How Black Americans combated racism from beyond the grave
(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.)
David B. Parker, Kennesaw State University
(THE CONVERSATION) The Atlanta Journal-Constitution published a story about a Black cemetery in Buckhead, a prosperous Atlanta community in 2023.
The cemetery broke ground almost two centuries ago, in 1826, as the graveyard of Piney Grove Baptist Church. The church has been gone for decades; the cemetery now sits on the property of a townhouse development. It is overgrown, with most of its 300-plus graves unmarked.
The article describes how some of the buried’s descendants and family members are trying to get the property owner to clean up and take care of the cemetery.
Audrey Collins is one of those descendants. Her grandmother, Lenora Powell Thomas, is buried there, and a photograph of her grandmother’s headstone accompanied the article.
The headstone is not one of those polished markers that you are probably used to seeing. It is small, perhaps 18 inches tall. It has a rough, poured concrete base with a plaster inset, which includes the name of the funeral home, the name of Collins’ grandmother and the date of her death. Her name reads, “Mrs. Lenora Thomas.”
Those first three letters – Mrs. – might be the most important on the headstone.
The courtesy titles Mr., Mrs. and Miss rarely appear on headstones; usually it is just the first and last name.
But here, they serve an important function, reminding viewers of how...