Return to the Place

As she felt the autumn breeze on her face, the memories came flooding back. There was the amazing sweet molasses smell of the hay and the sound that was no sound at all, just a peace that permeated her entire being. Audre, whose name means noble strength, has returned to the place of her parent’s youth. Her way of being and place in this world has shown that she more than lives up to her name.

When she was a girl about 5 years old, her mom and dad moved away from Jenks City Oklahoma to Chicago, Illinois. Her dad worked as a chemical engineer for Johnson Products a well-known, black owned, privately held company and her mom stayed home until she and her twin brother were in the 7th grade. Her mom spoke 4 languages and eventually went to school to earn a Doctorate in Education.

Audre remembers the stories or at least overhearing a portion of the stories of her paternal grandfather and grandmother. It was 1949 when her mom and dad left behind her grandfather, William Smoot, -Paw Paw who was part of the 25th regiment of Buffalo Soldiers (they were racially segregated troops serving in World War I from 1866-1957 –the “colored troops”). The Buffalo Soldiers were given that name by Native Americans. She heard her parents talking about how no one knows why they have that name; they were not sure if it was a reference to the dark curly hair of the soldiers their valiant and fierce stance on the battlefield. Paw Paw was on the lighter side and most times he was mistaken for white. He stood at about 5’10 and had a strong booming voice and commanding presence. William Smoot was one of the few soldiers who could read; he was a graduate of West Point. His wife, Ashanti was African and Gullah Geechee. William was good with building farming systems, and architecture. They owned 7 acres of land, less than what they had before but more than most of their skinfolk. He built an irrigation system to grow crops and a barn for the horses that faced East so that the sun would travel over it evenly. The structure had closed motor fans which was unheard of in that time. He could grow just about everything and was the town architect. His wife was known for ability to sew and craftiness with sweetgrass- a combination of her Geechee heritage and African roots.

She was also a healer that was loved by everyone. She told the stories of the “buckrah’s” and what they had done just a few miles north of Jenks City in 1921. It was the reason she and her husband ended up in Jenks City. Had she been born in another era, she might have been a medical doctor. Her knowledge of roots and healing was just one of the skills she was able to monetize in the 1920’s and 30’s.

Audre’s charmed life came at a price. The history of her people and the land did not always live at the forefront of her conscientiousness: her parents had to endure the civil rights struggles and her grandparents lived in an era where the soldiers fought for a country that did not respect or revere them. It was hard to have any of the benefits of the GI bill when you were black. The government did not care that you put your life on the line for everyone’s freedom, only that you were black and they needed someone to ostracize and blame for various ills in society. The tension and the hate played out in 1921 Tulsa, Oklahoma. It lasted 2 days in May of that year and was one of the most violent race incidents in American history; whites intentionally burned down businesses and set out to massacre an entire town. More than 1,400 homes and businesses were burned, and nearly 10,000 people were left homeless. Despite its severity and destructiveness, the Tulsa race massacre was barely mentioned in history books.

Audre knew. Audre knew because her grandparents were the ones who were able to escape the tragic massacre to build a new life. They should not have had to leave, they should not have had to endure seeing people shot in the streets and homes being burned just because they were black and affluent. That is a different kind of evil. “Mama are you in here”-Audre heard the sound of her son and it brought her back to the reason why she was on this land standing in this old barn. “Mama, are you ok?” She heard him say as he approached her with quick steps and a baritone voice. He hugged her with a slight lift and gently returned her to the ground. As she caressed his strong caramel face, looking into his dark brooding eyes, she smiled and thought how proud her parents and grandparents would be of him.

Her son, the historian was to be married on the land where her grandparents had built a new life. His passion was understanding history and this included his own. This structure, this build was completed by a Buffalo Soldier war hero and architect was the perfect place to pay homage to his heritage as he builds a new life with his bride-to-be. “The decorators will be hear soon and the preacher is set to come tonight to talk to us” he said. As they walked away from the barn to prepare for the festivities, she looked back at the structure that represented rich history. This old barn will be repaired and decorated over the next 3 days as their family pays homage to the past and hosts a wedding for her son and his fiancé that will be a two day part family reunion-a celebration of the ancestors and the union of a new generation.