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Boston's historically Black neighborhood, Beacon Hill, is home to the country’s oldest Black church building: the African Meeting House. Frederick Douglass once spoke there. It's central to the community. And on June 4, it was attacked.
The African Meeting House was preparing for upcoming Juneteenth celebrations when its security camera caught a white man stealing a package and trying to set it on fire near the building. In a historic neighborhood like Beacon Hill where older buildings are in close proximity, even a small fire can be devastating.
We know the history of white racists torching our homes, churches, and businesses. In 1898, during the Wilmington Massacre, the office of a prominent Black newspaper was burned. In 1921, thousands of Tulsa's Black Wall Street buildings were set ablaze. And In September 1963, the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, was bombed. It's a pattern.
We must protect ourselves and our institutions by any means necessary. We also have to know this history and continue to share it with future generations. When we understand the enemy, we know what to look for, what to do, and how we should move.
In times like these and always, we must stick together, mind each other's business, and know that we all we got.