The importance of history: Happy Rosh Hashanah. And, Florida can learn a lot from Savannah’s efforts to preserve its past | Opinion

Happy Rosh Hashanah to all my Jewish brothers and sisters!

In this year of 5784, I am sending out my very best wishes to each of you.

As a people, you have covered a lot of ground in the over 5,000 years since God breathed the breath of life into Adam and Eve.

For you, the road hasn’t been easy.

But you have survived.

Your struggles and survival, and your overcoming gives people like me hope. So, on this first day of the Jewish New Year, I say, Shana Tovah — have a good, sweet year — to you!

According to the Jewish calendar, Rosh Hashanah is one of the holiest days on the Jewish calendar and is celebrated from sundown Friday (Sept. 15), to sundown Sunday (Sept. 17).

For me, trip to Savannah put a spotlight on Black history

I recently had the joy of being reunited with dear friends, Wanda S. and Willie Lloyd while also submerging myself in Black and cultural history on a visit to the historic city of Savannah, Georgia. The trip was all that I’d hoped it would be.

My visit with Wanda, an award-winning newspaper editor and the author of “Coming Full Circle: From Jim Crow to Journalism,” was the first time we had seen each other in four years. Back then, she invited me to sit with her family and other friends as she was inducted into the Hall of Fame at the annual convention of the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ).

So, on my first day in the Lloyd’s home, Wanda and I spent entire day doing some catching up. Looking back at that time with Wanda, I realize that we had our own history together and she had told much of it in her book “Coming Full Circle…”

Once I’d rested from my train ride, it was time for Wanda to take me on a personal tour of the historical sites of Savannah. We started with the Ralph Mark Gilbert Civil Rights Museum.

As we walked through the museum, seeing scenes that I remembered from many years gone by, and the feeling I had from knowing that we Blacks had endured such violent behavior from others just for the opportunity to cast a vote, filled me with overwhelming pride. We Blacks have survived so much and yet we are still standing.

On another day, Wanda took me to the Pin Point Heritage Museum, located on the same salt marsh land that was once a part of the 600-acre Beaulieu Plantation. The plantation was kept up by slaves. When it was seized for debt after the Civil War, and because the land was deemed undesirable for development, the land was made available to former slaves, or freedmen, who also became known as Gullah/Geechee people.

As the tour guide told us the story of the people who lived on the marshland, I remembered a story from my early childhood: Some people in Williston, Florida, where I was born, used to call my dad, the late Adam Johnson Sr., a “Geechee.” They called him that because he loved rice. Here in this tiny museum, I am learning that the Geechee people used to work the rice fields in the nearby marshland, while the Gullah people fished for oysters and crab. It was like a light bulb going off in my head. My own story was coming together.

The community of Pin Point was founded in the 1890s, when many of the former slaves, or freedmen, who came from Georgia’s Sea Islands were able to buy land on the Georgia coast at a reasonable price. Life wasn’t easy, but the tiny community was a place where the former slaves from Central and West Africa could raise their families and live, work their oyster and crab trade, and worship as they pleased.

In 1926, a white businessman, A. S. Varn, opened the A. S. Varn and Son Oyster and Crab Factory, and many of the Black residents went to work for him. The men harvested both the oysters and crabs, and the women processed them, later making deviled crab for area restaurants. When the factory closed in 1985, many residents lost the only job they had ever known and had to leave the community to find work.

In 2006, the Congress designated the Pin Point community as a part of the Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor to help preserve and recognize the traditions and culture of the people who descended from slaves brought to North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida from Central and West Africa.

Today, Pin Point is a community of about 300 residents. It is also the birthplace of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, who talks about growing up in the tiny community on a video that is shown to visitors at the museum.

The museum is made up of four small restored historic buildings that were restored in 2011, and it consists of the Oyster Factory, the Picking and Cooling House, the Deviled Crab House and the reconstructed Company Store and Crab-boiling Pavilion.

Florida can learn a lot from the citizens of Savannah, who are not afraid to preserve and tell the history of their city, which includes Black history. Unlike some in my state of Florida, the people of Savannah seem to know the importance of keeping our history and passing it down to our children. This gives me hope.

Yet, when I think about some of the emails I get from strangers that are so filled with hate that they lash out at me in evil ways; calling me names and wishing me ill will, I realize just how much we need to remember our history. I am reminded, by the acts of racists that the battle is not over. Yes, we have come a long way down the road to freedom, but there is still a long way to go. We mustn’t ever forget that.

International Day of Peace celebration

You are invited to join Ayuda, an organization that has been helping children, elders and families since 1977, at its annual International Day of Peace celebration at 10 a.m. Sept. 21, at the Miami Beach Botanical Garden, 2000 Convention Center Dr.

As participants gather at the Peace Pole, they will join in activities aimed at strengthening “…the ideals of peace among our diverse people,” said Marjorie York a coordinator of the event.

Activities will include a visual arts showcase. A peace assembly, a peace march, youth dialogue, musical performances and lunch. It’s free and open to the public.

Bea L. Hines can be reached at bea.hines@gmail.com