Annual Black History Month

Presentation of the

ENLIGHTENMENT AWARD

to

Dr. Michael L. Blakey

U.S. Congresswoman Donna Christensen, Dr. Blakey,
and Donna Wyant Howell (the Foundation's national director)

The American Slaves Foundation presented its highest award to Howard University’s Dr. Michael L. Blakey during its Black History Month ceremony.

The Enlightenment Award was given to Dr. Blakey for his methodical, yet respectful, anthropological study of the bones of American slaves who died while they were laboring on buildings in New York City. This burial ground for dozens of slaves was unearthed when new construction was underway in that city. Dr. Blakey received worldwide acclaim when he was entrusted with these precious remains, which were studied by professionals and students in his university laboratory. Every detail was meticulously studied, revealing the graveyard secrets of continued physical stress and malnourishment on these enslaved people.

Also at the ceremony, the American Slaves Foundation announced this web site. This site is a major step towards publicizing the Foundation’s many programs. Two of the programs are:

American Slaves Memorial - to honor “America’s Noble Ancestors” whose labors helped to provide an economic base for America’s rise to a world power  Included will be social education programs for all Americans. The details will unfold publicly on this site.

African American Reunion - to unite African Americans with their present-day relatives (currently unknown to them) who are descendents of family members separated during slavery. This mammoth registration process will take decades and is being combined with data from national, state, county, and city archives. Pre-registration forms were available to the ceremony’s audience. The finalized registration forms will be on this site and will be distributed nationally by volunteer coordinators to individuals and to civic, religious, governmental, and social organizations.

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