Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture event celebrates Spokane’s Black families on Friday

People of all different ages, backgrounds and ethnicities joined together Friday at the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture to celebrate the stories of Black families in Spokane.

Organizer Julie Serquinia dreamed up the idea for “Our Stories: Black Families in Spokane,” an event that sought to celebrate and bring together the Black community in Spokane while also being educational.

On the front lawn of the Brown’s Addition museum on Friday, people were talking, playing basketball, eating, enjoying the music and celebrating their community and togetherness.

“I think this is beautiful … the reality is that in the word community is unity, and that’s what you see here,” said Scott Finnie, senior faculty member of the African Education Program at EWU and a former Gonzaga basketball player. He was at the event to lead an open basketball shoot around.

Hoopfest legend, Bobby Jack Sumler, helped Finnie and said his favorite part was “watching the smile on the kids’ faces, knowing that the kids have something positive in their minds.”

As people cheered, played, ate, or visited the booths set up on the lawn, Darrien Mack, the DJ at the event, spun some old rap and Motown music.

“Music sets a tone, it sets a vibe,” Mack said. “And this may seem obvious, but you know, it sets a very audible sense of togetherness.”

Spokane’s Southeast Daycare took a field trip to visit the event’s activities and presentations, teaching preschoolers 4-years-old and older about Black history in their city.

The supervisor of the group, Breana Pirtle, said that the more young kids can learn about different cultures and histories, “the more it will help them in the future. They’re going to be stronger humans with more empathy.”

Husband and wife Randy and Linda Crow have been taking classes through Spokane Community College specifically for seniors. They had recently taken a class called Black Spokane, and were inspired to visit the Our Stories event as a way of learning more about the Black communities in town.

Students of high school and middle school ages produced a film that played in the MAC’s auditorium. April Eberhardt and Priya Osborne organized the film.

Throughout the day, educational presentations on Black history were given by volunteers in the Campbell House to an audience that included frequent MAC visitor Lynn Dwyer.

“I think this is a really great idea … You know, there’s different stories for every group,” Dwyer said. “It’s good to learn about them and know our history, know the contributions, and know the controversies. All that is really important.

“We learn from the past and the only way to do it is by featuring things like this.”

Another visitor, KeMoni Robinson, said she wished the event could have been even bigger.

“I just wish we would do more,” he said. “That’s my biggest takeaway. But that doesn’t mean that we stop doing anything, that just means we have to keep doing it and try harder to get the word out.”

Robinson also emphasized the importance of continually focusing on the Black community, and not just highlighting its culture and history for a short event before letting it fade into the background.

Sandra Freeman shared the story of her family as part of the event. Clarence Freeman, her father, served as an Army captain in World War II and later owned Freeman Construction Co. as well as serving as Spokane’s first Black PTA president. Her mother, Frances, was active in the arborist and garden communities.

“My mom grew up down here in Peaceful Valley. And it was a working class neighborhood … a plaque down there that commemorates the African American, German, Swedish and Finnish people that were the backbone of Spokane,” Freeman said.

The Spokane Eastside Reunion Association and Spokane NAACP also had a presence at the event.

“We have a plethora of things that we do for the community, ” said Michael Brown, executive director of the reunion association.

Serquinia, the organizer, said she hoped Friday’s event would lead to telling the stories of other less-represented community groups in Spokane.

“These smaller stories we don’t get a chance to tell, and I think it keeps people from having a sense of pride in themselves,” Serquinia said.