Neighbor News
Bell ringing on August 25
The National Park Service is commemorating a significant moment in history: the landing of the first enslaved Africans in North America
The bells at the First Unitarian Universalist Society in Newton will be rung on August 25, at 3pm, to mark the 400th anniversary of the first landing of enslaved Africans in English-occupied North America at Point Comfort in Hampton, Virginia, now part of Fort Monroe National Monument, a unit of the National Park System.
The anniversary will be commemorated at Fort Monroe as a day of healing and reconciliation. The park and its partners are inviting all 419 national parks, NPS programs, community partners, and the public to come together in solidarity to ring bells simultaneously across the nation for four minutes—one for each century—to honor the first Africans who landed in 1619 at Point Comfort and 400 years of African American history. Bells are symbols of freedom.
They are rung for joy, sorrow, alarm, and celebration...universal concepts in each of our lives. This symbolic gesture will enable Americans from all walks of life to participate in this historic moment from wherever they are—to capture the spirit of healing and reconciliation while honoring the significance of 400 years of African American history and culture.
