Black History Month

Hoover High Teen Writes, Directs & Stars in Play Honoring San Diego Legend Nathan Harrison

Nathan Harrison was San Diego's first Black American homesteader and local legend

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Hoover High School senior Shakur Jackson is using the stage as his school, teaching San Diegans about the life of Nathan Harrison, the city's first black homesteader.

Before the curtain went up Wednesday on the opening night of "Legend of Nathan Harrison," Jackson, who wrote and directed the play and starred as Harrison, explained why the legend’s life spoke to him.

“He had every reason to fail, every reason to quit, every reason to just die. And he did it. He saw a future for himself. He saw opportunity," Jackson said.

Harrison was born enslaved in Kentucky and died a legend in San Diego.

In June of 2020, NBC 7 reported on archaeologist and San Diego State University Professor Seth Mallios, Ph.D., and his team which helped unearth a number of artifacts from Harrison's tiny log cabin on Palomar Mountain in the late 1800s.

That's where he gained fame using his southern drawl to amuse tourists with stories when they'd stop to get water for themselves and their horses as they traversed the mountain.

“There are more pictures of Harrison than Horton, than Wyatt Earp. Pick your favorite early 19th-century San Diegan and there were more pictures of Harrison,” said Mallios.

Despite his popularity, as a freed slave in America Harrison still faced threats to his life and livelihood. Jackson’s play, which took him a year to write and research, takes a deep dive into Harrison's survival tactic of what some call code-switching, or acting differently with various groups of people, despite evidence he was educated.

“In front of white Americans he would pretend to be illiterate and a fool,” explained Jackson. “He did this because he didn't want to seem to be a threat to them. This idea came about when he had, he had found out that there was a homeowner in Los Angeles that actually had gotten his house burned down and he didn't want that to happen to him."

According to the San Diego History Center, Harrison's life is a story of overcoming staggering obstacles and forging something-from-nothing through gritty perseverance.

A story the 18-year-old aspiring movie director learned about through the center's exhibit.

Now he's keeping Harrison’s story alive on stage.

“I just thought it was important, I thought he should have been talked about more, he should be learned in schools as part of San Diego history. At least be learned in San Diego. You have the first African American home lander, like put some respect on his name,” said Jackson.

Thursday is the final day the play will run at Hoover High School. Tickets run $5.

Jackson says he’s working to expand shows to other schools in San Diego Unified School District.

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