A Memorable Memorial Day Weekend in NYC

History, Connections, and Another Powerful Activation Gathering in Harlem

Saturday, May 23

After a challenging week of walking in brutal heat and pouring rain, I felt such contentment waking up in my godson’s bed. How interesting that he’s in my home state of Oregon, mountain climbing with friends, while I’m in his home 3,000 miles away with his parents Fari and Elizabeth (my 7^th cousin who I met while filming Traces of the Trade and writing Inheriting the Trade twenty-five years ago this year). Fari made us a delicious breakfast, as he always does, the highlight of which for me is mashed plantains made with peanut butter. Yum!

In the late morning, I walked to the subway to make my way to Judson Memorial Church. The Harriet Tubman sculpture is parked there for the week, but I’m not going in connection with the walk. I’m going to the ordination of Mackey Alston; a documentary filmmaker I have worked with through Coming to the Table, but I hadn’t met in person.

Exploring the website for Judson Memorial, and experiencing this ordination service, I found myself wishing that all Christian churches, and all faith traditions throughout the world, shared their mission of being “a just, diverse, vibrant, and worshipping spiritual community through the pursuit of social justice, creative expression, and sacred exploration of its own Protestant church roots and the wisdom of other traditions.” The church envisions “a world where all people are free to pursue their true purpose, unencumbered by human-made limitations imposed because of who they are, who they love, or what they do.” The ordination service, the people in attendance, and the building itself reflected these values.

I was surprised and pleased to see that Rev. Gene Robinson was one of the speakers in the service. I first met him in 2006 at the General Convention of the Episcopal Church in Columbus, Ohio where we screened a rough cut of Traces of the Trade for the first time and worked to support a proposal for the Church to formally apologize for its role in supporting the institution of slavery and to work toward reparations; effective ways for the Church to be “the repairer of the breach” (Isaiah 58:12), both materially and relationally. (Read more HERE)

Robinson is widely known for being the first openly gay priest to be consecrated a bishop in a major Christian denomination. When he became a bishop in 2003, it resulted in a split. Several Episcopal churches disassociated with the American Episcopal Church and formed their own Anglican denomination. After the service I walked up to Rev. Robinson and reminded him of when we met. We had a warm reunion. He has continued to promote Traces over these past two decades and agreed to pose for a photo of the two of us that I sent to my 7^th cousin Katrina Browne, who created Traces of the Trade. She was thrilled about our reconnection.

Side note: at that same 2006 General Convention, Katharine Jefferts Schori was elected the first female Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church. Several more churches split from the national church as a result. This sort of un-Christian behavior is so frustrating. Far too many Christian churches and individual Christians fail to actually follow the teaching of the man they claim to worship. As was said during the ordination, “We celebrate Jesus on Christmas and Easter but don’t do as he taught.” If you’d like, you can watch a recording of the full service of ordination on Judson Memorial’s YouTube page.

When the service concluded, I had a chance to talk with Macky for several minutes. I gotta say, he looks pretty darn good in those new robes!

Isaac Hopper House

After Macky’s ordination, I walked several blocks to 110 Second Avenue, the site of The Isaac Hopper Home. Hopper was one of the leading “conductors” of the Underground Railroad, helping approximately 1,000 Freedom Seekers escape slavery. You can read my review of a great book I read in preparation for #FreedomWalk2026, Lamb’s Warrior: The Life of Isaac T. Hopper.

This historic row house was not his residence in New York. It was originally part of the Female Department of the Prison Association of New York, which Isaac Hopper helped found, and later became the headquarters of the Women’s Prison Association (WPA) starting in 1874. The building was named after Hopper and is included on the National Register of Historic Places. As of 2024, it is still owned by the WPA. Below are two images of the building. On the left is what I found online while searching for this building. Sadly, as you can see in the image on the right that I took when I visited, it is currently in sorry condition.

I’m distantly related to Isaac Hopper, who was an active abolitionist and Quaker all his life, in both Philadelphia and New York City. He moved from Philly to NYC 1829 to run a Quaker bookstore in addition to his abolitionist efforts. From 1841 to 1845 he served as treasurer and book agent for the American Anti-Slavery Society. In 1845 he became active in prison reform and devoted the rest of his life to the Prison Association of New York. He died in 1852.

Isaac Hopper’s son John married Rosalie DeWolf, granddaughter of James DeWolf, the most successful and notorious slave-trader in U.S. history. James is my 6^th cousin, once removed. That’s my connection to the Hopper family. Isaac’s son Edward married the daughter of Lucretia Coffin Mott the famous American Quaker, abolitionist, and women’s rights advocate. What I wouldn’t give to be a fly on the wall at one of this family’s Thanksgiving dinners!

When I was quite young our family watched the old Perry Mason TV show (1957-66). This legal drama featured a private investigator named Paul Drake, played by William Hopper (in the middle in this photo)

It wasn’t until I began serious genealogical research over the past twenty years that I learned his middle name was DeWolf. He’s the great grandson of Isaac Hopper. William is my 5^th cousin, twice removed. You can see the genealogical chart of these fascinating connections here.

I then made my way to Queens to be interviewed by WUSA9 television, a Washington DC station that has been documenting #FreedomWalk2026 from the beginning. Tony, the leader and visionary of #FreedomWalk2026, was interviewed after me.

Sunday, May 24

With a day off from #FreedomWalk2026, I took the subway to the Jackie Robinson Museum in Manhattan. I have a strong affinity for Jackie Robinson since I was born on Jackie Robinson Day. Seven years to the day after he first ran out to play first base for the Dodgers at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn I was born in California.

Everyone with even a passing knowledge of baseball and the civil rights movement knows that Jackie Robinson “broke the color barrier” when he was signed by Branch Rickey to become the first Black man to play in Major League Baseball for the Brooklyn Dodgers. He was named Rookie of the Year his first year and led the Dodgers to their first ever World Series Championship in 1955.

What many people don’t know is that while a college student, Jackie Robinson became the first (and still the only) four-sport letter winner at UCLA, excelling in football, basketball, track and field, and baseball. He later served in the U.S. Army during World War II. Eleven years before Rosa Parks refused to move to the back of a segregated bus in Montgomery, Alabama in 1955, Robinson was court-martialed in 1944 for standing up for his rights and refusing to move to the back of a segregated military bus. A military court agreed with Robinson’s lawyer that the case was a matter of civil rights, not military discipline, and acquitted him. He was later honorably discharged from the Army.

Jackie Robinson was a complicated person (aren’t we all?). He was conservative politically, a registered Republican who supported Richard Nixon for President. He testified against Paul Robeson during the House Un-American Activities Committee hearings. I recently read a book about what took place with these two incredible men called Kings and Pawns: Jackie Robinson and Paul Robeson in America.

I thoroughly enjoyed my time at the museum, learned a few things I didn’t already know, and highly recommend it for anyone visiting Manhattan. You can learn more about the museum here: Home | The Jackie Robinson Museum

Monday, May 25

Coming to the Table continues to be a valued partner in #FreedomWalk2026. There are currently two Coming to the Table Local Affiliate Groups in New York City. The North Fork (Long Island) and New York City (Manhattan) chapters collaborated to plan a phenomenal, well-attended Activation at Mother AME Zion Church in Harlem on Memorial Day, May 25.

Also known as “Mother Zion” and “Freedom Church,” “Mother African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church has a long, proud history of serving the community of Harlem. Founded in 1796 by black parishioners from John Street Methodist Church who wanted to speak out against slavery, Mother A.M.E. Zion Church began as an anti-slavery institution and became a church. It is the oldest African American church in the state of New York. It is also known for being a grand depot for the Underground Railroad. Between 700 - 800 former slaves escaped through the church’s network ...Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass, Sojourner Truth.”

Close to 100 people filled the main floor pews as the #FreedomWalk2026 walkers and planning team followed a young woman portraying Harriet Tubman down the center aisle accompanied on piano with “Go Down Moses.”

Speakers at the event included Rev. Natalie Wimberly from the North Fork chapter and the key organizer of this event, Mistah Coles, from the NYC CTTT group. Sufficient money was donated for the creation of a beautiful 32-page program and a donation for #FreedomWalk2026 of $500. Tony Cohen shared a PowerPoint presentation about his walk 30 years ago up through this year’s walk.

This was another wonderful Activation. A highlight of each of these activations is the live music that is presented. You can watch the Freedom Walk Singers present “Breaths” (which took my breath away!), the Praise Dance Team performing a stunning “Wade in the Water” and the Freedom Walk Singers closing out the Activation with a singalong of “This Little Light of Mine.”

As our #FreedomWalk2026 Community Activation Coordinators, Lynda and Venetia wrote to the local CTTT organizers, “The event shared more than local history. It was also a meaningful opportunity for connection and a powerful reminder of the strength we have when we come together.”

Amen.