Reminder/Media Release: 7th Annual Commemoration of Gabriel's Rebellion, Sat. Oct. 10
Defenders Announcements
Media Release from the
Defenders for Freedom, Justice & Equality
PO Box 23202, Richmond, VA 23223 - Phone: 804.644.5834 - Fax: 804.332.5525
E-mail: Defend...@hotmail.com - Web site: www.DefendersFJE.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Friday, Oct. 9, 2009 (UPDATED RELEASE)
MEDIA CONTACT: Ana Edwards – 804.644.5834 (office); 804.517.4049 (cell)
A Day to Reclaim Shockoe Bottom
7th Annual Commemoration of “Gabriel's Rebellion”
& the “Burial Ground for Negroes”
On
Saturday, October 10, 2009 the 7th
Annual Commemoration of “Gabriel's Rebellion” and the “Burial
Ground for Negroes” will offer participants the opportunity to
learn, contemplate and honor the 209th Anniversary of the year that
Gabriel and his co-conspirators gave their lives to the dream only
their descendants would realize - FREEDOM. 2009 also marks the year
the City of Richmond's Mayor Dwight C. Jones determined that the
Black History of Shockoe Bottom will be a priority component of any
development proposals the city will consider for that district.
Therefore, “2009 represents a key starting point for promoting a
more complete history of Richmond by making the very streets of
Shockoe Bottom a visible testament to the people, places and events
that have made Richmond the city that it is,” said Ana Edwards,
chair of the Sacred Ground Historical Reclamation Project. “We can
retell the story of Richmond and, just maybe, get it right this
time.”
This
year's annual Gabriel Forum also presents cultural, community and
academic expressions of how the story of Gabriel and the presence of
the Burial Ground for Negroes is already being incorporated into
present-day art, education and memorial. Special guests attending the
program include Mayor Ousmane Simaga of city of Ségou
in the West African Nation of Mali who is visiting Richmond to meet
with Mayor Dwight C. Jones and make official the new Sister City
relationship with Ségou.
Please join us to welcome Mayor Simaga and his delegation as they
honor Gabriel and his fellow freedom fighters and our ancestors at
the Burial Ground for Negroes.
- 2 - 4 pm - WALKING TOUR OF HISTORIC SHOCKOE BOTTOM - Meet at Asbury United Methodist Church, 324 N. 29th Street, Church Hill in Richmond (23223).
- 5 pm - BREAK FOR DINNER - A list of local Black-owned eateries will be provided – from Soul to Vegan
- 7 - 9 pm - GABRIEL FORUM: THE STRUGGLE TO RECLAIM SHOCKOE BOTTOM - Asbury United Methodist Church, 324 N. 29th Street, Church Hill in Richmond (23223)
FINAL List of Presenters include
Ana
F. Edwards,
Chair, Sacred Ground Historical Reclamation Project
Sa'ad
El-Amin,
Short film on the passing of the Gabriel resolution of 2002
King
Salim Khalfani, Executive
Director, Virginia State Conference NAACP
Iman
Shabazz,
Richmond-based Spoken Word Artist
Zainab
Kamara, AFRIKANA,
VCU student organization
Shawn
Utsey, Documentary Film Producer & Director, “Meet Me In
The Bottom: The Struggle to Reclaim the Burial Ground for
Negroes”
10 pm - COMMUNITY LIBATION
At the “Burial Ground for Negroes”, 1554 E. Broad Street, Shockoe Bottom in Richmond (23219)
Conducted by Maat Free, a practitioner of the traditional West African spiritual system known as Lucumi, a diasporic expression of the Yoruba faith.
This
event is FREE
of charge ~ Donations are welcome
Please
RSVP
for
the tour and evening program so we may plan materials and light
refreshments by Blacktastic Snacks accordingly.
For more information, call (804) 644-5834 or email richmondbu...@comcast.net
More details available at DefendersFJE.org
This year's events are hosted by
The Sacred Ground Historical Reclamation Project
of The Defenders for Freedom Justice & Equality.