Honorable Devin is an Old Anacostia Douglassonian in life and afterlife.
While he protected, guarded and honored the history of his community during his life we have an additional responsibility henceforth in uplifting the history to do so with honor and respect for his name and memory and contributions to his community.
It is with bowed head and clasped hands we take a knee and pray on the corners for the memory of Honorable Devin and all Old Anacostia Douglassonians who have joined the Lord’s Army of Guardian Angels to watch and guard the living.
With the sincerest sympathies and deepest of heartfelt courtesies we send our condolences and love to Honorable Devin’s family, friends, loved ones and community of Old Anacostia.
The historicity of Allen Chapel AME Church, known as the “Cathedral of Southeast,” cannot be expressed in language.
Prior to the American Civil War a community of free peoples of African descent in the area of Good Hope Hill received blessing from the Baltimore Conference of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, the first independent religious denomination founded by peoples of African descent in America, to establish Allen Chapel.
Before the American Civil War Allen Chapel AME has been a sanctuary for the community.
President Obama visited and attended services at the Cathedral of Southeast while serving as President of the United States of America.
The loss and void felt in our hearts is eternal as is the history Honorable Devin contributed to his community and our knowing his history will remain forever.
JM
Editor’s Note:
Douglass on the Shore, as a blog, is an outgrowth of The Lion of Anacostia, which we have maintained since 2011. This post appeared on The Lion of Anacostia earlier and we felt compelled to share in this space.
Our historical detective and community work in Old Anacostia and on the Old Shore are one in the same.
Our orientation and responsibility as street historians and community historians is not the same as the diabolical Ivory Tower scandalmongering historians with no history who have never step foot into the community.
The history of Dr. Frederick (Bailey) Douglass will never be understood in infinite lifetimes by those afraid to look into the eye of community historians on the corners.
Our sense of loss and sentiment will not leave us soon and will inform our work on the Shore moving forward with and within Douglassonian communities that understand without language the sentiments of loss and grief we feel with the loss of Honorable Devin, Old Anacostia Douglassonian.
Lost History of Dr. Frederick (Bailey) Douglass on Maryland's Eastern Shore 