Following Zora’s Dust Tracks in Ft. Pierce

Zora Neale Hurston was a writer and anthropologist who was born in 1891 and died in 1960. I refer to my work as Zora Neale Hurstoning for a few reasons: 1) Anthropology was used to prove that Black folk were inferior, so I’ont like the term, 2) Zora gathered stories her own unique/intuitive way, 3) she knew that #WeAllCousins and traveled to prove it and she celebrated how African we acted, no matter where in the world we existed, even though her peers were tryna fit into the New Negro Movement.

Zora was originally from Eatonville, Florida, which she described as “a city of five lakes, three croquet courts, three hundred brown skins, three hundred good swimmers, plenty guavas, two schools, and no jailhouse.” From Eatonville, she went to Jacksonville then Baltimore, DC, and Harlem. She spent time in New Orleans, Jamaica, Haiti, Honduras, and back home in Florida to study Black culture. Learn more about Zora and how she shaped Krak Teet here.

Around 1956-57, Zora moved to Ft. Pierce where she wrote for the Fort Pierce Chronicle and worked as a substitute teacher occasionally. Three years later, she died in Ft. Pierce. Quoting Reverend W.A. Jennings, who delivered the eulogy at Zora’s funeral, Zora may not have had any money when she died, but she wasn’t poor. “She died rich,” he told the congregation, “as her various contributions will live on after she is gone.”

I finally made my way down and followed my girl’s dust tracks. (Her autobiography is named Dust Tracks on a Road.) Follow Zora’s heritage trail virtually here. I’ll also share some of my pictures below: