“We can’t whitewash it.” “We can’t say it never happened here.” “I am not going to deny my ancestors.”
Submitted photos O’Fallon native Angel da Silva has performed for thousands of people over the years, shedding light on unknown aspects and characters of African-American culture. Among her characters are Clara Brown, Mary Fields and Lila the Missouri Slave.
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story about a slave’s journey to reunite with her lost family is grossly captivating. Freed by her master at age 54, Brown embarked on a 30-year journey in search of her husband and children who were sold to different slave owners. Participants learn about her quest west to St. Louis and then to the Rocky Mountains, where she fostered settlements and built schools and churches, but never lost hope in finding her family. Da Silva pulled in eyeballs from around the globe when she and her group of 170 recreationists recreated a slave auction in downtown St. Louis in 2011. Da Silva said that St. Louis and Missouri cannot sweep its slave past under the rug. “We can’t whitewash it,” she said. “We can’t say it never happened here. I am not going to deny my ancestors.” Da Silva found the best way to pull this off was to do so in first person with a commitment to be as authentic as possible. She has woven the stories of her grandmother’s grandmother, who was a Missouri slave, with a scholars’ dedication. “I drained my grandmother’s memory,” da Silva said “There were a lot of stories.” She grew up in O’Fallon as one of the only black students in the Fort Zumwalt School District. Da Silva would go on to have a successful decorated career in the tourism industry, founding the National Black Tourism Network (which hosts media tours and special events that showcase Missouri history), as well serving as a professor at Lindenwood University. She has brought her characters – the real Clara Brown, Lila the Missouri Slave and Mary Fields, the only black female stagecoach driver – to the rural regions of the South and the Midwest.
