Anti-Racism Task Force

The Periwinkle Project

Picture of a plaque on a rock on the soil. The plaque reads: just as the Underground Railroad was creative code for the path to freedom, periwinkles were coded markers for gravesites where the bodies of enslaved people were buried throughout the United States. In February, UUCB’s Social Justice Council began a project to plant a bed of periwinkles in tribute to this creativity, and because Black deaths matter, too.

The Periwinkle project is an effort of the Anti-Racism Task Force of the Confronting Racism and Oppression sponsored project of the UUCB Social Justice Council. The installation has been completed (on the terrace at church) and a ceremony will be announced shortly. The project was based on an idea of Camille Parker’s and was implemented through the efforts of Camille, Judy Sam, Carol Carlisle, Jim Acock, Ray Westergard and Sheldon Jones. The Building and Grounds Committee gave its support and guidance and the Social Justice Council funded the project.

 

 

“Say Their Names,” by Kadir Nelson

The periwinkles depicted in this “New Yorker” magazine cover reminds us that, just as the Underground Railroad was creative code for the path to freedom, periwinkles were coded markers for gravesites where the bodies of enslaved people were buried throughout the United States. In February, UUCB’s Social Justice Council began a project to plant a bed of periwinkles in tribute to this creativity, and because Black deaths matter, too.