MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. (7News) — Reporter’s Notebook: History is literally repeating itself thanks to famed abolitionist Harriet Tubman of Maryland. Thirty years ago this month, local historian Tony Cohen walked from Maryland to Canada to celebrate Tubman’s story of resilience – leading the enslaved to freedom along the Underground Railroad. Well, Cohen is doing it again – this time to mark America’s 250th birthday. Cohen is also asking Americans what they want the next 250 years to look like.
In early May, hundreds gathered outside the Slave Museum in Sandy Spring, Maryland, in the shadow of a statue titled The Journey to Freedom, a 2200-pound bronze depicting Black icon Harriet Tubman leaning into a headwind, determined to guide her enslaved niece north along the Underground Railroad.
They’re celebrating the beginning of a pilgrimage of sorts, connecting a complex past to present-day concerns of racial injustice.
“We are still fighting that valiant fight,” said Tony Cohen moments before beginning his trek to Canada…