JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – On New Year’s Eve, a community gathering at the historic Mt. Zion African Methodist Episcopal Church honored the legacy of former slaves while commemorating the lives of the seven people who were killed in October after a gangway collapsed in southern Georgia.
Jacksonville City Councilmember Rahman Johnson attended the event and said he would like to place a monument in the city as a symbol of remembrance and testament to the legacy of the seven people who died in Georgia.
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“These individuals lost their lives as they were crossing the waters, figuratively and literally, trying to reach the divide,” Johnson said. “But their names will never be forgotten.”
Johnson spoke to News4JAX about why he felt it was significant to honor the Sapelo Seven.
“This year it touched me [because] I knew two of the Sapelo Seven victims personally,” he said. “It touched me that this event would be here [on Tuesday], so when the opportunity came for us to be able to commemorate their names and for the news to be able to get out about what happened there, I wanted to be a part of it.”
The councilman added that the monument’s design will feature a large boulder with a bronze plaque and a QR code for people to learn about the Sapelo Seven and the Gullah Geechee tradition.
Johnson also said he hopes to have the monument completed by Juneteenth.
The Sapelo Seven will also have a digital collection through the Jacksonville Public Library ensuring their legacy is preserved for future generations.
The Freedom’s Eve Healing Service, which was held on Tuesday from noon to 2 p.m., also paid tribute to slaves who gathered on Dec. 31, 1862, while awaiting the announcement of the Emancipation Proclamation, the document issued by President Abraham Lincoln on Jan. 1, 1863, that declared the freedom of enslaved people in Confederate states.
The event was free and open to the public and served as a testament to Jacksonville’s commitment to honoring its diverse history while fostering a spirit of togetherness.