The ancient Biblical story of the Memorial Stones as found in the Book of Joshua 4:6 was brought to vivid present-day reality on Sunday at the memorial service at the old Tucker’s Town graveyard by the Rev Joseph F. Whalen, Jr, pastor of Marsden First United Church.Dramatically pointing towards the neatly manicured graveyard, Rev Whalen expounded on his text, ‘What Do These Stones Mean to You?’ As Joshua put it, “Let this be a sign among you, so that when your children ask later, saying ‘what do these stones mean to you’?” the question should provide opportunity to relate the true story about the role of blacks in the history of Bermuda.Black history, Rev. Whalen said, was woefully missing from the curriculum when he was a student at the Berkeley Institute and in schools generally. But in this day and time there’s a wealth of history resources available.The service was the opening event of the 150th anniversary of Marsden, the church established by the black community of Tucker’s Town who were uprooted in the early 20th century by a white government to be a playground for their own wealthy kith and kin.The graveyard is the only concrete relic of the existence of that once thriving black community. However, history of that community is being promulgated by members of the Tucker’s Town Historical Society, whose ancestors lived there and are buried in the graveyard. Society president is Keith Dubois and vice-president is Denny Richardson. They, along with other descendants, participated in the service.Other participants were Brian Young, managing director of Rosewood Tucker’s Point Golf and Beach Club, owners of the acres of land engulfing the graveyard; Dr Edward Harris, executive director of the National Museum a Dockyard; 97-year-old Mrs Helen Wainwright, oldest descendant of Tucker’s Town; Thomas Smith, the great-great-grandson of Dinah Smith, who during her lifetime featured heavily in the Tucker’s Town story. Toni Robinson, the Island’s national soprano, rendered selections throughout the programme.Dr Harris said he detected a new spirit of reconciliation appertaining to the Tucker’s Town graveyard, which is now enabling him, using modern technology to undertake an X-ray of the site and its contents without digging up the ground. His proposal when first offered was not so well received. Rev Whalen, on the matter of reconciliation “with our past”, said that is vital. He added that he longs for the time when there will be school projects where our children come to this site, look around and ask: “What does this mean? What is this all about? Because this is a peculiar sign a graveyard in the middle of one of the world’s top golf courses. This is a strange sight!“There must be an answer. There must be a story. The Israelites had a credo. They had a story. They would go back and talk about the significance of father Abraham; and we too must have something that lives on in speaking about our history. And that’s what I want to talk about. The question in our reflection today is ‘Whose story is it?’“At the prestigious Berkeley Institute we were learning about the romanticised adventures of Sir Francis Drake. Recently, I learned that it wasn’t until the mid-’80s that a curriculum highlighting black Bermudian history was introduced into school education. Ironically, a much-used text, ‘The Story of Bermuda and Her People’ by William Zuill, mentions that in 1619 the first black man, Venturilla, arrived in Bermuda. Zuill doesn’t mention blacks again until 1968, essentially denying the voices of black Bermudians as though they did not exist. Consequently, their stories were not told.“Indeed, the 2011 social studies curriculum seeks to correct what Carter G. Woodson lamented in his book, ‘The Miss-Education of the Negro’. In the 2011 curriculum the significant modules are: ‘Emancipation and Its Aftermath to 1918’; another module is ‘Challenging the Oligarchy 1918-1959’; and another module emphasises ‘The Last 50 Years’.“But I was also impressed with the resources that attended that curriculum, such as Community and Cultural Affairs film, tapes and other resources including websites; DVD ’Trial by Fire and Emancipation: A Love Story’ by Dr Kim Dismont Robinson; National Museum of Bermuda: Slave Exhibition; ‘Bermuda Five Centuries’ by Rosemary Jones; ‘Chained on the Rock’ by Cyril O. Packwood; ‘Echoes of Bermuda’s Past’ by James E. Smith; Dr Kenneth Robinson’s ‘Heritage; When Voices Rise’ (DVD) film that documents the Theatre Boycott …”Continuing, Rev Whalen cited some other resources including Ira Philip’s ‘Freedom Fighters: From Monk to Mazumbo’; ‘Me One’ by Pauulu Kamarakafego; ‘Second Class Citizens First Class Men’ by Dr Eva Hodgson; also Dr Hodgson’s ‘Storm in a Teacup’; ‘Thank You, Dr Gordon’ by Gerald Alexander Brangman. Pastor Whalen went on to say: “We have had a great deal of emphasis upon the history of Bermuda, the history of Tucker’s Town, that has been written by various individuals, but we need to come to grips with an enlightened perspective that it cannot be history solely as ‘His-story’.“It has to be history as ‘Our-story’. And ‘Our-story’ at its best must be ‘God’s-story’. It must give evidence of the fact that we are where we are, we have been brought to this point in time and place, not simply because we are standing on the shoulders of those who have gone before. But because the Lord has made a way! The answer that the parents and the elders of the community would give to their children was an emphasis upon what God had done miraculously in the life of His people of stopping the waters of the Jordan, so that they could cross over. To stop the waters of injustice, to stop the waters of hardship, to stop the waters of oppression, to stop the waters of disenfranchisement, to stop the waters that would deny authentic and true humanity, so that progress of the people could be made.“So when we today think back, we think not only of the early missionaries of Stephenson and Marsden, and all of the others who had credentials but we also think of the elders in the communities of faith; those who knew the power of prayer; who knew that God could make a way somehow.“As living stones, we must continue to be a sign to our children that there is uniqueness in the Bermuda experience that must be preserved and we must be the ones to tell the story, we must bridge the gap. The reason why our young people are unsettled and confused is because they have not really been engaged with a curriculum like the one above-mentioned. And hopefully that will have an impact upon their own psyche and their own identification so that knowing where they have come from they will obtain a sense of the journey that lies ahead of them.”Rev Whalen said he was happy that there is a collaborative effort at Tucker’s Point, not only to preserve this sacred ground, but also to protect it . He added he has done some reading in grappling with this question, “Whose History is it?” Professor Duncan McDowall, formerly at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada, wrote an article in 1996, ‘Trading Places’. In his article he seems to question the dubious characterisations (that writers, including Mr Zuill) had made of the old Tucker’s Town and its residents such as it being: a “backwater, sparsely settled”, “almost a wilderness” about “inbreeding” and “degenerates”.McDowall writes in ‘Trading Places’ that by 1900, Tucker’s Town was a tightly-knit, isolated community. A few whites remained, but it was fundamentally a black society. There were two churches, a general store, a school, a cricket pitch, a post office and a cemetery on the knoll behind the church. Boats were still being built. Pigs were slaughtered, potatoes graded. Vegetables were dispatched by cart to Hamilton for sale. The rhythms of life were woven through these activities. Children were given the rudiments of education … On Sundays, there were revival meetings. “We were”, one Tucker’s Town native remembers today, “like one … always sharing.”“As you see,” Pastor Whalen said, “there is a difference at times between ‘His-story’ and ‘Our-story’. We must continue the effort to emphasise ‘Our-story’, and especially ‘Our-story’ as ‘God’s-story’.” He noted C.V. (Jim) Woolridge in his ‘Memoir’ details his vocal opposition in 2000 to Bermuda Properties Limited to develop Castle Harbour golf course. Mr Woolridge cites this graveyard as proof of a “people’s existence”.“We too must debunk ‘His-story’ and tell ‘Our-story’. Like the Psalmist in Psalm 124 we must always pause and remember that ‘if it had not been the LORD who was on our side’ where would we be? ‘Our-story’ is ‘God’s-story: When conflict arose, when hardships came, when division threatened your very stability, when men rose up against you to devour you like prey the Lord delivered you and established your families, your homes, your churches, your livelihoods.“What do these stones mean to you? Are they symbolic reminders of what your ancestors crossed over and left behind? Do the stones remind you that God is involved in human affairs delivering, guiding, establishing, prospering, and expanding his kingdom on earth? If the answer is YES! And ‘Our-story’ has indeed been ‘God’s-story’, then let our refrain today be’“Blessed be the Lord’!”