By Richard L. Gaw
Staff Writer

A unified collective of special guests convened at the Kennett Creamery on Nov. 12 for an evening of conversation, storytelling and experiential dining at a “Secret Supper” sponsored by Voices Underground.

Formed in 2017, Voices Underground has been a crucial link to the Square Roots Collective initiative, made up of a team of scholars, artists, and activists specializing in African American history who create opportunities for transformative storytelling as a foundation for racial healing while amplifying the history of the Underground Railroad. 

“We work to unite this history to our shared credit, reminding us that the struggle for justice and reconciliation is not over, because reconciliation is not a single act but a process,” said Voices Underground Executive Director LaNisha Cassell in her opening remarks. “This is more than a dinner. It is a gathering of hearts of minds committed to truth, to beauty and to the continuing work of liberation and repair. We are deeply grateful for your partnership, your curiosity and our belief that reconciliation is possible.”

Voices Underground Co-Founder and Creative Director Gregory Thompson introduced one of the organization’s current projects - the creation of the National Memorial to the Underground Railroad, which will honor and memorialize the people and movements tied to the movement. Working with designers, the agency is exploring several potential sites in Delaware and Pennsylvania using GIS mapping, historical research and on-site documentation. 

Assisted by a grant from the Longwood Foundation, the organization developed a comprehensive landscape plan and conceptual design for the memorial, and temporary installations and a capital campaign is scheduled to begin in 2026. 

Thompson – who read an essay by William Sill, considered the “Father of the Underground Railroad” – said that the work of agencies like Voices Underground to tell the African American experience through stories is becoming more essential, against the backdrop of the Trump administration’s efforts to scrub African American history from the nation’s conversation, as has been seen in the removal of data from historical documents, the ordering of federal agencies to remove exhibits and materials that emphasize slavery and racial injustice, and denouncing museums – specifically the Smithsonian Institution – for their depiction of slavery, racism, and social injustice.

“We are living in a moment in which [the stories of African Americans] are being actively erased, and their strength and their suffering and their courage are being appropriated or distorted,” he said. “The reason that is happening is because there are people in this day – as there are in all days - who don’t want to hear stories that make them uncomfortable, even if that discomfort is a spiritually wise and mature response to the world we live in.”

The evening was highlighted by an exercise that invited all guests to introduce themselves and offer their definition of “liberation.”

The four-course menu – prepared by the Creamery’s Executive Chef Matthew Anderson – included amuse bouche appetizer; a baby spinach salad prepared with radicchio, roasted pear, sliced pecans and pickled red onion; a main course of Hills Farm short rib, sweet potato puree and brussels sprouts; and a chocolate pecan tart for dessert.

To learn more about Voices Underground, visit www.voicesunderground.com.

To contact Staff Writer Richard L. Gaw, email [email protected].