Mel Mann, MBA, M.Ed’s Post

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THE WORLD’S LONGEST LIVING GLEEVEC (Imatinib) & Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitor (TKI) & Kinase Inhibitor Survivor! Patient Advocate, 30 Yr Terminal CML Leukemia Survivor, Clinical Trials, Marrow Donation, US Army Retired, ΩΨΦ

How I Spent #Juneteenth. As organizations still wrestle with the concept of #Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, & Belonging in the workplace, I traveled back to my old duty station at Fort Monroe, Old Point Comfort Virginia, where slavery began in the United States. Here, in 1619, the White Lion, an English Privateer landed. The colonists traded food for “20” and “odd” Africans that the White Lion had captured from a Portuguese slave ship. I actually lived 3 years at the very spot where the first Africans landed while I was stationed at Fort Monroe, during 1991-1994. https://fortmonroe.org/ Fort Monroe is no longer a military installation. Fort Monroe was on the 2005 base realignment and closure list approved by President Bush. It was designated a national monument in 2011 by President Obama. Until the last five years, history books taught that the first enslaved Africans, in what is the United States, landed at Jamestown, one year before Plymouth Rock, thus the significance of where I lived was unknown to me, during the time I was stationed at Fort Monroe. In addition, the beginning of the end of slavery also began at Fort Monroe as those who escaped from slavery were no longer returned and were considered “Contraband.” A General Butler at Fort Monroe refused to return three runaway enslaved men. “Congress registered its approval of Butler’s policy when it passed the First Confiscation Act. This law stated that if slaves are, in fact, property and if this property is owned by any person in active rebellion against lawful Federal authority, then the U.S. military has every right to deny its use to any such person. Any slave that could be wrested from the Confederacy would therefore, in a technical sense, become the property of the United States government.” (National Park Service). I’ve heard it said, “We study history to understand the present and plan for the future.” I made this short video of some of my experiences at Fort Monroe and also it’s connection with slavery. #Juneteenth #1619Project #juneteenth2024 #fortmonroe #OldPointComfort #DEI

steven young

Physical Therapist Assistant student/Rehab aide with Fyzical Therapy and Balance Center

2mo

Amazing!

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