Posted on Thu, Nov. 22, 2007

Riding into history

Trip to highlight black achievement

By Shawntaye Hopkins
SHOPKINS@HERALD-LEADER.COM

A longtime educator and equestrian stopped in Lexington this week during a cross-country journey via horseback that highlights African-American contributions and achievements.

Miles J. Dean, executive director of a New Jersey-based non-profit organization dedicated to educating minority youth, set out on a 6,000-mile trek from New York to California in September.

Dean, who tries to average about 30 miles each day he's on the road, plans to complete the venture in February.

But plans sometimes go awry.

"It has its ups and downs, both figuratively and literally," Dean said in an interview yesterday.

After crossing some rough West Virginia and Eastern Kentucky terrain, Dean arrived in Lexington on Tuesday and visited the grave site of African-American jockey Isaac Murphy at the Kentucky Horse Park.

He plans to visit the Kentucky Center for African American Heritage and Churchill Downs in Louisville next Tuesday.

Details and photos about Dean's trip and sites visited are routinely posted on the Black Heritage Riders Web site, www.blackheritageriders.org.

Dean said he is attempting to address one reason for troubles in the African-American community: lack of education about African-American achievements, which are not often found in textbooks.

This was Dean's first visit to the grave site of Isaac Murphy, who Dean said has received little recognition.

"I'd never been there," Dean said. "I enjoyed the moment, visiting with an ancestor who accomplished so much and received so little."

Dean has taught school and been an equestrian for about two decades.

He plans visits to major cities, sleeping in a trailer driven by a member of his three-person crew and sending updates for the Web site from a laptop computer.

But much of the trek is unpredictable, Dean said, and he often relies on local residents for advice about trails.

"I've learned to rely on people to get me across the country," he said.

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