Access is Representation | Melanie Lavender | TEDxBradenton
foreign ing local history of Sarasota Florida not only inspired me but my elders in the community encouraged me to live my dreams and to go after all the things that I wanted to in life like I said I was born and raised in Sarasota Florida and I'm a local girl I was educated in the system I came from a two-parent household we went to church every Sunday Lord we thank you and all those great stuff but 2003 my life changed in 2003 my father was killed while walking our dog my dad was my ultimate best friend he was the person that I went to who I came to for counsel and he was taken by two guys who didn't see his value it took me years to even get up and talk in front of people about that incident me and him shared the same birthday we laughed the light we talked alike he was my Superman so I went on throughout life after 2003 performing poetry getting married having a family building a career outside of the Arts and in 2019 I decided to take a risk on me I left the company I had been with for over six years I was employee number two it had a little stock and so that November of 2019 I decided I was going to go out I was going to pursue my dreams I was going to become a better mother a better wife but also go after my passions that was my plan little did I know how I would get there didn't do me the best job sometimes in January 13th of 2000 and 2020 I had a nervous breakdown I took the police on a nice ride through the city and at the end of that I landed at the place my father was killed once I realized where I was at I told them to immediately take me to the hospital I knew I needed help I needed to be able to process the trauma that I had experienced for over almost 20 years one of the things that I had to do was first connect spiritually with my Foundation the next was finding a therapist that I could work with and she would understand my crazy the fourth third I'm sorry was poetry going through that nervous breakdown my poetry allowed me to express myself to get out all the ugliness all the trauma face those Fears Head Strong the more I started talking I found out that others in my community also felt the same then there was a change on April of 2020 I I auditioned to be a part of a local podcast the guys strengthened me Church easy and DJ Big Dog as well as Deborah Coleman they encouraged me during that period as time went on and I started to get more and more out of my shell I ran into someone that ultimately changed my life I like to call it the push that changed the world while at Publix my favorite place during the quarantine I don't know how about y'all was it just like it was so calming in there and I saw Miss Vicki Odom Vicky had been a superstar in my eyes since I was a child she was my father's classmate and he would always Point her out never giving any negative information but always saying look what she did and she grew up here my husband incidentally pushed me in front of Miss Vicki to introduce myself podcast and shared the things that she had been working on one of the things that I also started doing during that time was meditation we ended up meditating at what is now the Mineral Springs but in our community it was called Angola Angola was a place where runaway natives as well as as well as those natives here to Florida combined and created a small community they were actually thriving until a certain president that I don't want to say his name because he don't need my energy decided to invade Florida and destroy a lot of those maroon communities that was the first thing that changed for me this community in Bradenton West Bradenton right down the street from here was a place of Refuge and my friends would take me there to meditate another thing I learned after meeting Miss Vicki and reading the book Newtown alive I started to see the elders in my community in a completely different way see for years I didn't think that my community really did anything towards social judgment movement during the 50s and 60s as well as in to the 70s but I was so wrong I'm going to share with you four stories it might be three we're gonna say three three stories of people as I read their history and listen to their words motivated me the first one was Sheila Saunders Sheila in the third grade convinced her other classmates not to deposit their money into the bank that they had been because this bank would not give these brown kids a tour of it they told her it was against their policy but she knew better because one of her friends had told her about the visit they made so what she did was her mother was a domestic worker and Sheila would go with her to the president of Palmer Bank to talk to him and clean his windows as she said and polishes whatnots he decided that he would give them a bank so as this third grader went on and got all the pennies and collected the dimes and you were really rich if you had 25 cents to put into this Bank that spoke volumes of the kind of actions that a third grade year old a third grade my son is in third grade he couldn't put together a computer or anything else but this third grader did this another person that I was inspired by was Walter Gilbert Walter Gilbert is finally known as the uncle of Newtown what he did at the age of 26 most people would have never had the courage to do at 26 he decided to run for City Commissioner and to prove that at large voting didn't work for people of color he did this along with Sheila Saunders his campaign manager and the community rallied around them he did lose but in this loss they were able to take the next steps by using a lawsuit to sue the city of Sarasota to make it again a commissioner's seat where you had to live inside this community that made the way for many other politicians the first that I remember who came to my school and read Dr Martin Luther King's speech and recited it word for word was Fred Atkins Fred Atkins was Sarasota's first mayor now one of the things that you get to learn about Fred is that he has been on the scene of every movement forever in Sarasota from the 50s all the way up to to present day Mr Atkins was there when the beach protest started by a lady named Mary Emma Jones who went before the County Commissioners to ask for access two the beaches one of our most valuable assets here in Florida the County Commissioners told them no but her strong voice mixed in with the youth during that time and the preachers and the church members and the leaders of the community came together and would do a peaceful protest every Sunday to go to that beach Lido Beach and if you guys ever go out there you're able to see this mural of those courageous people because we know that during that time Jim Crow was real it was a real life or death thing but what my community did and many others were survive they created Banks well not Banks but they had businesses they also created home ownership they built churches and schools that was the amazing part I began to see myself in that part of the history and to see what an impact my elders had made in the days of their youth test time what's up what's up what's up yes I love it get y'all says yes so in support of a museum here locally for African Americans I decided to write a piece Miss Vicky had told me you know come say a word at the county com at the City Commissioner's Office and share how you feel like it should be supported I don't think she knew that I was a poet at that time but as we left that commissioner's meeting she knew it and would begin to nurture me becoming a friend someone that I could talk to at times another person that I was inspired by was Dr Bill Clybourn Dr pill bill Clybourn was the first African-American male student to graduate from Sarasota High School one of the things that kept him during that time after a man had came to the school and wanted to shoot him and then fired off a gun the staff quickly surrounded him and moved him into the principal's office what he later began to share with us was that there was a bus driver who understood exactly what he was going through and on days when it seemed to be too much for him to take they would take a ride down to Venice Beach one of the things that this bus driver told him was that he was not only doing this for himself but he was doing this for generations and generations and generations to come it wasn't just about him he was proving that if given the same Trends as our counterparts we could Excel too he told Dr Clybourne or just bill at that time that if he ever needed him he would always be there that person I found out was my great grandfather Robert Graham hearing that voice and seeing and reading those words now that particular day when I found that out it was the anniversary of my father's death and I sat on the couch crying after reading that because that was a family Legacy my great grandfather encouraged my father and my father encouraged many men to get a job just out of prison you come to see Mr Ecker Graham and he would be there he'd help you get a job but that was about our faith I began to see my community so much differently I saw the pride and the beauty that it was there so now I'll share with you guys a poem that I wrote called Newtown alive as children we would take field trips to the Ringling Museum remember running through the Green Grass and seeing where the little people used to live or attempting to swing on the Banyan trees we were taught how the Ringling family brought art and culture to our Emerald Bays but there was always something missing no one looked like me another place we visited was Spanish Point Park and there we were told how Osprey got its name we even got to see a pair of shoes that gave their family wealth we toured the house they lived in we saw the family's church and a god pointed out where the slaves might have said if I remember that part correct but again no history makers or Trailblazers who had skin like me or hair like me another place we visited took us deep in the heart of Manatee County and there we were told all about the Conquistador De Soto and his exploits with the natives there again no Trailblazers are history makers who look like me or had skin like me or hair like me or a nose like me see this was my entire childhood thinking people who look like me or resembled me made no Mark in a city that I love but oh my dear sirs that was far from the truth because when I got of age and started reading historical markers on my way home my thought process started to change I started to recognize last names and those names and faces look like me picture this if you will a place where a family can come and walk and share the beautiful and proud story about Newtown oh how the prophets would flow in from the only freestanding African-American Museum on this side of the Skyway would bring the day trips families would make to eat a plate from Miss Susie or chill out and Vibe during the first Friday of every month a place where generations and students can come and learn how a 14 year old girl shake the minds of war heroes professional athletes politicians activists writers musicians the Trailblazers of their forefathers oh what love will grow when our children know that they too have a place in the beautiful history of the cultural center of Florida that is the city of Sarasota thank you [Applause]