Learning more about the Lemon Project throughout the day and the project on the “places and spaces” around campus allowed me to view the campus in a different manner and provided me with a new perspective that I don’t think I would have been able to see if it weren’t for the Lemon Project. This was especially true for me when I learned about the long history of slavery found on campus at William and Mary. It was shocking to see, as Ari pointed out, that the College had owned slaves for more years than it had not owned slaves. Creating interview questions for the Legacy 3, Janet, Karen and Karen also allowed me to think of the three women as more than just an idea, but rather actual human beings. It was almost surreal to think that they had lived, walked, and breathed in the same areas that we all have on the campus but had simultaneously faced drastically different obstacles that were inherently based on their race as well as some of the same, shared experiences that we have all had at the college. Seeing this idea also expressed through the movie, Hidden Figures, helped me gain a greater understanding of how badass these women are for not allowing any obstacle placed in front of them to stand in their way. These three women were, without even knowing it at the time, paving the way for future generations, not only for other students of color but for women as well.
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