Gathering of Hearts says, ‘Get involved!’

7th November 2011   ·   0 Comments

By J. Kojo Livingston
Contributing Writer

A woman from South Louisiana is making waves across the state and across the globe.

Antoinette Harrell was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana and raised in Amite. From humble beginnings she now has a cable access TV show, a radio show and a feeding ministry. “Nurturing Our Roots” radio airs three times weekly on Blog Talk Radio to a worldwide audience. The TV version of the show is available online. Her documentaries on hunger and poverty in Louisiana and Missis­sippi are available on Youtube. She has been featured in People magazine and recognized for her work in genealogy and exposing and addressing rural poverty.

Harrell told The Weekly about her efforts. “I started the television show “Nurturing our Roots” to educate African-American families on genealogical research and family history. The radio program is an extension of the TV show that reaches a broader audience.” Harrell has been a genealogist for the past 14 years. Her programs teach the value and the process for seeking out one’s roots.

“It is so important to know about your family history,” she says, “You learn things about your family’s accomplishments. You learn about generational strengths and weaknesses that need to be addressed. Many people have learned that they owned hundreds of acres of land and other property that was left to them by relatives they were not even aware existed.”

Gathering of Hearts grew out of the mission of family research, “We were finding families who were held in peonage, involuntary servitude and share croppers living in terrible conditions in the 21st century. There are thousands still living on plantations. When I conducted oral history research, I certainly couldn’t bypass the fact that these families were in need of food and clothing and the basic necessities of life. So we formed Gathering of Hearts which is a non-profit organization to feed, clothe and help shelter families in need. When we talk about nurturing our roots I think about nurturing our families. There’s no way in the world that I could research and document without helping families sustain themselves.”

Her efforts have gotten phone calls from and support from across the United States. Students from Harvard University’s Bridge House Club, the Rotary Club and even high schools from as far away as Ohio have donated lightly worn coats, blanket, shoes and other items to help people in need. “We have been blessed with people from all over the U.S. who are good-hearted humanitarians.”

The work has drawn national attention from major magazines. Last week photographers from National Geographic went with her into rural Mississippi to record the conditions and share them with the world. “So many photographers have come out to document the poverty and to raise the awareness of poverty long before Cornel West and Tavis Smiley took the road,” says Harrell. “The difference is that every time we go into the rural areas of Mississippi and Louisiana, which are the areas that we target, we always take things with us, like blankets, food, clothes.” She has been joined on her mission trips by people and groups such as the late Dr. Ron Walters (her mentor), Min. Louis Farrakhan’s daughter, students at Southeastern University, National Public Radio, and national officers from the SCLC. Bev Smith, the popular national radio talk-show host, is one of the biggest supporters of Gathering of Hearts. According to Harrell, “Bev helped people to get houses.”

In its two years of existence Gathering of Hearts has helped over 700 families. “We could not have done this without contributions from people who care about people and believe that every person should have the basic necessities of life.” Some find out about the group’s work from Youtube videos and contact her by phone e-mail. “Students from South high school in Columbus Ohio just collected over 60 coats to give to the people in Mississippi. This school year we gave out over 235 book bags with supplies in them to children in need.”

Harrell has seen a lot of the suffering that most people in the US are unaware of. “I get an opportunity to look at their living conditions, the lack of libraries, doctor’s offices or transportation. I’ve seen communities that are not even incorporated have no infrastructure at all. I’ve visited homes where the children opened the refrigerator and there was nothing in there but a cup of water.”

Gathering of Hearts is now partnering with the Shreveport-based Destiny One Ministries. They have donated school supplies for the children’s programs that operate from D1’s Grandmother’s House project and in the future will be distributing clothes to needy families through Grandmother’s House several times per year. Destiny One recently accompanied Harrell’s team on a mission trip to Fluker, Louisiana where clothes, and other goods were given to families. The conditions were extreme. The families were very appreciative and excited to know that others were concerned about them.

But not everyone is sympathetic to the needs of the poverty-stricken people Harrell serves, “The first thing some people ask is, ‘Why don’t they move?’ That little piece of land may be all they have in the world. A lot of the people lack reading or computer skills. The employment picture is a problem for them. Poverty did not get talked about nationally until the middle class and upper class started facing hardship because of lack of jobs. These people have been facing that for decades, some for generations.”

Harrell describes other objections to her work, “Some people say, ‘You’re just addressing their immediate needs, Antoinette,’ But what they don’t understand is when a person is hungry you have to feed them, right now. When a child is cold you have to give them a coat, right now. That child needs shoes right now, and then you can connect with organizations that can address the long-term problems.”

Then there is the danger that comes with poverty. “In the winter time they spend so much money on butane to fill those tanks up because they don’t have natural gas lines. A lot of times they heat themselves up with electric heaters or by boiling water on hot plates, which is dangerous. A lot of the homes burn down.”

Harrell wants everyone to get active in addressing poverty wherever they are, “I want to also ask everyone to look around your own backyard. Charity starts at home. We need people to become involved in the community, to take care of the children and the elderly. There are so many children who go to bed hungry. The poor in the United States are suffering more now because people don’t have the money to donate like they used to. We have enough resources to share and to help these people rise out of these conditions.

This article was originally published in the November 7, 2011 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper