FABGC Open Letter to Electeds
We Are Our Ancestors: An Open Letter
We, the leadership of the Flatbush African Burial Ground Coalition (“FABGC”), want to be completely transparent in this open letter about the events that have led us to this place. For the past three years, out of an abundance of love, hope, and determination, we have put our blood, sweat, and tears into protecting and advocating for the Flatbush African Burial Ground and the Descendant community in its midst. The burial ground is our temple and our spiritual connection to our ancestors and to who we are.
October 2023 will mark two years since we were able to halt the HPD RFP, and because of lack of transparency and lack of consistent communication from the Council Member, there is a widespread impression among the Descendant community that the community engagement process is compromised. That impression is creating divisions within the community and exacerbating tensions, ultimately jeopardizing the integrity of the project, and endangering FABGC leadership and volunteers as the most active stewards of the burial ground.
Lack of Transparency and Lack of Robust Community Engagement
In May of 2021, FABGC (in its early days as the Bedford Church Lot Group and various unassociated, individual community stakeholders) contacted many hopeful prospective candidates for the 40th District Council Member position. During that time, half of the candidates running for City Council in District 40 (where the burial ground is located) pledged to support a community-led proposal, including now Council Member Rita Joseph.
We were able to halt the HPD RFP in six months - we held weekly meetings, protested in front of Borough Hall, held candlelight vigils at the FABG, held a meeting at Erasmus High School with multiple City agencies’ official representatives present, commissioned walking tours from GrowHouse NYC, worked with local artists, hosted community teach-ins, and regularly cleaned up our ancestors’ resting place.
CM Joseph initially supported our cause and movement; she attended a few walking tours, online community meetings, and in-person events. She also communicated numerous times on different occasions that this is a project she is very proud of and that “we need to get this right” and “we will do this work together’. CM Joseph has stated numerous times that she will do everything in her power to ensure it succeeds. We were hopeful that CM Joseph would be different from her predecessor and that we would have a proactive partnership with her once in office.
In November of 2021, as the new political administrations settled into their roles, we waited patiently for a sign that it was time to work together. We re-shared our community visioning report, outlining what we had heard from over 1500 community residents during our time engaging. Over six months passed, and we heard nothing from elected officials regarding any updates about the FABG. We sent emails and called Community Board 14 (“CB 14”) regarding our desire to join the FABG task force but heard nothing and yet appointments were made to the CB14 Flatbush African Burial Ground task force in an opaque process.
Over six months later, on April 21, 2022, CB 14 held an online meeting about the burial ground. They stated that they were waiting for an agency to be named responsible for the burial ground. The purpose of that meeting was to connect local organizations, to make known what we all had collectively done, and share how we would like to proceed with more community engagement. Another six months passed until, on October 20, 2022, CB 14 held another online meeting with CM Joseph to update the community regarding the status of the burial ground. That night, we learned that CM Joseph decided, without any Descendant community input, that she would turn over the burial ground to the NYC Parks Department.
Via Zoom on the CB 14 YouTube channel, CM Joseph stated in her exact words, “In support of the Borough president who also recommended that the site be moved from HPD to Parks, I’ve been working hard to understand from agencies about what is the viable path forward for us, for the future of the site. After much consideration and brainstorming, we thought Parks was the obvious choice because they are one of the agencies that have their own capital budget and robust community engagement process, and we wanted to be sensitive to the historic significance of landscaping and Parks has the record of doing so.”
While we found the decision to be heartbreaking to say the least, we had hoped that there would be other opportunities to engage groups like ours and the general community in how best to make decisions over this sacred land before such a unilateral decision was made. In our Fall 2021 visioning report, we requested that CM Joseph and CB14 provide the Flatbush African Burial Ground Coalition (“FABGC”) with necessary, continuing resources and support, including financial, professional, and technical, to create a community engagement process that would be genuinely hyper-local, culturally-sensitive, and Descendant community-focused.
We advocated establishing FABGC as a Community Land Trust (CLT) to administer the Flatbush African Burial Ground with a body of Brooklyn residents of African and Indigenous descent. This was a chance to employ new, inclusive, transparent, and BIPOC-focused strategies for preservation, culturally-sensitive stewardship, environmental review, and community investment; to employ community engagement mechanisms built in partnership with academics and organic intellectuals in the community, specifically centering youth engagement. Our proposal was ignored, leaving FABGC and the Descendant community in the dark.
Even after this announcement, we continued to do our work. We continued our attempts to partner with CM Joseph and her team to start a joint community engagement process, including scheduling meetings with CM Joseph on two occasions - on January 17, 2023 and April 11, 2023 via Zoom. At the first meeting, CM Joseph expressed her offense at our plan to tell supporters via Instagram about the move from HPD to Parks. In addition, she stated that this was the best decision to make because Parks has capital funding and they will be able to transform the space like they did in Sankofa Park (in East New York). As much as Sankofa Park has been mentioned during conversations of memorialization, it's not the only option or best example to use not only because it's in a very different neighborhood with different needs, but also because the Flatbush African Burial Ground is in a more frequented area, has had a two year history of mistrust with the previous administration, and is more closely connected to other important sites such as Lefferts House.
At the second meeting on April 11, 2023, via Zoom, we shared our research on the adjacent privately-owned Lot 50 (also a part of the burial ground), and how it could be considered phase two budget-wise with the commissioner. We also asked CM Joseph follow-up questions, but most of our questions were answered in partial detail; we received statements such as “Parks can’t do anything without us,” “They don’t move if we don’t move,” “We as the community should be leading the conversation”. However once again, there was no communication with us after this meeting.
Then on April 27th, 2023, CB 14 and the Parks Department held an online meeting. During this meeting, we and the entire community had our first introduction to the Parks Department. They stated that they would want to meet the community’s expectations as best as possible. We clarified to Parks that the voices from the Descendant community should be involved in the burial ground's design, development, and construction.
In multiple breakout rooms, FABGC and community members expressed our concerns and disappointment on why this would be considered a park of any kind when it is, in fact, a burial ground and should be treated accordingly. When asked what would happen to uncovered human remains, Parks Department stated that they would not re-inter any remains found. As required by the State of New York if and when any further ancestors' remains are uncovered, the Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation will take jurisdiction and investigate in depth and develop a plan of action in case any more remains are disturbed. While the new Unmarked Burial Protection Act in New York State providessome new protections for these sacred places, it is imperfect. Therefore, Descendant communities must continue to advocate for their ancestors. To refuse this ask from the Descendant community speaks volumes on the capacity of this agency to handle sensitive sites such as the Flatbush African Burial Ground.
Afterward, we received countless emails from community members who were confused, angry, and felt disrespected by the lack of clarity and credit to the organizations already doing the work during the call. We communicated this message both to Parks and CM Joseph, and we did not hear anything.
It has been six months since the April online meeting, and we are now faced with physical danger at the burial ground. We have encountered Curtis Haynes and other associates claiming to be African Graves Matter members on several occasions in the past three months. In one of these horrible instances at the Parks Department "Meet Your Designers'' event on Saturday, June 24th, 2023, Curtis verbally assaulted the Parks Department representatives. Moreover, he had a banner with other city officials' faces and names printed with factual errors. Almost immediately after arriving, the Parks Department representatives left out of fear of their safety; their community engagement ended before it began. He was not held accountable for these actions and was able to continue to remain at the burial ground, spreading misinformation and escalating his aggressive behavior while selling his t-shirts and crafts. In the last month, he vandalized the burial ground and our artwork, as well as threatened Black women and LGBTQ+ leaders with bodily harm, including death.
Since the initial incident at the Parks Department event, there has been ample time to handle this threat and disturbance at the burial ground with more than the presence of a single PO community affairs officer. Curtis Haynes is still a threat to public safety - we would be heartbroken if anything happened to the general public and/or our FABGC leaders, student volunteers, and supporters.
In her words, CM Joseph said we were in this together, and partnership is the way forward, that she wanted to have a grassroots civic engagement campaign process and emphasized how meaningful community engagement is crucial to this design and the project. Next month will be one year since the announcement that the sacred land was moved to the Parks Department. Since then, we have asked for CM Joseph to bring her community engagement action plan to the community. However, like her predecessor, instead of working together transparently with multiple community stakeholders, we have been faced with a stalling process, rumors about backroom deals such as conversations with groups who want to build a museum on the burial ground, and even worse, threats and harassment. We must ask the obvious questions as we continue fighting to preserve our ancestors properly - Is this a deliberate act of negligence? Were we intentionally left out so self-interest could prevail? What is the reason for the lack of urgency in protecting the stewards of the burial ground and the land?
We have been patient and persistent, and in the aftermath of all these experiences, we feel abandoned, betrayed, and ultimately unsafe. In order to ensure the safety of our leaders, students, volunteers, and supporters, we have decided to break our silence regarding what has been going on. We will continue to hold civic engagement events despite threats, harassment and the destruction of our artwork, and now have also taken the necessary step to grant us and our volunteers and supporters protection through the 70th Precinct Community Affairs Department. Several community organizations with anti-violence/de-escalation experience have been contacted to join our efforts.
What do we do now?
In short we are asking for our original and new asks to be honored. In our 2021 visioning report, we shared some of following demands:
Halt the HPD RFP and make a public cessation statement - this demand was met. We thank all the elected officials and local groups who stood in solidarity with us in getting this demand met.
Place the Flatbush African Burial Ground and any ancestral remains under the perpetual stewardship of the Descendant community. The land should be removed from Parks Department jurisdiction, and CM Joseph should consult with our organization, Descendant community members, academic institutions, professionals, and other community organizations on an engagement process that considers our experiences and incorporates the community's wishes. It is only possible to unlock the healing potential of this sacred space when the community is at the decision-making table rather than relying on backroom deals and closed processes that are not for the greater good of preserving our history and future.
Support and resource hyperlocal, Descendant community-focused engagement including education on the historical significance of the Flatbush African Burial Ground. Engagement work needs to continue and expand through multiple connected stakeholders with aligned values of justice, equity, and inclusion. We suggest at least 18 months of engagement, with adequate time, resources, and proficient facilitation to expand our communities’ visions of memorialization beyond buildings and plaques.
Reconnect and obtain the records of The Flatbush Dutch Reformed Church regarding the ancestral remains discovered in 2001. According to the church, the records are written in Dutch, so we will probably need Dutch translation services.
A transparent investment in local, grassroots leadership through capacity-building and a combination of private and public resources will ensure that the leaders who are doing community engagement and visioning work are supported, and able to do so in complete safety and without threats to their physical, emotional, and mental well-being.
The opportunity for us to co-create and install new signage at the burial ground, including a code of conduct that is required at the sacred space, educational information about the burial ground, and that also credits the artists, individuals, and organizations who have been organizing at the burial ground and supporting our work.
Conclusion:
Preserving the Flatbush African Burial Ground is an urgent matter that requires the support and engagement of everyone but especially the most diverse New York City local government in history and the Descendant community. This country is currently engaged in a battle over history, and who gets to tell it. Burial Grounds all over the country and world are under threat, not only due to urbanization but due to neglect, self-interest, and lack of transparency and collaboration. The Flatbush African Burial Ground is an opportunity for Brooklyn to be the benchmark of how this work can be done.
The Flatbush African Burial Ground stands as a physical link to the past and is a powerful testament to the struggles and triumphs of African, Black, and Indigenous Lenape communities throughout history. It represents an essential chapter in the ongoing fight for justice, equality, and recognition. By preserving the histories of African people and Indigenous people, we ensure that future generations can learn from and be inspired by the rich history and traditions of their ancestors.
We ask that you join us on September 16th at the burial ground from 12-5 p.m. and take action by helping us rebuild, clean up, and join the walking tour. This action is to ensure that the voices of our ancestors are heard and that their stories continue to inspire future generations. We will continue to stand firm and tall, and we will continue to educate our community on the historic significance of this sacred space and dare them to dream of a fitting memorial to our ancestors and for future generations. See you on sacred land.
In solidarity,
The Descendant Leadership of FABGC.