Charlottesville marks first Liberation and Freedom Day – The Daily Progress

A jubilant procession of a few dozen people marched through University Avenue and West Main Street on Friday evening to commemorate the moment when more than half of the populations of Charlottesville and Albemarle County were freed from slavery.

Carrying a large banner that said Let Freedom Ring and another reading Black Lives Matter, the procession sang freedom songs and lifted other political signs as they moved from the University of Virginia Chapel to the Jefferson School City Center as part of the citys first Liberation and Freedom Day celebration.

Last month, the City Council declared that March 3 would commemorate the historic moment in 1865 when Union military forces arrived in the city and liberated approximately 14,000 African-American slaves.

This is a commemoration of the most important day in Charlottesville history when 52 percent of the population was freed from slavery. said Claire Hitchens, a UVa graduate and singer-songwriter who volunteered to assist in organizing the procession Friday.

Also in attendance was Jane Clarke, the wife of a university professor emeritus, who felt motivated to participate in political rallies focused on social justice due to all the hate crimes and violence that is occurring against minorities.

As for the new holiday, she said: I think its great. We had never heard of this before. I know it was just recently created, but weve lived in Charlottesville for years and weve never heard of the liberation of the slaves.

Although the procession included only about 50 people, the first Liberation and Freedom Day celebration included well over 100 people, as the processional bridged an interfaith service at the UVa Chapel and a program at the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center that lasted for more than an hour.

In addition to remarks from local community activists, city officials, historians, as well as musical performances, the event included the recognition of several community members, including Zyhana Bryant, the Charlottesville High School student who called for the removal of the Robert E. Lee statue last year.

Two other community members, Deidra Gilmore and Eddie Harris, also were awarded the inaugural Freedom Fighter award.

During the program, Councilor Wes Bellamy read a statement from Gov. Terry McAuliffe, who recognized the new holiday and offered his regards.

This commemoration reminds members of the Charlottesville community, and all Virginians, of our enduring fight for human rights, the statement said. We have come a long way, but there is still work to be done. I commend your persistent efforts to create a community of inclusion, dignity and equality.

UVa President Teresa A. Sullivan also spoke at the event, recognizing the universitys role in surrendering alongside city officials when the Union forces arrived.

As we look back on that day, Liberation and Freedom Day should be a day of reflection. But it should not be a day of somber reflection. It should be a day of victorious reflection because we are celebrating a moment in the history of our community, and of our nation, when freedom won the battle over bondage, she said.

Linda Perriello, mother of Democratic gubernatorial candidate and Charlottesville native Tom Perriello, also spoke to honor the new holiday and promote her sons campaign.

All of you who marched, all of you who are here, send a message loud and clear: no more. No more to racial injustice and its corollaries of economic injustice, criminal injustice and even environmental injustice, she said.

The idea for the new holiday came as a recommendation from the citys Blue Ribbon Commission on Race, Memorials and Public Spaces, which was convened last year to address calls for the removal of the citys statue of Robert E. Lee.

Its just such an amazing journey that this city has been on, and I feel very proud, said Grace Aheron, a UVa graduate who also helped organize and lead the procession Friday.

It felt good today to celebrate rather than protest something, she said.

To see this day celebrated, not mourned it symbolically begins the retelling of the citys history, said John E. Mason, a UVa professor and member of the commission. Most people here celebrated the day and didnt see it as defeat, he added. That moment was the dawn of freedom.

Although a great deal of controversy has surrounded the commission and the City Councils decision to act on its recommendation to relocate the Lee statue, city officials and community members saw Fridays event as a moment to celebrate a new paradigm in how the city remembers the legacy of the Civil War.

Gary Gallagher, director of UVas John L. Nau III Civil War Center, said most communities throughout the South have only recognized the Confederacys memory of that period and that other strands of history have been glossed over.

Citing the 240 African-Americans from the area whom the Nau center has identified as having fought for the Union, he said he thinks its just as appropriate to commemorate those people just like the community historically has recognized Confederate veterans and ancestors.

One part of the historical memory thats been left out is African American men from Albemarle County who put on blue uniforms. They were absolutely invisible, he said. I think itd be a mighty damn fine idea if we put a monument with their names on it.

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Charlottesville marks first Liberation and Freedom Day - The Daily Progress