Following Harriet Tubman’s Footsteps

black history

Following Harriet Tubman’s Footsteps

RBy Moise Michel Rita Daniels is a Queenpreneur who happens to be the great, great, great grand niece of the iconic Harriet Tubman. She’s on course to continue to help and advocate for folks in the black community via The Harriet Tubman Learning Center (HTLC).

Below Ms. Daniels answers my questions with very thoughtful, poignant and powerful answers!

1)Tell me a little about yourself?

“I was born in Auburn, New York where Harriet Tubman lived the last 50+ years of her life, where she died and is currently buried at Fort Hill Cemetery. This is also where my deceased family members are also buried (Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, Father, etc.).

I have Two grown children (Ronald Franklin Nash and RiShana Dior Nash (both married) and I have 4 grandchildren (Kierra, Kalen, Mia and Amiyah). I went back to school at the age of 60 to earn my master’s degree in Education and my bachelor’s degree in Human Resources. It was my belief that if I went back to school, I would position myself with the credentials to open a “private” school in honor of my great, great, great Aunt’s name – The “Harriet Tubman Learning Center” (HTLC) starting in Atlanta where the school is needed and then throughout the United States where a school of this magnitude is necessary (especially in the low-income communities.”

2) What is your relation to Harriet Tubman?

“Harriet Tubman is my Great, Great, Great Aunt.”

3) How proud are you to be a part of Harriet Tubman’s lineage?

“Elated.”

4) What were your initial thoughts when you found out you are related to this historical icon?

“My initial thoughts were that of mixed emotions. For 1, being related to a slave who had a bounty on her head and for 2, being proud that she was never

Great, great neice of Harriet Tubman-Geraldine Daniels, Great, great, grand neice of Harriet Tubman-Rita Daniels (both sitting) Mya Childs, Hashaqueena Earth, Star Jones (standing) caught for freeing nearly 300 slaves - she is also slated to be on the $20 bill and that leaves me with mixed emotions – happy for her being recognized as an icon – but also what money currently stands for is “root of evil.”

5) When you hear your great great aunt’s name what comes to mind about her?

“How proud I am of her total dedication of giving back to others. It reminds me that her work is not done and how important she was to others in obtaining their FREEDOM! She made those 19 trips on feet to ensure Freedom for others – her HEART was huge!”

6) What inspired you to create your community center?

“Harriet Tubman was vehemently denied an education and therefore could not read or write - she died illiterate…This is still a problem although Blacks are given equal rights in education, however, many of our people are still illiterate. They are reading below grade level and just knowing that an eighteenyear-old young man is reading at only a fourthgrade level is heart breaking to me and it should be to everyone else. The Harriet Tubman Learning Center is necessary because our mission is to combat

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illiteracy! It is time to make a difference in the lives of our young men, otherwise, the prisons continue to make room for them…slavery continues in the prison system because our children are failing in the public schools.

The Harriet Tubman Learning Center offers literacy programs that include Stem (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math) educational opportunities are needed and should be offered to children who are otherwise would not have access to this type of advanced education.”

7) Where did the name for the center derive from?

“The Harriet Tubman Learning Center name is a result of Harriet Tubman’s name.”

8) How rewarding is it for you when you give back to the black community?

“It is my duty to give back to the community. Because of my lineage, it is necessary to continue the Harriet Tubman legacy as a family member. This is what she would want the family to do in her honor.”

9) What is the mission statement/motto that keeps you going in giving back to the black community?

“The Learning Center’s mission is to combat the extraordinary phenomenon of illiteracy that has plagued our youth for decades due to the lack of viable resources and segregation. While supporting the development of educational opportunities, Harriet Tubman Learning Center offers a thorough and comprehensive foundation for the future achievement of students through our individual attention via assessments and evaluation.”

10) What impact do you feel you have in giving back to the black community?

“If she were alive today, we believe that Harriet Tubman would make sure that not only she can read and write, but also relive the Underground Railroad. She would go out and find others who are being vehemently denied an education and she would ensure that other children have this same opportunity. Illiteracy is a problem in the inner cities and it is also my duty to continue this phenomenal Legacy of Harriet Tubman through our programs.”

11) How important is it for you carrying on the legacy of Harriet Tubman?

“Her work is not over –her legacy must continue through her family -and what better way to continue her legacy than by giving back to the community. This is something she was vehemently deprived of – the ability to read.”

12) Do you feel like you’re up to the task in carrying out Harriet Tubman’s legacy?

“Yes I can and I will continue the Legacy of my great, great great Aunt.”

13) Where do you see yourself 5-10 years from now?

“Getting older – “I’m 64.”

14) If you ever had the chance to speak to your great great aunt, what would you tell her?

“I would tell my Aunt how much I admired her advocacy.”

15) What is one thing you would like to impart with our beautiful black people all throughout the world?

“The Harriet Tubman Learning Center is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that focuses on the illiteracy issues that has plagued our inner cities for decades. The Harriett Tubman Learning Center is dedicated to empowering communities through programs that offer hope and successful future. Many communities are without jobs, homeless, hunger, and they need literacy assistance. Our goal is to initiate strategies that will provide exceptional science-based programs proven to empower youth and propel them towards future sustainability (i.e. completing job applications, resume assistance, literacy programs, Stem Program, GED Assistance, Youth Entrepreneur Classes, etc.). I am continuing a Legacy that deserves recognition, even 100+ years after her death. Since my great, great, great Aunt was not given the opportunity to read or write, she died illiterate. If she were alive today, we believe that Harriet Tubman would make sure she could read and write as well as ensure that other children have this same opportunity. Illiteracy is a problem in the inner cities and it is our duty to continue this phenomenal Legacy of Harriet Tubman through our programs.”

The woman they call Moses had the strength and wisdom to lead others on a freedom trail. The leadership of Harriet Tubman’s footsteps lead the way for the African American to be free at last.