August 25, 2019 is the 400th anniversary of the first landing of enslaved Africans in English-occupied North America.

The National Park Service is commemorating the day, and invites anyone else who wants to to participate in ringing one or more bells for four minutes, one minute for every century free Africans were enslaved by people from another continent, used as property, and treated as second-class citizens of the country in which they were born.

In case you don’t know, the countries of the African continent aren’t and weren’t benighted; they were old and proud civilizations before the white man encroached.

Here are my bells for remembrance, reconciliation, in hopes of reparations and respect.

MA