![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/walkingrichmond\/files\/2018\/04\/1-the-Jeffrier-2.jpg\")
<\/a>Odette<\/em> and Albert\u00a0<\/em>Jefferie sitting on their front porch, enjoying a sunny day in Jackson Ward. (Photos by Fatema Al Darii)<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n By Fatema Al Darii<\/p>\n The Black History Museum (BHM) on West Leigh Street, in the heart of Jackson Ward, is one of the many symbols that showcase both the history and current dynamics of the neighborhood.<\/p>\n On the museum’s glass doors, their hours of operation are printed in a white font; a nearby sign bears witness to the building’s original purpose, as \u201cthe nation\u2019s only 19th century armory built for an African-American militia.\u201d Inside, interactive touch screens display teachings about black history, artwork and sculpture.<\/p>\n The museum was empty, but the emptiness was deceptive. \u201cWe\u2019re holding an event today for the Boys and Girls Club,” said a museum staff member, looking a bit anxious. “It\u2019s our first time hosting them.\u201d From my own volunteer work, I know a little about the Boys and Girls Clubs, who provide safe and creative environments for young students.<\/p>\n On a reception table in the lobby stands a beautiful sculpture: an African man holding a infant in his arms, embraced from behind by a woman. A sign under the sculpture identifies it as \u201cThe Bond,\u201d by local artist Brian Owens.<\/p>\n \u00a0 “The Bond,” by Brian Owens.<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n I thought of that sculpture later, as I talked with Odette and Albert Jefferie. They were enjoying the sunny afternoon on their porch as I walked by. Friendly and curious, they invited me to come up and sit with them.<\/p>\n We chatted for a few minutes, introducing ourselves, and they asked me about my home country, Oman.<\/p>\n Odette glanced at her car, which was parked out front. \u201cI need to move it,\u201d she said, ducking inside to fetch the car keys. \u201cI don\u2019t trust him to park it,\u201d she giggled, motioning at Albert as she walked to the car.<\/p>\n A young lady in a pink shirt came out of the house, looking for a jacket to protect her from the cold wind. She was shy, and took a step back when she noticed my presence. Then she smiled, and all was well. “This is our daughter,” Odette said, as she went inside to help her.<\/p>\n The couple have three children, said Albert. Two of them live here.<\/p>\n I asked them about living in Jackson Ward. \u201cIt\u2019s more open to us,\u201d Albert said. It’s a tight-knit community, and they like that. \u201cWe’ve been around here for 20 years and we know the same people.\u201d<\/p>\n An ordinary day for the Jeffries is \u201claid back, with lots of traffic.\u201d On Sundays, young and old play basketball on the court across the street or just hang out, drinking beer.<\/p>\n There is a bond here, between the Jeffries. And another between them and their community. They don’t make a big deal out of it, but the bond is strong.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Fatema Al Darii The Black History Museum (BHM) on West Leigh Street, in the heart of Jackson Ward, is one of the many symbols that showcase both the history and current dynamics of the neighborhood. On the museum’s glass doors, their hours of operation are printed in a white font; a nearby sign Read more about The Bond<\/span>[…]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3549,"featured_media":2178,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[85395],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2175","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-neighbors"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/walkingrichmond\/files\/2018\/04\/1-the-Jeffrier-2.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7o53H-z5","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/walkingrichmond\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2175","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/walkingrichmond\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/walkingrichmond\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/walkingrichmond\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3549"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/walkingrichmond\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2175"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/walkingrichmond\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2175\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/walkingrichmond\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2178"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/walkingrichmond\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2175"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/walkingrichmond\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2175"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/walkingrichmond\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2175"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/a>