Friends
of Bethel Burying Ground Coalition
Habari
gani Friend
During
recent weeks we have been working diligently to inform the general public,
especially the African-American community in Philadelphia about the rediscovery
of an historic African-American cemetery that is underneath a playground in the
Southwark section of the city. The cemetery contains the interred remains of at
least 5,000 black Philadelphians who lived in the city between the 18th
and 19th centuries almost half of the remains are those of children.
It is located in the 400 block of Queen Street one block north of Catherine
Street underneath the building at Weccacoe Playground.
The
people buried there are the people who founded the black community in
Philadelphia. They are our ancestors in the African Diaspora, the very people
who are collectively responsible for our community’s continued existence in the
21st century. Their existence
was rediscovered by an independent historian, who tried to get Philadelphia
leaders to pay attention, to no avail, to the significance of this major
historic rediscovery and its impact. The site is completely owned by the City
of Philadelphia. The city intends to
allow the local community group to renovate the playground and the building,
even though they are aware of the existence of the Bethel Burying Ground
underneath the building and part of the tennis court.
You
have become a part of the Friends of Bethel Burying Ground Coalition to help
build broader public input and oversight on the future of this historic sight. As always there are some people who don’t
welcome broader public interest in this major historic site. They felt empowered by low-level bureaucrats
in the government of the City of Philadelphia to try and take charge of the future
of this nationally important historic cemetery.
Our work to educate our community and ensure broader interest and
participation in protecting Bethel Burying Ground is imperative to ensuring
that our history in Philadelphia is permanently protected and preserved. We
cannot continue to allow people who do not share our interest in preserving our
history to determine the future of this historic site. Please recruit more
people and organizations to support our efforts. We are encouraging
Philadelphians to contact and/or visit the Mayor and the At Large members of
Philadelphia City Council. There is additional information attached to this
correspondence.
This
coalition now has more than sixty-five community activists from Philadelphia’s
grass roots organizations. These are all
solid community leaders who are respected in their neighborhoods and in their
organizations. Since we have barely just
begun, it is an indication of how much our work is supported. We must do all
that we can to protect and preserve Bethel Burying Ground. It almost seems that
the ancestors are guiding us. We cannot ignore their call.
We
will soon be ready to attend community meetings and other gathering, to urge
folks to stand up for Bethel Burying Ground by joining our grass roots campaign
for preservation. Please do what you can to help get information to people, so
they can join us in our mission. Your attendance and participation in recent
public meetings and signing up to join the Friends of Bethel Burying Ground,
has allowed us the opportunity to be sure our message reaches thousands of our
neighbors.
Now,
we need to know if you are ready to help in the campaign. 1) We need operations
volunteers to help build events at the neighborhood level. 2) We must also
reschedule the Libation and the offering of a public prayer at Bethel Burying
Ground. 3) We want to speak at community meetings and
events to let others know what they can do to help. This requires a Vanguard
that is prepared to take the field.
The
coalition also needs volunteers to help
with communications and others to
help with funding and resources. There’s a lot of work to be done and we
need committed folks to step forward. We can also use as many financial
sponsors as possible, to help pay for printing and other costs like the flyer
and button we’ve included. So let us know how you can help.
We
think it’s also important to have representatives of the Friends of Bethel
Burying Ground Coalition who can attend meetings and speak on behalf of our
coalition. So, send us a message letting us know where you want to become
involved. You’ll be invited to a small meeting with folks who want to work on the
same thing and you’ll get started. It will be necessary from time to time for
all of us to perform collective assignments. You’ll be advised with plenty of
time to prepare.
The next meeting of the Coalition
will be on Saturday morning May 3, 2014 at the Church of the Advocate, 1801
Diamond Street (entrance on Gratz Street) at 10:00 a.m. You should make every
effort to attend. In
the meantime, here is the contact information for the Mayor and the At-Large
members of Philadelphia City Council.
You should contact them and let them know they must do everything they
can to support our efforts.
Michael A. Nutter - D
|
|
Room
215, City Hall
Philadelphia, PA 19107-3290 P: (215) 686-2181 F: (215) 686-2180 |
|
W. Wilson Goode, Jr. - D
|
William K. Greenlee - D |
At-Large
|
At-Large
|
City
Hall, Room 316
Philadelphia, PA 19107-3290 P: (215) 686-3414/3415 F: (215) 686-1928 |
City
Hall, Room 508
Philadelphia, PA 19107-3290 P: (215) 686-3446/3447 F: (215) 686-1927 |
David Oh - R |
James F. Kenney - D |
At-Large
|
At-Large
|
City
Hall, Room 319
Philadelphia, PA 19107-3290 P: (215) 686-3452/3453 F: (215) 686-1925 |
City
Hall, Room 330
Philadelphia, PA 19107-3290 P: (215) 686-3450/3451 F: (215) 686-2013 |
VACANT |
Blondell Reynolds Brown - D |
At-Large
|
At-Large
|
City
Hall, Room 312
Philadelphia, PA 19107-3290 P: (215) 686-3420/3421 F: (215) 686-1930 |
City
Hall, Room 581
Philadelphia, PA 19107-3290 P: (215)686-3438/3439 F: (215) 686-1926 |
Dennis O'Brien - R |
At-Large
|
City
Hall, Room 582
Philadelphia, PA 19107-3290 P: (215) 686-3440/3441 F: (215) 686-1929 |
|
|
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