Jessica Harris - Hemmings
Written By Sekum Appiah-Ofori and Logan Botts
Jessica Harris is a double Hoo with deep local ties. She graduated from the University’s College of Arts and Sciences in 2019 with an interdisciplinary degree in education and non-profit management and received her Master’s in Education in 2020 from UVA’s School of Education and Human Development. Her family has lived in Charlottesville, Virginia for several generations and Jessica has been incredibly invested in the relationship between the University and the surrounding community.
For Jessica, an open commitment to truth-telling lies at the root of a mutually respectful and thoughtful relationship between the University and broader Charlottesville. In building the Memorial to Enslaved Laborers, Jessica sees the University as taking an active step toward acknowledging its past and changing its future.
After taking “Righting Unrightable Wrongs” with UVA professor Frank Dukes, Jessica joined the Memorial to Enslaved Laborers Community Engagement Committee as a way to get more involved. Despite being actively engaged and deeply entrenched in the history and community today, this knowledge is not something that Jessica grew up with. Being a descendant is an ongoing process for Jessica, but one she is ready to engage with thoughtfully. Honored and grateful to be part of a community of descendants, Jessica wants to continue doing the work to honor her ancestors.
“You can’t turn it off. The more you know about it the more you have to face it.”
As a UVA student, Charlottesville resident, and descendant, Jessica stood at a unique intersection and always sought to align herself in ways that are considerate of each position she occupies. Walking on Grounds as a student was always heavy for her, knowing the history of slavery, segregation, and her family’s struggles for equality and fair treatment at UVA. Learning that she was a descendant made that feeling even heavier. Classic symbols of the University like the Rotunda, Mad Bowl, and the serpentine walls all remind her of the oppression the Black community has faced in this space for generations. This perception of the University isn’t something Jessica could turn off, the weight of recognition and the legacy of her ancestors pushed her to do more.
As a Charlottesville resident, Jessica has seen firsthand how tense the relationship between the University and the surrounding community can be. Through study, observation, and conversation, Jessica has learned about the history of the University’s relationship with Charlottesville and sees many ties to the Memorial to Enslaved Laborers. There is a general feeling of distrust of the University, particularly amongst Charlottesville’s black community, something Jessica notes is really hard to repair. Low enrollment of African-American students, decades of exploitation, and lingering economic and social harm caused by the University are issues that stand in the way of progress toward a more collaborative and supportive relationship. The ramifications on local communities have been profound and it will take persistent action, listening, and empathetic leadership to mend the University’s relationship with greater Charlottesville. Jessica sees actions such as supporting descendants and other local groups as crucial and hopes to see more efforts to engage thoughtfully with the Charlottesville community.
“A lot of time the university only interacts with Charlottesville when it needs something”
While the Memorial is a step in the right direction, Jessica notes that there are still many vestiges of a history steeped in white supremacy all across Grounds. There are still buildings named after slave owners and eugenicists that have not been fully contextualized or addressed. As a University that prides itself on tradition, Jessica feels that there is still work to be done to value tradition while moving away from practices that are harmful and stand in the way of positive change. To Jessica, the Memorial is an example of how a site can be used to simultaneously honor the past but place the emphasis on dialogue, action, and an eye toward the future.
“There’s a big difference between honoring our past and knowing how to contextualize our past in a way that helps us better prepare for the future”
Though she loves the Memorial, the space, community, history, and engagement that it represents, Jessica sees it as one step in a much bigger and longer conversation. As more student groups, faculty, and administrators take on the difficult task of talking about the University’s history, that dialogue will hopefully shape future policies and how people experience the University. She hopes that in the future, there is a greater push for all students to learn about the history of the University when they arrive on Grounds. It is imperative that people see that the legacy didn’t stop with Thomas Jefferson, slavery, or eugenics, but has been ongoing and had lasting ramifications on the University community and culture.
“The more we can couple the recognition of history with action and addressing situations in our current state, the more that it becomes real for so many folks.”