Thank you to all who responded to the call,
The meeting ended in a unanimous vote to rezone the area from agricultural
to an industrial/commercial/residental mixed usage zone. At this time I have
been able to locate the phone number of the Project Manager for the proposed development a woman by the name of Kim Kasani 804-762-4800 ex.206. I called left a message no reply as of yet. I would expect or hope that all of you would take the time out of your busy schedule to call and inquire as to the nature of the development and what is the plan if any to preserve the sanctity of the africans buried on the property. A generous number of calls can definitely express to H.H.Hunt that this is not something that the African community takes lightly. Also I would encourage all of you to
express your disfavor with the plan of moving the gravesite, until such time
as a precise and unbiased archaeological study is done, to properly document
the dimensions of the cemetary and number of bodies contained therein. I
would suggest that the area be preserved intact totally as a memorial park
and the graves undisturbed period but at this time, legally H.H.Hunt has the
legal right (to the best of my knowledge) to do whatever they wish with the
property. It was expressed by Kim Kasani that they want to do the right
thing in regard to the cemetary, so view that as you wish. Right now we know
that this entire situation flew totally below the radar which is always the
precedent, but it had been in the works for 3 years!! The precedent has been
that our african burial sites are paved over, dug up & desecrated with no
regard to the sanctity of our ancestors remains as has happened in
Mechanicsville at Pebble Creek a couple of years back and with the Gabriel
Prosser site in Shockoe Bottom.
There have been several people involved in the opposition one in particular
is a sociology professor by the name of Reber Dunkel 804-537-5069. He has
more information that I do as I only recently found out about this. It has
been noted that before any excavation is done the Dept.of Historic Resources
(804) 367-2323 must be notified. I called yesterday and was told that the
Captial City Archaeologist, Chris Stevenson should be encouraged to get
involved by doing a study of the land, this 11, 000 acre parcel of land,
which also housed the Wilton plantation before it was moved to Richmond,
indigenous people related sites, and John Smith related sites. Upon calling
I found that they are involved, but expressed disappoinment to the fact that
the land had been rezoned. This is because the only agencies legally
required to follow sec.106 procedure in relation to archaeological sites are
state agencies like VDOT but for private developers like H.H.Hunt it is up
to them to do the right thing. Basically this means that if H.H.Hunt wants
to put the money into preserving the site it is their choice, not legal
obligation. DHR would like to have advisory role, in how they preserve the
site, and are asking for a meeting with the planning commision and suggested
that any special interest groups ask for a meeting as well expressing that
we were not properly notified of the planned development, would like it
halted, and would like an active role in the planned preservation of the
site.
Also interested in the plan was the Association for the Preservation of
Virginia Antiquites 804-648-1889, the Director of Properties in particular.
I would encourage those interested to call his office to see what role if
any they can play in the preservation of this area.
Pass the word, any ideas on how to move forward with this action plan even
further are welcomed, call me at ***-**** if you want to build on it, I have
no problem with it. I will be setting up a meeting with Chris Stevenson, the
Captial Region Archaeologist to see maps and archival research regarding the
areas indigenous & african heritage. So if you want to go with me, contact
me or call yourself to set up an appointment yourself. Unfortunately they
wont give out copies of the maps, but there are others involved who know how to get to the site itself such as Dr.Reber Dunkel.
As I said earlier, advise on how to proceed is always welcome and very much
encouraged.
Peace.
Brother Manifest
duronchavis@yahoo.com