Call to Action!!!!

[TyreeA]

I pray this reaches you in time.

This is a CALL TO ACTION, it has recently as in the last ten minutes come to
my attention that there is a plan for the unearthing our our ancestors
graves in Hanover to build houses over them. We must honor our ancestors
ya'll, imagine how we would feel 100 years from now if the same people who put us in chains were disgracing our graves? No look at like this, would GEORGE BUSH ALLOW US TO DIG UP THE GRAVE OF GEORGE WASHINGTON TO PUT A HOUSE ON IT? IF HE WOULDN'T LET IT HAPPEN WHY SHOULD WE
LET IT HAPPEN?

Construction Unearths Slave Burial Site in Virginia

An unmarked cemetery of about 150 slaves is being dug up to make way for
housing construction in Hanover County, Va., according to WRIC-TV in
Richmond, Va. Though there are no records of the burial site, local
historians say they knew about the cemetery, which dates back to the 1750s.
Under court order, the developer is digging up the remains and moving them
for burial at another location. Two homes will be built on the property.

When: 7:00 pm
Where: Hanover County County Meeting
What: whether to dig up the graves of our ancestors
Why: To put houses in the place of their remains so some white man can get
richer.

Why should YOU be there: Because you affirm that all your ancestors are here
with you and for you to not try to put a cease to this particular incident
you are disrespecting all your ancestors.

Another Reason why you should be there: There is a white woman, Natalie
Shumanmeier-Horn 804-798-3883, who has been trying to stop this, but there
HAS NOT BEEN ONE BLACK PERSON TO STEP UP TO FIGHT FOR THEIR ANCESTORS!

The meeting will take place at the Hanover Courthouse @ 7 pm TONIGHT
Civil war legacy j.b. stuart's headquarters for coldharbor battle atlee rd.
& route 301, chamberlayne ave, 14 miles north of richmond. Hanover
Courthouse rd. Right side of 301, in the rear of the parking lot, big new
administration building stay riding up chamberlayne ave to get there

[TyreeA]

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

[TyreeA]

Note: I removed the Brother's number and replaced it with his E-mail addy.

[TyreeA]

Virginia Developer seeks to build on site of African Burial Ground in Hanover, VA

This message is for all those interested in the Hanover African Burial
Ground. I sent a message last week entitled call to action and hope this
message can provide a little more clarity into what is going on down here in
VA. I want to apologize for the lack of clarity in the last message, and
look forward to you passing this message on to those interested who may be
able to help with advice and etc...

Please forward to you e-lists!

What is the issue: In Hanover, Virginia there is a tract of land called
Rutland. It is on Route 301 at Atlee Rd. about 15 miles outside of Richmond.
It has been owned by the Timberlake family since the mid 1700's. On this
property there is a slave cemetery. H.H.Hunt, a Virginia developer has
applied to the Hanover Board of Supervisors to have the area rezoned from
agricultural to a mixed use property so that they can develop the property
into commercial/ residential and or industrial property. The developer is
aware that there is a cemetery on the property and has expressed their
desire through Kim Kasani, the Project Manager to do the right thing in
regard to the sanctity of the remains of the Africans buried therein. They
wish to excavate the bodies only if they have to. HOWEVER, it must be noted
that this information would not had been public knowledge had not Natalie
Schermerhorn & Dr.Reber Dunkel of Randolph Macon been trying very diligently
to get the Hanover Board of Supervisors to deny the rezoning application.

I was called on Dec. 15 last Wednesday by Sister Jamila around 12 noon, who
happened be at the Hanover Courthouse the same day at 7pm. She had found out
about the situation from Natalie Schermerhorn. I was told that that same
evening there would be a meeting/public hearing to vote on whether the area
should be re-zoned. I traveled out after speaking with Natalie, after I got
off work with intentions of going to the meeting and voicing my opposition
in regard to the development of the land where the slave cemetery is. As we
made the trip, we soon realized that the Hanover Courthouse was a tad
further out that me and my family had prepared for, and when out cell phone
lost it's signal on rt.301, we decided we had maybe gotten lost and turned
around. Upon, stopping & asking for directions we found that the courthouse
was too far for us to travel with the children in the car and no telephone
if the car broke down. Needless to say, the Hanover Board of Supervisors
voted unanimously to rezone the area 7 to 0. Even though Dr. Reber Dunkel
and several other concerned citizens detailed why this was not a good idea.

I have spoken to several people in regard to this situation and the issue is
thus. The developer has no legal obligation to do what is right in this
situation. They are presented with the following. They must by law provide
county of Hanover with a construction plan, for planning commission approval.
In that plan they must not whether they found any cemetery on the property
and what they plan to do about it. When the cemetery is found, either by
prior knowledge or by accident, they must by law either one, preserve the
site, or excavate the bodies. The situation turns financial at this point
because the cheap and legal way to excavate the bodies would be to rent a
backhoe and dig up the land indiscriminately which I hope you agree is
totally unacceptable. The more expensive and legal way is to hire
archaeological experts to excavate, which is also sacrilege in my opinion yet
is within the legal right of the company to do. The third option which I
stand for which is the least expensive of all the options is that the area
that is defined as the slave cemetery be set aside as greenspace or a
memorial park to those Africans buried there leaving the bodies and cemetery
intact and undisturbed & the sanctity retained. I speak in terms of money
because I know that behind everything the developer and those involved will
have to find out ways to raise capital for this effort. It is not to
minimize the situation into a monetary issue.

What can be done: At this time calls can be placed to Kim Kasani, Harold
Padgett the Deputy Director of the planning commission, David Maloney
expressing your concern over the slave cemetery's future. Also letters can
be written to these people expressing what you feel should be done in regard
to the cemetery and I hope we all can come to a consensus and agree that the
land should be turned into greenspace. An historical analysis of the site
itself can be done, and a thorough archaeological study because I am sure
there is indigenous heritage on the land as it was noted in same of the
archival information. I am sure there are other solutions and I realize that
my perception is limited, this is a community effort and the community must
come to a consensus as to what must be done, this is just my suggestion at
this time based on the knowledge I have acquired thus far.

How can it be done: There first must be a study done on the property to find
out the exact dimensions of the slave cemetery. The study must be more in
depth than the phase 1 environmental study that H.H.Hunt has already started.
They have enlisted the help of Bennett Funeral Home to find out the location
of the cemetery. Fortunately, as you and I hopefully can both agree there
are professional archaeologists who specialize in this type of subject
matter, in particular the African Burial Ground Society who have a working
model as to how this can be handled. Unfortunately they have not been
notified by the developer as to how they can play a part in the preserving
the sanctity of the site. You and I can both agree that the work of
organizations such as the African Burial Ground Society will and should be
instrumental in providing a guideline as to how this situation can be dealt
with appropriately. After the dimensions of the cemetery are ascertained I
believe that pivotal information can be used to set that space of land aside
to use as greenspace. The family who owned the property have agreed to have
the bodies of their descendants reinterred into a commercial cemetery,
however as these individuals are part of the African collective ancestry and
represent our struggle here, to simply reinter them into a commercial
cemetery speaks nothing of the life the lived even if that information is
relegated to a tombstone, marker or signage. I found out from Harry Jager
of the Virginia Archaeological Association that it would cost 75-100 dollars
per hour to rent the ground penetrating radar equipment to see what is
located beneath the soil. This can be used to ascertain the dimensions of
the cemetery and how many graves are there. Again this opinion is based on
the knowledge I have gained thus far of the issue.

Why should it be done: This project should be undertaken for a number of
environmental, moral, spiritual, and historical reasons. I will not hesitate
to state that this situation bears greatly upon the state of ethno-cultural
relations in this country and throughout the world. We have witnessed
entirely to many indigenous and African burial grounds supplanted by the
move of "modern civilization and technology". We must honor our dead, and
for a society to have no respect for there ancestors it speaks volumes to
the degree as to which that society is civilized. Those of us who study
African & aboriginal indigenous cultures both ancient and modern realize
there is a distinct difference in how we today venerate our ancestors in the
"modern world" and how it is done in elsewhere. The emphasis placed on
preparing the dead for burial, the understanding that the spirit of those
who physically passed on resides with us today, and the amount of time,
resources and energy used by our ancient African and aboriginal indigenous
cultures to honor, sanctify and remember their ancestors speaks volumes as
to how far we have fallen from our truly civilized state. We must push for
our sacred sites, burial grounds, and even our schools, hospitals,
neighborhoods and homes to be consecrated with the same level of respect as
the Washington Monument, the statue of liberty, the lincoln memorial, and
Arlington cemetery. It must be noted again that this situation would not
exist even in the private sector has the developer found the grave site of
Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, or even Ronald Regan. We must ask
ourselves why is that, and be prepared to understand the dynamics of the
answer, then to act to ensure that our ancestors are to venerated even
higher than the founding fathers of this country as it is upon the backs of
the indigenous, and African people that this country was built, the
exploitation of our ancestors provided this country with it's present day
status as a world superpower, and if we are not cognizant of the
implications of our inaction, believe this our children and progeny will
continue to have their history reinterpreted, misconstrued and forgotten,
because we allowed it to happen today.

Who should do it: The collective force of those who believe in what is
morally and spiritually right, but most importantly, first and foremost the
collective masses of AFRICAN PEOPLE have to push to ensure our Ancestors
sanctity is preserved whether in the state of virginia or britian.

Who must can be contacted to express disfavor:

Kim Kasani, Director of Business Development & Community Relations:
804.762-4800 ex.206
kkacani@hhhunt.com

David Maloney, Planning Commission Secretary
Deputy Director of Planning
Hanover County
P.O. Box 470
Hanover, VA 23069

(specify you would like a staff report in regard to the T.L.Hunt case or
Rutland case and that you would like to be advised when the case goes before
the planning commission, the conditional subdivision report, that you would
like a copy of the report and how Hanover County is involved in ensuring the
preserved sanctity of this African Burial Ground)

C. Harold Padgett, Jr., Chickahominy District
10401 Morning Dew Lane
Mechanicsville, VA 23116
(804) 967-2136 (w)
(804) 550-0330 (h)

(same as above)

Congressman Bobby Scott
bobby.scott@mail.house.gov

Who can and has been trying to move this issue forward:

Dr.Reber Dunkel-sociology professor @ Randolph Macon
804-752-3105
804-537-5069

(Historical Background)

Natalie Schermerhorn
804-798-383

(Background of the issue itself)

Duron Chavis-Bro.Manifest
Universal Negro Improvement Association & African Communities League Division #456
http://www.unia-acl.org/div456/
duronchavis@yahoo.com

Ana Edwards
Defenders of Freedom, Justice and Equality
ourrosewood@comcast.net

(how to get involved with the Sacred Ground Project)

Agencies interested in preserving the history with knowledge of the
legalities involved:

APVA (Association for Preservation of Virginia Antiquities)
804-648-1889

Virginia Department of Historic Resources
www.dhr.virginia.gov <www.dhr.virginia.gov>

African Burial Ground Society
Dr. Sherrill D. Wilson
Director
NY African Burial Ground Project
201 Varick Street, Room 1021
New York, NY 10014
212-337-2001