Alabama

For the past two years, Africatown natives and supporters have been developing plans along with the National Park Service Rivers, Trails and Conservation Assistance Program (RTCA) creating a design plan for a trail network that would link the Africatown community to the proposed Africatown State Park, a 150 acre parcel of undeveloped, city owned land located 10 miles west of Africatown.

An overflow crowd of more than 150 people showed up despite a downpour of rain to attend a community meeting sponsored by two organizations that have come together to help the Africatown community in its ongoing struggle to achieve environmental, economic, educational and social justice. A new local community organization know as C.H.E.S.S which stands for Clean, Healthy, Educated, Safe & Sustainable community and DSCEJ or Deep South Center for Environmental Justice co-hosted the meeting to introduce themselves to Africatown residents.

Thanks to the dedicated efforts of the Mobile County Training School Alumni Association President Anderson Flen and the hard work of alumni George Jackson, Isaac Jones, Cleophas Armstead, Curtis Malone and Alphonso Fairly, the historic tradition of Africatown's freedom bell will live on as a new bell was dedicated on the campus of historic Mobile County Training School on August 23, 2017.

Our early education in public school taught us that the continent of Africa is the cradle of civilization for our planet. It is considered the cradle of civilization because the oldest known fossil remains of a human was found there and because of that fossil finding it is believed that the human population grew and evolved from the continent of Africa.

Africatown, AL -- Supporters and friends of the Africatown community recently took it upon themselves to replace two historic community treasures that were removed or destroyed more than twenty years ago. Two historic institutions of the community - the Union Missionary Baptist Church of Africatown and the Mobile County Training School Alumni Association - worked together to replace the bust of Cudjo Lewis and the treasured Africatown freedom bell.

The Historic Community of Africatown experienced several occurrences this summer that could be looked upon as a new beginning, as our community continues to do things it hope will contribute to the revitalization and growth of Africatown that will help in the revitalization, growth and tourism of the entire city of Mobile, Alabama.

The Africatown community and other residents within the boundary of Mobile's District 2 received what amounts to "a public lashing" a few weeks ago as the city council voted by a count of 6 to 1 to approve an ordinance that will allow more storage tanks to be constructed within city limits. This ordinance was not wanted, asked for and did not deserve to be dumped on the citizens of Mobile.

The story of Africatown's Bell is a community folklore that has been passed along for years but is based on facts because most Mobile County Training School graduates over the age of 40 have either seen, touched or rang the bell. 

When the last shipment of slaves landed in America in 1860, they originally stayed in a camp along the Mobile River inhabited by a group of slaves known as the Moors. That co-habitation did not go well and they eventually moved inland and formed the township of Plateau. They begin buying up land, building schools and churches and expanding the community to about 2,000 acres or about five square miles. Eventually, other former slaves heard about this sanctuary and began moving to Africatown.