Defenders for Freedom, Justice & Equality demand VCU stop Shockoe paving
Early this morning the Defenders for Freedom, Justice & Equality held a Vigil to protest VCU paving over an historic black cemetery. A press conference will follow immediately north of East Broad Street between the entrance to I-95 and the CSX railroad tracks. Coverage ongoing.
Update #2
[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/5932284[/vimeo]
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Update
A short interview with Ana Edwards, the chair of the Sacred Ground Historical Reclamation Project.
[vimeo]http://www.vimeo.com/5930384[/vimeo]
View the video at Vimeo.com
Original
Early this morning the Defenders for Freedom, Justice & Equality held a vigil to protest VCU paving over the location of a historic black cemetery.
From the DFJE site:
“If VCU moves forward with its plan and we cannot stop them, we will seek restitution, reparations and possibly initiate a direct action campaign to express our outrage,” said King Salim Khalfani, Executive Director of the Virginia State Conference NAACP, who also will be participating in the press conference.
And:
VCU has publicly acknowledged the existence of the Burial Ground, the final resting place of perhaps thousands of enslaved Africans as well as poor whites. In response to community demands, it has set aside a 50 x 110-foot sliver of the lot to be used as a memorial. That section is not being repaved.
A press conference will follow immediately north of East Broad Street between the entrance to I-95 and the CSX railroad tracks.
Learn more
- More community reaction at River District News
- Read the press release from the DFJE site
- View more photos from our flickr
Photos from flickr
Coverage ongoing.
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Ross Catrow
Founder and publisher of RVANews.
Notice: Comments that are not conducive to an interesting and thoughtful conversation may be removed at the editor’s discretion.
Thanks so much for covering this. And a great clip of Ana.
I have to click on the video which opens a new window in order to see it, (it says vimeo won’t embed the video). But a minor issue. Thanks for highlighting this issue!
Last year VCU’s repaving coincided with the groundbreaking for the Lumpkin’s Jail archaeological dig. All of the politicians who came out for that- including Delores McQuinn, made a big public statement of opposition to VCU. VCU postponed the repaving as a result of that outcry. Any of them make statements yet about this?
The press conference is about to start. 20 or so protesters, 7 or 8 folks from the media.
How about they just stop paving down there period? If they are so hard up for parking they need to start building UP instead of sprawling all over the Bottom.
I don’t get it. It is already looks like a dirt lot/parking lot. Where was the uproar then? Is stopping paving going to change anything about the past? Nope.
I agree there should be some sort of monument/memorial to Gabriel and slavery downtown (nevermind the reconciliation statute) but VCU owns the land and can do what they want with it.
Stop crying and focus your energy on something you can actually change. Get VCU involved in a museum history center downtown and share use of the parking lot for the museum.
I doubt that the folks inclined to go to a museum history center would be the kind to be inclined to park on top of a graveyard.
Video’s working now thanks.
Re: #4- Why does VCU own the land? Because no one cared in Richmond about memorializing Black history until recently. They don’t own Hollywood cemetery because the power structures in Richmond’s history would never think of allowing that cemetery to be destroyed.
This is an attempt to right that particular historical wrong that said Black history is not worth preserving. The site is a cemetery, a burial ground – documented archaeologically, and deserves respect no matter who the owner is now. VCU knew it was a burial ground when they bought it a year ago from a private parking lot company in OH- they had been alerted to that and it was well known, marked on the city slave trail maps.
That said, I agree with you that there should be a memorial or museum to slavery & Gabriel.
Actually, John, I recently met an MCV student who had no idea what she was parking on. Recently moved to RVA, etc. etc.
Sad to say it, but if VCU has their mind set on this, no amount of protest is going to stop it….
*sigh* the whole thing makes me so sad…feel the same way everytime we wander at evergreen. how are we still so screwed up?
http://www.oregonhill.net/2009/08/04/its-not-the-first-time-that-vcu-disregarded-slave-history/
Greetings all,
In our goal to reclaim the Burial Ground and enrich our contemporary understanding of historic events, we may not win exactly what we believe is right, but along the way people will know that there was a concerted effort made, and people will know who was involved, what was done and when, why it happened and how this effort turned out or could have turned out. An open process. An opportunity for learning and for accomplishment.
Just because I do not convince everyone that my ideas should prevail does not mean I should sit down and be quiet. If I let the possibility that any institution or individual (or system) will go ahead and do what they want to do stop me from voicing my concerns then I eliminate the possibility that I might just inform the discussion and have an impact. And we have had an impact.
I continue to look forward,
Ana Edwards
Chair, Sacred Ground Historical Reclamation Project
Ana, Thanks for organizing the protest and for making it known that there are many of us who hate what VCU is doing. Even if we weren’t able to come to the protest. This week I am not proud to be an alum of VCU.
It makes me so sad to think how we are disrespecting the African Americans and slaves who are buried there. What Richmond needs is to stop and give proper respect to those who are buried there. We need a museum to teach our children (and our adults) the complete and unabridged history of Richmond’s role in Slavery and of Lumpkin’s Jail. We need a memorial to all those who were slaves and to Gabriel. We need to preserve what is left of the sacred burial ground. How can there be healing when the story cannot even be told and when we continue to disrespect the dead?
What VCU is doing should be illegal.