To the editor:

Descendant Voices in Action, a local minority non-profit, has been working for several years to lay the groundwork for a meaningful remembrance of the Middle Passage and Bristol’s related history that would be welcomed by the Town of Bristol and make the residents proud. In our work, along with the research of a local BIPOC group, we have been contacting living descendants of the enslaved, uncovering their family’s histories, and establishing timelines and stories that relate significantly to Bristol’s untold history. The living descendants respectfully request that their voices and ideas be given primacy in the telling of the joined history of Bristol and their ancestry.

Their proud histories include stories of slaves from Bristol who fought in the American Revolution, men who worked as seamen, men who volunteered to fight in the Civil War, African Americans who became property owners and early voters, the establishment and workings of New Goree, women who were widowed by disease, loss of husbands at sea, and their plights to raise their children. It does not start and end with the slavery voyage. The living descendants regard Bristol as a special place. African Americans and Indigenous Americans often do not have the luxury or good fortune to have a specific locality as a touchstone in their own personal history.

Being part of the UNESCO Slave Route Project requires a community commitment and requires research into Black and Indigenous American history. It requires the inclusion of African Americans and Indigenous Americans as leaders of the project. It calls for locating descendants who can tell their stories and give voices to that history. UNESCO’s “Legacies of Slavery” - A Resource Book for Managers of Sites and Itineraries of Memory is 219-pages about how to utilize a meaningful approach to establishing a site and building authentic heritage tourism. This is what DVA has been working toward and we have located over fiOy living descendants – of Adjua DeWolfe, Barbara Monro, Daniel Hazard, Maria Hazard, Cato Howland and more who would like their voices heard.

We are aware that a Port Marker Project Site location will be considered at the next town council meeting on March 2. We believe that the group requesting the site location are sincere in their efforts but we know that the group is not lead by African Americans or Indigenous Americans and without their input and leadership awarding this site would be an empty gesture, not a peaceful and respectful step toward acknowledging the unique history of the descendants, Bristol, and the Middle Passage.

Isaac Gilliard
Chair, Descendant Voices in Action
385 High Street