BEAUMONT, Texas — The past that connects them is dark and painful, but Will Ford and Matt Lockett are determined to share their story and inspire others.
The men are from different sides of a dark part of American history but call themselves brothers. Ford is the descendant of slaves, and Lockett is the descendant of slave owners.
The two believe what once separated them has bonded them for life. They shared their story at the One City Church in Beaumont Sunday, hoping to spark a change in others.
Eighteen years ago, Ford and Locket met on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C.
"And I was there because I had a dream, and we met right there on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial," Lockett said.
They met at the very same steps where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. made his famous “I have a dream” speech.
“A good friend of mine asked me to share their dream at the Lincoln Memorial on MLK Day bring my kettle pot, share my story” Ford said.
The two began talking and found interest in Ford’s family heirloom, the kettle pot.
“My dad actually washed clothes in that pot when he was 5 years old and his great-great-grandmother Harriet Lockett would tell him the stories of how that pot was used to pray,” Ford said. “She said they didn't think they would see freedom in their time so they prayed for their children."
With the help of Lockett, Ford began looking into why his family had to pray in secret as slaves. They later discovered that more than 150 years ago, their families crossed paths.
“We discovered that the last battle of the civil war occurred at a place called The Battle of Lockett's Farm,” Lockett said. “That's my last name"
Over the years, Lockett’s family traveled from Kentucky to Virginia and Louisiana. It was in Louisiana that the two families crossed paths.
“We were Lockett’s at first, and the name was changed when my grandfather was born,” Ford said. “We started connecting some of the obvious dots, and after a year and a half of research, we realized it was Matt's family who owned my family.”
Learning that his ancestors were slave owners was a crushing realization for Lockett.
“I'm actually connected to that story, and I'm connected to the worst parts of that story. I was connected to that of the slave owner,” Lockett said.
The realization also pained Ford.
“I felt anger creep up,” Ford said. “I was bothered by it. Now I'm trying to figure out how my friend was ever my family's enemy, but I realized that's why God gave me the dream first to deal with my unforgiveness issues.”
Amid that dark history, Lockett said there was an abolitionist in his family who fought to make things right. The two believe a racial divide is still alive in communities today.
“There is a war in the culture right now over the storyline, over the narrative ” Lockett said.
Both men also find themselves continuing the fight to make things right.
“What we feel like God is saying to America right now is this, ‘What storyline do you want to be a part of, the healing or the hurt’” Ford said.
Ford and Lockett have traveled the country to tell their story in hopes of changing the hearts of anyone who will listen. They are using a dark part of history to try and create a brighter future.
Their story has been turned into a book, and a movie is currently in the works as well.