Remarks to the Oakland Baptist Church, May 29, 2010

Remarks to the Oakland Baptist Church
Draft: May 29, 2010


Good morning! Thank you for the opportunity to attend your service this morning and speak with you about the Oakland Baptist Church Cemetery.

My wife and I live next to the Oakland Baptist Church Cemetery. We are fortunate to live next to this sacred place. As you know the cemetery is bordered on 3 sides by Fort Ward Park which is listed on the U. S. Department of Interior’s National Register of Historic Places.

Since September 2007 I have been involved in discussions with neighbors and city officials about problems related to Fort Ward Park. As I got to know more about the park I became aware of the people who lived in this area before the city made it a park. I also learned about people who are buried inside and outside your cemetery. In 2008 I contacted Pastor Hayes who asked me to work with Mr. Ambers. I was also introduced to Ms. Washington, Ms. Terrell, Ms. Rainey, Mr. Terrell, Mr. Young, members of the Seminary Civic Association, and other members of this church.

I continue to be concerned about the park and the cemetery and I’m here to: 1) let you know what we have been doing; 2) ask you to help us.

Over 60 years the managers of our city government have not been respectful of people and history of this area. They have not valued the people who lived in this area and who they were. They have not recognized the contributions of African American’s in the Civil War and the community. They have ignored the people who are buried in the park and the cemetery. Graves, grave stones and cultural artifacts have been damaged and in some cases destroyed.

More recently we have seen damage to the cemetery fence, grave and gravestone damage, inappropriate land uses placed next to the cemetery--and on top of other graves. This has been done because the city, and our community, turned our heads and ignored city laws, ordinances and regulations. Frankly we weren’t given a voice in our community and we didn’t ask for one.

I say a prayer at my church that I think of often as people from your church and our community work together to correct mistakes and recognize and protect our history. It’s an act of penance and it includes the passage, “For all I have done and for all I have failed to do.”

For the last two years a small group of us have been working together to move the garbage dumpsters and maintenance equipment away from our homes and your cemetery. We have increased public recognition of the people who lived in the area before the park was created. We have helped to get city, NPS and National Trust funds to identify graves, research African American history and culture, and decide how it should be protected and interpreted. Most importantly we are working together to help the city fix the mistakes of the past and protect these areas for the future.

Ms. Terrell is one of the members of the Fort Ward Advisory Group that is helping the city look at these problems and come-up with recommendations for what needs to be done. Others from the church and the Woods Place community are assisting with historical research that brings new facts into discussions and decisions.

A great deal of work remains to be done to protect this historical cemetery and park. We need your help to communicate to elected officials and city managers that:

1) the cemetery, and other places where people are buried in the park, is a “Sacred Places“.

If we can’t count on the city, we need to speak for the dead and make sure they aren’t ignored.

2) these sacred places, and the story of African Americans in this area, are an important part of Fort Ward Park.

This area can be an indoor-outdoor Museum without walls where the history and culture of the Native Americans, African Americans, and the Civil War, is recognized, protected and celebrated so that others might learn and value our history.

We need your help! We need you to tell us what is important about your past. We need you to share information on what you know about your families and their stories. A small group of community leaders is forming a private organization, called the African American Descendants of the Fort Ward & Seminary Community, to lead this work.

Thank you for your time and interest.