It’s the landmark case of 1896, where Plessy was charged for boarding a “whites only” rail car in New Orleans, Louisiana. Judge Ferguson found Plessy guilty.
The black man’s quest for freedom, to decide for himself, and not cow tow to white demands. In the United States, Emancipation via Abraham Lincoln was gaveled in 1863. Blacks having been deceived following Abe’s death, contributed to the money train, using their earnings, fighting for freedom legally, with little or no success.
Washington D.C. has a history of protests, assassination attempts, the burning of buildings, even attempts at overthrowing the government, as those of us living can attest to the Jan 6th, 2021, assault on the Capitol, by those who did not agree with the election results.
In 1835, in D.C., almost 30 years before Plessy, DANIEL BELL, his wife MARY, his mother and children were denied freedom, by the slaveowner’s wife, even though Mr. Armstead (her husband) had signed all legal papers prior to his death, for the BELL’s to be free.
DANIEL had to work tirelessly at the Naval shipyard in Washington D.C. to pay white lawyers to gain freedom. Did the BELL family make it? Where are their descendants today? Do they know what happened to their several times great grandparents?
THE BELL AFFAIR (Click on arrow to play clip)
Time and technology have made it possible to know, for there is a film just made, entitled THE BELL AFFAIR. It premiered on June 2nd at the Publick Playhouse, Cheverly MD. Through JOE’S MOVEMENT EMPORIUM, http://www.thecullturepage.com was there.
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