Eka Darville Instagram – I learnt this today from the wise @rickwriterrenegade, “The very first #MemorialDay was on May, 1, 1865 in Charleston, S.C. when formerly enslaved Africans held a ceremony to honor 257 dead Union Soldiers who had been buried in a mass grave in a Confederate prison camp.
They spent the next two weeks digging up each body and giving them a proper burial to honor them for fighting and dying for their freedom. The gracious African-Americans then held a parade of 10,000, led by a procession of nearly 3,000 black children dancing, singing and marching in celebration.
Yet despite its origins, the African-American impact on the shaping of Memorial Day is mostly forgotten and ignored by the mainstream.” In the @theshadowleague. #black origins of #MemorialDay | Posted on 28/May/2019 02:22:22
