Come to City Council to Support the Removal of Confederate Statues

Monday, September 25th 2017, from 6-9pm, at Richmond City Hall (900 East Broad Street, Richmond VA), Richmond City Council member Michael Jones (9th district) will introduce a resolution putting the City Council on record as supporting the removal of Monument Avenue's five Confederate statues. The Defenders for Freedom, Justice & Equality are promoting the slogan "Take down the Confederate Statues & Build the Shockoe Bottom Memorial Park!"

For more info and to RSVP, see the link.

Stand Up! Speak Out! On the future of Shockoe Bottom!

Tomorrow, Wednesday July 12th 2017, from 5:30-8pm on the second floor of the Bon Secours Football Training Center (2401 West Leigh Street, Richmond VA), a company hired by the city, SmithGroupJJR, is holding a public hearing on plans to memorialize slavery-related sites in the city.

Currently, there are two plans, both pertaining to Shockoe Bottom. The city plan would preserve the Lumpkin's Jail site, a small plot of land. A community plan calls for a 9-acre Shockoe Bottom Memorial Park, which would include the Lumpkin's site, the African Burial Ground, and two additional blocks which were the site of several additional slave jails and trader's offices.

For more information and to RSVP, see this link.

Support the Shockoe Bottom Memorial Park at City Council

Please note that this event was re-scheduled from March 13th. 

Monday, March 27th 2017, from 6-7pm, at City Hall (900 East Broad Street, Richmond VA), the Sacred Ground Project of the Defenders for Freedom, Justice & Equality will be presenting a statement on the Community Proposal for a Nine-Acre Shockoe Bottom Memorial Park to city council. Immediately after the public comment period, there will be a community meeting, to discuss the next steps for moving the plan forward. 

Shockoe Bottom was once the hub of the domestic slave trade, but this history has gone largely unaddressed here in the former capitol of the Confederacy. Coming out of the successful 2011 struggle to reclaim the African Burial Ground from beneath a VCU parking lot, the community effort to preserve Shockoe Bottom's Black history has produced a plan for a memorial park. To hear about it, attend the council meeting, or check out the link below. 

For more info and to RSVP, see this link. If you're not able to attend yourself, please invite your friends. 

Support the Shockoe Bottom Memorial Park at City Council

Monday, March 13th 2017, from 6-7pm, at City Hall (900 East Broad Street, Richmond VA), the Sacred Ground Project of the Defenders for Freedom, Justice & Equality will be presenting a statement on the Community Proposal for a Nine-Acre Shockoe Bottom Memorial Park to city council. Immediately after the public comment period, there will be a community meeting, to discuss the next steps for moving the plan forward. 

Shockoe Bottom was once the hub of the domestic slave trade, but this history has gone largely unaddressed here in the former capitol of the Confederacy. Coming out of the successful 2011 struggle to reclaim the African Burial Ground from beneath a VCU parking lot, the community effort to preserve Shockoe Bottom's Black history has produced a plan for a memorial park. To hear about it, attend the council meeting, or check out the link below. 

For more info and to RSVP, see this link. If you're not able to attend yourself, please invite your friends. 

Ana Edwards and Phil Wilayto of the Defenders for Freedom, Justice & Equality: "Save sacred ground for the future."

Check it out- Ana Edwards and Phil Wilayto, of the Defenders for Freedom, Justice & Equality, wrote a piece for the Richmond Free Press on the need to memorialize the sacred ground in Shockoe Bottom. A good read, which you can find here.

If you have not yet signed on endorsing the Community Proposal for a 9-acre Shockoe Bottom Memorial Park, you can do so here. 

Ajamu Baraka to announce support for Shockoe Bottom Memorial Park

This Monday, October 3rd 2016, from 5-5:30pm, at Richmond’s African Burial Ground (East Broad and 16th Street, Richmond VA), the Defenders for Freedom, Justice & Equality are holding a press conference. Ajamu Baraka, Green Party nominee for Vice President, will be appearing to announce his support for the Shockoe Bottom Memorial Park proposal.

For more information and to RSVP, see the link.