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QUEENS WEEKLY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2019 QNS.COM
Jamaica event looks back on slavery in America
BY BILL PARRY
Residents of Southeast
Queens commemorated
400 years since the beginning
of African enslavement
in America at Roy
Wilkins Park in Jamaica.
State Senator James
Sanders Jr. hosted the
special event outdoors at
the Black Spectrum Theatre
on Aug. 30 entitled
‘A Tribute to the Ancestors’
which also highlighted
the perseverance
of Africans from 1619 to
the present.
“We are here to honor
these creative, industrious
people, who despite
being kidnapped and
brought to our shores
against their will, were
resolute in their fight
for human dignity and
equality,” Sanders said.
“I trust that our ancestors
will find some solace
in us marking the
occasion as we continue
the resistance.”
The event began with
Sanders re-enacting a
slave auction and summoning
the spirit of Angela,
the first African
slave who was brought to
Virginia 400 years ago.
Southeast Queens
resident Doneath Powell
portrayed Angela, and
stood chained as the song
“Bid ‘Em In” played in
the background.
The tune comes from
the 2004 film of the same
name, which depicts how
a young woman’s humanity
is cruelly rejected,
as she is placed on the
auction block of a small
southern town in pre-civil
war America.
The program included
an opening prayer from
Pastor Beverly Sharod
of Bethel Gospel Tabernacle
Church, a tribute
to the ancestors with the
pouring out of libations;
a traditional African
dance performance
and drumming.
The keynote speaker
was Dr. Ron Daniels,
founder and president of
the Institute of the Black
World 21st Century, who
discussed the hundreds
of years of African oppression
from the first
slave arriving to the Jim
Crow Era of segregation
and finally to the present
day accomplishments of
black people.
“We have made progress,
but the fact of the
matter is if you look at
America’s dark ghettos
today, we still have millions
of black people, who
are still struggling in
poverty,” Daniels said.
“Millions of communities
are plagued with de-investment
and de-industrialization,
all across this
country, and so we have
an obligation to continue
the struggle for the liberation
of our people.”
Also speaking at the
event was Anne C. Bailey,
professor of History & Africana
Studies at SUNY
Binghamton; and Reverend
Dennis Dillon of Rise
Church, New York.
“Have we come far
enough?” Bailey asked.
“That’s a big question.
Do we feel collectively
that we have come far
enough from the legacy of
this past? Do we feel like
we have made enough
progress? If we haven’t
made enough progress,
where do we want this to
move forward?”
The event concluded
with Powell reprising
her role as Angela, reciting
the poem “Still I
Rise” by Maya Angelou,
which says in part, “You
may shoot me with your
words, You may cut me
with your eyes, You may
kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air,
I’ll rise.”
Reach reporter Bill
Parry by email at bparry@
schnepsmedia.com or by
phone at (718) 260–4538.
Flushing teacher, Botanical Garden team up for library
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
A Flushing school teacher
along with Councilmember
Peter Koo and Queens
Botanical Garden introduced
the first Free Little
Library at the Garden with
a green ribbon-cutting ceremony
on Sept. 4.
Located at the Pebble
Yard by the Education
Building, the Little Free
Library is a “take a book,
return a book” free book
exchange. Anyone may
take a book or bring a book
to share. The goals of the
Little Free Library are
to build community,
spark creativity, and
inspire readers.
Andy Yung, a pre-k
teacher at P.S. 244Q The
Active Learning Elementary
School, said the gift of
literacy is a gift that sparks
an endless cycle of giving.
“It takes a village to
raise a child and our school
hopes to take the initiative
and play an active role in
helping, not only the families
in our school, but the
families all over our community
to become lifelong
readers,” Yung said. “The
Little Free Library funded
through DonorsChoose.
org will allow us to take
those first steps in getting
books into the hands of the
children in the Flushing
community, the same community
I grew up in, which
holds a very special place
in my heart.”
According to Yung,
there may be some children
who don’t have access
to books at home and aren’t
exposed to them, since parents
cannot afford to buy
books or have the time or
commitment to take their
children to the library.
That’s when Yung realized
there are other families
in the community that
may experience the same
dilemma, he wrote on the
DonorsChoose.org page.
“The Little Free Library
gives the members
of our community access
to books to take home. We
now have one directly in
front of our school, one in
our playground for our
kids to read during recess,
and we have established a
partnership with our local
botanical garden to house
another library there so
we can broaden our impact
and give our community
the gift of literacy,” Yung
said on the website.
Koo thanked Yung and
Queens Botanical Garden
for creating new ways
to involve and
educate children.
“The Little Free Library
is a great way for
our local schoolkids to get
engaged with one of the
borough’s most unique cultural
institutions right in
their backyard,” Koo said.
“‘Take a book, return a
book’ gives kids a chance to
share their favorite stories
and get excited about discovering
new stories from
their peers.”
Queens Botanical Garden
Assistant Director
Rebecca Wolf said, “With
the Little Free Library,
we’re now also welcoming
our visitors to share books
with each other and to promote
literacy.”
State Senator James Sanders re-enacts a slave auction at an event commemorating the 400
years since the beginning of African enslavement in America. Courtesy of Sanders’ office
Located at the Pebble Yard by the Education Building in the Garden, the Little Free Library is a “take a book, return a book”
free book exchange. Photo courtesy of Queens Botanical Garden
/QNS.COM
/schnepsmedia.com
/DonorsChoose.org
