By Will Crossley
Black history is American history. The Black experience is the American experience. It’s an experience that rejects being bound down, rejects subjugation — whether from a British crown or an overseer’s whip — and embraces the freedom of self-reliance.
The heroes of the slavery abolition movement, the Black men and women who helped end slavery and free countless slaves from captivity, refused to let their circumstances stop them from moving forward. They made their own way, boldly and well, into a future of greater freedom and justice.
This spirit of nobility and self-reliance is consistent with those we see in the American Founding and in all the greatest moments of our nation’s story. It’s a spirit that remains alive today.
Grace and Laurence Jones, the founders of Piney Woods School, both had great-grandparents who established and ran Underground Railroad stops. They went on to pioneer a transformative educational project that rested upon that same jubilant, resilient character.
Today, Piney Woods sits on 2,000 acres of land and is home to about 100 students, grades 8 through 12. They help us grow our own food. They work hard and attain real academic and personal excellence — we have a 100% graduation rate and a 100% acceptance rate into military service, trade school, or college.