WATCH: Gay, Black entrepreneur turns plantation-style house into his dream home in this new show
Breaking New Ground will follow the journey of Robert Hartwell, a gay, Broadway performer, choreographer and entrepreneur, as he renovates an old house in Massachusetts.
However, it’s a house with a history. “This is a renovation story 200 years in the making,” Hartwell says in the trailer.Subscribe to our newsletter for a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.“When I bought this house, it struck a nerve because here was a gay Black man owning a plantation-style home, saying that we can include ourselves where they have worked so hard to exclude us,” he explains.Although Massachusetts moved to abolish slavery in 1783, at the time this house was built in 1820, “slavery was still legal in many U.S.
states” says Hartwell. The Emancipation Proclamation followed in 1865. It wasn’t until June 19 that year that the last remaining previously legally enslaved people learned they were free in Texas.
That’s why June 19 is now commemorated as Juneteenth each year.“There are rooms in this home that I wouldn’t be able to step into.
