Crossings|the Refugee Experience in America

In this episode we visit with Isaac Points who was intrinsic to the long running Five Points Juneteenth Celebration in Denver. One of the largest in the country, this celebration was previously centered in Denver’s Five Points neighborhood. The area is rich in African American cultural history but was also a community historically victimized by Redlining practices. Isaac shares his experience growing up in the community, helping to establish the celebration, and his reflections on Abolitionist movements framed as a refugee migration within our own country.

This episode also describes our coming series of episodes on Abolitionist movements and the Underground Railroad- seen through the lens of historic refugee and resettlement efforts. We will also look at little known Union Refugee Camps, where escaped slaves seeking refuge were labeled “contraband,” as referenced in Zora Neale Hurston’s recently published Barracoon. For now, we begin in 1865 as seen through celebrations in the 21stcentury.