On these sacred grounds once walked.......Wiley, Ben, Jim, Pagan, Peter, Jake, Isaac, Ned, Madison, Little John, Big John, Reddick, Asa, Chester, Darb, Oliver, Dan, and Dennis, and thousands more. They were young, age 4 (?), age 8, or older (28 or 30). They are listed along with other property. They were human beings, yet they were bought and sold.
When I heard the pastor read their names at the welcome prior to lunch on Saturday, chill bumps ran up and down my spin. I was sitting on the very place where people by those names had once trod.
And so, it was on that holy ground that we met together for the 11th Annual Black Land Loss Summit Conference. It had once been a college and after that a place that has been transformative in the lives of people seeking after justice.
Prior to that, though, it was a place of violence, a place where slaves were brought and beaten into submission. A place that had once been about injustice now held a conference about justice.
The conference actually started the day before in Tillery. Who would want to forget about that historical place?
More to come.