Martha’s Vineyard – The History of a Black Haven
This time last year, I posted a video of my daughter dancing in the streets of NYC when she was just over a year old. The video received over 550,000 views and 15,000 likes. I posted it because I thought it perfectly visualized an authentic sense of belonging:
Today, I’m writing from Martha's Vineyard, a place where I've always felt that same sense of belonging.
Martha’s Vineyard has been a summer haven for the Black community for over a century. There are very few places in the country where Black families vacation with each other and where we aren’t in the minority. In Oak Bluffs, on the northern tip of the island, Black families from around the country gather every summer to vacation, socialize, and spend quality time with each other. It’s common to see multiple generations of Black families together at Woods Hole, hanging out at the Inkwell beach, or eating at Nancy’s.
The island has also become a symbol of Black wealth, given its long history of welcoming communities of color who vacationed here. Martha’s Vineyard is now more popularly known as a summer home to the Obamas, and other Black luminaries like Spike Lee and Oprah. In a country partly defined by its history of systemic racism and economic inequality, Martha’s Vineyard offers a different picture of what Black life can look like in America.
The first Black people who came to the island were enslaved, servants, and – in the mid 1800s – whalers. (The Northeast was a prominent center of the whale oil trade at the time.) After the economy shifted towards more efficient forms of energy, Martha’s Vineyard was reborn as a vacation destination. And since Massachusetts was one of the first states to abolish slavery, the state served as one of the safer places for free Black folks to find their fortunes in a rapidly changing society.
Methodist churches created open air tents for worship on the island, and several entrepreneurial Black families set up shop in businesses that catered especially to Black visitors. One of them, Shearer Cottage, even became a hotspot for prominent figures associated with the Harlem Renaissance. It has been owned and operated by the same family for over a century.
Little by little, a small, permanent community of Black islanders developed. The continuity of places like Shearer Cottage helped attract more people of color to the island, who knew they would be treated well at Black-owned institutions.
After WWII, with the Black population increasing and acquiring more wealth, certain families moved to the island to purchase cottages and vacation homes, many of which are still owned by their families’ descendants today.
Throughout much of the 20th century, Martha’s Vineyard was also home to white communities, and life remained fairly segregated. But the Black community was numerous enough that all sorts of social traditions and gatherings were cemented. One of the most famous is Inkwell beach, originally so-called (pejoratively) because of the higher proportion of Black people that frequented it. Another is the dinner and cocktail party circuit, hosted by and for Black families. According to one prominent islander, Henry Louis Gates Jr, you can date families on the island by whether or not they’ve heard of “five-to-sevens,” the early evening drinks parties that remained a staple ritual of the Vineyard’s Black community well into the 1980s. (And the circuit is still going strong today!)
Nowadays, things are more integrated, but these spaces and traditions remain strongly associated with the history of the Vineyard as a haven for Black families.
It has always been important to me to see and understand that side of Black life in America. The history of Black wealth in this country is fraught with racism, violence, and disenfranchisement – but the Vineyard offers a different picture. One of affluence, family, community, and long-standing traditions. The communities of color who vacation here get more and more diverse every year, but the promise of a safe refuge never goes away.
The Vineyard has also shown me what it means to put down roots on our own terms, when the conditions of economic and social mobility allow for it. Martha’s Vineyard is a reminder to me, and to all Black people, that opportunity, joy, togetherness, and yes, wealth are just as much a part of our national story.
My own story of the Vineyard begins when my parents built a house in Oak Bluffs when I was a toddler. It was the first time in my life that I had another Black family as neighbors. We grew up coming to Oak Bluffs every summer, mostly during the month of August. I recall spending most of my time playing basketball at the public courts off Circuit Avenue; wondering where my parents were and (almost invariably) finding them down the street at the Inkwell; learning how to play golf at Farm Neck with my dad; seeing my parents socialize with friends in ways I’d never seen before – mostly with joy, excitement, and a lot of laughter. I’ve written about the power of culture coding before, and I’ve since come to realize how authentically my parents were able to be themselves here.
It’s also where I met (then) President Clinton. I learned early on that the Kennedy’s have had a place here for decades. And I’m slowly but surely plotting my next presidential run-in with the Obamas (all tips appreciated!). It was formative to be able to associate this safe place with such prestigious political history as well.
Finally, the Vineyard is where I asked my wife Juliana to marry me on July 3rd, 2018.
As I sit here today drinking my coffee and watching my two daughters on our family deck, I’m reminded of the importance of belonging. I feel like I belong here. I feel like I can be my most authentic self here. I see others that look like me. My daughters see representation and themselves in other kids. To some degree, I’ve always been envious of people who get this experience all the time in their everyday lives. But for now, these two weeks every summer in August is where you can find me in the best form of myself.
Porter Braswell
