AfroCarolina Correspondence #124: A Silver Dollar Under the Rubble

Where Afro Carolina & Palestine Intersect

At the end of October I attended a film screening at the Hayti Center in Durham. They were showing a recent Raoul Peck documentary called Silver Dollar Road. I’d been a fan of his previous works on Haiti and former Congo president, Patrice Lumumba, and was looking forward to this new film centering Afro Carolinians. 

Silver Dollar Road is a lengthy strip of land off the Neuse River in Eastern NC that has been stewarded by a Black family, the Reels, since the mid 1860’s. Cousins, Uncles, Aunties, and the family’s matriarch, Gertrude Reels, who expanded the family’s farming and fishing business in the 70’s, have all lived on the 65 acre plot for generations. Melvin Reels, a fisherman and one of Gertrude’s sons, even built a juke joint near the riverfront that served as a community gathering and celebration spot for years. 

 The film documents the decades-long battle that the Reels family has fought to stay on their land in the face of theft from white developers. Over the years, the family has faced threatening letters, court dates, and even a mysterious tanking of Melvin Reels’ ship. Despite the many attacks, he and his brother refused to leave their homes on the beachfront parcel of land that the developers laid claim to. In 2011, after years of standing their ground, Melvin and his brother Licurtis (pictured below) were arrested and put in jail for refusing to vacate the land that had been in their family for several generations. They would not be released for almost a decade despite never once being convicted of a crime.  

I spent most of the screening filled with rage and grief. Silver Dollar road isn’t but a stone’s throw from Beaufort, NC where my grandmother’s people are from. The pain and trauma of being incarcerated was palpable in the voices of Melvin and Licurtis in their interviews. There was nothing that could make up for the years of lost time, missed birthdays, and physical ailments caused by imprisonment.

As I continued to watch the Reels family’s story, I couldn’t help but see the connection between their experience and the current genocide happening in Palestine. For 70 years, Palestinians have been forcibly removed from their homes and farmlands by the state of Israel. Just like in Silver Dollar Road, the courts and ‘legal’ documents have been used to support the violent displacement of Palestinians from land many have stewarded since the years that Jesus walked the streets of Jerusalem. Thousands of Palestinians, including many children, have been imprisoned for daring to resist the violent seizure of their land and denial of their human rights. 

The same systems of oppression that enslaved Black people, that have burned our towns and displaced us from our homes, whether through the ‘urban revitalization’ of the 60’s or the gentrification of today, are the same systems that are bombing Gaza and displacing the remaining survivors. Black Americans and Palestinians are connected through time and space, not only due to our relationship to capitalist white supremacy, but also through our resistance and dedication to cultural preservation. 

In the midst of the pain and struggle, a through line in Silver Dollar Road, was the immense love, pride and courage that the Reels family maintained throughout every trial and tribulation they experienced. Melvin and Licurtis knew they were going to jail, but still chose to stay in their homes and defend their family’s land. Later on in the film, Melvin’s son takes his aunt out on his fishing boat for the first time. It’s clear that despite the challenges of today’s market, he’s committed to carrying on the family’s legacy as passed down by his father. During the 8 year sentence, the family made regular trips to visit the Reels brothers and even included them over the phone during birthdays and holiday celebrations.

In Palestine, despite the blood that has been shed and homes that have become piles of rubble, Palestinians continue to speak out against the violence and preserve their culture in the ways they can. Journalists like Motaz and Bisan stayed behind as bombs showered the skies daily, to document and show the world the horrors that are occurring in Gaza. Other Palestinians like Mariam share traditional Palestinian recipes as a form of resilience through cultural preservation.

Ka’ak Al-Quds (Jerusalem bread) from Mariyum Blog

As the modern day vestiges of colonialism persist, whether in Eastern NC or the Gaza strip, so must our resistance. In these times it is crucial to remember that our struggles are intimately linked; that we are connected to our ancestors, and to each other through our relationship to the land. These truths must stay in our hearts and minds as those of us in the US fend off the lull of apathy. May these truths illuminate paths towards calling out our government for its complicity in the violence; and towards calling out to each other so as not to fall into despair.

From the Neuse River, to the Mediterranean Sea may Palestine and all oppressed peoples be free.