Hi! My name is Zara Jones, a Texan-born teenager that loves history, arts, culture, heritage & volunteering in my community. As a Girl Scout, I'm currently in my Senior year and decided to dedicate my Girl Scout Gold Award project towards preserving the rich history of the Black and African-American history as a resource for students and anyone curious in learning more about all people that worked hard to build our great country and local cities.
As a bi-racial child, I've always been curious of the contributions of all people, specifically Black people. Growing up in Texas, I've learned a lot about Texan history, but I haven't learned about Texas history that reflects the contributions of Black Americans.
Starting in 2018 through 2020, I learned about the significant contributions of the founding Black families of Plano, Juneteenth, and other pieces of heritage that I wish I would have known sooner. I also learned about pieces Black heritage that every Black family should celebrate, but most don't know about. How is it possible that kids like me that are curious to learn about ourselves and the history of America are only able to learn about a small percentage of history? I don't want to limit history to only representing some people, I want to learn about all people! My hope is that all people that know, share, and have information about Black history can step forward and share their knowledge so we can document pieces of history for future generations to celebrate, learn, support and acknowledge the contributions of all Americans. Today, I wanted to share the journey of learning about our Black history first and I hope you can come along on the journey with me!
So how are we going to combat this #MythOfAbsence together? The myth of absence is the concept that "if we are not talking about it NEVER happened". I believe that all Americans should help combat the myth of absence because if we don't, we will never truly know our history, culture and heritage as Americans.
Now that you've read why I believe this project is so important, I hope you will join me in celebrating the online museum that was launched in February 2021!
Ready to take a field trip to a virtual museum?
Visit www.PlanoBlackHistory.org to visit the 30+ free online exhibit and let me know what your favorite Black History fact is in the comments!
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