Tell people who you are, tell people who your people are.
Johnette Jeffries-Lopez’s roots run deep through Alamance County. Her family taught her from a young age to remain confident in her identity regardless of what others told her. Yet her father grew up in a time when indigenous identity was concealed rather than celebrated. Because of this, it wasn’t until adulthood that Johnette was truly able to immerse herself in the Occaneechi Saponi culture and rediscover her identity alongside her husband who had grown up surrounded by a similar community in Montana.
Johnette looks back on her first pow-wow as a life changing experience and remembers every detail that welcomed her into the community she loves today. Nevertheless, Johnette still witnesses some of the discrimination her father faced, recalling when her son wrote a paper on the genocide of Native-Americans, and was told outright by his teacher that had never happened. Johnette later went to the school to advocate for her son, believing that no one should be made to feel small in the classroom.
Her message to others is the same as to her son: “It’s okay to tell people who you are.” Her story leaves an echo of confidence and resilience that is especially important to uphold in Alamance County. “The dirt out there is the blood and bones of my people,” Johnette expresses as she urges fellow community members to settle in, and know that no matter what they are told, they belong here.