The Black Patriots Memorial

"Time to Honor Our Black Patriots

The Black Patriots Memorial Project Overview

By Maurice Barboza,
mbarboza@comcast.net

Sunday, October 17, 2004; Page B08

The Black Patriots Memorial got a big boost recently when Essie Mae Washington-Williams, the daughter of the late Senator Strom Thurmond, agreed to become involved with the project. The memorial, to be built on a site between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument, will honor the more than 5,000 black soldiers who helped win the American Revolution, along with the tens of thousands of men, women and children who fled bondage in response to five words in the Declaration of Independence -- 'all men are created equal.'

Williams agreed to help with the memorial's fundraising because she saw it as a continuation of the work of my aunt, Lena Santos Ferguson, the project's co-founder. In 1984 my aunt fought to be admitted to a Washington chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR). Her effort led to an amendment to the DAR bylaws barring discrimination. The DAR also was required to identify every black soldier who served in the Revolutionary War.

Williams's challenge now is to raise more than $12 million to construct the memorial. But the project needs President Bush's help too. Under an agreement with Congress, construction on the memorial must begin by next October or the site could be lost. Because this memorial does not have living advocates to tell the story of the black patriots with the immediacy that touches donors, the nonprofit group that my aunt and I created needs help opening doors.

This administration could provide that help by creating a presidentially appointed commission with the authority to augment the foundation's work and raise fund"