In secret, behind locked gates, our Nation's Oldest City dumped a landfill in a lake (Old City Reservoir), while emitting sewage in our rivers and salt marsh. Organized citizens exposed and defeated pollution, racism and cronyism. We elected a new Mayor. We're transforming our City -- advanced citizenship. Ask questions. Make disclosures. Demand answers. Be involved. Expect democracy. Report and expose corruption. Smile! Help enact a St. Augustine National Park and Seashore. We shall overcome!
Sunday, September 01, 2019
"First Africans in Virginia" Historic Sign: Where is St. Augustine's Answer?
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We need a national civil rights museum and a railroad museum in St. Augustine.
The first Africans came to North America in St. Augustine, Florida on September 8, 1565, with founder Pedreo Menendez de Aviles. 800 Europeans and Africans were with bin, including the first slave and free Africans. By contract, Melendez agreed with the King of Spain to bring in 500 slaves in five years. Sorry, New York Times, your 1619 project got it wrong -- slavery in North America began here. When Jamestown was founded, St. Augustine was already up for urban renewal, as the late UF Prof. Michael Gannon put it best.
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