Dorothy Africa commemorated the first official federal observance of Juneteenth by continuing a tradition she began in 2020—leading the short walk from First Parish on Bedford Common to the African Reservation at Bedford’s Old Burying Ground.
The walkers decorated the graves of Caesar Jones, Caesar Prescott, and Cambridge Moore, Bedford slaves who fought in the American Revolution with bright flowers and American flags.
Bedford’s first METCO Director Irene P. Parker wrote An Ode to Moore, Prescott, and Jones in 1976.
In the Revolutionary Battle of seventeen seventy-five
Caesar Jones, Caesar Prescott, and Cambridge Moore were alive
Fighting for freedom, respect, and honor
Proud Black men who gave their lives with valor.
We know little of Moore, Prescott, and Jones
Their history and lives are interred with their bones
To remember them today is a small token of love
For men who have died and gone home above.
Later on Saturday afternoon, Bedford’s Parents Diversity Council gathered on the Common to share themed crafts and word search puzzles with local children.
Select Board chair Margot Fleischman sang Lift Every Voice and Sing, often known as the ‘Black national anthem.’
As they have for more than a year, Stand for Black Lives volunteers lined The Great Road. They honored the newest Federal holiday and raised the Juneteenth flag on Saturday.
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I am very upset about the Columbus holiday taken away from us.
I’m not a racist! But I am an Italo American. My parents lived in the United States
since the 1920s. My father worked on the Callahan Tunell in Boston as a mason.
FYI Italians were persecuted in those days just like the Irish were.
The were given the most dangerous jobs. Not for nothing, Christopher Columbus
Discovered this country. African American have Martin Luthier King day and Juneeth day both observed holidays. The Irish have St, Patrick’s day. Don’t you think the Italians should have a day also?