272 Slaves Were Sold to Save Georgetown University. What Does It Owe Their Descendants? – NYTimes.com
In 1838, the Jesuit priests who ran the country’s top Catholic university needed money to keep it alive. Now comes the task of making amends.
Georgetown University
By RACHEL L. SWARNS – APRIL 16, 2016 – NY Times
WASHINGTON — The human cargo was loaded on ships at a bustling wharf in the nation’s capital, destined for the plantations of the Deep South. Some slaves pleaded for rosaries as they were rounded up, praying for deliverance.
But on this day, in the fall of 1838, no one was spared: not the 2-month-old baby and her mother, not the field hands, not the shoemaker and not Cornelius Hawkins, who was about 13 years old when he was forced onboard.
Their panic and desperation would be mostly forgotten for more than a century. But this was no ordinary slave sale. The enslaved African-Americans had belonged to the nation’s most prominent Jesuit priests. And they were sold, along with scores of others, to help secure the future of the premier Catholic institution of higher learning at the time, known today as Georgetown University. Continue reading
The Homeless in New York – By Dr. Dhanpaul Narine
It was the middle of winter. We wondered why they wanted us to walk the streets on the coldest night of the year. Who would want to be out in such frigid weather?
As we checked in at York College we soon found out the reason. The coordinator said that if anyone was found sleeping in the streets on such a night then that person desperately needed a place to stay. This was empirical data and was perhaps one of the best indicators of homelessness. Such cases, we were told, should be reported and steps would be taken to move the person to a shelter.
New York is a tale of two cities. Continue reading →
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