Connect with your community by knowing your history
Written by katie test davis
(Little Island at night. Photo by yours truly.)
As a New Yorker, I spend a lot of time along the Hudson River on the weekends. One of my very favorite spots is Little Island.
A new addition to the pier-parks along the Empire State trail, Little Island is a garden, performance space and dining spot all in one.
Little Island opened in 2021 in place of Pier 54. The land was originally home to the Lenape tribe. Once colonized, it served as an ocean liner dock in the 19th and 20th century.
(Pier 54 image courtesy of the New York Public Library)
More recently, the abandoned Pier became a safe space for LGBTQ Black and Brown youth to spend time together, dance and gather in community. The Pier was regularly part of Pride celebrations.
That’s a lot of history and importance to the community – and it was important to incorporate this history when reimagining the space.
When the old Pier was torn down and Little Island was constructed in its place, the team behind the island intentionally partnered with The Door, a youth-focused nonprofit in NYC. The nonprofit helps keep the Pier 54 history alive through Teen Night, featuring youth artist performances.
Little Island is a great example of how knowing your past can help shape your future. As communicators, it’s our job to deeply understand what came before us.
For example, knowing about child care’s roots in chattel slavery can help you communicate effectively about workforce challenges.
Knowing the history of de- (and recent re-) segregation can help public school communicators better connect around school closures and redistricting.
Great communicators are history experts and are constantly absorbing news and context.
when to dig into history
Knowing what came before is always important, but here are a few times in child-and-family focused communications that it’s ESPECIALLY important to deep dive on the past. When:
Starting a new job – think about both the organization’s history and the history that impacts the audiences you serve
Focusing on a new advocacy initiative
Communicating school redistricting, renaming or closures
Launching school bond campaigns
Starting naming and rebranding projects
Planning for milestone anniversaries or annual reports
how to gather your history
Here are a few questions to ask when you dive into history:
What came before this?
How far back can we trace this history?
Whose point of view is the history shared from?
Who may offer a different view?
Can we learn more about that different view?
Who was involved?
What actions did they take, and what values did they have?
How does that align (or not) with our organization?
What has been tried before related to [INSERT THE THING WE WANT TO DO]?
Was it successful?
Why or why not?
Who was supportive? Who was opposed? Who wasn’t involved at all?
Who should have been involved but wasn’t?
What was happening during the timeframe? What was the larger context?
How has history been preserved and/or kept alive?
How does our organization fit into the big picture?
Understanding the history – do we have the right team to lead [THE THING WE WANT TO DO?]
The right expertise and cultural competence?
By honoring our history, we can predict patterns, anticipate reactions and help shape a more inclusive future.
