Bi&rsquo\;Anncha AndrewsThis screening and talkback presents a loc al example of a community that consistently persisted in the face of insur mountable obstacles and always created and found home in place and one ano ther.
\nFollowing the film screening of Barry Farm: Community\, Land \, and Justice there will be panel discussion on the history of liberation \, independence and struggle at Barry Farm. The central focus of our exhib it is to enlighten residents of the District regarding the significance of the history and the impact of trailblazers that came from a neighborhood that has been neglected and held in ill regard since the 1960s.
\nYo u can learn more about the film and the panelists below.
\n\nAt the outset of the Civil War\, the United State s was at a crossroads. Having survived the deadliest war ever waged in the country&rsquo\;s history\, the nation had a choice: to reject the remnant s of the confederacy and their mythology of a lost cause\; or to do right by the Africans who had been enslaved in the country since 1619 and their descendants. For a glimmering moment\, the nation chose a path of repair a nd redress. Despite the failings of reconstruction\, the Freedmen's Bureau remained determined to stay the course. In 1867\, under the leadership of General Oliver O. Howard\, the Bureau purchased farmland from a wealthy p lantation family. The Barry Family had previously sold a large parcel of l and in 1808 which became the Government Hospital for the Insane (later kno wn as St. Elizabeth&rsquo\;s Hospital). \;
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Juliana Barry
sold 375-acres to the Freedman&rsquo\;s Bureau for $52\,000. The land was
then parceled up and sold to the newly emancipated African American resid
ents of Washington\, DC and those who continued to migrate to the city fro
m further South. It is through this act that the community of Barry Farm w
as born. This new community\, erected immediately next to the segregated s
uburb of the Federal city would become a bustling\, self-sufficient Black
enclave. Refugees from the south and Black folk residing elsewhere in the
district flocked to Barry Farm. Some of the earliest residents included Fr
edrick Douglass&rsquo\; children\, Georgianna Simpson (one of the first Bl
ack women to receive a Doctorate degree)\, Emily Edmonson (survivor of the
&ldquo\;Pearl Incident&rdquo\;)\, and Garnett Wilkinson (superintendent o
f the Black school system prior to integration). In the 1940&rsquo\;s\, th
e Barry Farm Dwellings were built\, bearing the name of the original commu
nity. Similarly\, this community was also home to freedom fighters like Et
ta Horn\, the Jennings Sisters\, and cultural icons in the Junkyard Band.<
/p>\n
< img src="https://static.libnet.info/frontend-images/editor/dclibrary/IMG_4 799.jpeg" width="182" height="220" alt="" style="float: left\; margin: 0px 20px 20px 0px\;" />Sabiyha Prince
\nDr. Sabiyha Prince is a cultural anthropologist\, filmmaker\, visual artist\, and author who use s art\, activism and information to uplift African American history and cu lture. A DC-native\, her books include Constructing Belonging\, on Harlem' s Black middle class\, and African Americans and Gentrification in Washing ton\, DC. Prince also wrote and directed the award-winning documentary Dim inished Returns: The Black Wealth Gap in Washington\, DC and co-directed B arry Farm: Community\, Land and Justice in Washington\, DC with Samuel Geo rge. Her paintings and digital collages have been exhibited across the DMV and in New York City. Her media appearances include MSNBC\, NPR\, Al Jaze era English\, WHUR\, WOL\, WPFW\, WYPR\, and Sirius XM. \;
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\nBi&rsquo\;Anncha Andrews
Her dissertaton investigated the long-term impacts of gentrificatio
n and displacement on low-income Black Women in Barry Farm and how they ma
naged to navigate their transition out of the neighborhood\, and began to
rebuild their social service and neighborhood-based support networks in th
eir new environments. In doing so\, it seeks to provide academics\, practi
tioners and policy makers a foundation for strategizing on ways to improve
urban redevelopment and restoration practices\, social service distributi
on and support network access to account for the losses that vulnerable po
pulations often suffer as a result of exclusionary development.
Bi'Anncha has taught Advanced Planning Courses at the University of Ma ryland including URSP673 - Community Development which she served as the l ead instructor\; and URSP 708 - Advanced Community Planning Studio course which she served as the Teaching Assistant with Dr. Clara Irazá\;bal . Additionally\, she recently taught a PNC-grant funded course entitled Co mmunity Economic Development and Advocacy at the Community College of Balt imore County (CCBC) for small business owners and entrepreneurs facing dis placement in Dundalk and Turner Station. \;
\n
Her speciali
zations include: Residential and Commercial Gentrification\, Anti-Displace
ment Policy and Practice\, Dispossessions through Targeted Displacement\,
Public and Affordable Housing Demolition\, Racialized Disinvestment\, Resi
dential Segregation\, Concentrated Poverty\, Black Feminist Theory\, Acces
s to Social Services and Social Support Networks\, and Restorative and Rep
arative Planning Practices.
\;
\n&nbs p\;
\n
Corey Shaw\, Jr.\n
Corey Shaw\, Jr is a DC native with lifelong roots in Ward 7. As a graduate of both Anacostia Senior High School and the University of the Di strict of Columbia (UDC)\, Shaw has a passion for comprehending the needs of communities and helping them advocate and mobilize for structural chang e. In his current role at Empower DC\, Corey works to bridge the gap betwe en the issues of today and the history of Black communities and the polici es that shaped them.
\n
Corey first got his start working with
communities in Washington\, DC as the Co-Founder of the Black Broad Branch
Project. In his capacity as an oral historian and chair of the policy imp
lementation working committee\, Shaw has advocated for reparations for two
families whose ancestors were displaced from Chevy Chase\, DC in 1928. He
continues to support the project\, engaging with descendants to mobilize
a coalition of scholars\, DC residents\, and community organizations towar
d the goals of Acknowledgement\, Compensation\, and Education. With the co
llective efforts of the coalition\, the Black Broad Branch Project has suc
ceeded in constructing educational curriculum for 3rd\, 6th\, and 12th gra
de students in DCPS\, testified before the DC City Council\, and presented
in many forums ranging from the realm of academia to the United Nations.&
nbsp\;
His passion for reparations drove him to join the African A merican Redress Network where worked to assist with local level reparation s efforts across the United States as the volunteer Director of Community Engagement and Strategic Planning. Shaw worked closely with residents from communities like Freemantown\, Georgia\; Brown Grove\, Virginia\; and Afr icatown\, Alabama.
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