Converge Revisited: Converge In The South
This month, we’re celebrating Black History by revisiting moments within our company. Over the past three years, Converge Media has been honored to participate in projects around the country, including visiting historical sights in the American South. We’ve worked with partners including Baseball Beyond Borders and the Seattle Seahawks to bring our audiences along for the ride as we headed to some of America’s most important markers of the Civil Rights movement.
Our first trip to the South took us to Jackson, Mississippi and Selma and Montgomery, Alabama with Baseball Beyond Borders. The four-day trip through the South, began with a youth baseball clinic in Jackson, Mississippi. Hosted at Jackson State University in association with the John and Vera Mae Perkins Foundation, the clinic brought kids aged 9-18 to learn from the Baseball Beyond Borders Senior Division All-Star Team.
“It was really incredible to see our kids out there teaching,” Bookie Gates, founder of Baseball Beyond Borders, said. “I also knew our kids would learn something as well.”
Alongside Mariners legend Dan Wilson, Gates hosted the camp and led his team on a pilgrimage which left an indelible impact on the youth of Jackson.
The team also travelled to Alabama, where the youth from Seattle were left struck by the history in both Selma and Montgomery. They visited sites like the Edmund Pettus bridge and the Equal Justice Initiative’s Legacy Museum, powerful markers of struggles still faced by Black Americans and those which have been overcome.
We also visited the Brown Chapel AME Church, where Martin Luther King Jr. hosted meetings and began his historic marches.
The result of that trip was a powerful, Emmy-nominated film focusing on baseball, reconciliation, and connection. Documenting the journey of the youth from Seattle to these places was impactful to both our mission as a company and the lives of everyone who participated. You can view the film below.
The team that worked on the film consisted of Omari Salisbury, Brady McAtee, Che’Lon McLennan, Ike Everard, Vaughn Williams, Winfield Ezell and Trey Ezell. During the Emmy awards, we produced a video highlighting their contributions.
Converge returned to the South later in the year, traveling to even more historical sites and documenting a trip of nearly 30 individuals from Seattle as they experienced history and culture in New Orleans, The Mississippi Delta, Memphis, Selma, Montgomery, and Atlanta. A film crew consisting of Omari Salisbury, Winfield Ezell, Sean Cokes, Brady McAtee, Ike Everard, and Che’lon McLennan travelled through four states over seven days.
In New Orleans, we visited the historic Dooky Chase’s Restaurant, one of the city’s longest standing Black-owned establishments. We heard from Stella Chase, the daughter of legendary chef Leah Chase, as she spoke about meetings hosted there during the Civil Rights Movement and the restaurant’s commitment to serving great food.
We also visited the Lower Ninth Ward, the site of devastating flooding during hurricane Katrina. We saw the lasting effects of the flood, and visited Burnell’s Market. Owned by Burnell Cotlon, it’s the only grocery store in the entire neighborhood, providing food, clothes, household products, laundry machines and barber services to the residents who returned following the hurricane.
We also visited the Mississippi Delta, the site of one of the darkest occurrences in American history - the murder of Emmett Till. We visited the remnants of Bryant’s Grocery and paid tribute to an innocent life taken too soon. We also set foot inside the Tallatchee County Courthouse, where an all-white jury acquitted Till’s killers.
In Montgomery, we had the honor of meeting for living legends of America’s Black history. Foot soldiers Valda Harris, Georgette Norman, Grace Jackson and Bob Zellner spoke to the group about their experiences during the movement and what it was like working alongside Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, John Lewis and many others to push forward. It was an experience which brought the places and history experienced on this trip to life, giving voices and faces to the markers and buildings featured along the way.
We’ve also had the honor of documenting some of the South's greatest exports - Soul Music and Soul Food. In Memphis, we headed to the Stax Museum, which is located on the site of Stax Records (one of the premiere Soul music labels in the country). The museum features a look at the history of Soul and it’s impact on American culture. The museum is also attached to the Stax Music Academy, which focuses on engaging the next generation in the tradition of Soul.
For lunch, we visited The Four Way, one of Memphis’s premiere Soul Food restaurants, serving soul food to locals and celebrities alike since 1946. During the visit, we heard from owner Patrice Thompson and her husband Jerry as well as their daughter Joelle. The restaurant also was the last place Martin Luther King Jr. at prior to his assassination at the Lorraine Motel, which we visited following our meal.
As a company, we’ve had the privilege to highlight a great number of our country’s historical sites and share them with our audience. Through these projects, we aim to inspire the next generation of history makers as we remember the past.
You can see more from these trips here.
