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Preserving Who We Are: Why Our History Is Our Culture · Inside West Palm Beach

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  Welcome to the City Center
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  podcast. I'm Gerry Marcelo.
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  It's been noted that a people without a
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  knowledge of their history, origin, and
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  culture is like a tree without its roots.
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  There are times when communities like
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  West Palm Beach grow and change so fast
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  that part of itself is
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  in danger of disappearing.
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  Today we'll talk to someone keenly aware
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  of our city's past and how preserving it
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  is key to our community's future.
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  That's coming up next.
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  [Music]
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  And joining us today is Dr. Alicia Winn,
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  an applied cultural anthropologist who is
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  an adjunct professor at Palm Beach
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  Atlantic University School of Ministry.
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  You're also the owner of your own
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  business. Consider the
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  culture. Dr. Wynn, welcome.
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  Thank you. Welcome to you
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  too. Thank you for having me.
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  Thank you so much. You know, obviously
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  you're someone with a great passion for
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  cultural anthropology as well as a
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  passion for this community.
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  Tell us how you got here.
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  Wow. Well, I've always been fascinated
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  with people and culture and I always ask
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  this question of why do
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  people act the way they do?
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  Whether they talk the way they talk or
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  why do they think the way they think?
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  So I've always been exploring and
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  researching of those
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  things about behavior.
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  And so I really went down the path of
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  becoming a sociology major at
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  Bethune-Cookman University for undergrad.
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  But then I took one course as a
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  requirement for us to graduate for
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  sociology majors of
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  cultural anthropology.
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  And I was hooked. I said, that's what I
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  want to do. I don't know much about it.
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  But I want to pursue that. So I did. I
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  pursued a higher degree and got a
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  master's and PhD from the
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  University of South Florida.
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  And really wanted to explore culture,
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  cultural belief systems.
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  And then with anthropology of how you
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  look at the world and this kind of
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  holistic interconnected approach.
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  And so anthropology is not necessarily
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  just looking at cultures, but within the
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  four subfields of language and
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  archaeology and biological and cultural,
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  it's a way to look at the world in this
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  holistic approach and with all these
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  different angles instead of just one
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  dimension, you look at multiple.
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  And so I really was fascinating and
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  looking at that, but also was very
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  interested in
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  preserving history and culture.
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  So all the time I was in school,
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  undergrad and graduate school, I worked
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  in historic museums or historic homes.
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  So my first job was I was a tour guide
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  and working in Mira McLeod
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  Bethune's home in Daytona Beach.
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  And I was fascinated with the history,
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  but participating in
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  preserving that history.
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  And then I just really researched a lot
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  of things I wanted to do was really look
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  at communities and an applied approach.
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  So I'm an applied anthropologist. So I
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  use anthropological knowledge to solve
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  contemporary problems.
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  And whether that's heritage preservation,
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  looking at businesses
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  and entrepreneurship.
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  And that's another I look at historic
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  insurance companies.
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  I did my research on looking at the
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  culture of an insurance
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  company, Atlanta Life.
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  And the dynamics of that company during
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  the civil rights movement.
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  So the company was more than just a
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  business and as I would
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  say, beyond the business.
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  So I looked at the cultural components of
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  being an employee of Atlanta Life and
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  their impact nationally, internationally
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  and nationally, even on a local level.
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  So my areas of interest has been this
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  kind of exploratory journey of really
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  trying to understand behavior,
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  but the cultural components to that
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  behavior and ask the question why.
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  Because we seem to sometimes will say,
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  well, this person did this or this person
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  made this decision as anthropologists
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  say, well, why did they do it?
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  What are the cultural
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  reasons? What are the social reasons?
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  What are the economical reasons,
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  psychological, even spiritual reasons of
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  why people make the decisions that they
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  make or why they are sitting in silence?
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  And history is a major part of that,
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  particularly in communities or
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  neighborhoods that I work in today.
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  Now, I understand that you're from this
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  area. You're from this community.
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  Yes.
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  OK, so how can you apply all this amazing
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  experience and knowledge that you've
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  gained to our community
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  here in West Palm Beach?
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  So I'm very thankful that I did grow up.
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  I grew up in Riviera Beach, but my entire
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  family settled in West Palm Beach.
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  So my great, great grandparents, they
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  settled in West Palm, as well as my
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  grandparents on my
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  mother and my father's side.
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  And so I was living in Fayetteville,
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  North Carolina, in Fort Bragg area,
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  teaching at
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  Fayetteville State University.
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  I unexpectedly moved back
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  home and was close to family.
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  And so I really had to kind of get
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  acclimated back into being home because I
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  always say people remember how you left,
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  but they don't know who you are today.
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  And so, you know, I had to kind of build
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  those relationships again and really
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  establish more connections because I was
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  away for about 14
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  years and came back home.
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  And so that but that relationship that I
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  built was it started from my family's
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  relationships from
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  being this is our hometown.
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  And so I had a chance to kind of rebuild
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  some connections, build new connections
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  and really taking advantage of my
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  family's name and saying,
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  hey, you know, I'm the daughter of Alice
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  and Pop Wynn. Do you
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  know my family? And they do.
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  And so that that opened up doors for more
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  conversations to do the work
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  that I'm doing at the time.
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  And so I really had an opportunity to
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  work with heritage organizations since I
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  did a lot of my work with museums and
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  heritage preservation.
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  So when I first moved back here, I
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  started working closely with the Stormer
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  28 to help tell the story of the mass
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  gravesite gravesite on 25th and Tarmen,
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  as well as the African-American Research
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  Library and Culture
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  Center of Palm Beach County.
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  Well, you mentioned that you spend a
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  significant amount of time out of state
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  in your studies and in your
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  other other professional jobs.
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  How does West Palm Beach compare to the
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  communities that you were
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  working in out of state?
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  I think West Palm Beach is a very unique
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  place because, you know, we
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  are in what I call paradise.
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  You know, everyone wants to be in this
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  environment, whether it's through, you
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  know, come in to visit or live this
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  great, you know, 75 degree
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  weather, mostly year round.
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  And even as you see or you hear, you
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  know, West Palm Beach, you know, just
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  even the name and the
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  history connected to it.
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  This particular city is very unique in
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  itself because it has so many histories,
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  very positive and some negative.
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  But it is a story of triumph and
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  resilience and particularly from the
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  African-American community.
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  In other cities I've lived in, I've lived
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  in a lot of cities the way the South.
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  So I lived in Atlanta and Fayetteville
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  and in Tampa, and they
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  have their own stories.
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  But what makes it unique is, you know,
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  you have this connection between Palm
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  Beach and where the most the richest
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  people in the world have homes.
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  But then it's history is connected to
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  African-Americans and the
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  African-American community as well in
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  Palm Beach and even in them
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  coming into West Palm Beach.
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  So that interesting history spoken and
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  even unspoken and the visualization of
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  wealth here and the differences of
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  wealthy, low income.
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  You have such a vast amount of levels of
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  economic spaces. And I
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  think that's very interesting.
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  And then the history. There are major
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  national events that is connected to this
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  city with a storm of 1928, which is a
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  national known story.
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  And you have some of the people who were,
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  you know, victims of that in that story,
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  but then people who participated in
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  ensuring the, you know, the scent, you
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  know, the cleanliness of that particular,
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  that disaster as well.
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  So you have all these kind of unique
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  stories, but they all
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  kind of come together as one.
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  So I think West Palm Beach is very
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  different in a sense.
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  There are all these layers of these
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  different stories with different
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  characters that play a role in it.
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  And you're saying that these historical
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  moments, these these landmarks in our
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  timeline are
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  formative to who we are today.
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  Yes, I believe so, because I think when
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  we talk about history, it is important to
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  look at all parts of what happened.
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  So we can go to a particular landmark or
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  a particular site, but that site cannot
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  function without people that were
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  participants or the
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  experiences of those people.
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  So when we talk about history or share
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  history or present history, you cannot
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  leave leave the people out
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  of our entire neighborhood.
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  And so if you have something like a
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  historical church like or the first black
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  church of like Tabernacle, you can go
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  there and say, hey, this
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  is the first black church.
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  And it started in the
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  sticks in Palm Beach.
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  And then but then who are the people
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  that, you know, attended that church?
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  What streets do they live on?
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  Why did they attend that church?
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  What type of meaning and value was that
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  to be a member of Tabernacle Church?
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  So when you speak about, oh, this is a
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  great landmark, but let's talk about the
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  actual neighborhood and the people who
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  live there and participated because the
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  church, it was the church, it was the
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  businesses, it was, you know, the the the
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  performance venue of the Sunset Lounge.
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  All those things are connected together
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  for the life of an entire neighborhood.
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  And I think it's
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  important to look at those ankles.
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  And I think I think everyone will agree
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  that West Palm Beach is going through a
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  period of amazing transition.
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  We are seeing all this new construction
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  basically a reworking of our profile of
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  who we what we are and how we look like
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  both locally and on the world stage.
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  People are talking about
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  West Palm Beach everywhere now.
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  Do you feel that the the transition to a
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  rebuilt West Palm Beach as far as look
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  and feel it puts the history endangered?
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  Are we in danger of losing
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  that part of our culture?
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  I don't think we're in danger of losing
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  that culture of the history.
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  I think what what we must be careful
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  about that that history doesn't become
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  commercialized because
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  there's a lot of tourism here.
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  There's a lot of attraction,
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  what we call cultural tourism.
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  So you really highlight the culture of a
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  community, of a city.
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  Everybody's eyes is on West Palm Beach
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  because of that
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  development and this beautiful place.
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  So what it can lose is its authenticity
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  and uniqueness and the value where the
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  history becomes a stage for display and
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  presentation versus the actual people who
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  who were the reason why you have that.
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  Historical landmark or
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  that history and culture.
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  And so it can become in
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  such a commercialized way.
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  But it it to me, it loses its value and
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  you never really get a chance to meet the
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  actual people that that
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  landmark is connected to.
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  You don't appreciate it.
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  You may not.
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  You may not even recognize that that
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  actual group of people or neighborhood
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  who experienced that.
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  And particularly you talk about our elders.
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  And that's why our elders are so adamant
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  about making sure the history and the
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  culture is preserved because they want to
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  be able to tell their story and tell it
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  the right way so you'll know what really
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  happened through their lens versus some
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  idea of what you think that history is.
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  And so it is very important in the midst
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  of all this development to preserve our
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  history and culture, but how we do it.
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  Sure. You know, we can say this, you
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  know, example, the Sunset Lounge and we
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  can talk about the Cap Callaway's and
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  Ella Fitzgerald
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  Fitzgerald who performed there.
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  But there was also, of course, James
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  Brown and there was Lionel Hampton.
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  But then there was also those local local
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  artists like the
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  Chantiers and John Reese.
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  And so those are just as important as Cap
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  Callaway because that's those are
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  representatives of their neighborhood to
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  be on a national stage
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  in their own neighborhood.
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  And that is what's most important, too.
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  You speak about the people and capturing
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  their perspective and looking at the
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  history through their lens.
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  How is that happening?
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  And are we successfully
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  doing it here in West Palm Beach?
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  I think we are. There are some there are
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  some ways that we are doing it.
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  You have local heritage organizations
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  that are working very hard to do that.
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  You have Arlic and the
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  African Diaspora Society.
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  You have the Storm of 28.
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  You have the Pleasant City organization
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  where the late Every Clark and now her
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  daughter is following those footsteps to
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  preserve, you know, the history and
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  culture of Pleasant City
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  and then the Coleman Parks.
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  They're doing they've
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  done some oral history.
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  So you have some organizations who've
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  been working for years to establish that
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  history and preserve
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  that history and culture.
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  And we have actually five historic matter
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  of fact, five historic plaques within the
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  historic Northwest District
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  that are throughout there.
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  We've done some banners.
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  So we've been really promoting even
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  visual
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  representations to visually show it.
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  But our local heritage organizations are
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  working to have worked very
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  diligently to make that happen.
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  I think that they need a lot of support
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  to help continue in doing what they've
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  been doing for years because these are
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  very smaller smaller organizations.
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  So in it, you know, so in addition to the
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  work they're doing, resources is very
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  important so they can continue that work,
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  whether it's
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  preserving their their archives.
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  And continuing with their oral history
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  projects that they're doing and the
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  museum that they're working towards to
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  have completed in the next few years.
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  Now, we've talked a little
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  bit about the hurricane of 28.
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  Yes.
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  Also, there's Evergreen Cemetery.
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  Let's talk a little bit about them for
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  the audience who's maybe not aware of
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  exactly what those
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  involved and what they mean.
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  Give us a little thumbnail.
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  What's what's happening there?
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  What's happening now to preserve it?
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  OK, so the storm of 28 or the 1928
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  massive mass landmark or mass gravesite,
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  I would say, was on 25th and Terman.
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  And there's been a lot of efforts
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  throughout the years to continue in that
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  preservation of where
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  thousands of people died in the 1928.
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  And many of them were shipped in trucks
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  and brought to 25th and Tamron.
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  And they they dug a very huge ditch and
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  over 600 people were buried
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  in this massive gravesite.
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  Many of them were people of color.
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  And those during that time who were
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  identified as not a person of color, they
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  were buried in what is
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  called the Woodlawn Cemetery.
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  So even at that time in the 1928 time,
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  black and white people
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  could not be buried together.
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  So that was a horrific time.
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  But you see, though, thankfully, the many
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  with many of the efforts of our elders
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  and those who are part of the storm of 28
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  preserved work to establish the visual
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  memory of that site.
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  And so you see a lot of efforts to ensure
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  that people know about
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  that site as a child.
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  It's very interesting
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  because I would pass by this site.
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  I didn't know I didn't know what was
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  buried there until I became an
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  anthropologist and my father
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  realized the work that I do.
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  And he said, you need to go to the storm
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  of 20, the storm of 28 mass gravesite
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  because there are people buried there.
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  And I think you need to know that story.
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  So even that even that me learning late
• 14:15:18
  in life about that spot tells gives a
• 14:15:22
  testament of how people talked about
• 14:15:24
  horrific things in history or they didn't
• 14:15:27
  talk about horrific things in history
• 14:15:29
  because those bodies are buried in a
• 14:15:32
  historic African-American community to
• 14:15:35
  even how that story
• 14:15:36
  is being talked about.
• 14:15:37
  But then right up the street, when you go
• 14:15:39
  on East on on 25th Street and Rosemary,
• 14:15:43
  you see Evergreen Cemetery established
• 14:15:46
  circa 1913 and fully carried out in 1915
• 14:15:51
  by a group of African-American leaders
• 14:15:54
  who said, hey, we need
• 14:15:56
  to have our own cemetery.
• 14:15:58
  And particularly given the time period in
• 14:16:00
  which we were talking about Jim Crow
• 14:16:02
  segregation laws and where people could
• 14:16:04
  get married and where the dead could live
• 14:16:07
  and what the living where the living
• 14:16:09
  could live was very similar.
• 14:16:11
  And so they really
• 14:16:11
  established their own cemetery.
• 14:16:14
  And so what I call many of the black
• 14:16:16
  firsts, the black first, the first black
• 14:16:18
  doctors, first black lawyer, but just
• 14:16:20
  very major contributors to the city.
• 14:16:25
  People of color are buried in that site.
• 14:16:27
  And so now, thankfully, and there have
• 14:16:29
  been efforts by many of the black local
• 14:16:31
  organizations, again, those work to
• 14:16:34
  preserve that history, tell the story and
• 14:16:36
  preserve those the graves and to ensure
• 14:16:39
  that the security of those graves.
• 14:16:42
  And now, even with the help of the city,
• 14:16:44
  we're going to start we're working
• 14:16:46
  towards ensuring the Evergreen Cemetery
• 14:16:49
  is preserved and with the input of the
• 14:16:53
  community and the public to help identify
• 14:16:56
  who else is buried there.
• 14:16:57
  We've done a great job getting an
• 14:17:00
  identifying, but we
• 14:17:01
  need the community's help.
• 14:17:02
  And that's coming up very
• 14:17:03
  soon next month, actually.
• 14:17:05
  I've had the opportunity to go to
• 14:17:06
  Evergreen and it's surprising that it is
• 14:17:10
  literally it's hidden away. If you're not
• 14:17:13
  looking for it, you might miss it.
• 14:17:15
  And just there there's an entryway and
• 14:17:17
  you drive in and you get a great sense of
• 14:17:20
  history, a fact that a lot has happened
• 14:17:24
  there that that in spite of the fact that
• 14:17:26
  some of the markers
• 14:17:27
  have have deteriorated.
• 14:17:29
  And it's gone through a rough, some rough
• 14:17:32
  patches. Obviously, it is still a place
• 14:17:34
  that's hallowed ground. It's still a
• 14:17:36
  place that captures the
• 14:17:39
  spirit of that community.
• 14:17:40
  I think it's so important to continue to
• 14:17:43
  remember that and to share that. I
• 14:17:45
  particularly pause when you were telling
• 14:17:47
  the story about how as a young person,
• 14:17:50
  you had walked by the site of the 28
• 14:17:53
  burial area and not really
• 14:17:56
  understood what it was about.
• 14:17:57
  And you needed someone to actually point
• 14:17:59
  out and say, you need to know about this.
• 14:18:01
  Yes. Is that happening today? Do young
• 14:18:03
  people need to be tapped on the shoulder
• 14:18:04
  and told about Evergreen
• 14:18:06
  told about the 28 site?
• 14:18:08
  Yes, I think that is that still happens
• 14:18:11
  today. I had the opportunity to conduct
• 14:18:14
  oral history projects with our parent
• 14:18:16
  youth and elders together with the Palm
• 14:18:18
  Beach County Oral History Project with
• 14:18:20
  the support of the
• 14:18:22
  Children Services Council.
• 14:18:24
  And what we paired eight elders with five
• 14:18:28
  young people that represented different
• 14:18:31
  cities in Palm Beach County. And we had
• 14:18:33
  opportunity to really spend some time in
• 14:18:36
  training those students about before they
• 14:18:38
  got a chance to interview the elders.
• 14:18:40
  They had to do some research because it's
• 14:18:43
  very important of a young person. They
• 14:18:45
  start talking to an elder and they're
• 14:18:47
  talking about, you know, the Stormer 28
• 14:18:50
  or the Great Depression or
• 14:18:52
  the Civil Rights Movement.
• 14:18:53
  And they have no knowledge or don't have
• 14:18:55
  a lot of understanding about those
• 14:18:58
  historical moments in our country. And so
• 14:19:00
  when we did that research, those young
• 14:19:02
  people had to learn about those places
• 14:19:04
  and many of them. They had no idea.
• 14:19:07
  Again, it's that kind of history
• 14:19:09
  repeating itself. They had no idea what
• 14:19:11
  was buried there. But thankfully, through
• 14:19:13
  that projects like that, they were able
• 14:19:15
  to learn and go visit those places to
• 14:19:18
  appreciate that a lot earlier than I did
• 14:19:21
  that because I learned
• 14:19:21
  about that as a young adult.
• 14:19:23
  But these were teenagers that got a
• 14:19:25
  chance to really understand those spaces.
• 14:19:28
  And once they really understood it, they
• 14:19:31
  can appreciate the history of their own
• 14:19:34
  neighborhoods because all of these
• 14:19:36
  historical events were happening and
• 14:19:38
  happened in their own neighborhood.
• 14:19:39
  So they can even kind of piece together
• 14:19:41
  what was once here or this major thing in
• 14:19:45
  history happened right up the street from
• 14:19:47
  where I live. And so those
• 14:19:49
  moments were so important.
• 14:19:52
  So that, you know, and now that's
• 14:19:54
  important for us to continue that. So
• 14:19:56
  there won't be these moments of I don't.
• 14:19:58
  What is that? Or someone had to point it
• 14:20:00
  out, you know, to me, my family member.
• 14:20:03
  And I'm here. I am a person in social
• 14:20:06
  science and education. And I wasn't fully
• 14:20:09
  where I knew it was things over there,
• 14:20:11
  but I didn't know the magnitude of that
• 14:20:14
  history in the ground.
• 14:20:16
  You know, and once I did, I felt
• 14:20:18
  challenged to help to make sure that
• 14:20:20
  others know about it, my peers, but then
• 14:20:23
  the generation that is coming behind me.
• 14:20:25
  So we have that great need still. And I
• 14:20:28
  think that, you know, if we kind of start
• 14:20:31
  people young, you know, I think that when
• 14:20:34
  we get our age or get older, they can
• 14:20:36
  even learn to appreciate and do more.
• 14:20:39
  And they know who they know who they are
• 14:20:41
  because it provides a sense of identity.
• 14:20:43
  I know where I come from. I know some of
• 14:20:45
  the history of the people who represent
• 14:20:48
  me, who I represent.
• 14:20:49
  And it gives them the sense of
• 14:20:50
  empowerment in a sense of strength and a
• 14:20:54
  sense of identity to say, hey, I can do
• 14:20:56
  anything if, you know, from looking at my
• 14:20:59
  history, if they got
• 14:21:01
  through it, I can do it as well.
• 14:21:02
  It makes terrific sense from a practical
• 14:21:04
  point of view. How do we educate young
• 14:21:07
  people to this? What is what do we
• 14:21:08
  actually do? We put it in the classroom.
• 14:21:10
  Is it a church thing?
• 14:21:13
  How do we spread the word about the value
• 14:21:16
  of the culture that we
• 14:21:17
  have here in this moment?
• 14:21:18
  I think in all institutions, because you
• 14:21:20
  may not get everything in a classroom, in
• 14:21:23
  a school system. I hope they,
• 14:21:26
  you know, students get that.
• 14:21:27
  But I never assume that students are
• 14:21:30
  getting all the history and learning
• 14:21:32
  those things alone. But that's why you
• 14:21:35
  need all components.
• 14:21:36
  So whether it's an afterschool program,
• 14:21:38
  afterschool organizations, getting
• 14:21:40
  religious institutions involved,
• 14:21:42
  mentorship opportunities, utilizing every
• 14:21:46
  space imaginable to insert some type of
• 14:21:49
  history and culture where it's their own
• 14:21:52
  history and culture, the
• 14:21:53
  history and culture of others.
• 14:21:54
  So that to enhance their understanding
• 14:21:56
  and open up their view about all of these
• 14:21:59
  great things and cultural things around
• 14:22:01
  them historically and present day. So
• 14:22:04
  utilizing these youth organizations,
• 14:22:07
  like, you know, or the readery, like
• 14:22:08
  Rohe's readery, you know, you have,
• 14:22:12
  they're established in the POW Center,
• 14:22:14
  but you have the YWCA, you have the
• 14:22:16
  Salvation Army, you
• 14:22:17
  have Boys and Girls Clubs.
• 14:22:19
  Utilizing all these youth organizations,
• 14:22:22
  whether they're larger organizations or
• 14:22:24
  even smaller organizations, to find the
• 14:22:27
  opportunity for us to educate, you know,
• 14:22:30
  whether it's oral history projects or
• 14:22:31
  simply just presenting history and
• 14:22:33
  culture, whether it's through
• 14:22:35
  visualizations, through exhibits, or have
• 14:22:36
  them do their own research themselves.
• 14:22:39
  But being involved to ensure that they're
• 14:22:41
  learning about themselves, you know, and
• 14:22:44
  learning about their surroundings
• 14:22:45
  historically and presently.
• 14:22:48
  How would people listening to this
• 14:22:50
  conversation, who are probably getting
• 14:22:52
  really fired up about what we're talking
• 14:22:54
  about here, how do they become involved?
• 14:22:57
  How do they become active in preserving
• 14:22:59
  history and helping spread culture?
• 14:23:01
  I think that partnering with what people
• 14:23:03
  are already doing is very important. I
• 14:23:06
  mean, you can always, always, you know, I
• 14:23:08
  welcome anyone joining me and what I do,
• 14:23:11
  you can go to my website,
• 14:23:12
  considertheculture.com
• 14:23:14
  and get in touch with me.
• 14:23:15
  And even I can direct you to those
• 14:23:17
  organizations, you know, who are these
• 14:23:20
  youth organizations who are all even the
• 14:23:22
  school system to even partner with them,
• 14:23:24
  how you can support.
• 14:23:26
  As I mentioned, the Children's Services
• 14:23:27
  Council of Palm Beach County, they always
• 14:23:30
  help to fund and support these type of
• 14:23:32
  programs like that because they funded
• 14:23:34
  this oral history
• 14:23:35
  project that I was a part of.
• 14:23:36
  And I think even some internship
• 14:23:39
  programs, if you know, FAU is doing a
• 14:23:42
  summer institute coming up
• 14:23:44
  this summer for technology.
• 14:23:47
  As I mentioned, I mentioned Rohe's
• 14:23:49
  Readery, they're doing a lot of
• 14:23:51
  programming. They have, what is it, teen
• 14:23:54
  interns there, and they're programming,
• 14:23:57
  and they're doing a history and a
• 14:23:59
  cultural program as well.
• 14:24:02
  So really identifying those groups that
• 14:24:05
  are doing those things. And even some of
• 14:24:08
  the churches in those heritage
• 14:24:09
  organizations, they always have a youth
• 14:24:11
  component to them like Aarlic and the
• 14:24:13
  African Diaspora Society, the Storm of
• 14:24:15
  28, they're doing some things as well.
• 14:24:18
  In your opinion, do you fear the growth
• 14:24:22
  and development we see in the city as a
• 14:24:25
  challenge to preserving the past, or can
• 14:24:28
  we work together and make
• 14:24:29
  both, you know, hang together?
• 14:24:31
  I think we can. I think what we have to
• 14:24:34
  do is be very intentional in how we do
• 14:24:36
  it, because, you know, people are nervous
• 14:24:39
  about, you know, all the development, you
• 14:24:41
  know, you know, I live in the historic
• 14:24:43
  Northwest, and there's a lot of
• 14:24:45
  development, a lot of great things
• 14:24:46
  happening in that neighborhood.
• 14:24:48
  It's mostly 90% rental property, mostly
• 14:24:51
  10% homeownership. So you will have a
• 14:24:54
  little nervousness, particularly for
• 14:24:56
  those who live in the neighborhood and
• 14:24:57
  those who grew up in that neighborhood.
• 14:24:59
  And when you see the big buildings, you
• 14:25:01
  see the nice pretty, you know,
• 14:25:03
  structures, it's a natural thing to say,
• 14:25:06
  well, what's going to happen to me? And
• 14:25:07
  what's going to happen to
• 14:25:08
  my history in this place?
• 14:25:10
  Will it be, oh, this used to be this, and
• 14:25:12
  this used to be that? I remember I once
• 14:25:15
  was, there is a natural nervousness and
• 14:25:19
  fear, but I think that if we are
• 14:25:21
  intentional, and we have the residents
• 14:25:24
  and those stakeholders involved in that
• 14:25:26
  process, we can be successful.
• 14:25:28
  We cannot leave out those who actually
• 14:25:32
  are experienced that history and a part
• 14:25:34
  of that culture and a part of that
• 14:25:36
  neighborhood, you cannot leave them out
• 14:25:37
  because they are the experiences of that
• 14:25:40
  history and culture.
• 14:25:41
  So if it's done right, yes, it's, you
• 14:25:44
  know, but I think we just have to stay
• 14:25:46
  consistent, hold people accountable to do
• 14:25:49
  what they say they're going to do, and
• 14:25:52
  work in partnerships with those who are
• 14:25:55
  making those things happen.
• 14:25:57
  Open mic, you can share your message, a
• 14:25:59
  message to this audience. What would be
• 14:26:01
  that one message or the one point that
• 14:26:04
  you feel is most important in regards to
• 14:26:06
  preserving our culture, preserving our
• 14:26:08
  history, preserving who we are in the
• 14:26:11
  face of all the change that West Palm
• 14:26:13
  Beach is undergoing?
• 14:26:15
  I would say to listen to each other,
• 14:26:19
  listen to those who are experiencing a
• 14:26:21
  lot of that change, partner with those
• 14:26:25
  individuals. I think partnership and
• 14:26:27
  collaborations are very important.
• 14:26:30
  I think that, you know, those who of us
• 14:26:33
  who are in this fight as educators,
• 14:26:35
  preservers of history and culture, I
• 14:26:38
  think what we are looking for is genuine
• 14:26:40
  people who really want to ensure that
• 14:26:44
  everybody is successful
• 14:26:48
  in this whole process.
• 14:26:50
  So, for example, if, if, you know, if I'm
• 14:26:53
  living in a neighborhood like the
• 14:26:54
  historic Northwest, and I'm a long term
• 14:26:57
  rental, a renter, I would want someone
• 14:27:00
  working with me to ensure that I can stay
• 14:27:02
  in that neighborhood.
• 14:27:03
  Someone where there's an opportunity
• 14:27:05
  where it's habitat for humanity or
• 14:27:07
  neighborhood renaissance or someone in
• 14:27:10
  those partnerships to ensure the
• 14:27:12
  opportunity for me to
• 14:27:13
  have be a homeowner.
• 14:27:15
  So as we go through all of this
• 14:27:17
  development, we want to ensure that
• 14:27:19
  everybody benefits, you know, those with
• 14:27:22
  wealth and those who are working day to
• 14:27:24
  day, check by check to make a living and
• 14:27:26
  survive and take care of their families
• 14:27:28
  because they want a good
• 14:27:29
  life just as anybody else.
• 14:27:31
  So I think keeping that in the forefront,
• 14:27:33
  we can do this and preserve our history
• 14:27:35
  and culture at the same time.
• 14:27:37
  Very positive message indeed, and one of
• 14:27:39
  hope. And that's fantastic. Yes. Dr.
• 14:27:41
  Wynn, thank you so much for your time
• 14:27:43
  today. Thank you.
• 14:27:43
  Thank you for having me.
• 14:27:44
  I appreciate it. It's been great. And
• 14:27:47
  thank you for joining us for the City
• 14:27:49
  Center podcast. Hey, we want to know what
• 14:27:51
  you think about the show. Feel free to
• 14:27:54
  comment or drop us an
• 14:27:55
  email at podcast at wpb.org.
• 14:27:59
  The City Center podcast is a production
• 14:28:01
  of the City of West Palm Beach
• 14:28:02
  Communications Department. I'm Jerry
• 14:28:05
  Marcello. We'll see you next time.