"'Freedom', to me, means the ability to self-realize and self-actualize. It’s self-determination. It means you have what you need to thrive. And perhaps the greatest act of freedom is helping someone else have what they need to thrive. 

"I learned early in life that everyone has a story. Everyone has heartbreak and tragedy. Everyone has this arc in their lifetime, and the arc has ups and downs. Times of humility and times of prosperity and abundance. Achievement and failure. And learning that at a young age sparked why I was curious about people and why I ultimately wanted to have a career that had writing of some sort, and why I chose to pursue communications and marketing. 

"And so, you know, being able to work in a place where we have so many stories and present so many stories about these people who would otherwise be lost to history... they would be nameless, faceless people that we don't know—and that we're able to pay tribute to them and their struggles and their achievements and their sacrifices—is really important to me. 

"It’s my hope is that people can connect, and resonate, and empathize with some of the choices people made when they maybe didn't have good options to choose from. And, [knowing] they made the choice that they could make in that moment, or at that time, or [overcoming], you know, some really desperate circumstances for the chance of something better. "

“So, I'm from Cincinnati originally; born and raised here. My parents took me to the Freedom Center when I was very young… probably in primary school, around second or third grade. I specifically remember the Tom Feelings mural. We had a docent talking to us, and she told us about the symbolism and the different interpretations of what the mural was supposed to be, what the mural is trying to get across, particularly pertaining to the two figures at the bottom of the mural.

“I remember being sad when she said that one of the interpretations is that the two individuals on the bottom have passed away, and yet they're still dreaming of home in Africa. But she also said that there's another interpretation that I kind of chose to pick instead, which was, it's symbolic of them going over in the middle passage. But it's almost like they're bringing Africa with them, because they have those African motifs on the bottom of the mural.

“And that was kind of the main thing that I took away was just this, this really, really, vast space of artistic interpretation. And I knew, even back then, that the Freedom Center was really important because my family never stopped talking about it. They really wanted me to be in touch with my history, you know, ‘Easton, this is how we as Black people came to this country. This is why we're here.’

And it was always very empowering. They made sure that, even though I went to a predominantly white school, I was in touch with what it meant to be a Black man in this country.”

“I think my deepest love for the Freedom Center, however, came when I joined the youth docent program. I originally did not want to be a youth docent. You know, my family is full of educators. So my mom was like, ‘Here's a new thing. You're going to do it.’ And it's October of 2014. I'm a, you know, I'm a sophomore in high school.

"I didn't want to do it because who wants to do this weird program where you’ve got to sacrifice your Saturdays? Who wants to do that? But, you know, at that point in my life, I figured that, as far as what I wanted to do, I just thought, again—family full of educators. I figured I would just pick a subject that I didn't necessarily hate and I would just teach that subject.

"Why does it matter? It [the Freedom Center] matters a lot. Because I feel like a lot of people don't even realize what's here. A lot of people, when they talk about things to do around Cincinnati, they don't mention the Freedom Center. And it's a shame because they're missing out on all this history that happened right here beneath our feet. Just the fact that it's situated right here on the Banks is, you know—the symbolism is just- it's a beautiful, it's a beautiful space for a very important museum where we're having really important conversations.

"I would ask, at what other museum does the term “everyday people” mean so much? Because the Underground Railroad was built by everyday people. You know, when you hear ‘everyday people,’ you would think that [they] aren't important. But [what] they built, I mean, we're still talking about what they built all these years later. And it's because of those everyday people that we even have knowledge as to what happened on the Underground Railroad, because it was secretive.

"[The Underground Railroad] was always changing. It was illegal. And [the everyday people] literally carried the history with their actions. And they may not have seemed like big actions at the time they were doing them. And, you know, there's thousands of names that we’re never going to know because they weren't recorded, they didn't want to be recorded. And, you know, even the people that we do talk about all the time—you know, Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass—it wasn't glory that they were seeking. They were seeking justice, and they were doing things - trying to assist their own people and fighting something that was very unjust in their eyes, to the point where they'll defy the law in order to get this point across."