Politics & Government
Remembering the First Rhode Island Regiment
Newport officials led the celebration, which was held Sunday.
It's been 232 years now since the Battle of Rhode Island, but its lessons are still relevant in our society today.
During a special ceremony Sunday in Portsmouth's Patriots Park, area leaders gathered for the Newport County NAACP's annual rememberance of the remarkable feat of the First Rhode Island Regiment.
"Not only does it take a village, but it takes a village of people who actually care," speaker Michael N. Browner Jr. said, noting the level of community support needed to ensure that the future has leaders who fight for better opportunities and more respect.
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The Battle of Rhode Island occurred in 1778 during the American Revolution. Rhode Island had not enforced a draft, but instead was sending volunteers into battle. In order to bring the draft numbers up, the state suggested enlisting African Americans, Native Americans and mixed races with the promise of not only freedom, but also wages. At the end of the American Revolution, the country didn't have the funds to pay the regiment and the men walked all the way from the battlegrounds in New York back to their homes in Rhode Island to find their families still enslaved.
Browner, the event's honorary speaker and a social studies teacher at Thompson Middle School, brought the lessons of the revolutionary war to the present for the crowd on Sunday, relating the events to today and how the community is trying to "create positive self esteem in a society that doesn't esteem."
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Browner spoke of dealing with unequal rights day today when it comes to respect, pay and job opportunities. He said in order to ensure that there will be future leaders and change makers, the community must give support to its young people.
"Be ready to suit up and be able to stand up," Browner said, addressing youth. "If you fight, you will be victorious."
Jo Eva Gaines, chairwoman of the Newport School Committee, and Joyce Williams, president of the Newport County branch of the NAACP, introduced the day's events. Other speakers included Kendra Goodrum, third vice president of the Newport County NAACP branch, and Audrain M. Triplett, commander for the U.S. Navy Nurse Corps and chairperson of the Black Patriots Committee.
