and thanked him for opening the Church for such a historic occasion. The Reverend responded in kind, expressing interest in learning more about Granny Cross’ connection to Bethel AME Church. He also invited my grand-uncle War Hawk and me to stop by sometime soon. I think I’ll take him up on the offer. It seems like it’s time to start making some more memories at the old church.

That’s my three cents.

Raymond Two Hawks Watson

 

Watson is a civil rights leader in Rhode Island. He has an accomplished career in business. He is the founder of the Providence Cultural Equity Initiative. Watson holds a Bachelor's Degree in Political Science from Union College in NY, a Master's Degree in Community Planning from the University of Rhode Island, and is a current Juris Doctorate Candidate at the Roger Williams University School of Law. Watson is also the recipient of the Rhode Island Foundation’s 2016 Innovation Fellowship.

 

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