April 21, 2022

New Orleans with Hilton Head Island's Ahmad Ward: the history of Historic Mitchelville Park, humanizing our stories, and creating "brave spaces"

1 hour 16 minutes

Ahmad Ward is the Executive Director for Hilton Head Island’s Historic Mitchelville Park. If you’ve never heard of Mitchelville, then prepare for an eye-opening history lesson. Established in 1862, a year before Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, it was the first self-governed town of formerly enslaved people in the United States. In this episode, Ahmad shares how his five-year plan to exit the world of museums was quickly discarded when he began interviewing for a role at Mitchelville Freedom Park while on vacation in New Orleans. How a moving visit to the Whitney Plantation, the only Louisiana plantation that centers the experiences of the enslaved population, helped shape his ideas for the project. Plus, Ahmad and Esme discuss how to communicate hard topics in a palatable way, creating spaces for authentic expression and respectful listening, and the ongoing important work of highlighting Mitchelville, a piece of American history that deserves to be widely known, honored, and celebrated.

You can learn more about Mitchelville by visiting exploremitchelville.org. Learn more about Full-Time Travel by visiting fulltimetravel.co and follow us on Instagram @full_time_travel. Be sure to rate, review, and follow so that you don’t miss out on travel tips, inspiration, and your potential next adventure!

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