Black History Month 2016: Slave-Founded Church To Ring Its Bell On 240 Anniversary, With Help Of Civil Rights Activists

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Civil rights activists Rev. Jesse Jackson and Danny Glover are expected at a gathering Monday to mark the 240th anniversary of a church founded by American slaves. But it won’t be an ordinary ceremony, as the church’s long-silent bell will ring for the first time in decades and will continue to ring throughout Black History Month, the Associated Press reported.

First Baptist Church in Williamsburg, Virginia, will host a ceremony titled “Let Freedom Ring: A Call to Heal A Nation.” The bell, which sat out of view of churchgoers and passers-by, was recently restored by noted conservators from the Colonial Williamsburg historic site.

“The bell has not rung since the days of segregation,” the Rev. Reginald Davis, pastor of First Baptist since 2004, told USA Today. The idea of sounding the bell on the first day of Black History Month and amid national strife over racial inequality and police brutality against people of color is fitting, Davis said.

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