>> APRIL 29 AND 30, ST.
JOHN'S CONGRESSIONAL CHURCH IN
SPRINGFIELD WILL HOST A UNIQUE EVENT.
IT'S TITLED, "ASHES TO ASHES" AND IT WILL BE A TIME TO
REMEMBER THE THOUSANDS OF AFRICAN-AMERICANS LYNCHED DURING
THE YEARS OF GYM CROW.
DR.
SHIRLEY WHITAKER IS SPECIALIZING THESE SPECIAL DAYS
AND CAME IN TO TELL US MORE.
>> WHEN I LOOK BACK, THE THING THAT TILTED ME TO DOING IT WAS
WHEN A REPORT CAME OUT FROM THE EQUAL JUSTICE INITIATIVE, AND
THEY HAD KWAN TATED AND DOCUMENTED CLOSE TO 4,000 PEOPLE
MENTIONED.
AND I KNOW THAT IF THEY KWAN HATE IT FOR YOU THEY HAVE TO DO
IT FAR MORE.
I DON'T BELIEVE THE TERRORISTS, THE KLAN WANT TO REPORT ON WHAT
THEY DID OVER THE WEEKEND.
>> THEY WERE REAL GOOD ON KEEPING RECORDS.
>> THEY KEPT A LOT OF RECORDS.
>> AND SO I REALIZED THAT I ALWAYS FELT PAIN FOR THEM.
I LOOKED -- I AM AN ARTIST, AND I WENT IN MY BASEMENT, AND I
REALIZED THAT I HAD DONE A COLLAGE IN 2008, AND I PUT THE
NAMES OF PEOPLE WHO HAD BEEN MENTIONED ON THERE, AND I SAID,
SPEAK THEIR NAME.
AND I WILL GO BY THERE AND SPEAK THEIR NAME.
I SAY, SPEAK MY NAME AND I WILL LIVE FOREVER.
SO I REALIZED THAT IT HAD BEEN ON MY MIND FOR A LONG TIME.
AND SO LAST -- AT THAT REPORT, AFTER THAT REPORT CAME OUT, I
SAID I NEED TO DO SOMETHING FOR THEM.
I WANT TO DO SOMETHING.
I CAN AT LEAST GIVE THEM A PRAYER.
I CAN'T BRING THEM BACK.
BUT, I CAN SAY A PRAYER FOR THEM.
AND IN THE SOUTH, WHEN WE HAVE FUNERALS, AND I AM FROM, I AM
FROM GEORGIA, DEEP SOUTH, AND WHEN WE HAVE FUNERALS, I
REMEMBER THE LAST THING THAT THE MINISTER WOULD SAY, ASHES TO
ASHES, DUST TO DUST.
AND I REALIZED THAT A LOT OF THEM NEVER GOT THE ASHES TO
ASHES.
SO, I SEE IT.
I WILL GIVE THEM THE ASHES TO ASHES.
AND AT FIRST I SAID I THINK THAT I HAVE IT IN MY BACKYARD.
I NEVER TOLD MY HUSBAND ABOUT THAT.
AND SOMEONE SAID, MAYBE YOU CAN FIND A CHURCH, AND I FOUND A
CHURCH THAT WAS VERY RECEPTIVE TO THE IDEA BECAUSE THEY THOUGHT
IT WAS A GOOD IDEA.
AND SOMEONE SAID, WHAT ABOUT ST.
JOHN'S?
AND I LIKED THE IDEA OF SIX RUNS -- ST.
JOHN'S.
IT'S A VERY HISTORIC CHURCH, AND THE HISTORY, AS FAR AS THE
AFRICAN-AMERICANS ARE CONCERN, IS EXTENSIVE.
JOHN BROWN.
FREDERICK DOUGLAS, A PART OF THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD.
AND UNDERSTAND IT'S BEEN THERE SINCE 1911, WITH -- THE WAY IT
IS NOW IN HANCOCK AND UNION, BUT THAT BEFORE THEN, IT WAS, UM,
CALLED THE FREE CHURCH WHERE THE FREE SLAVES CAME.
SO, IT'S BEEN THERE A LONG TIME, AND I FELT THIS WOULD BE THE
APPROPRIATE PLACE TO SAY ASHES TO ASHES AND GIVE THEM A PRAYER.
>> THEY SAY THE NAME, LITERALLY, THAT IS GOING TO BE A PART OF
THE EVENT FOR PEOPLE WHO COME TO GET A NAME OF IT.
EXPLAIN THAT.
>> IT'S GOING TO, IN TWO WAYS.
THE FIRST NIGHT IS CALLED AWAKENING, AND ILLUMINATION.
AND WE WILL SPEAK NAMES.
THERE IS AN AFRICAN PROVERB THAT SAYS YOU SPEAK MY NAME AND I
WILL LIVE FOREVER.
AND I JUST FELT THAT THAT'S THE LEAST THAT WE CAN DO.
SAY THE NAME.
AND MAYBE SAY A PRAYER, AND I WILL LIGHT A CANDLE FOR THEM.
WE'LL BE DOING ALL THREE.
WHEN PEOPLE -- WE HAVE, WE ARE HAVING A FUNERAL PROCESSION, AND
PEOPLE ARE STANDING ON THE SIDE WITH THE NAMES OF PEOPLE
LYNCHED.
AND AS THE HEARSE COMES BY, WE HAVE A GLASS HEARSE, AND A
CASKET MADE BY STUDENTS HERE IN SPRINGFIELD.
PULLED BY TWO BLACK HORSES, AND WHEN THEY ARE NEAR, THE HEARSE,
THEY WOULD START SPEAKING THE NAMES OF PEOPLE LYNCHED.
>> TO INVOLVE THE YOUNG PEOPLE OF THE COMMUNITY AND YOU JUST
TOUCHED ON IT, STUDENTS AT PUTNAM VOCATIONAL TECHNICAL
ACADEMY, HAVE CONSTRUCTED A CASKET, A COFFIN, AND A
CANDELABRA.
IS THAT SUNDAY?
THE FUNERAL?
TONYTALK ABOUT THAT.
>> THE FUNERAL IS GOING TO BE SATURDAY MORNING.
IT'S GOING TO START WITH A PROCESSION.
SO THAT I ALWAYS WANTED THEM TO BE IN A GRAND WAY BROUGHT TO THE
CHURCH.
SO, THE STUDENTS AT PUTNAM, DID AN EXCELLENT JOB ON THE
LEADERSHIP OF MR.
STEVEN, WHAT'S HIS NAME, DAVID STEVENS, THE
CARPENTER THERE, AND THEY MADE A CASKET THAT WILL BE THERE, AND
THEY PUT THE NAMES OF CLOSE TO 2,000 PEOPLE, CLOSE TO 3,000,
INSIDE OF THE CASKET.
AND SO THAT WILL BE PART OF THE WHOLE PROCESSION, AND THE
CANDELABRA, WHICH WILL BE A PART OF THE AWAKENING AND THE
ILLUMINATION NIGHT.
SO, THAT, I FELT, WAS THE KEY PART.
I WANTED A CASKET FOR THEM.
AND SO IT'S A FUNERAL.
SO WITH THE FUNERAL YOU NEED A CASKET.
>> AM I RIGHT THAT YOU HAVE A SPEAKER COMING, A GENTLEMAN WHO
LIVES IN CONNECTICUT, GREW UP IN THE SOUTH, ESCAPED, SURVIVED AND
ATTEMPTED LYNCHING BACK IN THE 1960s, IS THAT RIGHT?
>> 1965.
HIS NAME WAS MR.
WINFRED REMBRANDT.
AND HE WAS FROM NEAR WHERE I GREW UP IN SOUTH GEORGIA.
AND I WAS ABLE TO MEET HIM.
HE'S COMING. 71 YEARS OLD, AND HE'S GOING
THROUGH SO MUCH.
SO, I SPENT A WHOLE DAY WITH HIM TWO WEEKS AGO.
IT'S AMAZING WHAT THIS MAN ENDURED.
HE WAS IN THE PROCESS OF BEING LYNCHED.
THEY HAD A KNIFE, AND THEY WAS CUTTING HIM, AND THEY WAS
GETTING READY, AND SOMEONE SAID, LET'S MAKE AN EXAMPLE OUT OF
HIM.
SO THAT SAVED HIS LIFE.
BUT, THERE ARE NOT MANY PEOPLE AROUND TO TALK ABOUT THE PROCESS
OF BEING LYNCHED.
AND IN DIFFERENT PLACES, WHAT THEY DID IN THE PROCESS OF
LYNCHING YOU.
HE WILL TELL YOU THAT HE DID CERTAIN THINGS, AND THEY BURN
YOU AND ALL OF THIS.
SO, IT'S A WHOLE ORDEAL THAT HE WENT THROUGH, AND GRATEFUL THAT
HE DID NOT -- THEY WERE NOT SUCCESSFUL.
HE WILL BE HERE.
>> IT'S AN AMAZING UNDERTAKING.
I AGREE WITH YOU.
IT'S AMAZING, THOUGHT OF IT, IN HUNDREDS OF YEARS, BUT GOOD IT'S
HAPPENING NOW AND WE'RE DOING IT HERE IN SPRINGFIELD.
>> SO AM I. >> ASHES TO ASHES, APRIL 29 AND
30 AT OLD ST.
JOHN'S.
>> YES.
>> THANKS FOR COMING IN.
>> THANKS FOR INVITING ME.
I REALLY ENJOYED IT.