Skip to main content

Absolon Kent
 

Night Out with Washington Legends

Night Out with Washington Legends
Night Out with Washington Legends
Night Out with Washington Legends
Night Out with Washington Legends

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — It was a great evening meeting and spending time with some of the greatest names in Washington NFL football during the Washington Commanders Night.

Great conversations and memorable photos with Santana Moss, Fred Smoot, Brian Mitchell, Jordan Reed, Chris Baker, Gary Clark, Ken Harvey, and Doc Walker marked a fantastic celebration of the team's rich history.

A big thank you to the Washington Commanders organization for hosting such a first-class event and creating an opportunity for fans to connect with these outstanding players. 

📸: absolonkent.net/photogallery/index.php?/category/711

 

0 stars 0 comments

Absolon Kent
 

My Annandale: Cat Janice Mural

My Annandale: Cat Janice Mural
ANNANDALE, Va. — Annandale has long been home to talented artists and musicians, and few have touched hearts around the world like Cat Janice.

Born Catherine Ipsan the Annandale native was a singer-songwriter whose music inspired millions. After being diagnosed with a rare form of cancer, she released her final single, Dance Outta My Head, ensuring that all proceeds would support her young son. The song became a global sensation, reaching the top of the TikTok Billboard chart and introducing her remarkable story of love, courage, and resilience to audiences worldwide.

Today, her legacy is being celebrated in Annandale with a beautiful new mural on the side of the Annandale Watch & Clock building at 4221 Annandale Road. The mural depicts Cat singing into a microphone, surrounded by flowers she loved, a star-filled night sky, and the poignant lyric, "I see you in the stars now." The project was inspired by her husband, Kyle Higginbotham, and made possible with the support of her family and the local community.

The mural is more than public art—it is a lasting tribute to an Annandale native whose music, strength, and generosity continue to inspire people around the world.

0 stars 0 comments

Absolon Kent
 

Luther P. Jackson High School Site

Luther P. Jackson High School Site
Luther P. Jackson High School Site
Luther P. Jackson High School Site
Luther P. Jackson High School Site

FALLS CHURCH, Va. — Before 1954, African American students in Fairfax County who wanted to attend high school had to travel outside the county—either to Manassas or to schools in Washington, D.C. That changed when Luther P. Jackson High School opened in September 1954 as the county's first—and only—high school built to serve African-American students. Named for historian, educator, and voting-rights advocate Luther Porter Jackson, the school became a source of pride and opportunity for generations of students.

Ironically, the school opened the same year the U.S. Supreme Court issued its landmark Brown v. Board of Education decision declaring segregated public schools unconstitutional. Despite the ruling, Luther Jackson opened as a segregated school and remained the county's only school for Black students in grades 7–12 until integration began in 1965.

Today, the building continues to serve the community as Luther Jackson Middle School, while a Fairfax County historical marker commemorates the school's important role in the county's educational and civil rights history.

📸: absolonkent.net/photogallery/index.php?/category/708

0 stars 0 comments

Absolon Kent
 

Williamstown — Lost African-American Community

Williamstown — Lost African-American Community
Williamstown — Lost African-American Community
Williamstown — Lost African-American Community

FALLS CHURCH, Va. — Before the modern shopping centers and office buildings of Merrifield stood a thriving African-American community known as Williamstown. Established after the Civil War by formerly enslaved people, free Black Virginians, and their descendants along Gallows Road near present-day Merrifield and Dunn Loring, this close-knit, self-sufficient community thrived despite the barriers of segregation and discrimination.

As Black landownership expanded in Fairfax County, families built farms, homes, churches, and charitable organizations, creating a vibrant and resilient community. Williamstown, together with the neighboring communities of Merrifield (then known as Mills Crossing) and The Pines, became an important center of African-American life in Northern Virginia.

By the 1980s, however, decades of eminent domain, suburban development, and commercial expansion—including what is now the Mosaic District and the Merrifield commercial corridor—had erased nearly all physical traces of Williamstown.

Today, the community lives on through oral histories, archival records, and the work of descendants and historians who continue to preserve its story.

📸: absolonkent.net/photogallery/index.php?/category/709

0 stars 0 comments

Absolon Kent
 

First Baptist Church of Merrifield

First Baptist Church of Merrifield
First Baptist Church of Merrifield
First Baptist Church of Merrifield
First Baptist Church of Merrifield
First Baptist Church of Merrifield

FALLS CHURCH, Va. — Founded in 1872, First Baptist Church of Merrifield began with worshipers gathering in a simple log cabin before relying on itinerant preachers, tent revivals, and members' homes for nearly 25 years.

In 1891, the congregation purchased land on Ransell Road for just $5. Although a storm destroyed their first church building before it was completed, the community rebuilt together. The church also served residents of The Pines, a nearby post-Civil War Black community.

More than 150 years later, First Baptist Church of Merrifield continues to worship on the same site, preserving a legacy of faith, perseverance, and community.

📸: absolonkent.net/photogallery/index.php?/category/709

 

0 stars 0 comments