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A WGVU initiative in partnership with the W.K. Kellogg Foundation using on-air programs and community events to explore issues of inclusion and equity.

A Stitch in Time: Every Quilt has a story

Mae Black remembers vividly the urgency for change she felt living in the racially segregated south in the early 60s. 

“I had a big mouth and I could see myself being killed by talking back, because we was not allowed to talk back to Caucasians.”  

She was only 14 years old when she joined hundreds of Albany residents on a nine-hour train ride from Georgia to Washington D.C to march along Martin Luther King Jr. 

Today, Black tells about her journey to Washington through a 50 by 70 inches sized quilt she has spent the last year making with the Baxter Community Center’s sewing group. 

“A picture of Dr. King with fabric to make a face of him, hair, everything. We have a podium of him behind, then I have a picture of the crowd. Then its more like he is doing his speech to the crowd. Then on the side I have the “I have a dream” speech”.” 

Black and 20 other women will be contributing 70 quilts to this year’s show, according to Anita Johnson, Promotions Assistant for the show. 

“This year’s theme is, ‘Stitch in Time: Every Quilt has a Story,’ and they have some incredible stories like of Mae who went on the March of Washington.”

Over 300 hundred people attend every year, and its a way, says Johnson, for the women to share their stories. 

“Its put them in a kind of a leadership position. They are able to share their history of their family.”   

The event will take place on Friday starting at 5:30pm, and Saturday morning at Baxter Community Center.  

Michelle Jokisch Polo, WGVU News