August Newsletter

Hey friends, Shanna here.  

First of all, I want to sincerely thank you for your support during the past 3 years as we have worked to bring the history of The Flatbush African Burial Ground and our ancestors’ priceless contributions to New York to light.

Despite 3 years of successful organizing, the last 3 months have been fraught with harassment, bullying and threats of violence towards myself, the other leaders of the FABGC, volunteers and students, and even the Parks Department by a local vendor named Curtis who sells Afrocentric jewelry and accessories in front of the burial ground.  

He has interrupted walking tours, made anti-LGBTQ+ and misogynistic comments aimed at the Black female leadership of FABGC, thrown things, and has gone so far as to threaten our leadership, members, and volunteers (mostly women) with bodily harm and violence. His stated reasons are because we are women and LGBTQ+ people leading this movement, and because we work across races and with local elected officials.

This past weekend, his harassment and threats escalated further.  A volunteer encountered Curtis at the burial ground and he told this volunteer to get word back to us that he was going to choke and/or kill me, and hurt members of FABGC leadership because he was arrested a few days prior for getting violent with the police while at the burial ground. Curtis also approached FABGC President Samantha Bernardine and told her “I'm coming for you”. 

Because Curtis believes we called the police on him, he and other associates who have claimed to be with African Graves Matter, have removed the fence weavings we have done with the community, and they have also destroyed other artworks by Erasmus High School students and private artists (see before and after below).

As you know, my work and the work of member organizations and volunteers with FABGC have been to educate our community, beautify our sacred space, and build community power.  For the record, I have not called the authorities on this vendor nor have any members of FABGC leadership called any authorities despite the escalating threats of violence.   We have tried to quietly and privately handle any misunderstandings in community WITHOUT police intervention because we understand the ramifications of law enforcement presence in our communities. 

And still, we understand that there comes a point when silence becomes dangerous.  I am sharing this with you, our community, with our lawyers, city government, and the press to break our silence and so that we can continue our work without harassment, bullying, intimidation, or harm.

Curtis has made a point to attack us because we are women leading FABGC. Black women have long been the vanguard of social movements in this country, and I know that I can speak for my co-leaders at FABGC when I say we proudly carry on the legacy of unapologetic, strong Black women leaders. We are undeterred by those who would want us to cower in fear. We will heal and rebuild.

Finally, we will not stand for anyone desecrating and vandalizing the burial ground, nor will we stand for any misogyny, homophobia, xenophobia, transphobia, fatphobia, anti-Blackness, ableism, or threats of any kind from ANYONE as we continue to educate and uplift our ancestors and our community. 

With love, power, joy, and sovereignty,

Shanna