CURB Support Call: Tucker’s Town Information
CURB said they “support the call from researcher Ms. LeYoni Junos for Tucker’s Point Club “to show good faith” and share any and all information they may have in their archives on the land purchase and site plans of the Tucker’s Town property expropriated in 1920 by the Bermuda Land Development Company.”
A spokesperson said, “Ms. Junos’ research and that of other descendants in the Tucker’s Town Historical Society [Denny Richardson, Eugene Stovell and Keith DuBois], are to be commended for their years of research and efforts to highlight the tragic history of Tucker’s Town and ensure that the truth is told. The descendants of those who lived or were buried in Tuckers Town have a moral right to have their wishes respected about what happens to this historic Free Black Cemetery.
“The bulldozing of the graves in 2012, despite it being a listed Historic Protection Area, resulted in the Ombudsman of Bermuda issuing a report titled A Grave Error [available online], which provides extensive historical detail, as well as the errors and tragedy which led to its desecration and destruction.
“Ms. Junos’ extensive research provides further clarity that is invaluable in pursuing the full truth. Despite the outcry at its destruction nothing has been done to rectify this tragedy and one of the oldest Free Black Cemeteries in the Northern Hemisphere remains largely unrecognized other than a notation in the history books.
“The expropriation of land in the 1920s, against the wishes of both black and white landowners, marks a shameful part of Bermuda’s history. Sadly, the 1920s destruction of what was an historic village [established in the late 1790s], and the subsequent desecration and disrespect towards the graves of people of largely African descent, mirrors many similar episodes that have previously occurred in Bermuda and in other indigenous communities around the world.
“Martin Luther King, Jr. said ‘the time is always right to do what is right;’ and given the historic times we are living in, and the growth of the worldwide Black Lives Matter movement, we hope that the Tuckers Point Club will take this to heart and help bring dignity, courtesy and respect to the memory of those buried in Tucker’s Town by doing whatever they can to ensure historical documents are provided to researchers, and that moving forward the wishes of the descendants are fulfilled and the cemetery restored.”
