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World Vision D.C. Spearheads Faith-Based Summit
Publish Date : 12/5/2004 1:02:00 PM   Source : Culture and Community News

Predicting that “this memorial will have the most lasting impact on national unity and the nation’s psyche than any other,” Clark Jones, executive director of World Vision D.C., announced that his organization is co-sponsoring a faith-based summit on December 2, 2004, at 5:00 PM, at the historic Nineteenth Street Baptist Church (4606 16th St., N.W., Washington, D.C.) to promote fundraising for the Black Revolutionary War Patriots Memorial; examine the scale model; meet renowned Denver sculptor Ed Dwight, who crafted it; and introduce spokesperson Mrs. Essie Mae Washington Williams.
“For the sake of future generations and the nation’s children who are still forming opinions of each other, and the nation’s past and future, we are dedicated to mobilizing pastors and faith-based organizations to endear this long-overdue project to all Americans and finally see the bronze and marble structure rise on the Mall between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument,” Mr. Jones said.    

Co-sponsored by the Rev. Dr. Derrick Harkins, pastor of the Nineteenth Street Baptist Church, “An Evening of Unity” will gather “100 Pastors,” faith-based organizations, politicians, celebrities and national associations for a “working session,” as he calls it. “We’re going to roll up our sleeves, plot a winning fundraising strategy, and trumpet the memorial’s message of healing and reconciliation,” Rev. Harkins emphasized. “African Americans and every American could be renewed by the energy pulsating from the roots of American history and this project. Everyone will benefit spiritually, and in their daily lives, by seeing this 26-year struggle transformed into a national triumph.”

The memorial is the brainchild of Maurice A. Barboza of Alexandria, Virginia. Research on his multiracial family in 1978 led him to discover a white ancestor who aided the American Revolutionary cause. Once he had traced his black and white roots, Barboza was welcomed as a member of the Sons of the American Revolution. In 1984, after his late aunt, Mrs. Lena Santos Ferguson, waged a successful four-year battle to join the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution, the pair pressured the D.A.R. to identify every black Revolutionary war patriot, organized The Black Patriots Foundation, convinced the U.S. Congress in 1988 to appropriate hallowed land in Washington’s monumental core, and recruited Mr. Dwight to fashion their dream.

“To hammer home the memorial’s potential for healing and racial reconciliation, Mrs. Essie Mae Washington Williams, a project spokesperson, will be there to symbolize how the hidden past can be revealed in a way that unites citizens,” Mr. Jones said. Like the forgotten black patriots and freedom seekers, Mrs. Williams only a year ago finally was able to acknowledge her true identity as the daughter of the former segregationist Strom Thurmond and the Thurmond family’s black maid, Carrie Butler.

“To be truly fulfilled, I feel that my story must stand as a bridge between blacks and whites and serve as a catalyst for continuing Mrs. Ferguson’s mission to make black women feel whole by embracing the totality of their family history and genetic material,” Mrs. Williams said. The former Los Angeles educator’s tentatively entitled book, “Dear Senator,” will be published in January. She has accepted the invitation of two Washington-area black members and will join the D.A.R..

“Besides ownership of one of the most visible tourist sites in America, the Black Patriots Foundation possesses a singular artistic expression – the acclaimed memorial design by Ed Dwight,” Mr. Jones said. “In the dozens of relief and freestanding figures, Ed resurrects the spirit of 10s of thousands of runaway slaves and over 15,000 black soldiers who fought for personal liberty on both the American and British sides.”

A one-fifth scale model of Mr. Dwight’s work will be on display to view and photograph. The design has been approved by all the local and Federal agencies that oversee monuments. The sculptor said, “The memorial’s two ascending and inwardly curving walls of bronze and marble will form a dramatic plaza that captures the sweeping vistas of the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial. Visitors will finally come to understand that black Americans were crucial to the history behind those revered structures.”

Balanced on a knoll overlooking the seven-acre lake at Constitution Gardens, the memorial will draw thousands of tourists moving along the trail that connects the Vietnam Veterans and World War II Memorials. “There,” Mr. Barboza said, “Ed’s expression will be less a reflection of the past than it is a messenger for the hard work and good deeds between citizens still awaiting fulfillment.”

“Like me, I know that the thousands of unsung supporters, who labored for nearly three decades, will rejoice today that Washington’s faith community has come to bat. This confirms what we always knew: that our ancestors, who made freedom and the pursuit of happiness sustainable, were worthy of our perseverance and steadfastness,” Mr. Dwight concluded.

Special Performances:

Mr. Marcus Johnson, jazz sensation
Ms. Vanessa Williams, gospel recording artist

Special Guests / Photo Opportunities:    

One-fifth scale model of the black patriots memorial
Mr. Ed Dwight, sculptor
Mrs. Essie Mae Washington Williams, memorial spokesperson & daughter of the late Sen. Strom Thurmond
Ms. Wanda Terry, granddaughter of the late Sen. Strom Thurmond
Frank K. Wheaton, Esq., attorney for Mrs. Williams & foundation board member
Mr. Clark Jones, executive director, World Vision DC
Rev. Derrick Harkins, pastor, Nineteenth Street Baptist Church
Rev. Barry C. Black, chaplain of the U.S. Senate
Mr. Maurice A. Barboza, memorial founder

Contacts:
Ladda Chang
(202) 986-4590
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