The burial and excavation of the history of African Americans fueled this series of paintings. I was interested in the cities of Savannah, Richmond, and Charleston as significant points of trade in the trans-Atlantic slave trade. Thousands of people were sold, families torn apart, and lives and spirits destroyed. I knew there were relics of these amazing stories of survival and resolve waiting to be unearthed. This history is not particularly important in the larger sphere of American and world history. Its erasure can be contributed to institutionalized racism. Forgotten and buried artifacts, sacred sites, and even burial grounds are at constant risk of an eminent peril.
Richmond's Shockoe Bottom was such a site. In the years between the ban on the slave trade and the end of the Civil War, Shockoe Bottom functioned as one of the most important slave trading centers in the United States. It has been estimated that up to 350,000 people of African descent were sold out of Virginia between 1790 and 1859. This means that, all across North America, many African-Americans can trace their lineage to the auction houses of Shockoe Bottom. This is a forgotten territory that I have sought to resurrect with this series.
Forgotten Territory began with my research on Shockoe Bottom. I first encountered the history of the area through Richmondís monthly paper "The Defender," published by the Defenders of Freedom, Justice, and Equality. Capturing my attention were articles on Richmondís large role in the history of the slave trade and the historic landmarks that remain unmarked and unprotected by the national register. Only soil and asphalt stand where once stood Lumpkins Jail, Omohundroís Jail, and scores of auction houses. It is inconceivable to discover that a parking lot covers the final resting-place of many of our ancestors - the Burial Ground for Negroes.
