“We are hoping to establish an Umoja Unity Garden – a community garden that would commemorate the importance gardens played in the life of slaves and post-slave communities.

“But rather than being inwardly focused on the solitary pain of black slavery, we want it to serve as an outward focus on the difficulties all races have passed through. We envision a communal space where death, burial, and darkness are transformed into life, sustenance, and new hope for all people.

“We are not thinking of anything large at the moment. Simply a small plot . . . that we could plant, tend, and gather the community around at important celebratory points during the year to advance a vision of unity.

“Our planting selections would be typical of the original slave gardens, with each choice carrying historical and metaphorical significance. Like potatoes because slave gardens favored crops that could be stored, but also because many other persecuted groups (the Irish, for example) similarly relied on potatoes as they sought to endure their persecutions.

“There would be various herbs to symbolize the universal bitterness of oppression at times experienced by all people, but also other herbs, sweet peas, and various flowers to symbolize the sweetness and hope that can be found even in difficult times. And because food is love, we intend to use some of the crops for cooking endeavors or to donate to local food banks.”