A Fitting Tribute to The Hon. Shirley Chisholm
By Betty Jean Grant
Betty Jean Grant
When the citizens of Buffalo and those outside of the city want to find out about the history and contributions of people of African descent, probably the last place they would go would be to a cemetery. Indeed, statues of our brave and fearless ancestors belong in a place of visibility and prominence; however, a cemetery may seem like an unlikely location, Forest Lawn is one exception. Thursday, May 1, the statue of the late Hon. Shirley Chisholm— a national heroine who briefly made Buffalo her home—will be unveiled at 4 p.m. near the Birchwood Mausoleum, her final resting place where she joins a host of famous and note worthy ancestors.
Every year the African American Histori cal Association of the Niagara Frontier offers an African American Ancestral Tour at Forest Lawn. According to the Association’s Sharon Holley, the tombstones and monuments high light the likes of musicians such as Rick James, Black Civil War soldiers and architects such as John Brant, and civil rights icons like Rev. Nash and dozens of others, which provide an interesting and revealing historical footnote to Buffalo’s Black history.
This year on May 22, a third special abbre viated Ancestral Tour will take place, when a group of African Americans visit as a site for potential tourism. The newly unveiled statue of the Hon. Shirley Chishoslm is sure to impress!
Hopefully, in the very near future, additional statues (e.g. Harriet Tub man) will join the monumental tribute to our heroes and heroines, not only in Forest Lawn, but in loca tions around the city/community. Tributes to the likes of Rev. Jesse Nash and Frances Nash, William & Mary B. Talbert, Dan & Ann Mont gomery (Little Harlem) Jesse Clip per and Bishop William Henderson (Michigan St. Baptist Church). How about a statue of James Parker, a Black waiter at the Pan American who undoubtably saved many lives by wrestling President William McKinley’s assassin to the ground?
I wonder how many readers of this op-ed know that nearly all of the esteemed ancestors listed above either lived or opened businesses in the area—around the Michigan Street Cor ridor—that is home to the largest cultural space honoring and playing tribute to the contributions of African Americans to our country’s total his tory. The statue of our nation’s first woman and first Black presidential candidate, the Hon. Shir ley Chisholm, will be something to see for Forest Lawn’s tour guides and other patrons or visitors to the cemetery. Hopefully little Black boys, little Black girls and everyone else will be able to visit the site and learn about a fearless fighter/ Black woman so intent on having a seat at the” table,” she bought her own folding chair!