AphroChic Magazine: Issue No. 1

the way, a friend in need - there is
always room for family at the house.
My family’s house is unique,
but it’s far from being the only one
of its kind. The Black family home is
a significant cultural institution in
America. So many of us recognize
the warm feeling that comes from
thinking of that one special house
where the family can always be found.
For people like my great-grandmother
Lola Harper, affectionally
called “Mama,” and her children,
home ownership was not an easy path.
Covenants that barred ownership
and access to specific neighborhoods
were common across the country in
the 1950s and before. To purchase a
home was a challenge, but well worth
it, as ownership provided security
for the family. It gave you something
to call your own, something to
pass down to future generations.
Today, this institution is in
danger. According to the US Census
Bureau, home ownership among
Black families dropped in 2019 to
40.6%, the lowest it’s been since 1950.
Beginning in 2007, the decline marks
the complete erasure of progress
made since the 1968 Fair Housing Act,
which barred the discriminatory real
estate practices that had always disenfranchised
Black people seeking
to own their own homes. Causes for
the losses include predatory lending
practices, subprime mortgages,
and struggles with upkeep, but
behind them all are many of the
same attitudes that created barriers
to Black home ownership in the
past. For many Black families, “the
house” is in danger of being lost.
To preserve our family home
of 63 years, we began an effort to
update the space to keep it in good
repair for years to come. The process
has been an ethnographic study of
my family, the community, and the
importance of ensuring that the
Black home remains a family affair.
My mother was a child when she
first moved into the house. Years later,
she would inherit it from her mother
as her mother had inherited it from
Mama. Today, my sister lives there
with her husband and son; and my
wife and I continue the home’s legacy
by being stewards for the next generation
that will certainly call it home.
It‘s a Family Affair is an ongoing series
focusing on the history of the Black family
home, stories from the Harper family,
and the renovations and restorations of a
house that bonds this family.
Photos from Harper Family Archives
Words by Bryan Mason
issue one