WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.494 align:middle line:90% [MUSIC PLAYING] 00:00:01.494 --> 00:00:34.390 align:middle line:90% 00:00:34.390 --> 00:00:36.250 align:middle line:84% In order for us to continue to move forward 00:00:36.250 --> 00:00:39.012 align:middle line:84% and striving for equity and striving for change, 00:00:39.012 --> 00:00:40.720 align:middle line:84% we have to be able to talk about our past 00:00:40.720 --> 00:00:42.153 align:middle line:84% in a way that's really meaningful. 00:00:42.153 --> 00:00:44.320 align:middle line:84% And the memorial, I think, is a beautiful first step 00:00:44.320 --> 00:00:46.070 align:middle line:90% in starting that conversation. 00:00:46.070 --> 00:00:51.140 align:middle line:90% [MUSIC PLAYING] 00:00:51.140 --> 00:00:54.220 align:middle line:84% It's intended to be a space for reflection and healing. 00:00:54.220 --> 00:00:55.630 align:middle line:90% It's a space of truth telling. 00:00:55.630 --> 00:00:57.340 align:middle line:84% We want folks to bring classes here. 00:00:57.340 --> 00:01:00.310 align:middle line:84% We want folks to engage in that way. 00:01:00.310 --> 00:01:03.790 align:middle line:84% Slavery wasn't an experience that, by any means, 00:01:03.790 --> 00:01:06.340 align:middle line:84% should just be something in our past that we say happened, 00:01:06.340 --> 00:01:07.382 align:middle line:90% and we can talk about it. 00:01:07.382 --> 00:01:09.140 align:middle line:84% We should help folks heal past that trauma 00:01:09.140 --> 00:01:10.720 align:middle line:90% and past the brutality of it. 00:01:10.720 --> 00:01:17.330 align:middle line:90% 00:01:17.330 --> 00:01:19.720 align:middle line:84% The first thing, design wise, that greets you 00:01:19.720 --> 00:01:23.120 align:middle line:84% when you come into the memorial is this broken shackle image, 00:01:23.120 --> 00:01:25.390 align:middle line:84% represents a freedom from physical bondage. 00:01:25.390 --> 00:01:28.060 align:middle line:84% There's the path towards the North Star, 00:01:28.060 --> 00:01:29.710 align:middle line:84% and that was the path towards freedom. 00:01:29.710 --> 00:01:31.960 align:middle line:84% And then a second path kind of aligns 00:01:31.960 --> 00:01:33.520 align:middle line:84% with the sunset on March 3, which 00:01:33.520 --> 00:01:36.700 align:middle line:84% is liberation and Freedom, that is 80 feet, which matches 00:01:36.700 --> 00:01:39.100 align:middle line:84% the diameter of the rotunda, taking up 00:01:39.100 --> 00:01:42.700 align:middle line:84% that space that is so rightly deserved and honoring 00:01:42.700 --> 00:01:43.940 align:middle line:90% this legacy. 00:01:43.940 --> 00:01:46.300 align:middle line:84% There is a timeline of events that 00:01:46.300 --> 00:01:48.820 align:middle line:84% happen all the way through until Isabella Gibbons' death. 00:01:48.820 --> 00:01:50.737 align:middle line:84% And Isabella Gibbons was a member 00:01:50.737 --> 00:01:51.820 align:middle line:90% of the enslaved community. 00:01:51.820 --> 00:01:54.040 align:middle line:84% And she really took it upon herself 00:01:54.040 --> 00:01:56.500 align:middle line:84% to encourage reflection, encourage 00:01:56.500 --> 00:01:59.050 align:middle line:84% moving the needle towards equity and equality. 00:01:59.050 --> 00:02:02.940 align:middle line:84% And so her eyes are on the back of the memorial. 00:02:02.940 --> 00:02:04.620 align:middle line:84% I would encourage everyone, if they can, 00:02:04.620 --> 00:02:05.760 align:middle line:90% come witness it in person. 00:02:05.760 --> 00:02:07.020 align:middle line:90% Feel the stone. 00:02:07.020 --> 00:02:08.039 align:middle line:90% See the timeline. 00:02:08.039 --> 00:02:10.800 align:middle line:84% Be here and be present, and take a second 00:02:10.800 --> 00:02:13.650 align:middle line:84% to reflect, honor, and encourage folks 00:02:13.650 --> 00:02:16.398 align:middle line:84% to move forward with that history. 00:02:16.398 --> 00:02:17.892 align:middle line:90% [MUSIC PLAYING] 00:02:17.892 --> 00:02:36.340 align:middle line:90% 00:02:36.340 --> 00:02:37.430 align:middle line:90% Good morning. 00:02:37.430 --> 00:02:40.360 align:middle line:84% My name is Alvin Edwards, and I'm the pastor of the Mt. 00:02:40.360 --> 00:02:43.330 align:middle line:84% Zion First African Baptist Church here in Charlottesville. 00:02:43.330 --> 00:02:45.580 align:middle line:84% And I am a member of the President's Commission 00:02:45.580 --> 00:02:48.310 align:middle line:84% on Slavery and the University, for which I 00:02:48.310 --> 00:02:50.530 align:middle line:90% am thankful to be a member of. 00:02:50.530 --> 00:02:52.540 align:middle line:84% And I want to welcome each of you 00:02:52.540 --> 00:02:56.440 align:middle line:84% to the virtual dedication of the Memorial for Enslaved Laborers. 00:02:56.440 --> 00:02:59.680 align:middle line:84% I want to welcome you to the vision of the former president 00:02:59.680 --> 00:03:01.720 align:middle line:84% of the University of Virginia, Miss Teresa 00:03:01.720 --> 00:03:04.330 align:middle line:84% Sullivan and the Board of Visitors, 00:03:04.330 --> 00:03:07.000 align:middle line:84% then for institutionalizing efforts 00:03:07.000 --> 00:03:10.390 align:middle line:84% to recognize enslaved laborers' contributions. 00:03:10.390 --> 00:03:14.920 align:middle line:84% And I also want to thank the PCSU committee and President 00:03:14.920 --> 00:03:17.890 align:middle line:84% Ryan for continuing this recognition. 00:03:17.890 --> 00:03:20.170 align:middle line:84% And I would also like to take this moment 00:03:20.170 --> 00:03:23.950 align:middle line:84% to acknowledge that the land we live, learn, and work on 00:03:23.950 --> 00:03:28.600 align:middle line:84% is a traditional territory of the Monacan Indian nation. 00:03:28.600 --> 00:03:32.650 align:middle line:84% We pay respect to the elders, both past and present. 00:03:32.650 --> 00:03:34.870 align:middle line:84% And additionally, we acknowledge and pay 00:03:34.870 --> 00:03:38.320 align:middle line:84% respect to the enslaved people who built and labored 00:03:38.320 --> 00:03:40.210 align:middle line:90% at the University of Virginia. 00:03:40.210 --> 00:03:44.920 align:middle line:84% I welcome you to join us and share in the experience 00:03:44.920 --> 00:03:47.530 align:middle line:84% as we memorialize, as we celebrate, 00:03:47.530 --> 00:03:50.320 align:middle line:84% as we commemorate and learn lessons 00:03:50.320 --> 00:03:54.700 align:middle line:84% of the contribution of people of color who were enslaved 00:03:54.700 --> 00:03:58.270 align:middle line:84% and yet helped to build this university community. 00:03:58.270 --> 00:04:00.340 align:middle line:90% That we're thankful for. 00:04:00.340 --> 00:04:02.230 align:middle line:90% Now let us pray. 00:04:02.230 --> 00:04:06.940 align:middle line:84% Thou who are called by many names, as we bow on this day, 00:04:06.940 --> 00:04:08.440 align:middle line:84% we thank you that you have put it 00:04:08.440 --> 00:04:11.020 align:middle line:84% in the hearts of the leaders of the University of Virginia 00:04:11.020 --> 00:04:15.400 align:middle line:84% to pause and honor those persons who were enslaved and built 00:04:15.400 --> 00:04:16.870 align:middle line:90% the university. 00:04:16.870 --> 00:04:22.000 align:middle line:84% Let their memories remind all of us that our works do follow us. 00:04:22.000 --> 00:04:25.930 align:middle line:84% This we ask, in the name that is above every name, the great I 00:04:25.930 --> 00:04:29.170 align:middle line:90% am, the eternal one, we do pray. 00:04:29.170 --> 00:04:29.890 align:middle line:90% Amen. 00:04:29.890 --> 00:04:30.876 align:middle line:90% [MUSIC PLAYING] 00:04:30.876 --> 00:04:47.670 align:middle line:90% 00:04:47.670 --> 00:04:49.890 align:middle line:84% Can we forget the crack of the whip? 00:04:49.890 --> 00:04:51.210 align:middle line:90% The cow hide? 00:04:51.210 --> 00:04:52.650 align:middle line:90% The whipping post? 00:04:52.650 --> 00:04:53.940 align:middle line:90% The auction block? 00:04:53.940 --> 00:04:55.380 align:middle line:90% The handcuffs? 00:04:55.380 --> 00:04:56.880 align:middle line:90% The spaniels? 00:04:56.880 --> 00:04:58.200 align:middle line:90% The iron collar? 00:04:58.200 --> 00:05:00.960 align:middle line:84% The Negro trader tearing the young child 00:05:00.960 --> 00:05:04.920 align:middle line:84% from its mother's breast as a whelp from the lioness? 00:05:04.920 --> 00:05:08.100 align:middle line:84% Have we forgotten those horrible cruelties? 00:05:08.100 --> 00:05:10.650 align:middle line:90% Hundreds of our race killed. 00:05:10.650 --> 00:05:13.890 align:middle line:90% No, we have not, nor ever will. 00:05:13.890 --> 00:05:16.920 align:middle line:84% Isabella Gibbons, a former enslaved person 00:05:16.920 --> 00:05:20.010 align:middle line:84% owned by a University of Virginia faculty member 00:05:20.010 --> 00:05:23.670 align:middle line:84% wrote these words two years after the end of the Civil War. 00:05:23.670 --> 00:05:25.980 align:middle line:84% She went on to become an educator. 00:05:25.980 --> 00:05:30.810 align:middle line:84% And it is fittingly her words and her eyes through which 00:05:30.810 --> 00:05:33.810 align:middle line:84% we can feel the past reach through the stone 00:05:33.810 --> 00:05:36.150 align:middle line:84% of the Memorial to Enslaved Laborers 00:05:36.150 --> 00:05:39.870 align:middle line:84% and impel us to greater understanding, empathy 00:05:39.870 --> 00:05:41.100 align:middle line:90% and justice. 00:05:41.100 --> 00:05:44.460 align:middle line:84% In a year in which we have too often suffered heartache, 00:05:44.460 --> 00:05:49.650 align:middle line:84% isolation, and loss as a result of a global pandemic that 00:05:49.650 --> 00:05:51.960 align:middle line:84% has taken millions of lives, as well 00:05:51.960 --> 00:05:54.690 align:middle line:84% as unprecedented challenges to democracy 00:05:54.690 --> 00:05:57.810 align:middle line:84% and the unjust deaths of Black citizens 00:05:57.810 --> 00:06:00.690 align:middle line:84% at the hands of law enforcement, we have also 00:06:00.690 --> 00:06:02.850 align:middle line:90% witnessed moments of hope. 00:06:02.850 --> 00:06:05.310 align:middle line:84% Global social justice movements have 00:06:05.310 --> 00:06:09.000 align:middle line:84% sought to redress inequities related to policing, 00:06:09.000 --> 00:06:11.520 align:middle line:90% punishment, and voting rights. 00:06:11.520 --> 00:06:15.600 align:middle line:84% Scientists, meanwhile, have developed an ingenious vaccine 00:06:15.600 --> 00:06:18.930 align:middle line:84% that is bringing the pandemic closer to its end. 00:06:18.930 --> 00:06:21.510 align:middle line:84% Against this context, the memorial 00:06:21.510 --> 00:06:23.490 align:middle line:84% is an especially meaningful symbol 00:06:23.490 --> 00:06:25.500 align:middle line:90% of healing and connection. 00:06:25.500 --> 00:06:28.870 align:middle line:84% It is not only a bridge between generations 00:06:28.870 --> 00:06:31.230 align:middle line:84% but also a bridge from the darkness 00:06:31.230 --> 00:06:33.330 align:middle line:84% of hidden injustices to the light 00:06:33.330 --> 00:06:36.360 align:middle line:84% that knowledge and recognition bring. 00:06:36.360 --> 00:06:39.240 align:middle line:84% I'd like to express my profound gratitude 00:06:39.240 --> 00:06:43.350 align:middle line:84% for the work of so many at UVA and in the local community 00:06:43.350 --> 00:06:46.950 align:middle line:84% to dream, envision, design, research, collaborate, 00:06:46.950 --> 00:06:49.800 align:middle line:90% build and engrave the memorial. 00:06:49.800 --> 00:06:51.990 align:middle line:84% Their work will be remembered for as long 00:06:51.990 --> 00:06:54.630 align:middle line:84% as the granite from which the memorial is built 00:06:54.630 --> 00:06:58.620 align:middle line:84% endure.s This work began with the UVA students who 00:06:58.620 --> 00:07:02.400 align:middle line:84% were the driving force behind the memorial we dedicate today. 00:07:02.400 --> 00:07:06.570 align:middle line:84% In 2009, the student council's Diversity Initiatives Committee 00:07:06.570 --> 00:07:09.780 align:middle line:84% established the Memorial for Enslaved Laborers group, 00:07:09.780 --> 00:07:13.680 align:middle line:84% solicited community input, organized scholarly panels 00:07:13.680 --> 00:07:15.750 align:middle line:84% and talks, and ultimately sponsored 00:07:15.750 --> 00:07:18.030 align:middle line:84% a competition for memorial designs 00:07:18.030 --> 00:07:20.550 align:middle line:84% in partnership with the Black Student Alliance 00:07:20.550 --> 00:07:24.330 align:middle line:84% and the University and Community Action for Racial Equity group. 00:07:24.330 --> 00:07:28.770 align:middle line:84% Alumni from the UVA Idea fund led by Tiffany Fairchild 00:07:28.770 --> 00:07:31.200 align:middle line:90% were integral to next steps. 00:07:31.200 --> 00:07:34.470 align:middle line:84% They commissioned a report summarizing existing efforts 00:07:34.470 --> 00:07:36.660 align:middle line:84% around UVA's history with slavery 00:07:36.660 --> 00:07:39.480 align:middle line:84% and recommended an institutional response. 00:07:39.480 --> 00:07:43.230 align:middle line:84% In 2013, President Teresa Sullivan 00:07:43.230 --> 00:07:45.450 align:middle line:84% wisely created the President's Commission 00:07:45.450 --> 00:07:47.310 align:middle line:90% on Slavery and the University. 00:07:47.310 --> 00:07:50.160 align:middle line:84% The commission was co-chaired by Marcus Martin, 00:07:50.160 --> 00:07:52.290 align:middle line:84% then vice president and chief officer 00:07:52.290 --> 00:07:54.840 align:middle line:84% for diversity and equity, And Kirt von 00:07:54.840 --> 00:07:57.480 align:middle line:84% Daacke assistant dean and professor of history 00:07:57.480 --> 00:07:59.430 align:middle line:84% in the College of Arts and Sciences. 00:07:59.430 --> 00:08:03.030 align:middle line:84% Their 2018 report was foundational 00:08:03.030 --> 00:08:04.860 align:middle line:84% to our understanding of the ways in which 00:08:04.860 --> 00:08:07.740 align:middle line:84% the reprehensible institution of slavery 00:08:07.740 --> 00:08:11.370 align:middle line:84% was, indeed, integral to the building, founding, 00:08:11.370 --> 00:08:13.740 align:middle line:90% and early flourishing of UVA. 00:08:13.740 --> 00:08:15.840 align:middle line:84% Their careful scholarship and narrative 00:08:15.840 --> 00:08:18.690 align:middle line:84% were crucial to the design of the memorial. 00:08:18.690 --> 00:08:22.650 align:middle line:84% Kevin Fay, a former member of the Board of Visitors and chair 00:08:22.650 --> 00:08:24.420 align:middle line:84% of the Building and Grounds Committee 00:08:24.420 --> 00:08:27.360 align:middle line:84% at the time of the memorial's approval, 00:08:27.360 --> 00:08:30.480 align:middle line:84% championed this work, as did former board member John 00:08:30.480 --> 00:08:33.659 align:middle line:84% MacFarlane who spearheaded fundraising efforts. 00:08:33.659 --> 00:08:37.799 align:middle line:84% [INAUDIBLE] and Khaleefa Lee were pioneering student 00:08:37.799 --> 00:08:39.480 align:middle line:90% advocates and leaders. 00:08:39.480 --> 00:08:44.039 align:middle line:84% Eric Howeler and Meejin Yoon architects extraordinaire 00:08:44.039 --> 00:08:47.250 align:middle line:84% have created a work of lasting significance, 00:08:47.250 --> 00:08:50.790 align:middle line:84% along with project manager Namjoo Kim. 00:08:50.790 --> 00:08:53.580 align:middle line:84% We thank design team members Mabel O. Wilson, 00:08:53.580 --> 00:08:56.970 align:middle line:84% the team historian, Eto Otitigbe, 00:08:56.970 --> 00:09:00.270 align:middle line:84% the artist who designed the unforgettable gaze of Isabella 00:09:00.270 --> 00:09:04.380 align:middle line:84% Gibbons; Frank Dukes, who led the public engagement effort, 00:09:04.380 --> 00:09:08.490 align:middle line:84% and Gregg Bleam of Gregg Bleam Landscape Architects. 00:09:08.490 --> 00:09:12.210 align:middle line:84% The talented team of Devon Henry, Patrick Lindsey, 00:09:12.210 --> 00:09:15.660 align:middle line:84% and Mike Spence at Team Henry Enterprises 00:09:15.660 --> 00:09:18.270 align:middle line:84% ably oversaw construction of the work. 00:09:18.270 --> 00:09:21.600 align:middle line:84% Alex Marshall and Jim Durham from [INAUDIBLE] 00:09:21.600 --> 00:09:24.660 align:middle line:84% managed the stonework, even through long days 00:09:24.660 --> 00:09:25.950 align:middle line:90% of winter mud. 00:09:25.950 --> 00:09:29.520 align:middle line:84% UVA's office of the architect, including university landscape 00:09:29.520 --> 00:09:32.550 align:middle line:84% architect Mary Hughes, architect for the University, 00:09:32.550 --> 00:09:35.910 align:middle line:84% Alice Raucher; project manager Cerrita Herman 00:09:35.910 --> 00:09:38.220 align:middle line:84% and construction administration manager 00:09:38.220 --> 00:09:41.220 align:middle line:84% Ted Nelson contributed leadership and support 00:09:41.220 --> 00:09:42.300 align:middle line:90% throughout. 00:09:42.300 --> 00:09:46.720 align:middle line:84% Finally Megan Faulkner and MAL community engagement committee 00:09:46.720 --> 00:09:49.780 align:middle line:84% coordinated a collaborative process for events 00:09:49.780 --> 00:09:52.870 align:middle line:84% with the local community and the descendant community. 00:09:52.870 --> 00:09:56.650 align:middle line:84% We are indebted to each of you for your contributions 00:09:56.650 --> 00:09:58.390 align:middle line:90% to the memorial. 00:09:58.390 --> 00:10:01.150 align:middle line:84% I would like to close with a special acknowledgment 00:10:01.150 --> 00:10:05.830 align:middle line:84% of the families with ties to the names, locations, and memory 00:10:05.830 --> 00:10:08.530 align:middle line:84% marks that appear on the memorial. 00:10:08.530 --> 00:10:12.280 align:middle line:84% Your ancestors toiled, often anonymously, 00:10:12.280 --> 00:10:16.240 align:middle line:84% facing violence and harassment, and not under their free will, 00:10:16.240 --> 00:10:18.820 align:middle line:84% to build the University of Virginia. 00:10:18.820 --> 00:10:22.750 align:middle line:84% It is to them that we owe our deepest gratitude. 00:10:22.750 --> 00:10:25.270 align:middle line:84% May this memorial bring to their families 00:10:25.270 --> 00:10:30.200 align:middle line:84% a measure of solace and a step toward spiritual repair. 00:10:30.200 --> 00:10:31.199 align:middle line:90% Thank you. 00:10:31.199 --> 00:10:32.197 align:middle line:90% [MUSIC PLAYING] 00:10:32.197 --> 00:10:54.153 align:middle line:90% 00:10:54.153 --> 00:11:48.045 align:middle line:90% [DRUMS AND DANCING] 00:11:48.045 --> 00:12:30.460 align:middle line:90% 00:12:30.460 --> 00:12:31.640 align:middle line:90% [INAUDIBLE] 00:12:31.640 --> 00:12:34.740 align:middle line:84% I bring you greetings, cousins, from Oakland, California. 00:12:34.740 --> 00:12:36.230 align:middle line:90% My name is Regina Callaway. 00:12:36.230 --> 00:12:39.230 align:middle line:84% I'm so honored to be here to share in this memorial 00:12:39.230 --> 00:12:40.520 align:middle line:90% experience with you. 00:12:40.520 --> 00:12:43.032 align:middle line:84% This day is so important because, indeed, it 00:12:43.032 --> 00:12:44.240 align:middle line:90% is the day the Lord has made. 00:12:44.240 --> 00:12:47.720 align:middle line:84% But it also is the day where our ancestors' promises are 00:12:47.720 --> 00:12:49.250 align:middle line:90% realized through us. 00:12:49.250 --> 00:12:51.890 align:middle line:84% We lift up their names, their stories, 00:12:51.890 --> 00:12:55.580 align:middle line:84% and we usher the healing in spiritual reparations. 00:12:55.580 --> 00:12:57.980 align:middle line:84% So I want to thank you to the South Halls, 00:12:57.980 --> 00:13:00.500 align:middle line:84% to the herms to the berms to the cars 00:13:00.500 --> 00:13:03.110 align:middle line:84% to the miners to the Tyrrells, to the Harrises, 00:13:03.110 --> 00:13:04.880 align:middle line:84% the Harristons, and so many more. 00:13:04.880 --> 00:13:06.680 align:middle line:90% We give praise to life. 00:13:06.680 --> 00:13:10.130 align:middle line:84% I honor and thank you, Dr. Shelley Murphy, for all things 00:13:10.130 --> 00:13:11.810 align:middle line:90% Virginia that you've shown me. 00:13:11.810 --> 00:13:13.760 align:middle line:84% And a special salute to my cousin, 00:13:13.760 --> 00:13:17.450 align:middle line:84% Nikki Smith Reams, for ushering this day. 00:13:17.450 --> 00:13:19.250 align:middle line:90% Blessings to all of you. 00:13:19.250 --> 00:13:20.930 align:middle line:90% Thank you. 00:13:20.930 --> 00:13:26.150 align:middle line:84% This memorial means to me that I stand here today 00:13:26.150 --> 00:13:30.860 align:middle line:84% on the shoulders of my great, great uncle Peyton Skipwith, 00:13:30.860 --> 00:13:36.080 align:middle line:84% who labored here as a for-hire slave laborer 00:13:36.080 --> 00:13:42.230 align:middle line:84% from Brimo Plantation in Fluvanna County, 160 years ago. 00:13:42.230 --> 00:13:46.520 align:middle line:84% And I can thank him this day for his perseverance 00:13:46.520 --> 00:13:49.850 align:middle line:90% toward freedom on my behalf. 00:13:49.850 --> 00:13:56.200 align:middle line:84% God bless him, and all others memorialized here. 00:13:56.200 --> 00:13:57.670 align:middle line:90% [MUSIC PLAYING] 00:13:57.670 --> 00:14:20.230 align:middle line:90% 00:14:20.230 --> 00:14:22.870 align:middle line:84% While we wish we could be together for this dedication, 00:14:22.870 --> 00:14:25.930 align:middle line:84% I remain humbled to stand before you, representing 00:14:25.930 --> 00:14:27.220 align:middle line:90% the efforts of many. 00:14:27.220 --> 00:14:29.590 align:middle line:84% We know that legacies are powerful. 00:14:29.590 --> 00:14:32.020 align:middle line:84% I've developed an even more intimate appreciation 00:14:32.020 --> 00:14:34.180 align:middle line:90% of that power recently. 00:14:34.180 --> 00:14:36.490 align:middle line:84% My mom passed away last year before getting the chance 00:14:36.490 --> 00:14:38.350 align:middle line:90% to see the memorial in person. 00:14:38.350 --> 00:14:40.840 align:middle line:84% She was a huge supporter of my work on this project, 00:14:40.840 --> 00:14:42.760 align:middle line:84% and I want to mention her because I'm 00:14:42.760 --> 00:14:44.170 align:middle line:90% a part of her legacy. 00:14:44.170 --> 00:14:46.840 align:middle line:90% I know she's proud. 00:14:46.840 --> 00:14:48.910 align:middle line:84% As students, we've felt the legacies 00:14:48.910 --> 00:14:51.280 align:middle line:84% of the individuals whose names are engraved here 00:14:51.280 --> 00:14:53.350 align:middle line:84% and those whose names we do not know. 00:14:53.350 --> 00:14:55.840 align:middle line:84% As a Black student at the University of Virginia, 00:14:55.840 --> 00:14:58.870 align:middle line:84% those legacies manifested for me in particularly complicated 00:14:58.870 --> 00:15:00.340 align:middle line:90% ways. 00:15:00.340 --> 00:15:02.920 align:middle line:84% They were everywhere and in everything. 00:15:02.920 --> 00:15:05.680 align:middle line:84% Present alongside them, so was the legacy of slavery 00:15:05.680 --> 00:15:08.900 align:middle line:84% that still feeds the systemic racism of today. 00:15:08.900 --> 00:15:11.830 align:middle line:84% There was never any disputing the power of the legacies. 00:15:11.830 --> 00:15:13.420 align:middle line:90% We all felt them. 00:15:13.420 --> 00:15:16.870 align:middle line:84% Memory of a complete history is what we were denied. 00:15:16.870 --> 00:15:19.480 align:middle line:84% Yes, and in remembrance, we must not 00:15:19.480 --> 00:15:23.440 align:middle line:84% forget those whose work birthed this memorial and all 00:15:23.440 --> 00:15:26.920 align:middle line:84% the foundational reparative work surrounding it. 00:15:26.920 --> 00:15:29.860 align:middle line:84% For in all great change there stands the spark 00:15:29.860 --> 00:15:32.000 align:middle line:90% that leads to its creation. 00:15:32.000 --> 00:15:33.850 align:middle line:84% The voice that sparked our Big Bang momentum 00:15:33.850 --> 00:15:36.790 align:middle line:90% in 2006, Dean Rick Turner. 00:15:36.790 --> 00:15:40.450 align:middle line:84% Our dean who valiantly fought for an environment that 00:15:40.450 --> 00:15:44.350 align:middle line:84% would ensure the students he served could thrive. 00:15:44.350 --> 00:15:47.650 align:middle line:84% Thus laying the very groundwork to bring this idea 00:15:47.650 --> 00:15:49.540 align:middle line:90% into reality. 00:15:49.540 --> 00:15:52.780 align:middle line:84% We give thanks to him and the students and faculty 00:15:52.780 --> 00:15:58.495 align:middle line:84% whom I united with, working tirelessly from 2006 2009, 00:15:58.495 --> 00:16:03.700 align:middle line:84% first for a class project, next for the liberation of bodies 00:16:03.700 --> 00:16:05.450 align:middle line:90% and space. 00:16:05.450 --> 00:16:10.020 align:middle line:84% And even more so, for a peaceful honoring of our ancestors. 00:16:10.020 --> 00:16:13.777 align:middle line:84% Building on years of work of countless faculty, students, 00:16:13.777 --> 00:16:15.360 align:middle line:84% and Charlottesville community members, 00:16:15.360 --> 00:16:17.460 align:middle line:84% the Memorial for Enslaved Laborers Committee 00:16:17.460 --> 00:16:20.760 align:middle line:84% established in 2009 pushed for a truth telling 00:16:20.760 --> 00:16:24.990 align:middle line:84% of a painful but critical part of the university's story. 00:16:24.990 --> 00:16:26.910 align:middle line:84% Most importantly, we came together 00:16:26.910 --> 00:16:30.240 align:middle line:84% to acknowledge the very real lives of those honored women 00:16:30.240 --> 00:16:33.750 align:middle line:84% and men, often erased from common narrative. 00:16:33.750 --> 00:16:36.000 align:middle line:84% It took several generations of stakeholders 00:16:36.000 --> 00:16:39.430 align:middle line:84% fighting to make the case for public recognition. 00:16:39.430 --> 00:16:41.950 align:middle line:84% Which include our Charlottesville family, 00:16:41.950 --> 00:16:45.690 align:middle line:84% staff and faculty of UVA, and the many students 00:16:45.690 --> 00:16:49.440 align:middle line:84% who would engage in this work with the university community 00:16:49.440 --> 00:16:52.800 align:middle line:84% Racial Reconciliation project, or UCRRP, 00:16:52.800 --> 00:16:56.190 align:middle line:84% who all worked along with us as two students, 00:16:56.190 --> 00:16:59.460 align:middle line:84% adding Jason James and Lakeisha Banks. 00:16:59.460 --> 00:17:04.050 align:middle line:84% All of us carry the work of reconciliatory action, 00:17:04.050 --> 00:17:06.990 align:middle line:84% community inclusionary education, 00:17:06.990 --> 00:17:09.869 align:middle line:84% as well as proper memorialisation. 00:17:09.869 --> 00:17:12.839 align:middle line:84% Along with the many moons of the Memorial for Enslaved 00:17:12.839 --> 00:17:17.670 align:middle line:84% Laborers committee, the students who worked tirelessly for love 00:17:17.670 --> 00:17:21.720 align:middle line:84% and righteousness to guarantee that there would be engagement 00:17:21.720 --> 00:17:24.569 align:middle line:84% in the topics of reconciliation, reparations, 00:17:24.569 --> 00:17:28.109 align:middle line:84% and a correct storytelling of the legacy of enslavement 00:17:28.109 --> 00:17:29.400 align:middle line:90% at UVA. 00:17:29.400 --> 00:17:32.040 align:middle line:84% A pivotal point for our effort, and one of my favorites, 00:17:32.040 --> 00:17:35.610 align:middle line:84% was a student design competition we held in 2011. 00:17:35.610 --> 00:17:38.280 align:middle line:84% Through that we proved that the imagination, imperative, 00:17:38.280 --> 00:17:41.520 align:middle line:84% and desire do all exist to tell this story 00:17:41.520 --> 00:17:44.070 align:middle line:90% in a dignified and honest way. 00:17:44.070 --> 00:17:47.695 align:middle line:84% 10 years later, to be here at the site is surreal for me. 00:17:47.695 --> 00:17:50.070 align:middle line:84% There are so many people whose imprint is on this project 00:17:50.070 --> 00:17:51.682 align:middle line:90% and who deserve credit. 00:17:51.682 --> 00:17:53.640 align:middle line:84% I would like to extend a special acknowledgment 00:17:53.640 --> 00:17:56.820 align:middle line:84% to my fellow founding members of the student committee, Kyle 00:17:56.820 --> 00:18:00.120 align:middle line:84% Bancroft, Jasmine Drake, Carrie Fillapetty, Anna Griselda 00:18:00.120 --> 00:18:03.360 align:middle line:84% Funtelar, Ryan Hicks, Alyssa Maran, [INAUDIBLE] ta 00:18:03.360 --> 00:18:06.420 align:middle line:84% Semma, and Edna Turei, as well as Frank 00:18:06.420 --> 00:18:08.370 align:middle line:84% Dukes and the University and Community Action 00:18:08.370 --> 00:18:10.890 align:middle line:84% for Racial Equity for their continued support. 00:18:10.890 --> 00:18:13.830 align:middle line:84% And to the winners of that competition, whose work would 00:18:13.830 --> 00:18:17.430 align:middle line:84% give the very foundation to the very design, 00:18:17.430 --> 00:18:20.830 align:middle line:84% and even the location that we see today. 00:18:20.830 --> 00:18:24.750 align:middle line:84% We feel this project, one of many powerful works, 00:18:24.750 --> 00:18:28.530 align:middle line:84% has brought life and light to the buried and forgotten. 00:18:28.530 --> 00:18:31.950 align:middle line:84% Those long gone and those who are still standing. 00:18:31.950 --> 00:18:34.920 align:middle line:84% Those still teaching, those still cleaning, 00:18:34.920 --> 00:18:37.830 align:middle line:84% and those still living life inside and outside 00:18:37.830 --> 00:18:41.640 align:middle line:84% the plantation as Charlottesville would call it. 00:18:41.640 --> 00:18:44.490 align:middle line:84% To them, we give thanks and acknowledgment. 00:18:44.490 --> 00:18:47.370 align:middle line:84% And to my mother and her drive to see 00:18:47.370 --> 00:18:49.710 align:middle line:84% me reach bounds unseen by coming here 00:18:49.710 --> 00:18:53.730 align:middle line:84% to humbly be a part of the edification of history, 00:18:53.730 --> 00:19:01.770 align:middle line:84% our story at UVA, C-ville, ATL, the USA. 00:19:01.770 --> 00:19:04.920 align:middle line:84% Even in the beautiful ugly that it is. 00:19:04.920 --> 00:19:09.870 align:middle line:84% We pray everyone joins us in the consistent remembrance 00:19:09.870 --> 00:19:13.380 align:middle line:84% and the ongoing reparations work to come. 00:19:13.380 --> 00:19:15.460 align:middle line:84% The people to which this memorial is dedicated 00:19:15.460 --> 00:19:18.270 align:middle line:84% will never know the full extent of their legacies 00:19:18.270 --> 00:19:21.090 align:middle line:84% and the gratitude that I and others have for them. 00:19:21.090 --> 00:19:23.550 align:middle line:84% To their descendants to whom this university owes 00:19:23.550 --> 00:19:25.500 align:middle line:84% a tremendous debt, I hope you find 00:19:25.500 --> 00:19:27.300 align:middle line:90% some comfort in this space. 00:19:27.300 --> 00:19:30.030 align:middle line:84% May we all draw courage and healing from our ancestors 00:19:30.030 --> 00:19:32.340 align:middle line:90% as they live on in all of us. 00:19:32.340 --> 00:19:35.310 align:middle line:84% A physical memorial is important and a long overdue addition 00:19:35.310 --> 00:19:36.510 align:middle line:90% to the university. 00:19:36.510 --> 00:19:39.840 align:middle line:84% But by no means is it an end for the simultaneous dismantling 00:19:39.840 --> 00:19:42.790 align:middle line:84% and building work that still needs to be done. 00:19:42.790 --> 00:19:44.940 align:middle line:84% So even as we celebrate and congratulate, 00:19:44.940 --> 00:19:46.770 align:middle line:90% may we push forward in earnest. 00:19:46.770 --> 00:19:50.590 align:middle line:84% The actions we take, the knowledge we gain-- 00:19:50.590 --> 00:19:53.380 align:middle line:84% that's where the power of change resides. 00:19:53.380 --> 00:19:54.376 align:middle line:90% [MUSIC PLAYING] 00:19:54.376 --> 00:20:14.695 align:middle line:90% 00:20:14.695 --> 00:20:15.320 align:middle line:90% [VIDEO PLAYING] 00:20:15.320 --> 00:20:18.480 align:middle line:84% What we memorialize is, of course, important. 00:20:18.480 --> 00:20:21.575 align:middle line:84% There are some things we wish to remember ourselves and have 00:20:21.575 --> 00:20:23.360 align:middle line:84% our children and grandchildren remember. 00:20:23.360 --> 00:20:26.060 align:middle line:84% There are other things we would actually just as soon forget. 00:20:26.060 --> 00:20:29.360 align:middle line:84% The university has gone through various periods and phases 00:20:29.360 --> 00:20:32.120 align:middle line:84% of what it held in memory and what it forgot. 00:20:32.120 --> 00:20:34.400 align:middle line:84% Now the history of slavery, to a large extent, 00:20:34.400 --> 00:20:35.720 align:middle line:90% was something we forgot. 00:20:35.720 --> 00:20:37.220 align:middle line:84% So I thought it was important for us 00:20:37.220 --> 00:20:40.653 align:middle line:84% to look at what I thought of as the hidden history of UVA. 00:20:40.653 --> 00:20:42.320 align:middle line:84% The charge of the President's Commission 00:20:42.320 --> 00:20:45.110 align:middle line:84% on Slavery University is to commemorate 00:20:45.110 --> 00:20:47.390 align:middle line:84% the University of Virginia's history, first of all. 00:20:47.390 --> 00:20:49.910 align:middle line:84% But also to recognize the slave laborers' contributions 00:20:49.910 --> 00:20:51.410 align:middle line:84% to the building of this institution. 00:20:51.410 --> 00:20:54.550 align:middle line:84% For many years, that story was not told. 00:20:54.550 --> 00:20:57.100 align:middle line:84% What we fundamentally do as a university 00:20:57.100 --> 00:20:58.930 align:middle line:90% is research and education. 00:20:58.930 --> 00:21:02.560 align:middle line:84% We try to uncover new knowledge, and we pass that knowledge 00:21:02.560 --> 00:21:04.110 align:middle line:90% on to our students. 00:21:04.110 --> 00:21:06.370 align:middle line:84% One of our charges from the president 00:21:06.370 --> 00:21:09.250 align:middle line:84% was to do the research, to go into the records, 00:21:09.250 --> 00:21:12.730 align:middle line:84% to try to tease out the history of slavery at the university 00:21:12.730 --> 00:21:14.890 align:middle line:84% and learn some of the names of the enslaved. 00:21:14.890 --> 00:21:16.600 align:middle line:90% Who was bought and sold. 00:21:16.600 --> 00:21:17.590 align:middle line:90% Who was rented. 00:21:17.590 --> 00:21:19.210 align:middle line:84% Who actually laid the cornerstone. 00:21:19.210 --> 00:21:20.840 align:middle line:90% Who erected the institution. 00:21:20.840 --> 00:21:23.680 align:middle line:84% This history-- it's hidden in plain sight, 00:21:23.680 --> 00:21:25.120 align:middle line:90% all across grounds. 00:21:25.120 --> 00:21:28.480 align:middle line:84% The entire university was a site of enslavement. 00:21:28.480 --> 00:21:31.000 align:middle line:84% And our goal has been to reinscribe 00:21:31.000 --> 00:21:34.360 align:middle line:84% that history and the lives of the enslaved back 00:21:34.360 --> 00:21:38.080 align:middle line:84% on to the landscape in as many ways as possible. 00:21:38.080 --> 00:21:40.690 align:middle line:84% Naming buildings after the enslaved. 00:21:40.690 --> 00:21:43.450 align:middle line:84% Creating information in the rotunda visitors 00:21:43.450 --> 00:21:45.700 align:middle line:84% center that provides history about the slave laborers' 00:21:45.700 --> 00:21:47.410 align:middle line:90% contributions to the university. 00:21:47.410 --> 00:21:49.390 align:middle line:84% We've developed an entire curriculum, 00:21:49.390 --> 00:21:52.330 align:middle line:84% classes that teach the local and particular story 00:21:52.330 --> 00:21:53.680 align:middle line:90% at the university. 00:21:53.680 --> 00:21:56.200 align:middle line:84% We've uncovered through archaeology much 00:21:56.200 --> 00:22:00.520 align:middle line:84% of the history of slave families who lived behind the pavilions 00:22:00.520 --> 00:22:03.980 align:middle line:84% in the gardens, behind the serpentine walls. 00:22:03.980 --> 00:22:08.170 align:middle line:84% And now we are about to fundraise and erect a memorial 00:22:08.170 --> 00:22:10.750 align:middle line:84% to the slave laborers that will be placed 00:22:10.750 --> 00:22:13.000 align:middle line:84% on the footprint of UNESCO World Heritage site, 00:22:13.000 --> 00:22:15.910 align:middle line:84% just north and east of the rotunda. 00:22:15.910 --> 00:22:18.940 align:middle line:84% It's meant to echo the diameter of the rotunda. 00:22:18.940 --> 00:22:20.950 align:middle line:84% It will list the names of the enslaved. 00:22:20.950 --> 00:22:22.810 align:middle line:84% We have nearly 1,000 people that we 00:22:22.810 --> 00:22:24.340 align:middle line:90% can identify from the records. 00:22:24.340 --> 00:22:27.310 align:middle line:84% This memorial is meant to finally acknowledge 00:22:27.310 --> 00:22:30.340 align:middle line:84% the thousands of enslaved people who built and maintained 00:22:30.340 --> 00:22:32.290 align:middle line:84% the university, speak to the meaning 00:22:32.290 --> 00:22:34.870 align:middle line:84% and value of their lives, and connect back 00:22:34.870 --> 00:22:37.370 align:middle line:90% to the academical village. 00:22:37.370 --> 00:22:39.300 align:middle line:84% There's more work to be done here. 00:22:39.300 --> 00:22:42.200 align:middle line:84% I very much hope that this commission, or another group, 00:22:42.200 --> 00:22:45.590 align:middle line:84% would also be able to look at other parts of the university's 00:22:45.590 --> 00:22:46.400 align:middle line:90% history. 00:22:46.400 --> 00:22:50.480 align:middle line:84% Recent events in America tell us, we have to tell this story. 00:22:50.480 --> 00:22:54.860 align:middle line:84% We have to confront our own past and use it as a teaching tool. 00:22:54.860 --> 00:22:56.660 align:middle line:90% It's our only hope. 00:22:56.660 --> 00:22:58.580 align:middle line:84% Going forward, having that knowledge. 00:22:58.580 --> 00:23:01.070 align:middle line:84% Teaching our students, educating the public, 00:23:01.070 --> 00:23:02.430 align:middle line:90% is an opportunity to heal. 00:23:02.430 --> 00:23:03.740 align:middle line:90% It's an opportunity to learn. 00:23:03.740 --> 00:23:06.370 align:middle line:84% It's an opportunity to know what we need to do next. 00:23:06.370 --> 00:23:07.350 align:middle line:90% [MUSIC PLAYING] 00:23:07.350 --> 00:23:26.950 align:middle line:90% 00:23:26.950 --> 00:23:30.760 align:middle line:84% Dealing with the painful parts of our history 00:23:30.760 --> 00:23:33.730 align:middle line:84% is hard in our personal lives, and it's 00:23:33.730 --> 00:23:36.940 align:middle line:90% hard in our institutional life. 00:23:36.940 --> 00:23:38.860 align:middle line:84% I created the President's Commission 00:23:38.860 --> 00:23:42.040 align:middle line:84% on Slavery and the University because there 00:23:42.040 --> 00:23:47.590 align:middle line:84% was so much of UVA's history that we had lost or thrown 00:23:47.590 --> 00:23:49.400 align:middle line:90% away. 00:23:49.400 --> 00:23:52.360 align:middle line:84% And as we approached our bicentennial, 00:23:52.360 --> 00:23:56.890 align:middle line:84% we needed to recover what had been lost. 00:23:56.890 --> 00:23:59.980 align:middle line:84% Dr. Marcus Martin and Kirt von Daacke 00:23:59.980 --> 00:24:05.410 align:middle line:84% led a dedicated group of researchers, students, alumni, 00:24:05.410 --> 00:24:10.330 align:middle line:84% community members, and descendents in this work. 00:24:10.330 --> 00:24:14.560 align:middle line:84% Many donors also helped with significant encouragement 00:24:14.560 --> 00:24:18.100 align:middle line:90% from the idea fund. 00:24:18.100 --> 00:24:22.840 align:middle line:84% The commission was charged with a number of tasks. 00:24:22.840 --> 00:24:27.340 align:middle line:84% We are a knowledge-based institution. 00:24:27.340 --> 00:24:30.850 align:middle line:84% An important first task was to recover 00:24:30.850 --> 00:24:33.760 align:middle line:84% the knowledge about the university's history 00:24:33.760 --> 00:24:35.980 align:middle line:90% with slavery. 00:24:35.980 --> 00:24:38.710 align:middle line:84% The commission learned a great deal, 00:24:38.710 --> 00:24:42.070 align:middle line:90% and we are continuing to learn. 00:24:42.070 --> 00:24:46.240 align:middle line:84% Many of the names of the enslaved laborers you see here 00:24:46.240 --> 00:24:52.560 align:middle line:84% came from their work in records and in interviews. 00:24:52.560 --> 00:24:56.100 align:middle line:84% A second important task was to propose 00:24:56.100 --> 00:24:59.700 align:middle line:90% appropriate memorialising. 00:24:59.700 --> 00:25:02.100 align:middle line:84% The commission proposed and undertook 00:25:02.100 --> 00:25:07.530 align:middle line:84% memorializing tasks, such as the rediscovery, renovation, 00:25:07.530 --> 00:25:11.880 align:middle line:84% and rededication of the enslaved people's cemetery north 00:25:11.880 --> 00:25:15.060 align:middle line:90% of the university cemetery. 00:25:15.060 --> 00:25:19.620 align:middle line:84% Following on the request and the previous work of UVA students, 00:25:19.620 --> 00:25:25.620 align:middle line:84% the commission proposed this memorial to enslaved laborers. 00:25:25.620 --> 00:25:29.580 align:middle line:84% The memorial's visual links to the rotunda, 00:25:29.580 --> 00:25:31.620 align:middle line:84% to the Charlottesville community, 00:25:31.620 --> 00:25:34.110 align:middle line:84% and to the academical village helped 00:25:34.110 --> 00:25:38.010 align:middle line:84% to tell the story, in stone, that the commission has 00:25:38.010 --> 00:25:41.390 align:middle line:90% helped us to learn. 00:25:41.390 --> 00:25:45.470 align:middle line:84% People memorialize what is important to them. 00:25:45.470 --> 00:25:48.800 align:middle line:84% And with this memorial, the commission 00:25:48.800 --> 00:25:54.530 align:middle line:84% helps us ensure that the hidden lives of enslaved laborers 00:25:54.530 --> 00:25:58.550 align:middle line:84% are now publicly remembered for their importance 00:25:58.550 --> 00:26:00.691 align:middle line:90% to the university of Virginia. 00:26:00.691 --> 00:26:01.673 align:middle line:90% [MUSIC PLAYING] 00:26:01.673 --> 00:26:16.430 align:middle line:90% 00:26:16.430 --> 00:26:18.610 align:middle line:90% I'm Dr. Marcus Martin. 00:26:18.610 --> 00:26:21.250 align:middle line:84% It was my privilege to serve as co-chair 00:26:21.250 --> 00:26:24.550 align:middle line:84% of the PCSU, President's Commission on Slavery 00:26:24.550 --> 00:26:29.140 align:middle line:84% and the University, with Professor Kirt von Daacke. 00:26:29.140 --> 00:26:34.120 align:middle line:84% Efforts by students, the UVA Idea Fund trustees, 00:26:34.120 --> 00:26:36.070 align:middle line:84% the Office for Diversity and Equity 00:26:36.070 --> 00:26:39.940 align:middle line:84% and others over a decade led to the PCSU, 00:26:39.940 --> 00:26:42.640 align:middle line:84% established by President Teresa Sullivan, 00:26:42.640 --> 00:26:47.470 align:middle line:84% September 2013, with the charge to provide recommendations 00:26:47.470 --> 00:26:50.200 align:middle line:84% on the commemoration of UV's historical relationship 00:26:50.200 --> 00:26:54.230 align:middle line:84% with slavery and enslaved people. 00:26:54.230 --> 00:26:56.230 align:middle line:84% This memorial to enslaved laborers 00:26:56.230 --> 00:26:59.950 align:middle line:84% would not be here today without the steadfast support 00:26:59.950 --> 00:27:03.220 align:middle line:84% of President Sullivan and the Board of Visitors 00:27:03.220 --> 00:27:06.340 align:middle line:84% to institutionalize and synergize 00:27:06.340 --> 00:27:09.310 align:middle line:84% the efforts of the community and the university 00:27:09.310 --> 00:27:12.790 align:middle line:90% through the actions of the PCSU. 00:27:12.790 --> 00:27:16.600 align:middle line:84% I extend my heartfelt thank you to President Sullivan 00:27:16.600 --> 00:27:18.890 align:middle line:90% for her unwavering support. 00:27:18.890 --> 00:27:22.270 align:middle line:84% And I think directors, and other board members, 00:27:22.270 --> 00:27:26.450 align:middle line:84% for the tremendous and essential support over the years, 00:27:26.450 --> 00:27:30.830 align:middle line:84% including approval of the memorial design, construction, 00:27:30.830 --> 00:27:33.670 align:middle line:90% and financial commitments. 00:27:33.670 --> 00:27:37.820 align:middle line:84% Barbara Freed, Wood Clement, served as board liaisons 00:27:37.820 --> 00:27:43.060 align:middle line:84% to the PCSU, and John McFarland worked with the PCSU every step 00:27:43.060 --> 00:27:47.590 align:middle line:84% of the way, including chairing the fundraising efforts 00:27:47.590 --> 00:27:51.340 align:middle line:84% in collaboration with University Advancement. 00:27:51.340 --> 00:27:56.560 align:middle line:84% Their support was invaluable, and I can't thank them enough. 00:27:56.560 --> 00:28:01.550 align:middle line:84% The 26-member PCSU consisting of students, staff, faculty, 00:28:01.550 --> 00:28:06.250 align:middle line:84% administrators alumni community members, community relations 00:28:06.250 --> 00:28:10.390 align:middle line:84% task force, our local and national advisory boards, 00:28:10.390 --> 00:28:13.150 align:middle line:84% and the Office for Diversity and Equity staff, 00:28:13.150 --> 00:28:16.540 align:middle line:84% completed numerous initiatives related to our charge 00:28:16.540 --> 00:28:19.780 align:middle line:84% and delivered a final report to President Sullivan 00:28:19.780 --> 00:28:24.740 align:middle line:84% with construction of the memorial well underway. 00:28:24.740 --> 00:28:27.550 align:middle line:84% We acknowledge the past, and must learn from it. 00:28:27.550 --> 00:28:31.120 align:middle line:84% But we will never forget the horrors and dehumanization 00:28:31.120 --> 00:28:32.740 align:middle line:90% of slavery. 00:28:32.740 --> 00:28:36.130 align:middle line:84% This memorial, located at the intersection of the North 00:28:36.130 --> 00:28:39.790 align:middle line:84% pathway to freedom and sunset on the day 00:28:39.790 --> 00:28:42.580 align:middle line:84% 14,000 enslaved in Charlottesville and Albemarle 00:28:42.580 --> 00:28:48.430 align:middle line:84% County were liberated, allows us to reflect and hopefully heal. 00:28:48.430 --> 00:28:52.150 align:middle line:84% So let us, on this momentous occasion and beyond, 00:28:52.150 --> 00:28:56.920 align:middle line:84% also aspire to become a more inclusive, equitable, and just 00:28:56.920 --> 00:28:58.060 align:middle line:90% society. 00:28:58.060 --> 00:28:59.536 align:middle line:90% Thank you; 00:28:59.536 --> 00:29:00.532 align:middle line:90% [MUSIC PLAYING] 00:29:00.532 --> 00:29:14.980 align:middle line:90% 00:29:14.980 --> 00:29:17.410 align:middle line:84% In 2013, as the President's Commission 00:29:17.410 --> 00:29:19.720 align:middle line:84% on Slavery and the University began our research 00:29:19.720 --> 00:29:22.180 align:middle line:84% documenting slavery here, we knew 00:29:22.180 --> 00:29:24.490 align:middle line:84% we had to be unafraid to follow the truth, wherever 00:29:24.490 --> 00:29:25.570 align:middle line:90% it may lead. 00:29:25.570 --> 00:29:27.550 align:middle line:84% To paraphrase Frederick Douglass, 00:29:27.550 --> 00:29:29.500 align:middle line:84% the life of a university is secure 00:29:29.500 --> 00:29:33.970 align:middle line:84% only while the university is honest, truthful, and virtuous. 00:29:33.970 --> 00:29:35.830 align:middle line:84% We were keenly aware about highlighting 00:29:35.830 --> 00:29:38.320 align:middle line:84% the significant contributions of the enslaved to building 00:29:38.320 --> 00:29:41.050 align:middle line:84% and maintaining the university for decades. 00:29:41.050 --> 00:29:44.110 align:middle line:84% As one community member told us at our first workshop, 00:29:44.110 --> 00:29:45.970 align:middle line:84% you darn well better build a memorial, 00:29:45.970 --> 00:29:49.840 align:middle line:84% to honor their lives, labor, skill, and humanity in the face 00:29:49.840 --> 00:29:51.640 align:middle line:90% of oppression and violence. 00:29:51.640 --> 00:29:53.720 align:middle line:84% Knowing their names is not enough. 00:29:53.720 --> 00:29:56.500 align:middle line:84% We must call the names of these unsung founders. 00:29:56.500 --> 00:30:01.960 align:middle line:84% Jack, Gregory, John Taylor, Sandy, Squire, and so 00:30:01.960 --> 00:30:03.790 align:middle line:90% many others. 00:30:03.790 --> 00:30:06.130 align:middle line:84% Four years of research in the archives. 00:30:06.130 --> 00:30:09.430 align:middle line:84% We pored over university records as well as student and faculty 00:30:09.430 --> 00:30:11.650 align:middle line:90% written materials that survive. 00:30:11.650 --> 00:30:13.870 align:middle line:90% We made real progress. 00:30:13.870 --> 00:30:17.590 align:middle line:84% The memorial's memory wall includes Sam, Davey, Lewis, 00:30:17.590 --> 00:30:20.980 align:middle line:84% Prudence, Ryland, and so many others. 00:30:20.980 --> 00:30:24.520 align:middle line:84% Isabella Gibbons in 1867 asked, can we 00:30:24.520 --> 00:30:27.310 align:middle line:84% forget the horrible cruelties of bondage? 00:30:27.310 --> 00:30:29.260 align:middle line:90% She answered, no. 00:30:29.260 --> 00:30:32.470 align:middle line:90% We have not nor ever will. 00:30:32.470 --> 00:30:35.170 align:middle line:84% W.E.B. du Bois noted emancipation 00:30:35.170 --> 00:30:37.300 align:middle line:84% was the key to a promised land of sweeter 00:30:37.300 --> 00:30:39.730 align:middle line:84% beauty than ever stretched before the eyes 00:30:39.730 --> 00:30:41.710 align:middle line:90% of wearied Israelites. 00:30:41.710 --> 00:30:46.810 align:middle line:84% In song and exhortation swelled one refrain, liberty. 00:30:46.810 --> 00:30:49.840 align:middle line:84% Today this memorial acknowledges the yearnings of those unsung 00:30:49.840 --> 00:30:52.270 align:middle line:90% founders and calls their names. 00:30:52.270 --> 00:30:54.550 align:middle line:90% Nelson, Lancelot. 00:30:54.550 --> 00:30:55.690 align:middle line:90% Wyatt. 00:30:55.690 --> 00:30:56.740 align:middle line:90% Rhoda. 00:30:56.740 --> 00:30:57.820 align:middle line:90% Randall. 00:30:57.820 --> 00:30:59.740 align:middle line:90% And so many others. 00:30:59.740 --> 00:31:03.760 align:middle line:84% Our work has made great strides in creating a new university 00:31:03.760 --> 00:31:06.700 align:middle line:84% public memory that unflinchingly acknowledges 00:31:06.700 --> 00:31:09.220 align:middle line:84% the horrors of human bondage while honoring 00:31:09.220 --> 00:31:11.710 align:middle line:90% the humanity of the enslaved. 00:31:11.710 --> 00:31:14.410 align:middle line:90% We must call their names. 00:31:14.410 --> 00:31:20.470 align:middle line:84% Anthony, Jackson, Pendleton, Pryor, Jenny, and so 00:31:20.470 --> 00:31:21.820 align:middle line:90% many others. 00:31:21.820 --> 00:31:25.210 align:middle line:84% Our work revealed the names of over 600 people, 00:31:25.210 --> 00:31:28.690 align:middle line:84% this memorial, the culmination of the process of research, 00:31:28.690 --> 00:31:32.080 align:middle line:84% acknowledgment, community engagement, and atonement, 00:31:32.080 --> 00:31:36.130 align:middle line:84% make sure that we will never forget again the stories, 00:31:36.130 --> 00:31:38.050 align:middle line:84% and we will always call their names. 00:31:38.050 --> 00:31:44.200 align:middle line:84% Jeff, James, Robin, Nemo, Charlotte, and so many others. 00:31:44.200 --> 00:31:48.670 align:middle line:84% More than I could possibly call out in these short remarks. 00:31:48.670 --> 00:31:52.400 align:middle line:84% It is in so many ways still just the beginning. 00:31:52.400 --> 00:31:54.370 align:middle line:90% We have so much more work to do. 00:31:54.370 --> 00:31:56.440 align:middle line:84% But today, at least, we can celebrate and call 00:31:56.440 --> 00:31:59.320 align:middle line:84% the names of the university's unsung founders. 00:31:59.320 --> 00:32:04.850 align:middle line:84% William Green, Zacharia, Jane, and so many others. 00:32:04.850 --> 00:32:05.350 align:middle line:90% Thank you 00:32:05.350 --> 00:32:06.344 align:middle line:90% [MUSIC PLAYING] 00:32:06.344 --> 00:33:28.910 align:middle line:90% 00:33:28.910 --> 00:33:33.470 align:middle line:84% We wanted this monument to be an open monument. 00:33:33.470 --> 00:33:36.380 align:middle line:84% Really, more a memorial than a monument. 00:33:36.380 --> 00:33:40.940 align:middle line:84% Something that was a space nestled into a landscape 00:33:40.940 --> 00:33:43.310 align:middle line:90% that felt comfortable for all. 00:33:43.310 --> 00:33:47.150 align:middle line:84% And so the calibration of scale, the way 00:33:47.150 --> 00:33:51.290 align:middle line:84% the human body feels next to the wall on the inside, 00:33:51.290 --> 00:33:55.100 align:middle line:84% or on the outside, was really important to creating 00:33:55.100 --> 00:33:58.670 align:middle line:84% a sense of safe space, a comfortable space, 00:33:58.670 --> 00:34:00.650 align:middle line:84% that you could gather and you could 00:34:00.650 --> 00:34:04.250 align:middle line:84% engage in an outdoor conversation or seminar 00:34:04.250 --> 00:34:06.830 align:middle line:84% as an individual or as a small group 00:34:06.830 --> 00:34:08.920 align:middle line:90% or as a larger collective. 00:34:08.920 --> 00:34:10.850 align:middle line:90% It creates a sort of continuity. 00:34:10.850 --> 00:34:14.270 align:middle line:84% It creates these strings between the names and the gashes. 00:34:14.270 --> 00:34:16.570 align:middle line:84% This project is important to me because it makes 00:34:16.570 --> 00:34:18.380 align:middle line:90% an intervention in history. 00:34:18.380 --> 00:34:21.670 align:middle line:84% The fact that it's located in a UNESCO World Heritage site 00:34:21.670 --> 00:34:26.860 align:middle line:84% is a major victory for those who were enslaved here at UVA. 00:34:26.860 --> 00:34:29.679 align:middle line:84% And also for UVA is taking a stance 00:34:29.679 --> 00:34:32.409 align:middle line:84% about how they're transforming the narrative here 00:34:32.409 --> 00:34:35.080 align:middle line:90% at the University. 00:34:35.080 --> 00:34:38.590 align:middle line:84% I think UVA understands that it's an ongoing commitment, 00:34:38.590 --> 00:34:41.350 align:middle line:84% and that the Memorial doesn't end their commitment 00:34:41.350 --> 00:34:44.710 align:middle line:84% to expanding the story of people who were enslaved here 00:34:44.710 --> 00:34:47.230 align:middle line:84% by the university and who helped build and establish 00:34:47.230 --> 00:34:48.400 align:middle line:90% the university. 00:34:48.400 --> 00:34:51.730 align:middle line:84% The memorial is one signifier of their efforts. 00:34:51.730 --> 00:34:55.179 align:middle line:84% But there will also be ongoing educational efforts and things 00:34:55.179 --> 00:34:58.720 align:middle line:84% that really change the fabric and culture of UVA. 00:34:58.720 --> 00:35:02.440 align:middle line:84% It not only tells the story that we know, 00:35:02.440 --> 00:35:07.930 align:middle line:84% it participates in the unfolding of the story in the future, 00:35:07.930 --> 00:35:09.760 align:middle line:90% to right past wrongs. 00:35:09.760 --> 00:35:13.210 align:middle line:84% And in that way, becomes a symbol 00:35:13.210 --> 00:35:18.255 align:middle line:84% for equity and social justice forevermore. 00:35:18.255 --> 00:35:24.570 align:middle line:90% [MUSIC PLAYING] 00:35:24.570 --> 00:35:27.300 align:middle line:84% What does the memorial to Enslaved Laborers 00:35:27.300 --> 00:35:30.480 align:middle line:84% at the University of Virginia mean to me? 00:35:30.480 --> 00:35:33.360 align:middle line:84% It means to me, honoring and recognizing 00:35:33.360 --> 00:35:39.630 align:middle line:84% my ancestor, Jim Henderson, and the other 4,000 slaves who 00:35:39.630 --> 00:35:41.760 align:middle line:90% built this institution. 00:35:41.760 --> 00:35:45.240 align:middle line:84% It means telling their stories and the start 00:35:45.240 --> 00:35:48.150 align:middle line:90% of writing a wrong. 00:35:48.150 --> 00:35:50.690 align:middle line:84% My name is Kimalee Cottrell Dickerson. 00:35:50.690 --> 00:35:52.700 align:middle line:84% Several of my Cottrell ancestors, 00:35:52.700 --> 00:35:57.770 align:middle line:84% including Jim, Lucy, and Dolly were enslaved at UVA. 00:35:57.770 --> 00:36:01.610 align:middle line:84% To me, the memorial represents a visible reminder 00:36:01.610 --> 00:36:05.630 align:middle line:84% of the true history of slavery and racism at UVA. 00:36:05.630 --> 00:36:09.920 align:middle line:84% But it also represents a space to remember 00:36:09.920 --> 00:36:12.770 align:middle line:84% the courage and contributions of my ancestors 00:36:12.770 --> 00:36:16.740 align:middle line:84% and the thousands of others named and unnamed. 00:36:16.740 --> 00:36:18.960 align:middle line:84% My name is Lorenzo Dickerson, and I'm a native 00:36:18.960 --> 00:36:21.210 align:middle line:90% of Albemarle County, Virginia. 00:36:21.210 --> 00:36:24.840 align:middle line:84% And several of my ancestors in the Moppin family 00:36:24.840 --> 00:36:27.480 align:middle line:84% were enslaved at the University of Virginia, 00:36:27.480 --> 00:36:33.060 align:middle line:84% including Garland, William Dabney Moppin and Sam Moppin. 00:36:33.060 --> 00:36:37.830 align:middle line:84% What the memorial means to me as a filmmaker and a storyteller, 00:36:37.830 --> 00:36:41.520 align:middle line:84% being that uncovering these important stories 00:36:41.520 --> 00:36:45.270 align:middle line:84% of our history is of the utmost importance, 00:36:45.270 --> 00:36:50.280 align:middle line:84% it means a physical acknowledgment of the work 00:36:50.280 --> 00:36:53.520 align:middle line:84% that these folks did to build the university, 00:36:53.520 --> 00:36:55.150 align:middle line:90% and their contribution. 00:36:55.150 --> 00:36:59.160 align:middle line:84% So me being someone who was born at the University of Virginia 00:36:59.160 --> 00:37:03.610 align:middle line:84% and who now is employed by the University of Virginia, 00:37:03.610 --> 00:37:06.660 align:middle line:84% the location means more than just being a destination to me 00:37:06.660 --> 00:37:07.720 align:middle line:90% at this point. 00:37:07.720 --> 00:37:11.280 align:middle line:84% Knowing this history, it changes that a little bit for me. 00:37:11.280 --> 00:37:13.530 align:middle line:90% And it gives it more importance. 00:37:13.530 --> 00:37:14.520 align:middle line:90% [MUSIC PLAYING] 00:37:14.520 --> 00:37:27.900 align:middle line:90% 00:37:27.900 --> 00:37:29.630 align:middle line:90% Good morning. 00:37:29.630 --> 00:37:32.710 align:middle line:84% My name is John MacFarlane, and it's a great honor 00:37:32.710 --> 00:37:34.490 align:middle line:90% to be with you today. 00:37:34.490 --> 00:37:38.560 align:middle line:84% Inspired by a journey, which my wife Dudley and I undertook 00:37:38.560 --> 00:37:42.400 align:middle line:84% when we restored an enslaved cemetery on a farm, which 00:37:42.400 --> 00:37:45.820 align:middle line:84% we purchased over 15 years ago, we 00:37:45.820 --> 00:37:51.120 align:middle line:84% knew how important it was to support this memorial. 00:37:51.120 --> 00:37:54.570 align:middle line:84% Like UVA's enslaved population, our cemetery 00:37:54.570 --> 00:37:58.200 align:middle line:84% had been hidden from sight and left to decay 00:37:58.200 --> 00:38:02.490 align:middle line:84% through over 150 years of neglect. 00:38:02.490 --> 00:38:07.230 align:middle line:84% Removed not only from site but also from our nation's history. 00:38:07.230 --> 00:38:10.410 align:middle line:84% Our enslaved cemetery was among countless others 00:38:10.410 --> 00:38:14.130 align:middle line:84% throughout the South that suffered a similar fate. 00:38:14.130 --> 00:38:17.010 align:middle line:84% And so we resolved to tell its story 00:38:17.010 --> 00:38:21.030 align:middle line:84% in a prominent way with an extensive restoration, 00:38:21.030 --> 00:38:23.970 align:middle line:84% culminating with the dedication of a plaque, which 00:38:23.970 --> 00:38:28.170 align:middle line:84% is also applicable to those honored by this memorial. 00:38:28.170 --> 00:38:30.720 align:middle line:90% And I would like to read it. 00:38:30.720 --> 00:38:36.420 align:middle line:84% Quote, knowing neither their names nor their circumstances, 00:38:36.420 --> 00:38:40.950 align:middle line:84% we dedicate this monument to honor the lives of those buried 00:38:40.950 --> 00:38:44.670 align:middle line:84% here with the hope that it will serve as a reminder 00:38:44.670 --> 00:38:49.410 align:middle line:84% that many suffered unfairly during the formative years 00:38:49.410 --> 00:38:52.020 align:middle line:84% of our nation, and that we must forever 00:38:52.020 --> 00:38:57.420 align:middle line:84% strive to ensure that past mistakes are neither forgotten 00:38:57.420 --> 00:38:59.700 align:middle line:90% nor rationalized. 00:38:59.700 --> 00:39:03.750 align:middle line:84% Furthermore that we carry forth with an understanding 00:39:03.750 --> 00:39:07.590 align:middle line:84% that the pursuit of an equal and fair society 00:39:07.590 --> 00:39:11.430 align:middle line:84% requires continued evaluation and improvement. 00:39:11.430 --> 00:39:13.740 align:middle line:90% Unquote. 00:39:13.740 --> 00:39:16.440 align:middle line:84% It is in this spirit that Dudley and I 00:39:16.440 --> 00:39:18.810 align:middle line:84% were inspired both to contribute and to help 00:39:18.810 --> 00:39:22.740 align:middle line:84% raise funds for this transformative project. 00:39:22.740 --> 00:39:25.230 align:middle line:84% We are grateful for that opportunity 00:39:25.230 --> 00:39:28.710 align:middle line:84% and extend our heartfelt thanks to the many donors 00:39:28.710 --> 00:39:31.360 align:middle line:90% who have given generously. 00:39:31.360 --> 00:39:34.510 align:middle line:84% This is a very special and proud day 00:39:34.510 --> 00:39:38.020 align:middle line:84% of recognition for the enslaved community of UVA, 00:39:38.020 --> 00:39:40.150 align:middle line:90% and for their descendants. 00:39:40.150 --> 00:39:42.490 align:middle line:84% And I am deeply honored to participate 00:39:42.490 --> 00:39:44.980 align:middle line:90% in this long-deserved tribute. 00:39:44.980 --> 00:39:48.298 align:middle line:84% May God bless those recognized on these walls 00:39:48.298 --> 00:39:49.090 align:middle line:90% and their families. 00:39:49.090 --> 00:40:05.887 align:middle line:90% 00:40:05.887 --> 00:41:22.733 align:middle line:90% [DRUMS BEATING AND DANCING] 00:41:22.733 --> 00:42:45.750 align:middle line:90% 00:42:45.750 --> 00:42:49.920 align:middle line:84% Hello, I'm Carol Malone, great, great, great niece 00:42:49.920 --> 00:42:52.440 align:middle line:90% of Mr. Peyton Skipwith. 00:42:52.440 --> 00:42:55.590 align:middle line:84% On behalf of the descendants of Mr. Peyton Skipwith, 00:42:55.590 --> 00:42:58.590 align:middle line:84% seeing his name on the Memorial for Enslaved Laborers 00:42:58.590 --> 00:43:02.010 align:middle line:84% fills my heart with pride and sadness. 00:43:02.010 --> 00:43:04.170 align:middle line:90% Peyton was a great family man. 00:43:04.170 --> 00:43:07.170 align:middle line:84% Loving father and husband, who loved his siblings 00:43:07.170 --> 00:43:09.180 align:middle line:90% and dearly loved his mother. 00:43:09.180 --> 00:43:12.930 align:middle line:84% An educated man with a signature that was a work of art, 00:43:12.930 --> 00:43:15.240 align:middle line:84% who had to sign his name with an x 00:43:15.240 --> 00:43:18.870 align:middle line:84% for fear of death because he could read and write. 00:43:18.870 --> 00:43:21.210 align:middle line:84% A skilled stonemason who cut stone 00:43:21.210 --> 00:43:23.400 align:middle line:84% from a quarry for the construction of buildings 00:43:23.400 --> 00:43:25.440 align:middle line:90% on the UVA campus. 00:43:25.440 --> 00:43:29.310 align:middle line:84% In 2017, UVA dedicated Skipwith Hall in his honor, 00:43:29.310 --> 00:43:32.970 align:middle line:84% most likely built on the site of that quarry. 00:43:32.970 --> 00:43:35.280 align:middle line:84% Peyton, along with 4,000 to 5,000 00:43:35.280 --> 00:43:37.890 align:middle line:84% known and unknown patriots and citizens, 00:43:37.890 --> 00:43:41.940 align:middle line:84% toiled at UVA under unspeakable horrors and oppression, 00:43:41.940 --> 00:43:44.130 align:middle line:84% to carve out a life of dignity and hope 00:43:44.130 --> 00:43:46.940 align:middle line:84% for their families and descendants. 00:43:46.940 --> 00:43:51.180 align:middle line:84% On November 5, 1833, Peyton Skipwith and his wife, 00:43:51.180 --> 00:43:53.880 align:middle line:84% Lydia, and their six children, departed 00:43:53.880 --> 00:43:56.610 align:middle line:84% from Monrovia, Liberia, aboard the Jupiter, 00:43:56.610 --> 00:44:00.220 align:middle line:84% arriving on the last day of the year. 00:44:00.220 --> 00:44:02.770 align:middle line:84% Surviving the death of his wife and daughter, Felicia, 00:44:02.770 --> 00:44:07.060 align:middle line:84% the first year, he survived illness, blindness, 00:44:07.060 --> 00:44:10.660 align:middle line:84% cultural wars, extreme heat and a tough terrain 00:44:10.660 --> 00:44:13.930 align:middle line:84% to become a warrior, liberator, statesman, 00:44:13.930 --> 00:44:17.950 align:middle line:84% successful stonemason, contractor, and mentor. 00:44:17.950 --> 00:44:21.310 align:middle line:84% As his descendants, we carry on his legacy of education 00:44:21.310 --> 00:44:23.500 align:middle line:90% and professional success. 00:44:23.500 --> 00:44:25.450 align:middle line:84% I leave with you his words in a letter 00:44:25.450 --> 00:44:31.180 align:middle line:84% to John Hart Willcock, dated September 29, 1844. 00:44:31.180 --> 00:44:34.030 align:middle line:84% I am blessed with a trade for you have sent me 00:44:34.030 --> 00:44:37.240 align:middle line:84% to this country where I can speak for myself like a man 00:44:37.240 --> 00:44:42.550 align:middle line:84% and show myself to be a man, so fair as my ability allows me. 00:44:42.550 --> 00:44:46.030 align:middle line:84% We are proud of you, Mr. Peyton Skipwith, and we love you. 00:44:46.030 --> 00:44:48.140 align:middle line:90% Your spirit brought us together. 00:44:48.140 --> 00:44:48.700 align:middle line:90% Thank you. 00:44:48.700 --> 00:44:51.320 align:middle line:90% 00:44:51.320 --> 00:44:54.800 align:middle line:84% What the Memorial to Enslaved Laborers at the University 00:44:54.800 --> 00:44:58.070 align:middle line:84% of Virginia means to me is an opportunity 00:44:58.070 --> 00:45:02.990 align:middle line:84% to answer the deafening silent call of the ancestors. 00:45:02.990 --> 00:45:08.270 align:middle line:84% I've stood, cried, grieved in the midst of the monument, 00:45:08.270 --> 00:45:10.640 align:middle line:90% encamped by slopes of granite. 00:45:10.640 --> 00:45:12.740 align:middle line:84% I've heard the voices of the ancestors, 00:45:12.740 --> 00:45:15.800 align:middle line:84% those enslaved, calling yet only heard 00:45:15.800 --> 00:45:19.040 align:middle line:90% by those willing to receive. 00:45:19.040 --> 00:45:21.950 align:middle line:84% They are calling out their God-given names, 00:45:21.950 --> 00:45:25.370 align:middle line:84% those given by their endearing mothers and grandmothers, 00:45:25.370 --> 00:45:28.370 align:middle line:84% who hoped and prayed that the life of their child 00:45:28.370 --> 00:45:33.080 align:middle line:84% would be better and greater than all they could imagine. 00:45:33.080 --> 00:45:35.720 align:middle line:84% I hear the ancestors calling out their names 00:45:35.720 --> 00:45:39.740 align:middle line:84% because, on the wall, their names cannot be found. 00:45:39.740 --> 00:45:42.290 align:middle line:84% They are nameless and only identified 00:45:42.290 --> 00:45:45.950 align:middle line:84% by the laborious nature of their occupations, 00:45:45.950 --> 00:45:49.850 align:middle line:84% imposed and mandated by their masters. 00:45:49.850 --> 00:45:53.900 align:middle line:84% My heart hears them calling out to their descendants. 00:45:53.900 --> 00:45:59.030 align:middle line:84% Yes, that call is to each of us, to keep going, 00:45:59.030 --> 00:46:02.600 align:middle line:84% to keep searching, to keep uniting, to keep reclaiming, 00:46:02.600 --> 00:46:06.140 align:middle line:84% to keep honoring, and to strive to repair 00:46:06.140 --> 00:46:10.680 align:middle line:84% the generational trauma embedded by 100 years of physical, 00:46:10.680 --> 00:46:13.520 align:middle line:84% emotional, and spiritual bondage. 00:46:13.520 --> 00:46:15.620 align:middle line:84% To those enslaved names on the wall 00:46:15.620 --> 00:46:19.370 align:middle line:84% and to those names whom we promise to identify, 00:46:19.370 --> 00:46:21.530 align:middle line:90% we are here because of you. 00:46:21.530 --> 00:46:25.320 align:middle line:84% And we are grateful for your endurance, your strength, 00:46:25.320 --> 00:46:27.950 align:middle line:84% your perseverance, and your love. 00:46:27.950 --> 00:46:31.310 align:middle line:84% We continue to honor you and to find ourselves, 00:46:31.310 --> 00:46:34.473 align:middle line:84% because we still are not yet free. 00:46:34.473 --> 00:46:35.459 align:middle line:90% [MUSIC PLAYING] 00:46:35.459 --> 00:46:47.310 align:middle line:90% 00:46:47.310 --> 00:46:48.900 align:middle line:90% My serpentine. 00:46:48.900 --> 00:46:52.230 align:middle line:84% You are the garden snake that slithers through my freshly 00:46:52.230 --> 00:46:55.950 align:middle line:84% plowed lawn, wraps itself around my swollen ankles, 00:46:55.950 --> 00:46:58.050 align:middle line:90% and calls me, boy. 00:46:58.050 --> 00:47:02.580 align:middle line:84% Curves its way up my spine until I have no choice but to kneel. 00:47:02.580 --> 00:47:03.960 align:middle line:90% My serpentine. 00:47:03.960 --> 00:47:07.860 align:middle line:84% You see the way my aching hands bleed, cracked skin faithfully 00:47:07.860 --> 00:47:11.700 align:middle line:84% stacking cracked brick, under a sweltering Southern sun. 00:47:11.700 --> 00:47:13.110 align:middle line:90% My serpentine. 00:47:13.110 --> 00:47:17.670 align:middle line:84% Tonight, I scrub the crinkled stone walls clean, wipe off 00:47:17.670 --> 00:47:19.980 align:middle line:84% the venom before it stains my skin, 00:47:19.980 --> 00:47:23.490 align:middle line:84% let my tears water the trees that loan me shade. 00:47:23.490 --> 00:47:27.210 align:middle line:84% When did time become cemented between these bricks, 00:47:27.210 --> 00:47:28.800 align:middle line:90% my serpentine? 00:47:28.800 --> 00:47:32.190 align:middle line:84% Forgive me for overstepping unmarked boundaries, 00:47:32.190 --> 00:47:35.610 align:middle line:84% for stepping all over these bountiful gardens, pavilions 00:47:35.610 --> 00:47:38.830 align:middle line:84% that leave you perched above me in a thickening silence that 00:47:38.830 --> 00:47:40.500 align:middle line:90% swells in my ear. 00:47:40.500 --> 00:47:42.990 align:middle line:84% Hear the names of my brothers and sisters, 00:47:42.990 --> 00:47:45.450 align:middle line:84% echoing down from pristine balconies. 00:47:45.450 --> 00:47:48.540 align:middle line:84% The crack of your whip meets the click of our tongues. 00:47:48.540 --> 00:47:51.540 align:middle line:84% Our languages remain foreign to one another. 00:47:51.540 --> 00:47:55.350 align:middle line:84% My serpentine, you changed your colors with the seasons, 00:47:55.350 --> 00:47:59.160 align:middle line:84% turned your Confederate cardinal red to orange and blue. 00:47:59.160 --> 00:48:02.790 align:middle line:84% Kept your hatred tucked inside corks and curls. 00:48:02.790 --> 00:48:07.260 align:middle line:84% Now you see some secrets simply must unfurl and topple, 00:48:07.260 --> 00:48:10.455 align:middle line:84% the way Kitty Foster's home did, left in the shadows 00:48:10.455 --> 00:48:14.520 align:middle line:84% while your rotunda was rebuilt. Such recklessness reigning 00:48:14.520 --> 00:48:18.060 align:middle line:84% from those called rational, the consequences of your actions 00:48:18.060 --> 00:48:19.470 align:middle line:90% are far from fractional. 00:48:19.470 --> 00:48:24.300 align:middle line:84% My serpentine, must Swansons sue you to get your attention, 00:48:24.300 --> 00:48:28.440 align:middle line:84% use your laws, your language, until you bite your own tongue? 00:48:28.440 --> 00:48:31.200 align:middle line:84% Crouch between your colonnades, quoting Jefferson, 00:48:31.200 --> 00:48:33.900 align:middle line:84% until the contradictions catch you off guard, 00:48:33.900 --> 00:48:36.840 align:middle line:84% catch you idle, as my humanity is threatened. 00:48:36.840 --> 00:48:40.200 align:middle line:84% Catch you silent as my community is displaced. 00:48:40.200 --> 00:48:42.910 align:middle line:84% Catch you indifferent as my story is erased. 00:48:42.910 --> 00:48:46.290 align:middle line:84% Watch how quickly you craft the next excuse. 00:48:46.290 --> 00:48:49.830 align:middle line:84% When did hate become cemented between these bricks-- 00:48:49.830 --> 00:48:51.660 align:middle line:90% My serpentine. 00:48:51.660 --> 00:48:54.330 align:middle line:84% Your fang marks, they swollen my chest. 00:48:54.330 --> 00:48:56.880 align:middle line:84% Trying to suck the life out of our families, 00:48:56.880 --> 00:48:59.620 align:middle line:84% trying to suck the soul out of our names, 00:48:59.620 --> 00:49:02.580 align:middle line:84% trying to suck the truth out of our histories. 00:49:02.580 --> 00:49:06.600 align:middle line:84% When I shout for justice, you cry for understanding. 00:49:06.600 --> 00:49:10.800 align:middle line:84% Your hot breath fogs up windows until I am invisible. 00:49:10.800 --> 00:49:14.430 align:middle line:84% When I demand change, you question my legitimacy, 00:49:14.430 --> 00:49:18.270 align:middle line:84% pretend I speak of myths, boy, check your white fragility. 00:49:18.270 --> 00:49:21.180 align:middle line:90% My serpentine, I see you. 00:49:21.180 --> 00:49:23.730 align:middle line:90% Fierce eyes, scales and all. 00:49:23.730 --> 00:49:25.770 align:middle line:90% You cannot shed yourself of me. 00:49:25.770 --> 00:49:27.900 align:middle line:90% My body, my being. 00:49:27.900 --> 00:49:29.280 align:middle line:90% My serpentine. 00:49:29.280 --> 00:49:32.970 align:middle line:84% I built you, winding curves, cracks and all. 00:49:32.970 --> 00:49:35.190 align:middle line:84% You cannot see yourself without me. 00:49:35.190 --> 00:49:37.410 align:middle line:90% My body, my being-- 00:49:37.410 --> 00:49:38.940 align:middle line:90% My serpentine. 00:49:38.940 --> 00:49:41.760 align:middle line:84% I write you down and capture myself. 00:49:41.760 --> 00:49:44.440 align:middle line:90% I tear you down and free myself. 00:49:44.440 --> 00:49:45.420 align:middle line:90% [MUSIC PLAYING] 00:49:45.420 --> 00:50:00.610 align:middle line:90% 00:50:00.610 --> 00:50:03.730 align:middle line:84% Hello, I am Deteasa Brown Gathers. 00:50:03.730 --> 00:50:06.160 align:middle line:84% I am a native of Charlottesville, 00:50:06.160 --> 00:50:08.740 align:middle line:90% an employee of UVA. 00:50:08.740 --> 00:50:12.220 align:middle line:90% I am a mom, a UVA mom. 00:50:12.220 --> 00:50:16.390 align:middle line:84% I'm a grandmother, and I'm a local activist and support 00:50:16.390 --> 00:50:20.320 align:middle line:84% my husband, who is also a local activist, Don Gathers. 00:50:20.320 --> 00:50:23.380 align:middle line:84% The Memorial to Enslaved Labor Community engagement group, 00:50:23.380 --> 00:50:28.550 align:middle line:84% we formed in order to make a way for this very day. 00:50:28.550 --> 00:50:31.810 align:middle line:90% So through this, I found myself. 00:50:31.810 --> 00:50:34.150 align:middle line:84% And I'm so happy that I learned more 00:50:34.150 --> 00:50:37.270 align:middle line:84% about who I am and learned my connection 00:50:37.270 --> 00:50:38.920 align:middle line:90% to this great monument. 00:50:38.920 --> 00:50:44.140 align:middle line:84% I became even more interested in this endeavor 00:50:44.140 --> 00:50:50.260 align:middle line:84% after the death of my own mother, Charlotte Brown, whom 00:50:50.260 --> 00:50:53.650 align:middle line:90% was one of the hidden nurses. 00:50:53.650 --> 00:50:58.240 align:middle line:84% So at the time of her death, and by her bedside, 00:50:58.240 --> 00:51:01.150 align:middle line:84% she made one clear statement to me. 00:51:01.150 --> 00:51:04.420 align:middle line:90% She said, don't forget about me. 00:51:04.420 --> 00:51:07.480 align:middle line:84% Me not forgetting about her is not 00:51:07.480 --> 00:51:10.790 align:middle line:84% forgetting about all 4,000 names on this wall. 00:51:10.790 --> 00:51:15.250 align:middle line:84% I want the next Brown girl like me to understand that they come 00:51:15.250 --> 00:51:18.970 align:middle line:90% from people that are resilient. 00:51:18.970 --> 00:51:21.550 align:middle line:90% People that worked hard. 00:51:21.550 --> 00:51:25.000 align:middle line:84% People that labored for this community, and not 00:51:25.000 --> 00:51:27.610 align:middle line:90% just the University of Virginia. 00:51:27.610 --> 00:51:31.960 align:middle line:84% And this is why it is important to continue this story, 00:51:31.960 --> 00:51:34.600 align:middle line:84% and to make sure that we continue 00:51:34.600 --> 00:51:37.420 align:middle line:84% to have a place at the table as descendants. 00:51:37.420 --> 00:51:40.600 align:middle line:84% And I would like to now introduce Bertha French. 00:51:40.600 --> 00:51:43.390 align:middle line:90% She is also my co-chair. 00:51:43.390 --> 00:51:45.640 align:middle line:90% She's a UVA alum. 00:51:45.640 --> 00:51:49.480 align:middle line:84% And she is a descendant of those that were enslaved at UVA. 00:51:49.480 --> 00:51:52.030 align:middle line:84% In a letter to Governor James Barbour, 00:51:52.030 --> 00:51:54.430 align:middle line:84% Professor Robert Patterson, a resident 00:51:54.430 --> 00:51:57.880 align:middle line:84% of Pavilion Five, requests, the continuance 00:51:57.880 --> 00:52:00.700 align:middle line:84% of the sickness at the University 00:52:00.700 --> 00:52:02.620 align:middle line:84% and the probability that it might not 00:52:02.620 --> 00:52:04.510 align:middle line:84% disappear before hot weather, have 00:52:04.510 --> 00:52:08.410 align:middle line:84% determined me to take my leave on to Philadelphia. 00:52:08.410 --> 00:52:10.810 align:middle line:84% I wish you to give up my boy, Alfred, 00:52:10.810 --> 00:52:14.500 align:middle line:84% at the end of his current month to Colonel Bram. 00:52:14.500 --> 00:52:17.680 align:middle line:84% He is hired often, no, by the month. 00:52:17.680 --> 00:52:20.710 align:middle line:84% His wife, I suppose, has already gone home. 00:52:20.710 --> 00:52:23.620 align:middle line:84% Henry will stay and attend to the garden. 00:52:23.620 --> 00:52:26.410 align:middle line:90% March 9, 1829. 00:52:26.410 --> 00:52:29.620 align:middle line:84% While not much more is known about Alfred and Henry, 00:52:29.620 --> 00:52:32.710 align:middle line:84% we do know that they belonged to a community and network 00:52:32.710 --> 00:52:36.100 align:middle line:84% of enslaved laborers in the Madison-Barbour Historic 00:52:36.100 --> 00:52:39.760 align:middle line:84% District, a corridor of large plantations riddling 00:52:39.760 --> 00:52:43.360 align:middle line:84% the Constitution Route between Monticello and Montpelier, 00:52:43.360 --> 00:52:47.260 align:middle line:84% including the governor's, a home designed by friend and mentor 00:52:47.260 --> 00:52:49.360 align:middle line:90% Thomas Jefferson. 00:52:49.360 --> 00:52:52.060 align:middle line:84% It is only recently that we knew of Alfred and Henry's 00:52:52.060 --> 00:52:53.920 align:middle line:84% connection, and just how entrenched 00:52:53.920 --> 00:52:56.680 align:middle line:84% the Barbours were in building the University 00:52:56.680 --> 00:52:58.210 align:middle line:90% in its early years. 00:52:58.210 --> 00:53:01.120 align:middle line:84% And later, the family's influence as the University 00:53:01.120 --> 00:53:03.370 align:middle line:90% emerges from the Civil War. 00:53:03.370 --> 00:53:05.830 align:middle line:84% The governor's son, Benjamin Johnson Barbour 00:53:05.830 --> 00:53:08.050 align:middle line:84% would become the university's first rector 00:53:08.050 --> 00:53:10.270 align:middle line:90% after the Civil War. 00:53:10.270 --> 00:53:12.850 align:middle line:84% Governor Barbour purchased my third-great grandmother 00:53:12.850 --> 00:53:17.260 align:middle line:84% Priscilla at a tender age of 12 for $350 00:53:17.260 --> 00:53:20.080 align:middle line:84% as he ascended into his position and became 00:53:20.080 --> 00:53:23.500 align:middle line:84% the first resident of the governor's mansion in Richmond. 00:53:23.500 --> 00:53:25.120 align:middle line:84% My daughter Josephine would later 00:53:25.120 --> 00:53:28.120 align:middle line:84% reflect on the experience of holding the actual bill of sale 00:53:28.120 --> 00:53:32.230 align:middle line:84% for Priscilla's acquisition as a formative experience, as she 00:53:32.230 --> 00:53:36.820 align:middle line:84% wrote her personal statement on her application to UVA. 00:53:36.820 --> 00:53:39.790 align:middle line:84% While archival research and special collections 00:53:39.790 --> 00:53:42.190 align:middle line:84% helps tell part of my family story, 00:53:42.190 --> 00:53:45.790 align:middle line:84% my most cherished sources have been the oral histories passed 00:53:45.790 --> 00:53:47.920 align:middle line:90% down through the generations. 00:53:47.920 --> 00:53:50.890 align:middle line:84% I can now connect Priscilla to another important figure 00:53:50.890 --> 00:53:52.420 align:middle line:90% at the University. 00:53:52.420 --> 00:53:55.660 align:middle line:84% Priscilla's granddaughter, my great-grandmother Alverta, 00:53:55.660 --> 00:53:59.380 align:middle line:84% would marry a Reverend William James Howard of Zion Baptist 00:53:59.380 --> 00:54:02.170 align:middle line:90% Church in Washington DC. 00:54:02.170 --> 00:54:04.090 align:middle line:84% He was the pastor who would take over 00:54:04.090 --> 00:54:06.790 align:middle line:84% after the death of Charlottesville native William 00:54:06.790 --> 00:54:10.180 align:middle line:84% Gibbons, husband to Isabella Gibbons of the Jefferson 00:54:10.180 --> 00:54:11.440 align:middle line:90% School. 00:54:11.440 --> 00:54:14.590 align:middle line:84% This generation of strivers achieved Priscilla's wildest 00:54:14.590 --> 00:54:18.550 align:middle line:84% dreams, despite emancipation's broken promises. 00:54:18.550 --> 00:54:21.730 align:middle line:84% I am proud to also be a Black alumna of UVA 00:54:21.730 --> 00:54:26.380 align:middle line:84% and share Priscilla's story as we honor our ancestors today. 00:54:26.380 --> 00:54:28.450 align:middle line:84% The descendants of enslaved communities 00:54:28.450 --> 00:54:31.540 align:middle line:84% at the University of Virginia belongs to a growing consortium 00:54:31.540 --> 00:54:35.200 align:middle line:84% of descendants of enslaved laborers from the Commonwealth 00:54:35.200 --> 00:54:38.260 align:middle line:84% dedicated to preserving the memory of the many forgotten 00:54:38.260 --> 00:54:41.050 align:middle line:84% souls who shaped not just the physical 00:54:41.050 --> 00:54:44.320 align:middle line:84% but the political, economic, and cultural landscape 00:54:44.320 --> 00:54:46.960 align:middle line:84% of the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, 00:54:46.960 --> 00:54:48.880 align:middle line:90% and our nation. 00:54:48.880 --> 00:54:50.800 align:middle line:84% Descendant communities are highlighting 00:54:50.800 --> 00:54:54.720 align:middle line:84% the foundational role race-based slavery, white supremacy, 00:54:54.720 --> 00:54:58.170 align:middle line:84% and colonial systems played in building many of our nation's 00:54:58.170 --> 00:55:01.890 align:middle line:84% institutions, including our current systems of finance, 00:55:01.890 --> 00:55:05.370 align:middle line:84% education, health care, and housing. 00:55:05.370 --> 00:55:08.190 align:middle line:84% Empowered descendant voices challenge the public 00:55:08.190 --> 00:55:12.120 align:middle line:84% to consider marginalized interpretations of history 00:55:12.120 --> 00:55:15.960 align:middle line:84% and centers the gaps in ethical education about the history 00:55:15.960 --> 00:55:20.100 align:middle line:84% and ongoing legacies of American chattel slavery. 00:55:20.100 --> 00:55:24.480 align:middle line:84% The DEC at UVA sees the University of Virginia 00:55:24.480 --> 00:55:28.950 align:middle line:84% as an African-American historic site built by the 4,000-plus 00:55:28.950 --> 00:55:33.120 align:middle line:84% enslaved laborers identified through University-led archival 00:55:33.120 --> 00:55:36.690 align:middle line:84% research, and whose biographies continue to be unearthed 00:55:36.690 --> 00:55:38.880 align:middle line:90% by our organization. 00:55:38.880 --> 00:55:40.620 align:middle line:84% The University literally would not 00:55:40.620 --> 00:55:43.530 align:middle line:84% be here were it not for our ancestors. 00:55:43.530 --> 00:55:45.600 align:middle line:84% The descendants have been here since the laying 00:55:45.600 --> 00:55:48.630 align:middle line:84% of the first cornerstone, and we have inextricably 00:55:48.630 --> 00:55:52.210 align:middle line:84% been linked to UVA throughout the generations. 00:55:52.210 --> 00:55:55.020 align:middle line:84% Our ancestors' legacy is, among many things, 00:55:55.020 --> 00:55:57.270 align:middle line:90% the actual university. 00:55:57.270 --> 00:55:59.580 align:middle line:84% To tell the truth and help people reckon 00:55:59.580 --> 00:56:01.680 align:middle line:84% with this history, the descendants 00:56:01.680 --> 00:56:05.250 align:middle line:84% seek to research and reclaim the narrative, 00:56:05.250 --> 00:56:07.590 align:middle line:84% to honor the legacies of enslaved and free 00:56:07.590 --> 00:56:10.080 align:middle line:84% Black communities and their descendants, 00:56:10.080 --> 00:56:12.870 align:middle line:84% and to achieve restorative justice for communities 00:56:12.870 --> 00:56:15.720 align:middle line:84% rooted at the University of Virginia and surrounding 00:56:15.720 --> 00:56:17.070 align:middle line:90% regions. 00:56:17.070 --> 00:56:18.900 align:middle line:84% Through its membership, we strive 00:56:18.900 --> 00:56:22.200 align:middle line:84% to identify, engage, and build community 00:56:22.200 --> 00:56:25.500 align:middle line:84% with the descendants of free and enslaved families associated 00:56:25.500 --> 00:56:29.290 align:middle line:84% with building and sustaining the University of Virginia. 00:56:29.290 --> 00:56:32.340 align:middle line:84% The DEC serves as the collective and unified voice 00:56:32.340 --> 00:56:35.880 align:middle line:84% of all descendants of enslaved and free Black communities 00:56:35.880 --> 00:56:39.630 align:middle line:84% who labored through investments in research, education, 00:56:39.630 --> 00:56:42.420 align:middle line:90% and preservation. 00:56:42.420 --> 00:56:44.160 align:middle line:84% The Descendants of Enslaved Communities 00:56:44.160 --> 00:56:47.310 align:middle line:84% hopes to offer a place of healing and space 00:56:47.310 --> 00:56:50.370 align:middle line:84% for our coalition, and offers a strong framework 00:56:50.370 --> 00:56:54.030 align:middle line:84% for our membership through key partnerships including 00:56:54.030 --> 00:56:57.570 align:middle line:84% the Jefferson School, leaders in the Charlottesville community, 00:56:57.570 --> 00:56:59.940 align:middle line:90% and UVA's Black Alumni. 00:56:59.940 --> 00:57:02.430 align:middle line:84% We remain committed to connecting our memberships 00:57:02.430 --> 00:57:05.640 align:middle line:84% memory and oral histories to archival sources 00:57:05.640 --> 00:57:09.390 align:middle line:84% to build out the biographies of the enslaved and free laborers, 00:57:09.390 --> 00:57:13.990 align:middle line:84% and identifying new descendents through genealogical research. 00:57:13.990 --> 00:57:16.270 align:middle line:84% As students come and go, the descendants 00:57:16.270 --> 00:57:18.970 align:middle line:84% would like to see how the University will activate 00:57:18.970 --> 00:57:22.900 align:middle line:84% a central function within to institutionalize an entity 00:57:22.900 --> 00:57:26.170 align:middle line:84% or unit that would be the active proponent to advocate 00:57:26.170 --> 00:57:29.290 align:middle line:84% for reparative justice and reparations. 00:57:29.290 --> 00:57:34.000 align:middle line:84% Please join us by visiting our website, DescendantsUVA.org 00:57:34.000 --> 00:57:36.940 align:middle line:84% and see how you can reclaim, honor, and repair. 00:57:36.940 --> 00:57:37.902 align:middle line:90% [MUSIC PLAYING] 00:57:37.902 --> 00:57:48.800 align:middle line:90% 00:57:48.800 --> 00:57:49.300 align:middle line:90% [SINGING] 00:57:49.300 --> 00:57:58.880 align:middle line:84% Lift every voice and sing till earth and heaven ring, 00:57:58.880 --> 00:58:06.000 align:middle line:84% ring with a harmonies of liberty. 00:58:06.000 --> 00:58:09.402 align:middle line:90% 00:58:09.402 --> 00:58:21.120 align:middle line:84% Let our rejoicing rise high as the listening tide, let 00:58:21.120 --> 00:58:29.724 align:middle line:84% it resound loud as the rolling seas. 00:58:29.724 --> 00:58:37.220 align:middle line:84% Sing our song full of the faith that the dark past 00:58:37.220 --> 00:58:41.165 align:middle line:90% has taught us. 00:58:41.165 --> 00:58:47.420 align:middle line:84% Sing our song, full of the hope that the present 00:58:47.420 --> 00:58:50.689 align:middle line:90% has brought us. 00:58:50.689 --> 00:58:54.430 align:middle line:90% 00:58:54.430 --> 00:59:04.720 align:middle line:84% Facing the rising sun of a new day begun, 00:59:04.720 --> 00:59:11.845 align:middle line:84% let us march on till victory is won. 00:59:11.845 --> 00:59:15.070 align:middle line:90% 00:59:15.070 --> 00:59:25.490 align:middle line:84% Stony the road we trod builder the testing rod, 00:59:25.490 --> 00:59:35.790 align:middle line:84% counting the days when hope unborn had died. 00:59:35.790 --> 00:59:46.650 align:middle line:84% Yet with a steady beat have not a ready feat 00:59:46.650 --> 00:59:52.510 align:middle line:84% come to the place for which our fathers sighed. 00:59:52.510 --> 00:59:55.400 align:middle line:90% 00:59:55.400 --> 01:00:05.480 align:middle line:84% We have come over a way that with tears has been watered. 01:00:05.480 --> 01:00:12.660 align:middle line:84% We have come treading our path through the blood 01:00:12.660 --> 01:00:14.155 align:middle line:90% of the slaughtered. 01:00:14.155 --> 01:00:19.280 align:middle line:90% 01:00:19.280 --> 01:00:25.490 align:middle line:84% Out from the gloomy past till now 01:00:25.490 --> 01:00:35.900 align:middle line:84% we stand at last, where the bright gleam of a bright star 01:00:35.900 --> 01:00:36.440 align:middle line:90% is cast. 01:00:36.440 --> 01:00:40.340 align:middle line:90% 01:00:40.340 --> 01:00:50.150 align:middle line:84% God of our weary years, God of our silent tears, 01:00:50.150 --> 01:01:01.210 align:middle line:84% Thou who has brought us thus far on the way. 01:01:01.210 --> 01:01:11.740 align:middle line:84% Thou who has bowed thy might, let us into the light, 01:01:11.740 --> 01:01:20.685 align:middle line:84% keep us forever in the path, we pray. 01:01:20.685 --> 01:01:26.675 align:middle line:84% Lest our feet stray from the place 01:01:26.675 --> 01:01:31.764 align:middle line:90% ere our God where we met thee. 01:01:31.764 --> 01:01:36.820 align:middle line:84% Lest our hearts drunk with the wine 01:01:36.820 --> 01:01:42.583 align:middle line:90% of the world we forget thee. 01:01:42.583 --> 01:01:46.226 align:middle line:90% 01:01:46.226 --> 01:02:01.430 align:middle line:84% Shadow beneath the heaven may we forever stand, true to our God, 01:02:01.430 --> 01:02:07.620 align:middle line:90% true to our native land. 01:02:07.620 --> 01:02:38.123 align:middle line:90%