*(Orange County, CA) — 2019 is a monumental year in American history. It marks the 400th anniversary of the first slaves arriving in the new world at Point Comfort, VA, which is now Hampton, VA. Kidnapped from present-day Angola, those first Africans arrived in the USA in late August 1619.
John Rolfe, a prominent tobacco planter and former husband of Pocahontas, was an eyewitness to their arrival on the slave ship White Lion. He reported, “Twenty and odd Negroes were bought for victuals (food).” That was the beginning of the lucrative slave trade in America, selling Black people, and separating them from their families, language and culture—for goods, services and money.
About 200 years later in the early 1800s, Harriet Ross Tubman was born. She would become one of the most defiant slaves ever. Known as the “Moses” of her people and leader of the Underground Railroad, she helped more than 300 slaves escape to the north, including her parents. The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 required Northerners to cooperate by returning all runaway slaves to their masters in the south. She cleverly disregarded the law and set up a sophisticated network of people that included White abolitionists who helped her free slaves by the dozens.
Tubman’s story impressed Dr. Eric J. Chambers, a Southern California journalist, and Black History aficionado. “When I was a teenager growing up in Slidell, Louisiana, I watched an autobiographical movie about Harriet Tubman’s life entitled, A Woman Called Moses starring Cicely Tyson. It forever changed me as she became my all-time favorite hero,” says the New Orleans native.
To commemorate this 400-year milestone and honor Tubman, Chambers has created a virtual museum called The Tubman Till Museum & Media Center. Parked at TubmanTillMuseum.org, the website also honors a couple of modern-day heroes. They are Emmett Louis Till, the 14-year-old Chicago boy who was brutally murdered in Money, Mississippi on August 28, 1955, for whistling at a White woman, and his mother, Mrs. Mamie Till Mobley, who became a surrogate grandmother to Chambers. The three are the central figures of the museum that he’s the founder and curator of.
In October 2000, Till Mobley was his guest in San Diego, California, where he executive produced a play called “The State of Mississippi vs. Emmett Till.” From telephone conversations leading up to her arrival, until the day she died in January 2003, the two became close.
“I learned about the Emmett Till case in my U. S. History from A Black Perspective class at San Diego Mesa College in 1987,” recalls Chambers. “It was then, she became my second favorite hero behind Sistah Harriet because of her own defiance—insisting the world saw the mutilation done to her only child, with an open casket funeral and raw, uncensored pictures that she allowed Jet Magazine to publish. That was a turning point in the modern Civil Rights movement.”
During her Southern California visit, he interviewed her for his radio show, a video documentary and shot lots of pictures. “In November 2018, after losing my first wife to cancer, I began to wonder what would happen to all this history I have recorded if something happened to me? Would it be orphaned like so many other stories and visions when a person dies?” recalls the US Navy veteran. “It was then I decided to create the virtual museum with the idea of opening a physical one here in North Orange County, CA within a couple of years. I want to educate everyone about these heroes who still mean so much to me.”
The first person to donate to the virtual museum was Evangelist Beverly Broadus Green, the mother of legendary rapper, Snoop Dogg. “She is a dear friend. And in a late-night November 2018 phone call, I told her about my vision and she immediately deposited money into my account to register the website and create promotional brochures. I honor her for believing with me.”
For nine years and 137 episodes, Chambers was the host and executive producer of the wildly popular Jazzspel TV show which aired internationally on The Word Network. Beyonce´, Magic Johnson, Harrison Ford, Gladys Knight, Mark Wahlberg, Kendrick Lamar, and Tyler Perry are among the many celebrities he has interviewed. He dedicated one episode to Emmett Till called, “It’s Something Wonderful About Truth.” You can see the trailer on the website.
He is using that 30-minute episode as a screening video to share publicly in an effort to raise funds to expand the documentary and offer it to Netflix, Apple +, Amazon or Hulu, in addition to other TV networks. The screener includes never-before-seen video from Mrs. Till
Mobley’s funeral in Chicago where a Mississippi assembly member apologized on behalf of the state, “for the heinous crime committed against your son,” said the representative. Rev. Jesse Jackson officiated the service and Chambers was also among the speakers. “I’m still in awe that I spoke at the funeral of a legend I learned about in the history books!” exclaimed the 9-times Emmy and Golden Mike Award winner formerly with CBS in Hollywood. “I’m just trying to do my part to make sure she and Emmett are never forgotten.”
The revised documentary will highlight that wonderful weekend he and others had in San Diego with Till Mobley, and share that she was more than a weeping widow and crying mother, but a historical game-changer who inspired Rosa Parks not to give up her seat on the bus in Montgomery, Alabama on December 1, 1955. Chambers also befriend Mrs. Parks. “How blessed and lucky am I to personally have gotten to know Mrs. Mobley and Mrs. Parks!?” Chambers shared with awe. “It doesn’t get much better than that!”
He highly requests churches and organizations to reach out and book him for screenings and Q&A sessions about the Tills. Please donate to help make the new documentary a reality by visiting TubmanTillMuseum.org. Who knows? It could become Oscar-nominated with your help. Proceeds from the revised film will help find and open a physical location. The goal is to raise
$3.5 million as the museum will house a theater, internet cafe, and classrooms. It will also serve as a media center to archive historical artifacts and content including interviews and photos of over 3000 celebrities such as the late Rick James, Teena Marie, Michael Clark Duncan, Andrae´ Crouch, Albertina Walker, Della Reese and more.
To some, this vision might seem lofty, but Harriet Tubman once said, “Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.” Those words alone from his hero has inspired Chambers to do this important work—for the ages. “We have to be the keepers of our own history,” he says. “Otherwise, our history becomes somebody else’s twisted history. We can’t let that happen any longer.” he continued. “In the words of the late June Carter Cash, ‘I’m just trying to matter.’”
Dr. Chambers is available for interviews and speaking engagements upon request via the website, TubmanTillMuseum.org.
source:
E Jaye Jordan
[email protected]
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