BLACK GRAVEYARDS

An Historical and National Tragedy!

One week after accompanying me to school as I entered C.C. Hubbard for first grade, my mother died a bloody, brutal, and horrible death, unattended, in a black "Hospital", giving birth.  Neither she nor the baby lived for more than an hour following the delivery.  She was buried in a Black Cemetery with the baby at her feet in the same casket.  This event shaped my life.

That cemetery has haunted my dreams, and otherwise remained a central image, for more than 72 years. The fact that she, a deeply religious woman and worker in our Church had to be buried separately from those others who followed the white Jesus, taught me many lessons of the "original sin" that sustains the Christian religion and accounts formost of the wealth of Western Culture. 

Black Graveyards, from Mt Zion in historic Georgetown, Washington, D.C.; which was saved during the Bi-Centennial activities of the 1970's, face neglect;  and are quietly disappearing in small rural towns and districts, as well as large cities, across this country.  Its a mark of shame for the county governments who bear responsibility for maintaining graveyards for all citizens.

It would seem that the Mormon Church that thrives on "baptizing" people who died in other races and religions would find it simply "good business" to step up and fund that upkeep.  They also keep records of the deaths and are a major source for "ancestor hunters".  People who are making large amounts of money from the new craze of "finding your ancestors" would also find it in their interest.  It would be good public relations, at minimum.

Why, you ask, don't the Black Communities do that?  Good Question!  They say a people are defined by how they treat their dead.  But, though it's rarely reported, Integration killed off many "Black Communities"; mine included.

I pleaded with the county and city leaders where my family is buried in Missouri, to no avail.  They keep well, carefully  record, and place on the internet, white gravesites; but not for blacks.  At minimum, I wanted a good record of the burials in our cemetery.  Finding that those records were hand-written in large books that would not be released for copying, I had to find another way.

I found that a company in Canada produces a "fountain pen" style copier that can be taken to a site to record documents.  I bought one, called my brothers, and went back to Missouri to complete the task.

Those records are now available on CD.  Anyone can do this if they have relatives in a graveyard somewhere that you don't want to see simply "grown over".

Stay Vigilant!

Copyright © 2012: Williams LLC
All Rights Reserved: Williams LLC