We all know about Martin Luther King, Jr., who we celebrate this weekend for his relentless pursuit of civil rights for Black Americans. But do you know any of these people?
Mary Bowser
William Harvey Carney
Gabriel
Dred Scott
Nat Turner
Rosa Dixon Bowser
John Mercer Langston
John Mitchell Jr.
Lucy F. Simms
Wyatt Tee Walker
In September, 2021, in Richmond Virginia, heart of the former Confederacy, the imposing bronze statue of Robert E. Lee, sitting on his warhorse was removed. This was great news to many of us who knew the South had lost the Civil War and that he was their main general—not someone to be celebrated!
After the removal of Lee’s statue, a new effigy was unveiled: the Emancipation and Freedom Monument. This sculpture features a Black man whose shackles have just fallen off, and a Black woman holding a baby and the Emancipation Proclamation, dated January 1, 1863.
That year was the middle of our Civil War. We tend to think of the Emancipation Proclamation as a one-day wonder, a big surprise. But historical accounts and documents show that the effort to end slavery had been on-going from the very beginning if discussions about our constitution. Many Americans wanted to end slavery. By 1860, emancipation of slaves was about to become federal law, and the minority of people who wanted to retain slavery, separated from the Union to have their own country where they could continue the atrocities of that practice. They saw the writing on the wall: most citizens wanted slavery abolished. And it turned out, many, many of those people were willing to go to war against their neighbors and families to make it happen.
The unsung heroes of emancipation were the abolitionists who bravely fought for people they didn’t even know, to be free.
In Virginia, the former capital of the Confederacy, on the pedestal of that new monument, are listed the names of Virginians who fought, day after day, to end slavery and bring civil rights to everyone. These ten Virginians are notable, but they represent a very powerful and unfaltering effort against slavery.
Mary Bowser, former slave and Union spy during the Civil War,
William Harvey Carney, soldier and former slave,
Gabriel, enslaved blacksmith and rebellion leader,
Dred Scott, enslaved man and plaintiff of Dred Scott v. Sandford,
Nat Turner, enslaved preacher and rebellion leader,
Rosa Dixon Bowser, educator and women’s rights advocate,
John Mercer Langston, politician and academic administrator,
John Mitchell Jr., community activist, newspaper editor, and political candidate,
Lucy F. Simms, educator,
Wyatt Tee Walker, civil rights activist and reverend.
These Virginians, and many others, did not throw up their hands in resignation. Though they may have despaired, they continued this brave, bold fight for equality, even when they knew it wouldn’t happen in their lifetimes. Today, on the monument where Lee’s humongous, military statue used to stand, now they are honored.
Richmond is a reminder, that it may take generations, but good does prevail.
(Originally presented as Moment for Peace, First UMC Alamosa, 16 Jan 2022)
