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From left, Committee Chairman Robert Pernell and Vice
Chairman Carter Burns, are pictured here with an image of the colored troops in
battle. |
NATCHEZ — The Natchez community is asked to participate
in a public meeting to give input into the proposed Natchez U.S. Colored Troops
Monument.
The meeting is Wednesday, Nov. 10, at 6 p.m. at the
Natchez Convention Center.
The monument committee is hoping to gather public input
on the proposed monument project, which will honor the more than 3,000 African
American men who served with six regiments at Fort McPherson in Natchez. That
number includes the Navy servicemen who were born in Natchez.
“I have been told that more than 90 percent of the
African Americans in Natchez now are probably descendants of one of the U.S.
Colored Troops, but they don’t know it,” said Roscoe Barnes III, who is chair
of the subcommittee on marketing and public relations.
“In addition to gathering input, we want to provide tips
and pointers for people here to determine their relationship with the Colored
Troops,” he said.
This story can be viewed on The Natchez Democrat website by visiting here or by following this link: https://www.natchezdemocrat.com/2021/10/22/community-input-sought-nov-10-for-u-s-colored-troops-monument/
Since forming earlier this year, the committee has been
working to determine and establish the design of the monument, a site for its
display, accurate history of the U.S. Colored Troops, identify the descendants
of the Natchez-Adams County U.S. Colored Troops, form a non-profit for the
group and find funding for the project.
The full committee is broken down into subcommittees. The
chairperson of each subcommittee will provide and report on the work done to
date and will seek comments and ideas from the community members present,
Barnes said.
Subcommittees and their chairs include:
–Site committee, chair Devin Heath
–Design committee, chair Lance Harris
–Marketing and public relations, chair Roscoe Barnes
–Finance and fund raising, chair Dan Gibson
–Research and history, chair Debra Fountain.
“It’s not just our ideas for this monument. We want the
community as a whole to voice their opinions and to give us their ideas,” said
Robert Pernell, chairman of the Natchez U.S. Colored Troops Monument Committee.
“This is a community project, and we want everyone to
have an opportunity to comment on it,” he said.
Barnes said the committee wants to be as transparent as possible in every aspect of its operation.
“We know we need the input from the public. This is not
the committee’s project or the project of a handful or people or a single
person. This is the community’s project. That’s why the mayor himself is
playing a lead role here. We want the citizens of Natchez to give us input,”
Barnes said.
He said the meeting will be recorded and the committee is
hoping to broadcast the meeting as a Facebook Live or something similar.
“We want to make the information available for those who
cannot attend,” he said.
Barnes said the committee wants to be as transparent as possible in every aspect of its operation.
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