Conference Welcomes and Opening Poems

THE FREEDOM CORRIDOR FOCUSES ON the nineteenth-century struggle to free enslaved African peoples in the United States. But it is more than that, including the continuing struggles to end racism and all forms of oppression.There are many key actors in this history. The Freedom Corridor is anchored by Abraham Lincoln, Mark Twain, and Frank and Lucy McWorter. Other remarkable people were here or nearby, including Emily Logan; Dred Scott; Elijah and Owen Lovejoy; John Jones; Edward Beecher; Richard Eells, Barryman Barnett, and Charley; and John and Mary Meachum.New Philadelphia as a national park establishes the national significance of this nineteenth-century abolitionist village established by Frank and Lucy McWorter. The congressional act in 2022 led to this effort to expand our focus to the diverse communities that make up the Freedom Corridor—Springfield, Jacksonville, Pittsfield, Barry, Hannibal, and Quincy—for starters. Our goal is to rethink American history, to include voices not heard and stories not fully told.Slavery marks the early years of this country. In our time we continue to live with the legacy of the terror of racism. This includes Native Americans and Latinx people. None of us are free until all of us are free. Please enjoy these welcomes and poems that helped launch the Freedom Corridor.Few things are more important than preserving our nation's history. Over the past decade, I've worked with Senator Duckworth, the New Philadelphia Association, and the McWorter family to bring national attention to the story of New Philadelphia. That work paid off in December of 2022 when President Biden signed legislation making New Philadelphia, Illinois, a National Historic Site.By making New Philadelphia a national park, we nationally recognized its remarkable yet little known history. Founded in 1836 by Frank and Lucy McWorter, New Philadelphia was the first town platted and registered by African Americans in the United States before the Civil War. Known as Free Frank, Frank McWorter bought the freedom of sixteen of his family members. In New Philadelphia, Black and white villagers lived side by side, working together to help freedom seekers make it north.As a National Historic Site, New Philadelphia enhances our understanding of our nation's history of race relations and Illinois's history of interracial cooperation, but it also helps ensure our national parks better reflect the totality of our nation's often complex past.Thank you to New Philadelphia Association, Illinois College, all the attendees, and especially Gerald McWorter for keeping this important piece of American and Illinois history alive.I bring you greetings from the entire Illinois College community. Many faculty, staff, and our students are here tonight, and I know we are all just so pleased to be the host for this weekend's inaugural Freedom Corridor conference.To the McWorters and representatives of the New Philadelphia Association, the Illinois State Museum, the National Park Service, the Freedom Corridor Organizing Committee, the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, and all the memory institutions that are part of the Corridor, thank you very, very much for being here and leading this weekend of inquiry and conversation as the Freedom Corridor launches.As Illinois College prepares to recognize the two hundredth anniversary of its founding as an institution in 2029, we are very proud of the work of scholars, historians, leaders, and of our own founders who established a precedent for freedom and scholarship.The very first president of Illinois College, Edward Beecher, was an amazing figure in this institution's past. He was a person who came with the Yale Band, established Illinois College, and was very engaged in the abolitionist movement and the support of freedom seekers and a great friend of Elijah Lovejoy. Beecher wrote this in 1838: “It often happens that events in themselves are of no great importance. They are invested with unusual interest in consequence of their connections with principles of universal application or with momentous results.” So what is he saying? He's really speaking to us at this moment, telling us that it has taken a great deal of work, much work behind the scenes with great perseverance, to bring us to this date, and it has required the stalwart efforts of so many and so many who are here this evening.All of you, your presence here today represents the culmination of these efforts. And while it's certainly a momentous result in itself that we are gathered, I also look forward to the fruit that this organization will bear. I look forward to the work ahead, to the productive scholarship, to educational programs, and to the celebration of the history of freedom seekers in this region. And I'm so grateful to Senator Durbin and Senator Duckworth for their role in making this all happen.It's an honor that our city of Jacksonville is hosting this weekend's festivities. It's very important. History is amazing. And I come from a father that taught history. I don't know it all, but I did listen. And everybody being here tonight shows the impact of our history.Some of it's not good, but it's also good to learn. And I can't not say this: In 2025, Jacksonville turns two hundred. I view this as kind of a setting stone, this Freedom Corridor, propelling what we're going to do in 2025 with the help of Illinois College.Illinois College is the catalyst in the community as far as history. I lean on people like Dr. Farley and her professors and colleagues and students that are here. I also lean on some folks that are in the audience, like Chad Boehlke who runs our Chautauqua, Art Wilson, Alberta Robinson.Thank you all for taking the time and the commitment to come to Jacksonville. I know these other communities that are involved, and history does tell a story, and the story is very, very important.I look forward to seeing where this takes us. In my capacity as mayor for fifteen years, it has been very rewarding seeing history come to life. It's a collective voice with all of your various communities making it possible to feel our past with passion and tell the story.Welcome to the Freedom Corridor founding conference. I bring you greetings from the Freedom Corridor Committee, as well as the museum that I represent. The mission of the Springfield and Central Illinois African American History Museum is to tell authentic stories about African Americans in Springfield and Central Illinois, their trials, their triumphs, and their road to freedom.Our committee members represent all the spots along the Freedom Corridor. They're listed on the back of your program. I also want to make a very definitive thank you to Dr. Brittany Yancy. She was and is the kingpin, and we need to give her a round of applause.It is very appropriate for us to be here at Illinois College because it was a hotbed for abolition in its day. The college was a stop along the Underground Railroad. We also want you to take note of the program book and the list of our endorsers. Many individuals and organizations across the state and across the nation are supporters of this program.The conference focuses on the paths of freedom in central Illinois and eastern Missouri. And the Freedom Corridor concept is to recognize the history that flows through central Illinois and eastern Missouri. If you're in Springfield, you need to run over to Barry. If you're in Barry, you need to make sure you have stopped at Jacksonville. Hannibal, Quincy, Barry, New Philadelphia, Pittsfield, Jacksonville, and Springfield: The Freedom Corridor hopes to become a central voice in the preservation, advocacy, stewardship, and teaching of the region's African American and other diverse histories. Please take a look at our program and read about all of the places, the people, and the stories about this region.ChicagoThe big city with the bright lightsThe Willis Tower, the tour sitesJust a cover-up for what's underneathNobody cares about the messed-up streetsSee you never hear about the hoodSomething that should actually be understoodThey don't want to put off the wrong imageThey need your money so just spend itThey Have to cover up what's insideSo all they feed you is liesLies about how we are the bestBut have Black Lives Matter written on our chestLies about how we are equalBut they only care about certain peopleSee we live in a different age of todayWhere little kids don't live till their greyBrothers and sisters dropping like fliesI'm surprised we still have our livesMama said “Kayla don't play in these streets”I was scared to get caught in the heatBullets flying left and rightI still wonder how I slept at nightNightmares that my brothers goneOr got trapped in a war zoneThe hood don't care about your lifeThem boys played God every nightThese people out here is recklessReaping gangs is not what respect isDoing stuff for the clout not go get you farExcept for in the back of a police carWhat y'all need to realizeLiving another day is a prizeY'all out here killing each otherWhat happened to being brothersWhat happened to the village that raisedOr coming together to praiseWhat happened to the “Yes we can”While all standing hand in handWhat happened to church being coolAnd wanting to go to schoolCompetition for an educationBut without the racial discriminationSee freedom only beginswhen the past truly endsin Historythey teach you that it will always repeat itselfmeaning that we will forever be trappedin the repeated cycleof wanting to be freetrying to be freeand thinking we're freejust for us to start over againAnd yet again here we arebegging for our livesand rightsfighting for understandingwhile reparations are far from being madeor paid to those deservingand hurting from the pains of our pasthow long will this last?this hunt for freedom I meanhoping that it will end quicklyand painlesswhile our freedomis constantly taken away by brainless individualsincluding our own peoplethis sequel of events needs to stopbefore more continue bodies to drop.As we march on up to our new pathMay we recognize the unfreeness of our pastAnd speak freely as we unpack the barriers that keep us smashedFree at last is all we ask400 years is a mighty long time to be attacked and deeply harassedAs the fight continues and we began to unhatch the impact of racismFree at last is all we askGraces and mercy has been in the power of the bloodSo free at last is all we are destined to haveWe are God's highest form of creation and are all created equally right so why are we always being contrastedFree at last is all we are destined to haveAlthough the challenges still stand, the freedom that is rightfully ours is still in demandFree at last is all we are destined to haveI am freeYou are freeWe are freeAs soon as we take action in freeing the barriers within usIn order to free the barrier without usFree at lastThank god we are free at last