The work of USF College of Arts and Sciences anthropology professor and chair Dr. Antoinette Jackson will re-air on CBS News’ 60 Minutes on Sunday, July 30.
Jackson is building a national archive of desecrated Black cemeteries and working to memorialize and honor the memory of those buried there.
Dr. Jackson examining sites of covered Black cemeteries located in St. Peterburg, Fla. (Photo by Alessandra Casanova)
She founded the Black Cemetery Network (BCN) in 2021, a first-of-its-kind online national network and archive documenting stories and grassroots efforts to uncover and preserve historic black cemeteries across the U.S., many of which she says have been erased or underfunded.
She says the BCN started out with just 11 cemeteries and has now grown to 109 documented cemeteries across 20 different states and Washington, D.C.
“There are constant questions and inquiries from individuals, corporations, families and descendant communities not only wanting to submit sites or report a site of an erased cemetery, but also wanting to learn more, volunteer, and contribute,” Jackson said.
“The success of the BCN outreach and the generosity of all who contact us is amazing grace in my eyes. It is humbling that such a simple idea of creating an archive of erased, marginalized, abandoned, and underfunded historic Black cemeteries has also created a network where people working on issues of Black cemetery preservation and memorialization can connect.”
In her 60 Minutes interview Jackson highlights her efforts to recover historic Black cemeteries in the Tampa Bay area, including Zion Cemetery, which was developed over to become the Robles Park Village, a public housing development.
Jackson said she is driven to this work because of what it can teach us for the future.
“I can learn from the past to arm myself and shape a better future with inclusivity,” she said. “I know where my grandparents and many of my close relatives are buried and it is comforting to know that there is a place I can physically go to honor and remember them at a place that is held sacred and is named and marked.”
“I learn so much about communities and families by walking through cemeteries. Black cemeteries are rich in history. They tell us where we have been and what we have done and, more importantly, they tell us what we are capable of doing to impact the future. Dignity for the dead is important and everyone can relate to this basic idea.”
Tune in to hear about Jackson’s work, as well as the work of people and communities in Clearwater and throughout Tampa Bay, Sunday, July 30 on 60 Minutes’ “Grave Injustice” with Scott Pelley.