I had struggled for years to let people know that Black lives do matter, even before the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement became a part of our collective consciousness. Since 2003, the Real Rosewood Foundation has sought to preserve knowledge, spread awareness and foster cultural sensitivity around a massacre that wiped out the small Colored community of Rosewood, Florida, nearly a century ago. Even now, I am committed to keeping the story of the 1923 Rosewood massacre alive, because it is part of my family’s history, and directly impacts us all.

​

Remembering is an integral part of moving forward. Today, the BLM movement is replaying and reflecting on the civil rights work laid down by previous generations, while educating new generations of people who did not know the seriousness of hate and injustice. It is bringing forth awareness of the experiences that Black people in America have endured all our lives. I grew up under the Jim Crow era, dominated by hate and injustice, through which white society turned a blind eye to my needs and never accepted me as an equal. I remember the stares and glares very well as a child. I remember Mom packing a 38 COLT and a switchblade to protect her family, including my father who dared not raise a voice to defend his family. I remember the 1960 civil rights lunch counter sit-ins at the F.W. Woolworth store in St. Augustine, Florida, where I was a Junior attending Florida Memorial College. Locally I remember being blocked and driven out of classrooms.

​

From the age of five, 1943, my mom repeated to me the tale of how my Rosewood aunt and teacher, was attacked during the Rosewood massacre because she refused to lie about her husband’s whereabouts on the night, January 1, 1923, of the supposed attack on Fannie Taylor, the Sumner housewife who cried wolf . At age five I struggled to stay awake, but the fabric of the story attached itself to me and my heart and has become my life passionate life ministry. It was fresh on my mind the next morning, and I said, ‘Mom, I want to hear more.” She replied, “Not now” That story became our story, and we talked about it often. I carried it with me to school every day. I took it to college, and I took it to work. But I never talked about it (outside of our home). Today it is my work and your work. We must tell what others held, conspiringly. It’s history and that’s who we are.

​

I have long labored to keep the memory of Rosewood alive. My passion was fueled by the stories my mother told me. Through this Real Rosewood Foundation, I pass along the stories and histories handed down to me, educating the public in memory of the Rosewood victims, as well survivors and descendants (like my aunt Mahulda Gussie Brown Carrier and uncle Aaron Carrier) and their descendants. In looking at the work ahead of us, the Foundation is spearheading three major educational initiatives:

​

The establishment of a museum located on 29 acres at 14738 SW 159th Avenue, Archer, Florida.

The development of a K-12 curriculum for the Rosewood massacre to be taught in all Florida public schools.

The resurrection of the Rosewood town.

​

I am continuously humbled, honored, and blessed to meet people daily and invite them to join in peace-building, healing, and reconciliation through learning about the history of Rosewood.

​

Historically anchored,
Miss Lizzie