Author notes: I would like to clarify my comments regarding an online response I made to the Mayor’s quote regarding the Black Lives Matter street painting on High Street:“…should not deface the Charm of the Historic District of High Street.” My reaction is not meant to condone or condemn the street painting. It is a visceral reaction to the whole subject, knowledge of the history and my experiences in Kent County. Moreover, it is in support of every effort to rally for the cause, yet not an endorsement of the Black Lives Matters organization, as I understand it.
I have cause to draw deep breathes that ache to the very depths of my soul when I read this. Please tell me where is the charm in the history of High Street and its adjoining streets in the lynching of James Taylor or the tar and feathering led by the town’s Sheriff of a Black woman and the White male who assisted in her protest; the sentences handed down from Kent County’s Courthouse to White women who bore the “issue” of Black men; was the charm in the White women who watched from the widow walks that sit atop the gracious houses still lining High Street pining for the return of husbands-Captains who docked their ships at the foot of High Street and brought their chained merchandise to auctions selling Black Lives? Is it in today’s overzealous sentences leveled upon Blacks and others lacking social-economic equivalence?
I’m starved to see charm in the obligatory gathering of young Black men reduced to stand in one location on High Street during the Tea Party, incessantly guarded by police because a desire to be a part of something has brought them there, but the agenda repeatedly fails to make an admirable place for them yet holds hope to benefit from the dollars they spend. No charm in the loss of benefits from the skills and talents of numerous Black Artists and would be patrons whose past pains are so prevailing it doesn’t allow them to cross the threshold of the Garfield Theatre for what was the “charm” of the former movie theatre; the rudeness endured by Blacks who have dared to grace downtown businesses (NOT ALL but even one is too many) only to be greeted by silence, suspicious trailing, and rudeness?
Charm, when the country puts a Black man in the White House and that news does NOT make the front page of the local newspaper- situated within the “charm” of High Street, yet it too benefits from Black dollars spent? Was charming the goal as gentrification herded Black families from downtown C-town dwellings that held generations of heritage and familiar comforts? Where is the “charm”? If charm is to be defined only by the eye, what then guides the character of our hearts? To be led by the concern of maintaining charm over equality is like dead fish in Christmas wrappings. It will always be pretty on the outside, but the long, slow rot on the inside is surely stinking up the place. If all this talk about racism is making you uncomfortable, that means you are listening.
Now that we finally have your ear Chestertown, are you brave and honorable enough to stay on the path to equality so that every living soul can experience the “Charm”?
Born and raised in Kent County, MD, Karen Sommerville is renowned for her singing appearances at the annual Women Helping Women concerts at The Garfield Theatre, the Chestertown Jazz Festival. She currently works with Hope Fellowship in Chestertown.
Elizabeth Glenn says
Karen,
Very well written.thank you for this history lesson on Chestertown.i wish this was taught in schools.all of our children need to know about this history of Chestertown.Thank you again !.
George Shivers says
I want to express my gratitude to Karen Sommerville for this letter. It states very clearly and movingly what has been the plight of African Americans in Chestertown and Kent County. Many of us, both Black and White, are trying to bring a new and better chapter to our history by working to end white racism and black alienation. If painting the Black Lives Matter logo on High Street, even temporarily, would help us, at least symbolically in that struggle, then I am all for it.
Patricia Deitz says
Thank you Karen Sommerville for your letter. You powerfully tear open the illusory curtain of “history” as promoted through the lens of white people in Chestertown. As a white woman trying to being an anti-racist, I continue to absorb the examples and the scope of atrocities inflicted on African Americans throughout the history of this country from its earliest colonial origins. Until white people recognize that the “charm” of most American myths was created out of unspeakable abuses committed on millions of persons of color, we will not not equipped to do the enormous work of bringing redress in racial equity in a lasting way. I do support the Black Lives Matter street murals and I hope that they will make long overdue marks of awareness on the culture of this community. I also hope that clear, stunning statements in unmistable words, as in your letter, and in street murals, will build the energy of this hisorical opportunity to do what is right.
Tamara clements says
Dear Ma.Somerville,
Thank you for speaking from the ♥️! This is an amazing time to listen and learn. Tamara Clements
The Rev. Charles Barton says
I want to specifically address the group that has retained a lawyer to quash this proposed free gift of public art. Why do you feel that bringing in the big guns is necessary? What are you so afraid of? Do you not see how you stand in a long line of people who attempt to dominate, to control the shared environment so that anything not to their liking cannot take place in “their” town? There are thousands of other people who live, work and raise their children here. We matter too. There are many more who will either come, or not, based on how hospitable Chestertown seems. You are not putting your, or our, best foot forward.
I invite you to participate in any of the local workshops that offer honest, frank, discussions about race in America – the history, the challenges, and a way forward. A legal attack is a poor conversation starter. But many of us would welcome a conversation of inquiry rather than a cloaked attack. Please reconsider your actions.
Todd Hughes says
So who do we talk to about painting “White Lives Matter” in the middle of the street?