blackaustintours

One of the reasons I wanted involved in Gone to Texas project was because of his ability to wrestle with questions of identity, belonging, memory, and what it means to move through the world as a Black man.

While in Brixton, Edward shared this poem for the first time.

LGone to Texas centers the life of Hemsley Coursey, a 17-year-old Black teenager who was sold from Maryland to New Orleans in 1835 and eventually forced to Texas through the domestic slave trade. Through his story we want to talk about the hundreds of thousands of enslaved Black folks forced to Texas and the result of their stolen labor - primarily cotton production. Yet this project has never been solely about the past.

It is also about the lives that emerged from that history.

It is about the ways Black people continue to navigate questions of identity, movement, place, and humanity across generations and across oceans.

That is why Edward’s voice is so important to this project.

His work helps us think about the connections between the young Black man whose life was forever altered in 1835 and the Black people of various nationalities who continue to make meaning of their lives in the present.

Listen closely.

is creating the sculpture for this project and is architecting how it will come together!

Part of this project is funded by the Elevate Grant from

What does Brixton, England have to do with Texas? Quite a lot, actually.

Gone to Texas (GTT), which is the story of slavery, cotton, and forced migration cannot be contained within a single state or even a single country.

That’s why I was excited to spend time in Brixton with , a South London essayist, poet, artist, grower, and researcher whose work explores identity, humanity, migration, memory, and anti-colonial thought.

I first encountered Edward’s work through a mutual connection and was immediately drawn to the ways he thinks about place, land, belonging, and the histories that shape who we become. His work documenting overlooked Black histories in England, including recovering the story of one of the first known Black gardeners in England, resonated deeply with what we’re trying to do through GTT.

Edward will contribute a series of original poems that engage the history of the domestic slave trade, the cotton economy, and the movement of people across the African Diaspora. His work will help us think through the connections between a young Black man in 1835 who was forced from Maryland to New Orleans and eventually Texas, and the global systems that connected those experiences to places like England.

The poems will accompany the sculpture that is creating for the project.
Because the cotton cultivated by enslaved people in the United States helped fuel Britain’s textile industry. Because migration stories continue to shape families and communities across generations. Because the consequences of these histories are still with us today.

Gone to Texas is not simply a story about Texas. Welcome to the project, Edward.

Part of this project is supported by the Elevate Grant of

One thing about Black Austin Tours: we’re fortunate to work with young people who care deeply about their communities and civic engagement.

Here, , one of our tour guides and Tour Operations Manager, reflects on the importance of young people getting involved and shaping the future. Austin’s history reminds us that change often begins with youth willing to challenge the status quo.

During the 1940s and beyond, young Black Austinites and allies helped push back against segregation in public spaces through organizing, demonstrations, and direct action. Their efforts on Congress Avenue, at the Paramount Theatre, and throughout downtown helped lay the groundwork for a more inclusive city.

Austin did not change overnight, and it did not change on its own. It changed because ordinary people—many of them young people—decided to act.

These are some of the stories we explore on our Downtown Black History Tour, where we examine the vital role Black Austinites played in shaping the city we know today, including the foundations of the Live Music Capital of the World.