Passersby driving through Route 416 in the Town of Montgomery have likely observed a sacred area across the street from Medline’s facility: the town’s African American Cemetery, the resting place for dozens of African Americans, both enslaved and free, who were buried during the 18th and 19th centuries. In honor of these individuals, the Sacred Place of My Ancestors hosted its fifth annual wreath-laying ceremony in the town last Saturday, February 8, featuring several speeches and ample reflection.

Due to icy terrain surrounding the cemetery, most of the ceremony took place in the town hall, opening with the Negro National Anthem and a prayer from Willie Carley, a pastor of the Tabernacle of Faith Christian Fellowship. Mercedes Ortiz, SPOMA co-chair, welcomed the attendees and introduced both speakers and SPOMA members throughout the morning.

“Since February 2021, we’ve conducted this ceremony to honor the 86 souls entered at our local African and indigenous burial site to celebrate their legacy, to remember the lives that came before us and paved the way for us to be here,” Ortiz said during her opening remarks.

Brian Maher, New York State Assemblyman and SPOMA member, discussed the cemetery’s beautification project, emphasizing that SPOMA has been making great progress and will likely announce an update within the next few months. He also expressed how proud he was of the community for coming together under a unified cause for this burial ground.

“We are moving closer and closer to taking action and beautifying the space that is our SPOMA cemetery. We have had some unbelievable participation, and a lot of time and sweat have gone into this process,” Maher said. “We are all a little disappointed that we don’t have something specifically that’s on that site to show for it. But like anything, it takes time, and we do have some exciting developments that we hope to be able to announce in a few months.”

“We are here with a lot of different backgrounds, and a lot of different reasons why we are either here today in the crowd or up here on the committee,” he continued. “But it’s all unified out of love, compassion, and self growth with our own community and leading the way so that it affects the Hudson Valley, the state, and the rest of the country.”

Steve Brescia, Town of Montgomery supervisor, thanked SPOMA for its continued work on the cemetery and partnership with the town. He mentioned that the board wants to incorporate some African American artwork into the town hall in the near future.

“Thank you for making the Town of Montgomery a centerpiece for African American history; we want to continue that. The SPOMA members make us aware of things every day, the plans that are going to happen out there, and we’re behind you with that,” Brescia said. “Michael (SPOMA member) brought to our attention that we don’t have any African American art or portraits in the town hall, so I told him, ‘please bring us something.’ We’ll definitely incorporate whatever you have into the framework.”

Iris Rose, assistant principal of Valley Central High School, felt incredibly honored to join SPOMA and the attendees in this ceremony. She asserted that everyone in the room has the power to bring about positive change, shed light on historical facts, and guide the youth to their roles as future leaders.

“Today, we stand, knowing the work continues within us and the torch has been passed into our capable hands. We now stand with a responsibility to this generation; we must endeavor to enlighten them, empower them, encourage them, and of course, educate them,” Rose said. We must show our young people the importance of lifting their voices while ensuring their voices are heard, valued, and respected. We must commit to mentoring, protecting, and nurturing our youth. Not limiting their education to historical facts, but revealing historical truths.”

Isaiah Tejada, president of VCHS’s Cultural Diversity Club, discussed the significance of Black History Month, explaining how past and present Black leaders strived for a better future. He and his fellow club members look up to these leaders as they interpret and celebrate history, yearning to promote a more positive, receptive environments through this comprehension.

“In our club, we teach a more comprehensive and understanding awareness of our history that represents all communities. Because we know when we celebrate the history of all, we create more caring, warm-hearted, and open-minded human beings,” Tejada said. “We know what’s necessary to foster a better understanding of where we came from and how we can yield the power of those in the past. Because we want future generations of not only our youth, but everyone in America to know that we are not one; we are a collective voice. We are a collective community, and we have the collective power to yield.”

Gabrielle Hill, a representative of the Newburgh Colored Burial Ground, shared the history of Newburgh’s colored cemetery and her committee’s efforts to restore it. In 1908, a grammar school was built on top of the burial ground, resulting in the disruption and transfer of numerous graves and their remains. In 2008, new excavations led to the discovery of 99 more remains, which were stowed away in boxes at SUNY New Paltz. Since then, a committee was formed to rectify the situation, with plans to move the boxed remains to a new memorial site proposed for Downing Park.

As of now, Hill and her committee are in the project’s planning phase, working with local artists and informing the community about the original burial site’s history.

“We’ve held approximately 13 community gatherings at the site and galleries, just trying to get the awareness out. Just like what Isaiah said, people need to know; we’re going to continue doing that work to get the information out, so we can finally write this wrong,” Hill said. “It’s been almost 18 years that they’ve been at SUNY New Paltz, it’s time for them to come home. This project gives us the opportunity to get back our power and make decisions about us, with us, for us.”

Kate Hymes, Vice President of the Dr. Margaret Wade-Lewis Center, read an original titled “We Be Griots,” referencing Western African storytellers who preserve their communities oral history and cultural heritage. She also discussed Africans in public records, noting that “people of African descent were never intended to make it into a history book or into a public record,” and described how people buried in Montgomery’s colored cemetery have connections all over the Hudson Valley.

“With the Margaret Wade-Lewis Center in New Paltz, we have been doing research to learn more about the people of African descent in New Paltz but also Ulster County. We know there are connections to people here in Orange County and all the way up the river in Albany,” Hymes said. “All the people here have connections, and I’m sure that there are individuals buried in the sacred ground here who have family members buried on the sacred ground of Historic Huguenot Street or the New Paltz Rural Cemetery.”

Dionne Scott-Boissard, the other SPOMA co-chair, concluded the indoor portion of the ceremony with closing remarks, thanking all the people and parties who made this ceremony special and explaining the true meaning of the project to the attendees.

“On behalf of myself, the SPOMA committee, and the ancestors, I thank you all for coming out to pay homage and to honor the beautiful ancestors that are buried at our sacred space of my ancestors. It is the second largest, intact, historical burial site located here in our beautiful Town of Montgomery,” Scott-Boissard said. “Your presence brings life to the presence of those ancestors that once walked these lands, nurtured these lands, and transitioned on these lands.”

“It’s not about the work we’re doing, it’s not about the project, it’s not about revitalizing a cemetery, it’s not about the funding that we have to get things done, it’s not about the politics that come into play that overshadow all things. It’s not about any of that,” she continued. It’s about love. It’s about those beautiful ancestors that are flown between us all, that are calling to us. It’s about the relationships that we forge. It’s about being decent human beings.”

Following the speeches, SPOMA members and attendees drove down to the cemetery, carefully treading over ice to lay the wreath. Members of the Ramapough Lenape Munsee Nation recited prayers while attendees left offerings at the site’s plaque.