My internship with Patapsco Heritage Greenway was an
eye-opening experience. I learned more about the work done in small cultural
organizations and it gave me a different perspective on the relationship
between these types of groups and communities of color. Before I left PHG, I had one last project for the summer. I
spent the month of August writing an action plan as my final project.
The action
plan listed some of the most important areas of improvement for PHG with
respect to their engagement with Latinx park users. Based on the time I spent
with PHG and the work I did for them, I recommended six steps they should take
in the near and distant future. These steps encourage PHG to address a range of
concerns from following the guide of the toolkit I created the month before, to
taking a close look at the interactions between Latinx and non-Latinx park
users, and to revising the ways in which PHG interprets the history of the
area. In October, I will present my summer work and the steps of this action
plan to the PHG board.
Overall, I
have two major takeaways from this internship. The first is related to work
environments. In the past, I have met and worked with people or organizations that
talked about outreach with diverse communities but never really made the effort
to form a relationship, as if they expected the communities to come to them.
Because of this, I was unsure of what to expect from this internship.
Thankfully, I wasn’t disheartened about the state of public history any
further. From the outset, I knew that PHG was taking their outreach strategies
seriously and they genuinely wanted to inform themselves about the best ways to
go about improving them. I always felt like my work, voice, and perspective
mattered. I wasn’t there to only translate materials; I was there because PHG
valued my skills and experience and they gave me room to apply them in
different ways. Not only was this a refreshing environment to be in but it also
gave me the confidence to speak honestly and pushed me to work on my projects
with the best of my abilities. This showed me how the right kind of work
environment can be difference-maker in one’s experience and how great public
history could be for students of color like me.
The second takeaway is about the
role of organizations like PHG. I’ve been fortunate so far in my life to not have
been explicitly discriminated against because of my background or have had a
personal encounter with someone directing hurtful language at me. While I know that
not everyone can say the same, I was alarmed to hear about the treatment of
Latinxs at some of Maryland’s state parks. There have been occasions where
Latinxs have been discouraged to enter and use parks by signs made by
non-Latinx park users with phrases like “illegal aliens stay out!” This
reinforced my belief in the importance of the work of cultural organizations. Cultural
organizations carry the responsibility to serve all communities equally and to
ensure they all have fair access to parks or other services. This is also means
making sure that all communities feel safe and welcomed by taking any hostile
or antagonistic behaviors seriously and taking a stand against such behaviors.
There is so much time and effort that goes into this kind of work but
ultimately, I am hopeful that public historians and community leaders and members
can make it happen. My summer with PHG taught me many lessons and my
experiences were particularly valuable to career path I envision for myself.
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