Religion & Spirituality

REMEMBERING HAROLD SALMON JR.

By ASAR JOHN

Special to the AmNews

Harold Salmon Jr. was a well-rounded community member in Harlem, known for his several roles in uplifting those around him. He was an athlete, educator, religious leader and civil rights activist among many other titles. Salmon died in January at the age of 92 and his sister, Irene Mays, wants him honored as an important figure to Black history.

Sports was a large part of Salmon’s life even up until his later years in life. He found himself interested in a multitude of athletics from skiing to basketball, in the latter of which he was considered by some to stand out as a “promising recruit” for the Knicks. Salmon was also a member of the Courtsmen Athletic Association, a professional basketball league that started in the Bronx and focuses on education advocacy. While sports were a meaningful part of Salmon’s life, much of his career was focused around being an educator and religious leader.

When asked if her brother pursued a career in education and religion due to the tumultuous events that preceded the Civil Rights Movement, Irene Mays said, “Daily matters in our history are current events. He was serving the greater good.”

After receiving a master’s in theology and another in education and guidance, it was all up from there for Harold Salmon. In 1968 Salmon served his first mass at his family’s church, St. Anthony of Padua in The Bronx and continued to spread the word of Christ as a religious leader and educator.

“He was assigned as the first Blacknamed pastor, not as a competitor, remaining humble as a learned participant and steadfast contributor in his priestly service,” said Mays.

In the late 1960s, Salmon accepted the position of vicariate delegate and he founded a youth initiative program at St. Charles Borromeo Church in Harlem. Mays said her brother focused the program around Black history, art and dance, fostering a warm welcome for church folks around the Harlem community.

Salmon’s multi-faceted life, that included him being involved in civil rights action, saw his involvement at the March on Washington in 1963.

“Proud to be a part of the MLK Freedom March, he shared the live version of thousands of Black people who marched in courage for our righteous justice confronting a government that denied us,” said Mays. “He advocated challenging our rights for equal existence.”

With the recent emergence of protests that sparked in the country after the police death of George Floyd and several others in recent years, Mays said her brother would be pleased with the gains made by the Black Lives Matter movement.

“Harold Salmon was proud of those who came before him and after him with selfawareness and ownership,” said Mays.

While Salmon adored the Black community of Harlem, he was ready to start a new chapter in 1995 with a move to Warrenton, North Carolina after his marriage to Hermenia Fitts Jackson. With the move south, Harold took with him his love for community engagement, continuing to be involved in his new local community. In North Carolina he volunteered for, served and led a number of organizations.

Despite all of the titles and positions Salmon represented, there was one title Harold Salmon held above all else.

“Harold Salmon Jr. always considered himself a Black man first, before a priest,” said Mays, who further describes her brother as a genuine, cheerful, and supportive gentleman. “He was a brother and father for those who didn’t have one. A man in your corner; a man in your heart.”

“Everyone always had great things to say about him because he was just the perfect person,” said Mabel Wilson, who would frequent basketball courts where Salmon used to play in his younger days. “He always treated people with respect, and you had no objective but to treat him with the highest respect.”

(Family Photograph)

‘Black History Month Celebration’ draws attention to the preservation of African cemeteries

By ASAR JOHN

Special to the AmNews

As Black History Month drew to a close this year, many Black individuals and organizations used the final days of February to honor their ancestors, with part of this being a fight to protect their resting places.

The virtual “Black History Month Celebration” hosted by the African American Cemetery Coalition on Feb. 26 brought together independent organizations, artists, religious communities and individuals to display the importance of the contributions that Black people have made in the United States. Much of the event was centered around the persisting efforts to preserve Black burial grounds all across America.

“I continue to say clearly, Black cemeteries are Black history,” said Antoinette Jackson, founder of The Black Cemetery Network, who spoke at Saturday’s event. “It is important that we share the history of these cemeteries, but also the history of the people and the communities associated with these cemeteries.

Jackson went on to say that Black cemeteries span the history of Reconstruction, the Jim Crow era and other significant time periods. Locally, organizations like African Graves Matter have recently joined this mission to protect and commemorate this history. Spearheaded by native Brooklyn resident Harriet Hines, AGM was conceived in response to city and nationwide efforts to “desecrate” sacred Black burial grounds.

“We formulated to let the city, community and nation know that we do not want affordable housing or an urban farm placed on top of the Flatbush African Burial Ground, or any sacred site to be desecrated,” said Hines, whose main target is preserving the aforementioned gravesite in Flatbush, where there were plans to develop housing.

AGM was founded last May when Hines was running for City Council District 40 in Brooklyn. During this time, she heard about the development plans alongside an alternative that Hines claimed other community groups were pushing for—urban farms.

“We said no, no urban farms or housing on top of the burial ground,” said Hines who began demonstrating and conducting outreach to local officials to consider banning an RFP (request for proposal) for the burial ground in Flatbush. “We did manage to garner the support of former borough president, Eric Adams, who is now our mayor, and he supported a greenspace memorial stating that no affordable housing would be placed on the burial ground.”

Prior to Saturday’s virtual celebration, (which AGM took part in), U.S. senators Mitt Romney (R-UT) and Sherrod Brown (D-OH) co-sponsored a bill dedicated to assisting local organizations in preserving Black burial sites. Senator Brown spoke briefly about The African Burial Grounds Preservation Act at the event.

“There are probably hundreds and hundreds of cemeteries that this bill will help to identify, and ultimately I hope preserve,” said Brown, who said he met with local leaders to survey a Black cemetery in Cincinnati. “It would set up and fund a program through the National Parks Service and provide grant opportunities.”

Despite a bill that some may think is revolutionary, others say it does not cover all bases when it comes to select burial grounds.

“It does not address a fundamental problem that the majority of African burial grounds are in the hands of private owners,” said Marsha ColemanAdebayo, president of Bethesda African Cemetery Coalition. “What we have to do is work with the legislators to expand this legislation so that it really has the impact that they intend for it to have. Politicians are generally nervous about intervening in the private sector.”