On the Morning Tide

Excerpt from A.J. Williams-Myers book On The Morning Tide: African Americans, History and Methodology in the Historical Ebb and Flow of Hudson River Society

"On the morning tide!" meant a new beginning, a new start, and with new possibilities and maneuverability to meet the challenge that the formidable Hudson River posed... With the innocence of my youth, but nurtured by the maturity of age- anchored in the professionalism of the historiography of the African World and Hudson River Society- I am challenged to diversify substantively the historical imagery of life along the river. Much of what has already been written paints a picture of a marginalized, dependent African American community: more acted upon than actor. The position of that community is as an ebb tide is to the Hudson- in a holding pattern, caught between the two extremes of the river's flow. In academia, this position is one between the conservatism of the establishment right unable to discard a limited historical vision of a diverse people, and the so-called "liberal left" mired in disarray , pedagogical shock, and an inability to rally a sustained counterforce.

Such a position for too long has unavoidably created a distorted image of the role the African-American community has played in the unfolding of the American saga in the Hudson Valley...

In many ways such a distortion has equally distorted the larger picture of the European-American community. With a truer image of the role and of the contributions of the African-American community, trapped in the backwaters of an ebb tide, it is impossible for us to conceptualize or perceive an imagery that is the heritage of us all. So long as the picture remains distorted through the omission of data and/or the marginalization of African-Americans, we are all losers. It is time to peak the ebb tide and free that more substantively diverse historical image of life along the Hudson from the backwaters and set it on course "on the morning tide!"