(HuffPost BlackVoices) — The little boys and girls in the old photographs are all grown up now; long gone are the days when they would dig clams in the sand with their toes and chase each other down the length of the beach until the sun sank into the bay.  The summers of their youth were spent with their families here in the traditionally African-American enclaves of Azurest, Ninevah Beach and Sag Harbor Hills, which lie side by side along a bright stretch off Gardiners Bay.  It was an escape from New York City, Philadelphia or wherever home was when it wasn’t summer. There was an open-door policy at most of the cottages, which were owned by relatives or by folks who’d known each other so long that they considered themselves relatives. Everyone was a kissing cousin, an uncle or aunt, and every summer was like a family reunion. Extended families included executives, lawyers, entrepreneurs and educators.

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