The Dark Branch Descendants Association (DBDA), the local affiliate of the Paix Foundation, a 501(c)3 organization, established to engage in charitable and educational activities including, but not limited to, developing, nurturing and sustaining partnerships of citizens, agencies and institutions through programs that emphasize the history of the arts and humanities of under-represented communities.
Partners
The Paix Foundation
United Way of Lower Cape Fear
Humanity United
George Mason University Foundation
Lower Cape Fear Historical Society
Robert M. Bell Center for Civil Rights and Education at Morgan State University
Fort Anderson
Reconstruction Era National Historic Network
Kendall Chapel A.M.E. Church
NC Gullah Geechee Greenway Blueway Heritage Trail
Join
Urgent Need:
Please help us preserve the Cemetery against the damage and erosion that has occurred from extremely heavy rainfalls of this season’s tropical storms:
Our Mission & Board
The Dark Branch Descendants Association’s mission is to support the goals, objectives and aspirations of all Descendants of the enslaved on Orton, Lilliput, and Kendal, and the Oaks Plantations. The Association shall be, without limitation, an instrument and voice to pursue and address the mutual interest of all descendants through membership recruitment, financial support, public relations, community outreach, talent development, loyalty building, and demonstrated dedication and commitment to the legacy of the Dark Branch Ancestors.
Objectives
The objectives of the Association shall be, without limitation, the following:
To unite current and future descendants of the Dark Branch Community; descendants of all people enslaved on Orton, Lilliput, and Kendal, and the Oaks Plantations, and friends, allies, supporters, and family members of these descendants.
To foster a spirit of FAMILY, kinship, unity and mutual support among all descendants of enslaved people, and particularly among all people enslaved on Orton, Lilliput, and Kendal, and the Oaks Plantations.
To promote and support the aspirations of descendants through programming and fundraising activities that help achieve Association objectives.
To promote the educational and economic aspirations of all descendants through mutually beneficial relationships with the Dark Branch Descendants Association, the John Mitchell Jr. Program for History Justice and Race, and other organizations recognizing the descendents among all people enslaved on Orton, Lilliput, and Kendal, and the Oaks Plantations.
To engage in planning and sponsoring social and economic activities that will strengthen the Association for generations into the future.
Board of Directors
Executive Director:
Dr. Charles L. Chavis, Jr.
Co-President:
Karen Chavis
Co-President and Treasurer:
Karen Stith
Vice President of Operations and Secretary:
Brittney White
Vice President of Programs:
Shirley Brown
Vice President of Membership:
LaTanya Burns
Chaplain:
Rev. Christopher Williams
Historian:
Jalissa Pompei
Assistant Secretary:
Cheryl Frink
Hospitality Committee:
Jennette (Jackie) Whitaker
Honorary Officers:
Kenneth Clark Barbara Hooper Lawrence Brewington Lillie Mae Clark Hughes* George Merant Jr.
Programs
Dark Branch Community Project Internship Program
The Dark Branch Community Project Internship Program will also partner with George Mason University to create a comprehensive internship program hosted by Kendall Chapel AME Church, at the intersection of several different important disciplines- including social justice, environmentalism, community stewardships, and historic preservation
The Dark Branch Digital and Pop-Up Traveling Exhibit
This exhibit will document and compile stories of the ancestors and descendants of the Dark Branch Community, focusing on how enslaved and free African Americans contributed significantly to our understanding of natural history, ecology, conservation, and rice cultivation.
The Intergenerational Oral History
This project will supplement the Digital and Pop-Up Traveling Exhibit and benefit educators, students, and amateur conservationists significantly from this project.
Local and regional educators will have resources available to diversify further the representation in their educational materials (e.g., lectures, reading lists, focused projects).
Students in Brunswick County Schools and early conservationists will be exposed to a broader representation of natural history, ecology, wildlife science, and conservation biology.
Furthermore, recognition will be rightly attributed to those African Americans who contributed to these fields but were denied the credit they deserved.
