05/18/2021
“I stand for the Ancestors Here and Beyond
I stand for those who feel anger
I stand for those who were treated unjustly
I stand for those who were taken from their loved ones
I stand for those who suffered the middle passage
I stand for those who survived upon these shores
I stand for those who pay homage to this ground
I stand for those who find dignity in these bones.”
-Jerome Meadows, artist and sculptor
It’s important to learn and respect the forgotten history of the places we visit. Today I learned about the history of the first enslaved Africans brought to Portsmouth, NH. I visited the African Burying Ground Memorial where an estimated 200 slaves are buried. Their remains sat forgotten and unmarked for years and years, as the world around them was developed and built into the Portsmouth NH of today. In 2003, a work crew discovered the deteriorating wooden coffins containing their remains, and the space was restored to sacred ground and this memorial was erected. Certainly gives one pause for thought and contemplation. Slavery was not just a “Southern” thing and I think as “Yankees” we often feel like we maybe get off the hook some how because “that kind of stuff didn’t happen here.” But it did. And it matters. And I felt that today. ❤️
