Transcript – Texas Freedom Colonies Project Community Heritage Collaborative

The Texas Freedom College Project is an evolving social justice initiative which celebrates researches and documents historic black settlements with a special focus on their landscapes, heritage, grass roots, preservation practices and any threats to their survival, such as hurricanes, hazards and irresponsible development. We do that in three ways. We record and analyze place keeping stories and histories. We store that information in our online atlas and database. And together that information, both qualitative and quantitative in nature, helps us to develop evidence based resilient strategies through participatory action, research and publications and advocacy materials for use by public policymakers as well as descendants themselves. The Texas Freedom Colony Project Community Heritage Collaborative, funded by the T3 grant, enabled us to enhance our outreach and services and research in three areas user experience, education and engagement. User experience was enhanced through the development of YouTube, instructional videos and expanded story Map Atlas Interface, the addition of a Google 123 survey, as well as enhanced mobile capabilities. Through engagement, we’ve been able to develop an advisory group or disinhibits network which helps us evaluate and find opportunities to improve the atlas. We’ve developed a coffee talk online YouTube program where we’ve been able to talk with grassroots preservationists and through education we’ve been able to develop finding a reading list and are working on webinars and guides with the Texas A&M School of Law to enhance the information available to descendants about symmetry, preservation, church incorporation and land retention.