<\/p>\n
Sitting inside the Old Dillard Museum, Emmanuel George holds a deck of Black Broward flashcards that he is launching to celebrate and educate about the county\u2019s rich Black history.<\/p>\n
Carl Juste<\/p>\n
cjuste@miamiherald.com<\/p>\n
For the past decade, historian and archivist Emmanuel George has documented Broward County\u2019s Black history \u2014 from pioneering figures such as Dr. James Sistrunk to historic neighborhoods such as Liberia in Hollywood and everyday life for Black residents \u2014 on the Instagram account Black Broward.<\/p>\n
Now, that history has been immortalized in a new book, \u201cBroward County Chronicles: A Retrospective Vol. 1<\/a>.\u201d The 153-page book, co-written and produced by George and photographer David Paulo, includes five chapters dedicated to the history of central, south and north Broward County and historical and current landmarks across the county. The book also comes a year after the duo collaborated on the Black Broward Flashcards<\/a>, featuring Black history makers and landmarks throughout the county as a way to combat the limitations placed on teaching Black history in schools.<\/p>\n The book, George said, was years in the making, and was birthed out of a need to preserve history in a physical form at a time when social media is unpredictable. \u201cYou can lose your social media [account]. It can be hacked. Social media could shut down,\u201d he said. \u201cI just wanted to make sure that the history is forever accessible and put that into a physical form.\u201d<\/p>\n Paulo echoed those sentiments and added sometimes people want to hold a physical product. \u201cYou might have elders who really don\u2019t care to roam and scroll on Instagram,\u201d he said. \u201cSo we would want our data and information and my photography to be on somebody\u2019s bookshelf or coffee table in a dentist\u2019s office or school.\u201d<\/p>\n The book also comes at a time when Black history is being erased, George said, making it even more necessary to capture and documenting history in a physical form.<\/p>\n \u201cThere were people documenting Broward black history before me and some of them had their history, their work, erased because it wasn\u2019t properly taken care of or no one really had the presence of mind of keeping that data there,\u201d he said, adding photographer Ivory Mizell is an example of this.<\/p>\n George said Mizell has taken thousands of photos in his lifetime, but there are less than 100 of his photos accessible because the others had been damage. \u201cWhile you\u2019re here doing the work, like make sure that your work isn\u2019t gone forever because we\u2019re not here forever,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The book contains a plethora of history pulled from George\u2019s own research featured on his Instagram page as well as information from other researchers and historians such as Kitty Oliver, former Florida Atlantic University professor and Miami Herald reporter, and local author Deborah Work.<\/p>\n \u201cThrough those stories, I hope that people are able to understand the path and how it plays a part into our present, and how we\u2019re also able to change the future,\u201d George said. \u201cI hope the book serves as a catalyst for that.\u201d<\/p>\n There are also present day landmarks featured in the book such as the African-American Research Library and Cultural Center along Fort Lauderdale\u2019s Sistrunk Corridor, the Pegasus and Dragon statue in Hallandale Beach (also the second-largest statue in the United States), and The Guitar Hotel at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood.<\/p>\n Paulo said he tried to capture the landmarks in ways that give off a \u201csoft, Floridian vibrancy.\u201d He said he hopes when people flip through the pages of the book that they recognize there is much more to Broward County than downtown Fort Lauderdale and the beaches and dig deeper into the cultural history and significance of other cities such as Hallandale Beach and Dania Beach and communities like Sistrunk and Liberia.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is a ton of Black history here in Broward County, which is kind of swept under the rug,\u201d he said. \u201cThere\u2019s an insane amount of pioneers who\u2019ve helped shape the Broward County we know today. So I just want that to be known that it is not just white men who came here and conquered and had everything placed in their name. It was Black folks who helped shape and build Broward County.\u201d<\/p>\n The book is available for purchase at historyartculture.com<\/a> and at the Old Dillard Museum for $50.<\/p>\n A shot of the Cone Plaza, once home of William Cone Sr.\u2019s Hat and Cap Emporium. Cone, who died in 2005, was a proponent of growth in the Sistrunk area of Fort Lauderdale. The photo is included in the book \u2018Broward County Chronicles: A Retrospective Vol. 1,\u2019 co-written and produced by historian and activist Emmanuel George and photographer David Paulo. Courtesy of David Paulo <\/p>\n
A photo of the Guitar Hotel at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood Florida included in the book Broward County Chronicles: A Retrospective Vol. 1, co-written and produced by historian and archivist Emmanuel George and photographer David Paulo. Courtesy of David Paulo <\/p>\n
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