Funding for COLORES was provided in part by: Frederick Hammersley Fund for the Arts at the Albuquerque Community Foundation and the New Mexico PBS Great Southwestern Arts & Education Endowment Fund at the Albuquerque Community Foundation ...New Mexico Arts, a division of the Department of Cultural Affairs, and by the National Endowment for the Arts.

...and Viewers Like You.

THIS TIME, ON COLORES!

A HISTORY OF PERSERVERANCE, INGENUITY AND DEEP ROOTS, RITA POWDRELL AND BRENDA DABNEY CARRY THE TORCH FORWARD SHARING THE PURPOSE AND MEANING OF AFRICAN AMERICAN HOMESTEADING IN NEW MEXICO.

UKRAINE'S LES KURBAS THEATER BECOMES A HUB FOR REFUGEE ARTISTS AND AN AUDIENCE SHARES THEIR DEEP RESPECT FOR SOLDIERS ON THE FRONT LINE.

IT'S ALL AHEAD ON COLORES!

FACING THE RISING SUN.

(birds chirping) >> Ebony Isis Booth: New Mexico has a deep history of Black settlement.

What is a Black Homesteader?

What does that mean?

>> Rita Powdrell: A Black homesteader was a revolutionary.

Because a homestead, started - 1862 act, which allowed people to get a hundred-and-sixty acres of land on the condition that they pay some filing fees, were 21 years old, hadn't taken up arms against the country, and they had five years to do improvements, fence it, or put a house.

Well 1862 coincides with the turmoil that this country was about to go through in the Civil War.

Enslavement had ended, supposedly freedom was here.

But all of a sudden a new kind of oppression called "Jim Crow" was coming.

There were revolutionary people who said "We will not accept being defined in this way.

We're not going to accept the oppression of the red shirts, the Klu Klux Klan.

We're going to pack up everything, and we are going to risk going to this territory", which is what New Mexico was at the time.

It was a territory, it was not yet a state.

And- taking up this hope that would end up being homesteading and that was one group.

I mean Brenda's story is different because her, you know, her great grandfather was a Buffalo Soldier.

So you then have the story of the men who were taken into the military during the Civil War and then all of a sudden they're in these new places and are they going to stay and if they're going to stay, how are they going to define themselves?

>> Ebony Isis Booth: Right... >> Rita Powdrell: ---And so you really had a revolutionary spirit of self-definition and "who are we as a people?"

and "How do we settle home, how do we find home?"

>> Ebony Isis Booth: Brenda, what did homesteading mean to your grandfather and your family?

>> Brenda Dabney: I think it was a way to find sanctuary for his family when he came out here.

You know, as a people we were always seeking freedom, always.

In whatever means we could do it, that's what we were, seeking to define ourselves.

I think that he saw that opportunity coming out west and I know it was at the expense of many Native Americans being pushed off their land, that is a history too that- looking into my own history, that I found out about.

But anyway, it was a way of finding that freedom, that self-definition.

The Homestead Act was a way for him to gain access to, you know, land and a home and he did not want to work for anyone.

He actually was stationed in- down in the Silver City area and he came up here with the corps of engineers to change the course of the river, the Rio Grande River, where it is now.

For years and years when we had rains, a lot of rain, the first and second street would flood because it's the natural riverbed.

But when he was here working with the corps of engineers as a laborer moving, they used some of the soldiers to help them move that course of that river.

He liked Albuquerque!

>>Everyone: <Laughs> >> Ebony Isis Booth: And went on to start several successful >> Brenda Dabney: Yes!

Yes he did.

He was an entrepreneur.

>> Ebony Isis Booth: Who was Jasper Williams to the development of Black community?

>> Rita Powdrell: So, Jasper Williams was a homesteader in- outside of Las Cruces, he's got six-hundred and forty acres.

He's unique, he was an older homesteader, he was 51 when he came to Las Cruces, his wife was 39.

He was from El Paso.

He was educated, he had been a graduate of Wiley College and his wife was also a graduate of what is now Prairie View.

He knew Dr. Lawrence Nixon.

Dr. Lawrence Nixon was responsible for the democratic primaries opening up to African Americans, which it hadn't been.

But, the two of them witnessed a lynching in Texas and then Jasper Williams who owned pharmacy stores, they were burned down suspiciously.

New Mexico had joined the Jim Crow south, in the fact that they had in 1925, decided to segregate their schools.

So they needed teachers, and that Jasper Williams was a teacher and that's how he came to Las Cruces.

But then he found out about homesteading and he joined a group of African Americans who were homesteading in Las Cruces and he became their spokesperson because they were being intimidated and a lot of them were not getting their patents.

So he was a person who wrote letters and never gave up, you know?

So, he was a person that said "No".

He knew Booker T. Washington, he was part of the NAACP.

So, he was like "We do not have to tolerate being treated like this, being intimidated.

We're entitled to these homesteads'' and he was punished for that.

It took him from 1926 to 1936 to get the patent for his but that was all because he was seen as an "agitator".

He just fought the stereotypes that we as African Americans were experiencing, and we were experiencing those stereotypes even as >> Ebony Isis Booth: What about Henry Outlay, Brenda?

What is- >> Brenda Dabney: Outley- >> Ebony Isis Booth: Outley!

>> Brenda Dabney: That was my grandfather.

He came to Mexico from Arizona actually.

You know my grandfather was a reader, so I remember him- he had lots of books and he read a lot.

He joined a group of other African American businessmen and professional men, like Dr. Lewis.

They formed a group called the "Fraternal Aid Society" and that was to- they had applied for land, you know, so they were able to think of how they could put it together and come up with a community that was viable.

Where African Americans had a say in their destiny and where they could prosper in their own careers.

>> Rita Powdrell: When you talk about home, what Brenda is talking about, is what the homesteaders were faced with especially when segregation started to take hold in the state is-, home is more than just our home.

It's church, you know?

It's basic things, so like the homesteaders in Las Cruces were faced with "Where do we bury our dead if they are not welcome in the cemeteries of the dominant culture?"

you know.

So homesteading became community, because we need these things to survive and we're not welcomed.

We're not being given a sense that we belong, we are being given a sense that we will be tolerated.

But, we still need grocery stores, we still need boarding houses, you know?

We will need schools, we still need our children educated.

So, this- what Brenda is talking about this "self-definition", this having to have a sanctuary for our children, became community.

Your homesteaders and your Buffalo Soldiers became the people who founded a community for us and helped us with this self-definition and preserved who we were in spite of what the outside definition of us was becoming, you know.

So they were very crucial in the development of this state.

>>Ebony Isis Booth: Who are some other individuals who may have been essential to that legacy?

>>Rita Powdrell: Part of homesteading was vision.

Is what we say.

That people had vision.

So once you have self-determination, where are we going?

What is the vision that we're going to have when we get there?

Dr. John Lewis, who did the hundred and sixty acres, which Brenda's mother would turn into a housing development.

That was a vision.

That was their vision for the homestead.

When you look at the Pettis family in Las Cruces, there was a vision that there was going to be water on the land, that- you know, they eventually had a land development company, a water utility company, an independent company that supplied water to the three-hundred families that they sold land to.

So that was their vision.

But, that's what would happen, you know, to some of the homesteads the visions changed.

So like the Wholesome family, that vision was farming and land, and as it transformed as the land transformed and went through generations, Ray Collins who now has that homestead, and raises horses.

So you know, the vision changed, but I think it was very much vision, so when you talk about Virginia Ballou- I'm going to give it back to Brenda, but when you talk about Virginia Ballou it started as a vision, and it was a vision she heard as a 17 year old girl.

>>Ebony Isis Booth: What was she able to realize from that >>Brenda Dabney: Well, my grandfather, Henry Outley, he decided that she was going to be their secretary.

He said that they sent- they paid for her to go to secretarial school and- which was not open there, were about three secretarial schools at the time and there was only one that was willing able to take a young Black girl.

That was Browning, and so my mother went there as a 17 year old and then she became their secretary, well she learned their story.

They planted the seed in her and so she decided that, oh well- she didn't decide it, it just sort of grew into her, you know?

As the older generation began to fade out, it was left to her to carry the ball, to see that this dream or this vision became a reality.

This is a saying- a mantra that my mother always had, "If it's going to be, it's up to me", in other words, you can't- you gotta- you have to have that vision and to make it move forward, you have to become active.

You've got to work the forces, plus she was a woman of great faith, my mother was a godly woman too.

She had a lot of faith, she didn't start or end her day without asking for guidance.

Anyway, she went forth with this vision for this community and as we look at the community they had a women's hospital, a children's hospital, shopping, they had a dentist office, doctor's office, all that was plotted on this land that they put together.

She was wanting to see that happen, well she ran into- who's going to build these homes, because she couldn't get anyone locally to do it, any whites to help her build this dream.

So she heard of a Black contractor in Phoenix, Arizona.

She contacted him and he came in and was able to help her get that dream realized.

They built the three-model homes first.

My mom was so nervous at the time because, here she's into this and supposed to- it doesn't people aren't interested in moving out.

Because let me tell you the eastern edition was passed the fair, it was out of town.

The fairgrounds, where the fairgrounds are today, in between- San pedro and Louisiana, north of that, northeast of that- was where the eastern edition was going to be developed.

She had apartments also that she ran in town and there was this one couple, Mr and Mrs. Roy Palmer, and they had a son, Roy Jr., and they live in one of our apartments.

They said- they came to my mother and said, they went out there and looked at the homes and said "We want one!"

and they were the first ones to put the money down and once she got one started, then the ball started.

>>Ebony Isis Booth: Then the ball started to roll.

>>Ebony Isis Booth: Miss Brenda, will you tell me about those beautiful pine trees on campus at UNM?

>> Brenda & Rita: <Laughing> >>Brenda Dabney: That's a story that has been in my family for generations and it's about John Collins, you know, he was- I told you, he was an entrepreneur.

One of his businesses was- he had a big huge wagon called a "Jumbo".

He would take people up on excursions to the mountains.

These were people that were tourist-like people that would come up and want to experience being out in the woods, you know?

So he would- he had a business, he would take them up there, he would set their camp up, he would cook for them, he would make sure that all their needs were met, you know, all their physical needs were met.

While he was up there he would dig up little seedlings, and at the time the university was selected, at the flip of the coin, <Laughs> to be the- Albuquerque was selected to be the site for the new university that was going to be coming up and everybody in the community wanted to be a part- they were proud that Albuquerque was selected.

Even though, later on, it was hard for us to get in there.

My grandfather felt that pride, and he knew that the president at that time, that was selected to develop that university- and he would bring down these little seedlings and he said "I brought these down for the campus, can I plant these around?".

He would plant them all around the perimeter of the university's campus and they became great monuments to our- to his legacy.

They're still there!

<laughs> >>Ebony Isis Booth: As a graduate of the University of New Mexico and a Black woman, I am deeply grateful!

>>Everyone: <Laughing> >>Ebony Isis Booth: and interact with that legacy daily!

>> Brenda Dabney: Well, we are part of this tapestry of the state of New Mexico, we are woven into that tapestry, we have- and we're part of the beauty of it.

>>Rita Powdrell: This is our journey, alright?

That this history is so vital to the state of New Mexico.

That you coming into this state, that this should be a part of the history that you're illuminated about.

That this happened in the state of New Mexico, that something that was called "homesteading" that affected so many families, that you know, also affected African Americans in this state.

So, what is vital is that our history is a part of the history that you're aware of when you come to the state.

You don't have to seek it out.

It is the fabric of this state's history, so when visitors come to our state and they go to the museum and they are African American, they will see themselves on the wall.

>> Brenda Dabney: We have been working on this for some twenty some years now.

But, it needs to be a home.

It needs to be recognized and valued, visible, vital, and valuable to the community.

So that's our little mantra.

>>Ebony Isis Booth: "Visible, Valuable, and Vital"?

Absolutely.

>> Brenda Dabney: Did I say it right?

I did!

<laughs>.

>>Ebony Isis Booth: What does it mean to you personally, to have these stories, to be the steward of this history?

>> Rita Powdrell: When and where we enter, our stories are who we are.

So, when I'm here in the state of New Mexico and I'm looking for roots, okay, the story that goes back to homesteading, that's my story.

To illuminate that story, because it's full of what anyone would want in a story.

It's the legacy we have been blessed with.

It's all we have.

So, to touch those stories, you know, to touch the people, I mean we call it "The Rising Sun", and you know our history is part of our rising sun.

>>Brenda Dabney: Knowing your- where you came from, gives you strength to go forward, and it lets you know that "Hey, you come from a strong people, you come from people who have been creative, they've been people of great hope and faith, they've been people that have forged forward so that you can have opportunity today".

All people need to know our history, that need to know that we were here along with their ancestries, we weren't just here looking around not doing anything, we were active.

We were active in the environment, we were active in the development, we were active in seeing that everything would come to prosperity for everyone.

So it's important that our children know that, but it's also important that all children know that.

>>Ebony Isis Booth: What does it mean to you to be a part of Black History?

>>Brenda Dabney: To have found myself.

My self-identification.

And it felt- I have found peace, joy, and sanctuary.

>>Rita Powdrell: Well, it means as W. E. B.

Du Bois said "To pull back the veil and to see that we have been honored with a torch that we are to carry", and that they are there.

Our ancestors, and the torches they carried, you know.

The Harriet Tubman's, the Marcus Garvey, that when you pull back and we know our history, we know we have a torch that's to be carried, and you're carrying it, you know, and you feel that pride about the trees.

I can see, you know, for us to see, but for our young people to see, that it is an honor.

When you know your history, it is an honor to reach back and take that torch, it is something to be thankful for.

You know, and I think that's what makes history so important.

Purpose and meaning.

There's purpose and meaning in our legacy, and we have to fight and we have to reach back and we have to grab it and we have to hold it in the present and we have to give it to the future.

>>Ebony Isis Booth: It has been my honor to share a space with you today.

Thank you so much.

>>Brenda & Rita: Thank you Ebony!

>>Brenda Dabney: It is such a pleasure to be in your presence and to know your interests.

>> Rita Powdrell: Enjoy the light.

>>Everybody: <Laughs> >> Brenda Dabney: and pass the torch!

>>Ebony Isis Booth: "Enjoy the light"!

I love it!

I feel golden!

SANCTUARY, CREATIVITY AND RESILIENCE.

[music and Ukrainian language] To view this and other COLORES programs go to New Mexico PBS dot org and look for COLORES under What We Do and Local Productions.

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"UNTIL NEXT WEEK, THANK YOU FOR WATCHING."

Funding for COLORES was provided in part by: Frederick Hammersley Fund for the Arts at the Albuquerque Community Foundation and the New Mexico PBS Great Southwestern Arts & Education Endowment Fund at the Albuquerque Community Foundation ...New Mexico Arts, a division of the Department of Cultural Affairs, and by the National Endowment for the Arts.

...and Viewers Like You.

(CLOSED CAPTIONING BY KNME-TV)