What he carried...

The name Lucian has been in my family for generations, most notably my great-grandfather, Lucian Ailor. Born to a Black father and biracial mother in 1880s Virginia, Lucian had fair skin and could “pass” for white.

Lucian eventually left home, seeking a better life living as a white man. He worked as a blacksmith, married an Irish woman, started a family, and in 1913 landed a government job, which were forbidden to Black men.

The job took him to a tiny reservation town in Washington State where he started fresh and never shared with a soul where he came from. And he took his secret to his grave.

I think about him often. I think about the strength it took for him to take that leap. What must it have been like to carry that weight? To know that revealing his true self could mean catastrophe for his family?

I also think about his life as a craftsman, using his hands to create truth while having to hide his own.

Lucian’s story and life have inspired me to live and create with as much authenticity as I can. I can’t think of a better way to honor a man forced to sacrifice so much of his own.