SAN DIEGO — Young women of color are learning about their Black history on a new level. Drone pilots are using mapping technology to learn more about San Diego County’s rich Black culture.
“Growing up like being African American, I feel like there's a lot of my history that I don't know, just because it's not often taught in schools,” said Shyanne Smith, her-storian.
Now she is using STEM to write another chapter in Black history.
She and a group of 16–19 year-old BIPOC women who call themselves her-storians are ambassadors for the San Diego based non-profit Our Genetic Legacy Drone Project.
“Taking back history that is male-centered, that is also Eurocentric, we're taking back history and just making it our history,” said Smith.
By using LiDAR drones and other geospatial technology, young BIPOC women are mapping Harrison Serenity Ranch where San Diego County's first Black landowner Nathan Harrison once lived in the Palomar Mountains and Julian.
“Julian was actually a place where the Gold Rush was occurring. So, there was a lot of slavery over there. I had been taught that California had no slavery,” said Smith.
Shellie Baxter is Smith’s mentor and the CEO and Founder of Our Genetic Legacy and says this experience gives women confidence in who they are as Black women and tech leaders.
She says studying Julian’s Black history is important in tracking missing records.
“We know that there were a lot of indigenous peoples, we know that there were, a lot of African Americans, and where do they go? Because we don't see that represented in Julian now in terms of the actual population there,” said Baxter.
She has been a genealogist for 20 years and hopes this non-profit fill the wide gaps in Black history.
“You see the commercials from Ancestry, you're just like, ‘Oh, I send in the sample, it's going to come back, the lights will dim the movie will play and I'll know who I am.’ And for people of color, it's just not that way. Because there's so many missing records,” said Baxter.
Currently, the team is planning to travel to Ghana and the UK next month where they will map the Transatlantic slave trade.
“It’s hard. Because of course, you don't want to hear about your ancestors having to take their last bath before knowing their fate. But it's important,” said Smith.
This is an important chapter where young Black women are going to new heights to rewrite their history.
“I get to hear a part of history and really experience and fully immerse myself in a part of history that was almost erased,” said Smith.
Our Genetic Legacy is using the historical information they learn about their Black culture to develop a virtual museum called “We the People, that anyone in the world can access.
The trip to Ghana and the UK will cost $75,000. Herstorians are still fundraising for the trip. To learn more click here.
Watch Related: San Diego History Center's new Black heritage exhibit (Jan 26, 2022)