Linda Harris took her first Harriet Tubman walk in 2020. The pandemic was raging, and although conventional wisdom urged us to shelter indoors, Harris’ spirit compelled her to do otherwise. She needed to breathe. Since 1987, Harris had owned and operated a DC-based real estate management company, but she felt ready for a “second act.” By 2018, Harris had begun attending jazz workshops and taking piano and voice lessons, hoping to break through as a jazz vocalist. She went on to release two albums and performed on national and international stages. A thrilling highlight was an opportunity to sing with the New York Jazz Academy in front of 15,000 people at the Panama Jazz Festival. But even as she embraced her inner Ella, COVID slowed Harris’ roll. And far worse than that setback was a deepening sadness: After nearly three decades of marriage, Harris’ husband left her. She remembers this as “the lowest point in my life.” In 2019, Harris turned the real estate business over to her son and began walking. And then she walked some more.
It became apparent to me that I was not going to feel good again unless I did what Harriet did to find freedom. Getting outside, getting in nature, walking the way our forefathers walked—that’s the answer.
Each and every day of the pandemic, Harris used walking through parks and wooded areas to cope with the craziness in her life. She trained for months and built her stamina up to the point where she was able to walk 20 miles a day for six days—an experience, she says, that changed her in a magnificent way. Meanwhile, a voice from history called her from the pages of a book her father gave her when she was a child. It was Harriet Tubman’s. “It became apparent to me that I was not going to feel good again unless I did what Harriet did to find freedom,” Harris says. “Getting outside, getting in nature, walking the way our forefathers walked—that’s the answer.”
She put a post out on Facebook saying that she wanted to walk the Underground Railroad, and seven women joined her in retracing Tubman’s route from Cambridge, Maryland to Philadelphia. Along the way, Harris learned not only about Tubman but also about herself. As Harris went on other Tubman walks, she began to heal, grow, and reshape the course of her life. In 2020, she entered a “third act” when she became Director of Programs and Events at the Harriet Tubman Museum and Educational Center in Cambridge, Maryland. In addition to directing her time and talent to the educational center, she also started a GoFundMe page, which has raised over $7500 for the museum so far.
Harris also started giving walking tours that told the story of Tubman’s escape to freedom. These tours incorporated "code and signal songs” performed with a guitarist named David B Cole. In 2022, Harris released her fourth album, I Got Shoes. And in 2023, Harris and Cole were married; evidently, they’d made much more than a musical connection. “You just can't plan for this stuff,” Harris says. “But what I have learned is that when you have passion and care about other people, the most wonderful things happen.” Harris, now 67, shares her thoughts on the lessons of Harriet Tubman, the blessing of aging, and what embracing the power of the ancestors can do for us all.
On what she learned from Harriet Tubman
I began to understand what freedom means: putting one foot in front of the other toward a common positive goal. And that's what she did. We have to honor our ancestors by doing that every day, simply putting one foot in front of the other, deciding that you have to do something, deciding if where you are isn’t a good place, then you have to make a change. And you do that by moving forward. Harriet is such an inspiration for me. I mean, I've known about her my whole life, but the way I know her now is that she, with all the other ancestors, laid the groundwork for us, and we have a responsibility to realize our full potential by honoring what they did and carrying on the journey. And that's what I do every day.
On walking the Underground Railroad
(Per an interview posted by Spy Newspapers of Maryland). It’s hard walking 20 miles a day, and I was the oldest one that walked—and I got up [on the third morning] and said I can’t do this. So I went into the bathroom and threw some water on my face, and Harriet was in that mirror. I kid you not—or something was there—and it said, “Get up and get this done.” So, I am channeling her spirit… Hers is an American story—it’s an American story about courage and perseverance. And this is how we have to look at it.
On our role in preserving Tubman’s legacy
We must continue to demand that her face and legacy be placed on the $20 bill and put in general circulation so that all will know of her greatness, incredible sacrifices, and contributions to freedom and equality in this country.
On getting older
I retired in my 60s, and a lot of people may think that you can't do new things once you retire and get older. But I'm telling you that this is the best time of my life because I'm truly free. I'm truly in touch with who I am and what I'm capable of doing. And I've become intrepid. If I decided to jump out of an airplane, I could probably do that. It's just about making decisions, having a plan and following it. And it just kind of flows. You get up in the morning and think, ‘Where's the journey taking me today?’ And that's how I look at life and embrace it.
On our ancestry
From the moment we set foot on these shores, the whole objective of those who enslaved us was to diminish us, to control us. If you do that to a group of people, then they lack value in themselves. We have to understand that that was the objective, and it continues to be the objective, all right? So we have to know who we were, knowing that we came from people who were brought to these shores, had never been here, didn't know the language, and survived. We cannot forget the strength, courage, and resilience required. If you tap into any story of an ancestor, you know it's already inside you. It's in your DNA; it flows through your veins. And so we should take that, embrace it and step into our greatness. We are great. That was known before we were brought here. Specific parts of West Africa were designated as the best places to get people to do the kind of work needed to build this country. We didn't come here unskilled. We may have come here with empty hands, but our minds were full of information. Knowing that prepares and equips us for the future. So I always tell everyone, harken back to the ancestors.
Joy Ducket Cain contributed to this article
