YouTube Link to Conversations Different with Inez Russell Gomez

Inez Russell Gomez made us all feel like we were “listening to a conversation at her kitchen table”, —Gloria Roybal.

“And her knowledge and somatic understanding of the history came through.” —Marissa Roybal

Santa Fe New Mexican Article: Join the conversation today Aug 23, 2023 Updated Feb 12, 2024

History behind the town of Blackdom, New Mexico

Local historian provides new research into the town

https://www.koat.com/article/blackdom-new-mexico-history-dr-nelson-new-research/46688452

In this episode, Doña Ana County Clerk Dr. Amanda López Askin, Chief Deputy County Clerk Caroline Zamora, and County Clerk's Office Researcher Bernadine Caporale talk to Timothy E. Nelson, P.h.D., Author of Blackdom, New Mexico: The Significance of the Afro-Frontier, 1900 - 1930. They discuss the importance of the Afro-Frontier, a term coined by Dr. Nelson, along with why Frank Boyer and Daniel Keyes chose Chaves County for the Blackdom Townsite, why some Blackdom families ultimately settled in Doña Ana County, and why sovereignty was the goal of the community.

Please send any questions or feedback to dacclerk@donaanacounty.org

Marissa Roybal, COO, Blackdom Clothing and Productions Ltd. is imbued with the value of self-sufficiency and an entrepreneurial spirit. Her extensive representation, business, relationship building, and organizational skills along with her passion is her contribution to the development of Blackdom: The Afro-Frontier. Her values, and passion for alternative forms of education, and racial justice were forged at a young age and continue to drive her work and vision to foster cultural change. https://www.pandora.com/podcast/the-square-peg-podcast/marissa-roybal-connecting-causes-with-community/PE:6641187?part=ug-desktop&corr=34077051

Dr. Timothy E. Nelson’s multi-faceted work concerns racism, ambition, and the search for opportunity. These themes were revealed in his 2015 Ph.D. dissertation The Significance of the Afro-Frontier. Dr. Nelson was born in South Central LA, raised in Compton, during the early 1990s in the wake of race and class-based conflict with the LAPD. He earned his Ph.D. from (UTEP) the University of Texas at El Paso. https://www.pandora.com/podcast/the-square-peg-podcast/s2-ep-2-blackdom-with-dr-timothy-e-nelson/PE:6641555?part=ug-desktop&corr=18036938712601839

https://youtu.be/qgPt1PZlB6Y

by Megan Sayles AFRO Business Writer February 9, 2023

Notice the hesitation to use Afro-Frontier; booming “African American frontier in New Mexico.”

Key players to get “Four Sites of Return: Ritual, Remembrance, Reparation, and Reclamation” out into the public; Jon Eddy of Form & Concept in Santa Fe, Marisa Sage, Earthseed Black Arts Alliance (Vital Spaces fiscal agent), Meow Wolf and Hakim Bellamy (project manager and Black Education Act council member), Taos Center for the Arts, KNCE 93.5 FM, the National Endowment for the Humanities and NMSU Art Museum.

Our organization notes ongoing concerns with lack of acknowledgment and improper use of Dr. Nelson's work by the Taos, Santa Fe, Albuquerque and Roswell "Black" community. Despite attempts by Marissa Roybal to facilitate a dialogue, including proposing a presentation by Dr. Nelson to the council, efforts were rebuffed. Dr. Nelson, a historian and racial justice scholar, encountered direct omission of his contributions, notably at an Albuquerque Museum exhibition which credited Austin Miller, citing Dr. Nelson's work, without recognizing Dr. Nelson himself.

Attempts to address these issues, including a proposed meeting with Vickie Bannerman and Hakim Bellamy, were unproductive. This led Dr. Nelson to resign, refusing to condone the mistreatment and underrepresentation of his work.

In December, Chelsea Reidy from the Taos Center for the Arts reached out to Dr. Nelson for an interview. Aware of the upcoming NMSU Art Museum installation by Nikesha Breeze in January, Dr. Nelson agreed to the interview, requesting it be scheduled early January and the questions sent in advance, emphasizing his non-association with Breeze's work.

The interview, held on December 13, 2021, during a busy week for Dr. Nelson, lasted 20 minutes. Despite initial discussions, the Taos Center for the Arts combined Dr. Nelson's interview with Breeze's for a January 10th broadcast, focusing on a topic Dr. Nelson had researched. After some resistance, the Center fully credited Dr. Nelson's contribution following further requests and a threatened NEH contact, updating their records on February 9, 2022.

First BEA Advisory committee meeting on 12/04/2021- is NOT LISTed ON BEA website

New Mexico PUBLIC EDUCATION DEPARTMENT NEWS

Anti-racism training for educators, a culturally inclusive curriculum, and a hotline for reporting school-based incidents of racial bias are among the strategies to be implemented in the coming school year to meet requirements of the New Mexico Black Education Act, which takes effect July 1.

New Mexico PED BEA Publicity

The New Mexico Legislature is considering a bill that would support African American education

New culturally inclusive strategies will be implemented in New Mexico schools

PED Establishes Black Education Advisory Council

HB43-924 Jan 26, 2021 Legislative Session

Our organization notes ongoing concerns with the exclusion, misuse, and infringement of Dr. Nelson's work by the Taos, Santa Fe, Albuquerque and Roswell "Black" communities, highlighting a lack of transparency and open critique. Despite efforts, individuals like Vickie Bannerman, Hakim Bellamy, Rita Powdrell, Nikesha Breeze, and Gregory Waits have shown limited engagement. For instance, in 2019, Dr. Nelson's invitations to collaborate on a panel for the 2020 Western History Conference were declined or ignored, with Gregory Waits withdrawing last minute but managing to feature his presentation through Austin Miller, Ph.D. Candidate, Southern Methodist University, Interpreting Blackdom (UNM master’s thesis).

Nikesha Breeze contacted Dr. Nelson through Facebook Messenger, he relayed a request to coordinate with his business partner, Marissa Roybal, for a scheduled call that did not occur. The NMSU Art Museum misused Dr. Nelson’s work on their exhibit and website, incorrectly citing him and linking his website to Nikesha's without permission. Marisa Sage of NMSU permitted the inadequate and unauthorized use of his work. Further, the Earthseed Black Arts Alliance and NMSU Art Museum shared a map with Dr. Nelson’s watermark on social media without crediting him, missing an opportunity to acknowledge his contributions. At the NMSU opening, Nikesha discussed Blackdom Oil without crediting Dr. Nelson, a pattern repeated during the Blackdom Panel discussion. Despite expressing gratitude for Dr. Nelson’s contributions, Nikesha did not seek his permission or involve him in discussions.

Following complaints, NMSU made some corrections, including removing the unauthorized website link and attempting to correct Dr. Nelson's name. They also opted to delete two Instagram posts instead of crediting Dr. Nelson. However, Nikesha again failed to acknowledge him during an Instagram Live event when she mentioned Blackdom Oil. Additionally, another Taos artist contacted Dr. Nelson highlighting Nikesha wearing what appears to be a Blackdom Illuminated T-shirt gifted by Dr. Nelson’s team.

An interview with Dr. Nelson by the Taos Center for the Arts was never published, suspected to have been shared with Nikesha in preparation for the NMSU event. At the Albuquerque Museum exhibit in 2022, project manager Hakim Bellamy and Rita Powdrell did not include Dr. Nelson in installations related to New Mexico Black Homestead history. The Albuquerque Museum later offered an event tied to the publication of Dr. Nelson’s book, but no further communication was received after reaching out in 2023.

BEA Advisory Council Members that have been in our circles of influence: Timothy Nelson, Los Alamos; Hakim Bellamy, Albuquerque; Nancy Lopez, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque; Patricia Trujillo, deputy cabinet Secretary, NM Higher Education Department; Vernon Oliver, Rio Rancho; Arlen Nelson, Kimberly York, Las Cruces; Nicole Bedford, Albuquerque; Sheryl F. Means, Albuquerque.

Check out State Historian of New Mexico, Rob Martinez on his YouTube channel!

New Mexico State Historian Rob Martinez mentions Blackdom at 07:00:00 Published August 16, 2021

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]]>New Mexico Black HistoryAfro-FrontierEducationAfrican DiasporaMarissa RoybalThu, 05 Aug 2021 18:31:00 +0000https://www.blackdomthesis.com/newsandcommentary/article-from-african-loverz-by-frank-siekyi-closest-articulation-of-dr-nelsons-work-yet5d4c497ceaa8c80001255cec:5dcdbfc396a35c7993c3cdf8:61b4f5c79fc3313394c9dab4WE ARE SHARING THIS ARTICLE AS AN EXAMPLE OF HOW DR. NELSON’S WORK HAS HAD AN INFLUENCE ON SHAPING A NEW NARRATIVE OF NEW MEXICO BLACK HISTORY. [Frank Siekyi is an African Scholar]

“Closest articulation of Dr. Nelson's work yet.” ~M. Roybal

by Frank Siekyi - August 5, 2021

BLACK OIL COMPANY: Blackdom Oil Organization began in 1919 during the Red Summer which denoted a time of cross country savagery against Individuals of color. That year Blackdom, New Mexico’s just all-dark town, gone into contracts with Public Investigation Organization and Mescalero Oil Organization. Oil was first found in southeastern New Mexico in 1907, acquiring the district the epithet “Little Texas,” however the main fruitful business wells started creating in 1922.

In 1919, “Blackdomites” [Dr. Nelson’s coined term] profited with the hypothesis bubble that happened before the principal all around was bored when a portion of its residents fused the Blackdom Oil Organization. Conspicuous families locally including the Boyer, Ragsdale, Eubank, Entryways, and Collins families consented to store their territory with the Roswell Picacho Venture Organization to open it to oil investigation.

Blackdom started in September of 1903 when 13 African American men, driven by Isaac Jones and Blunt Boyer consolidated the townsite organization. The early years were tormented with dry spells in a dry-cultivating farming society. By 1918, for those delayed to demonstrate upland, possibilities for an oil blast in the area expanded their desperation to demonstrate up (acquire power) over their homesteaded lands.

Two ladies were noticeable in these endeavors in 1919. Ella Boyer was quick to exploit the hypothesis, finishing her patent on 160 sections of land neighboring Blackdom’s 40-section of land townsite (land prior licensed by her significant other Straightforward). Sometime thereafter Mittie Moore Wilson [Dr. Nelson’s research and work] homesteaded a square mile of land three miles south of Blackdom. Moore was a peddler who ran a place of prostitution twenty miles north of the town and was one of the space’s most affluent residents.

In January of 1920, Blackdomites reported in the Roswell Every day [Daily] Record, “Will Bore at Blackdom,” welcoming wildcatters and other oil examiners to take part in the blast that guaranteed wealth for Blackdomites who had lands made accessible for oil penetrating.

The whirlwind of promotions for Blackdom Oil [Dr. Nelson’s research and work] topped in the late spring that year as nearby occupants marked agreements with oil investigation organizations from New York to California. On September 1, 1920, The Roswell Day by day Record detailed that an unidentified California organization had “Made Area at Black dom.” The number of wells and barrels were created by Blackdom’s venture is at present lost to history.

During the 1920s, the actual town shriveled even as Blackdomites in the locale accumulated oil sovereignties. Eustace and Francis Boyer Jr., of the Boyer family, were a piece of The Second Great War partner of returning troopers who demonstrated up residences for the oil blast. Their dad Forthcoming Boyer, nonetheless, left Chaves Province where Blackdom was found and resettled in Vado, Doña Ana District, New Mexico in 1920. The Ragsdale family, in any case, remained and benefitted from the windmills they built on close-by properties and the oil income they acquired from the well on their property.

By 1930—and the beginning of the Economic crisis of the early 20s—Blackdom stopped to exist. Blackdom Oil, be that as it may, kept on creating sovereignties for conspicuous dark families nearby. Nearby papers detailed in 1930 that the Blackdom Oil Organization bored investigation wells no less than 1,600 feet down. Forthcoming Boyer, in a 1947 meeting, said that sovereignty installments to Blackdomites streamed all the way into the post-The Second Great Wartime.

Blackdom was located in the backyard of Dexter, a small farming community in Chaves County where I was raised. It was about two years ago or so when a researcher came to the Caroline E. Stras Research Room seeking information about the settlement and soon after I was consumed and I wanted to know more about the establishment.

With the current Black Lives Matter movement, I thought that this post was timely and believe it was the ideal time to share information about the settlement. I would like to point out that it is critical that within the archival profession to capture the history of underrepresented/marginalized groups. With that being said, I would like to share the history of Blackdom.

University of Northern Iowa's History Club Invites Alum Dr. Nelson to present his research of the Afro-Frontier in American history

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