BLACK-NATIVE SOLIDARITY
Why Baltimore endorsed Day of Mourning
By Sharon Black
Baltimore
The deep roots of solidarity between African Americans and
Native people are bound together by a mutual history of
enslavement, murder and genocide, and also by a mutual fight
back. This is illustrated by a brief glimpse at the Seminole
Wars, one of the longest armed rebellions against slavery, and
also a Native resistance against genocide.
The Seminole Wars were triggered in 1817 when the Seminole
people refused to return African slaves to the U.S. military
and slave holders. A leader of the fight was Osceola, a young
Seminole Chief who had been imprisoned by an Indian agent, and
whose wife had been delivered into slavery.
The Seminole warriors hid their families in the Everglades
and fought a guerrilla war to defend their homeland. As many as
2,000 U.S. soldiers were killed in this fighting, which cost
the government between $40,000,000 and $60,000,000, a
staggering sum for that period.
Black-Native solidarity that can be traced to the Seminole
Wars continues today. It was demonstrated by the Baltimore City
Council, which represents a majority Black city, when it voted
unanimously to pass Council Bill 98-870. This resolution,
brought before the council by the All-People's Congress and
Councilmember Dr. Norman Handy Sr., officially recognized
National Day of Mourning.
Sacrificing the warmth of their homes and leaving loved ones
behind, many of the same people who mobilized for the council
meeting filled the bus to depart to Plymouth, Mass., to
participate in the Nov. 26 demonstration marking the National
Day of Mourning. The trip took nine hours. Many were so excited
that they went without sleep.
On arriving in Plymouth, 13-year-old middle-school student
Justin Faunteroy said, "I'm attending this march because I feel
it's important for young people to know what's going on in the
world." On his return home he remarked: "I learned that on
`Thanksgiving,' the Pilgrims really killed off the Indians. The
Native people offered some of their land, but the Pilgrims were
greedy and took it all."
Locy Lumumba, who describes himself as a teacher and
visionary from the Heritage House, a community center promoting
African culture, was clear about his participation. He summed
up why many from Baltimore attended: "I have always wanted to
stand in solidarity with the plight of Indian people in this
country. I also want to gauge the strength of the movement, not
in terms of numbers, but in terms of the content of the
struggle and those pushing the cause. Also when I heard about
the arrests of the Plymouth 25, I felt it was critical to be
here in support and to stop police attacks."
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
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