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Library

Ida Pearl Cross

July 3, 2017

|

Hudson, NY

Song

Recorded by

Nikki Yeboah

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Summary:

This interview with Ida Pearl Cross was conducted on July 3, 2017 in Hudson, NY. Cross is a grandmother and mother and a 45-year-long resident of Hudson. In the interview, she discusses Endless Love, a non-denominational church that she and her husband founded, the church-choir she started with her grandkids, and the daycare she used to run. Family is an important part of her narrative; she talks about losing custody of her grandchildren, her pride in her children, lack of resources for children in the city, and her fear that her grandchildren will not be able to afford to live here. She describes her charitable work feeding the community, and the importance of God in her life. She reminisces about old shops and attractions that closed down in Hudson, and reflects on subtle prejudice in Hudson. At the end of the interview, she sings a song she learned in church.

This interview may be of interest to those who want to learn about Hudson’s old attractions, the black church in Hudson, women’s businesses and informal economy, family life in Hudson, racial micro-aggression in Hudson, church songs, working class life, black women’s community leadership.

Interviewer Bio:
Nikki Yeboah

Nikki Yeboah’s research interrogates questions of migration, feminism, race, social justice, and Afrocentrism within black communities. Currently, she is an Assistant Professor of Performance Studies at San Jose State University. She is interested in bringing together oral history and performance to create alternative records of black life through staged performance.

Additional Info:
Interview language(s):
English
,
Audio quality:
Low

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Medium - There is background noise, but the narrator is audible.

High - There is little background noise and the narrator is audible.

Permissions: 

This interview is hereby made available for research purposes only. For additional uses (radio and other media, music, internet), please click here to inquire about permissions.

Part of this interview may be played in a radio broadcast or podcast.

Oral history is an iterative process. In keeping with oral history values of anti-fixity, interviewees will have an opportunity to add, annotate and reflect upon their lives and interviews in perpetuity. Talking back to the archive is a form of “shared authority.”

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