Victims of lynching in Manatee, Sarasota counties being remembered
SARASOTA, Fla. - With a shovel and a pot, soil collected by children comes from an area where the unthinkable happened.
"This is the land where their lives were taken. It’s very, very sacred. It’s very ceremonial. It’s something people see a visual," said Linda Crump.
The soil came from a spot in Palmetto where three African American men were believed to have been lynched in March of 1910.
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"There has been a lack of education about the experiences of black people since before the civil war," said Gene Crump.
Gene and Linda Crump are retired attorneys.
They are part of a project called "Manasota Remembers: The Sarasota and Manatee Community Remembrance Project."
They are a group working with the Equal Justice Initiative or EJI to remember history that is often overlooked.
"We saw the young people collecting the soil even though this happened almost 100 years ago. It was a very moving experience not just for us but for the students," said Dan Boxser.
Boxser is the co-president of Boxser Diversity Initiative.
For six years, he and others have worked to place a permanent remembrance.
In the spring, a memorial was placed at The Unitarian Universalist Church off Fruitville Road in Sarasota.
The memorial marker remembers at least six victims of lynching in Sarasota and Manatee counties.
The soil will be sent in jars to Montgomery, Alabama where the jars will be placed in the Equal Justice Initiative’s Legacy Museum.
"Most people come and they think oh I’m going to go on vacation and go to the beach they do not realize that there were horrific things that happened here not too long ago," said Boxser.
Remembering the past for future generations to learn from.
"To see that wall and all the colors of soil also from all the people who really didn’t have any justice. That’s what the equal justice initiative is about. Let’s speak the truth, let’s talk the truth. Let’s heal from that and move forward," said Linda Crump.
This fall a ceremony will be held once soil is collected from all known locations.
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