{"id":9414,"date":"2017-07-03T09:50:52","date_gmt":"2017-07-03T15:50:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/oddwalkministries.com\/oddblog\/?p=9414"},"modified":"2017-07-03T09:50:52","modified_gmt":"2017-07-03T15:50:52","slug":"greenwood-cemetery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/oddwalkministries.com\/oddblog\/2017\/07\/03\/greenwood-cemetery\/","title":{"rendered":"Greenwood Cemetery"},"content":{"rendered":"

Think for a moment. Beyond the things you own, what belongs to you? What are you owed?\u00a0 Are you entitled to be treated in a certain way, to be allowed access to certain groups, to enjoy certain privileges? My guess is that, in answering those questions, you would likely place very few restrictions on yourself.\u00a0 Don’t worry. You’re not alone in that. I would probably answer in much the same way.<\/p>\n

In a previous “Jesus, Justice, Joy” article<\/a>, I mentioned that newadvent.org defines justice as “\u2014a moral quality or habit which perfects the will and inclines it to render to each and to all what belongs to them.”\u00a0 This past week, I found a new way to understand and appreciate the words, \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcwhat belongs to them’.<\/p>\n

Greenwood Cemetery is located in north St. Louis, MO, in a village called Hillsdale.<\/p>\n

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Greenwood was an active cemetery from 1874 to 1993. \u00a0As opposed to many other area cemeteries, Greenwood had no covenant barring African-Americans from being buried there, so it became one of the main resting places for the black community in St. Louis. \u00a0Additionally, Greenwood was privately owned for much of it’s history with none of it’s owners ever bothering to establish an endowment for the upkeep of the grounds. \u00a0Private ownership of Greenwood also meant that none of the five municipalities that touch the cemetery were legally responsible for it’s upkeep. (This is till true today.) The Foelsch family, who had bought the cemetery from original owner, Herman Krueger, ran the cemetery through the 1980s, selling it in 1993 to Soloman Rooks. \u00a0Rooks had no true interest in maintaining the cemetery, though, and the property became overgrown and fell into disrepair. \u00a0Preservation efforts began in 1999, but reclaiming Greenwood’s almost thirty-two acres has proven to be a daunting task. \u00a0To date, only about a third of the grounds have been recovered. \u00a0Whether attacked by thick weeds and brush, erosion, or vandals, Greenwood Cemetery is in sad shape.<\/p>\n

I learned all of this last week during Young Neighbors in Action<\/a>, where I was serving as the Prayer and Music Coordinator. Greenwood was one of our service sites. \u00a0The teens assigned there cut down large weeds brush and also mowed. \u00a0It’s hard to describe just how hard they had to work. \u00a0Hopefully these pictures will tell the story.<\/p>\n

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\nIt was easily the most physical work asked of any of our teens and they definitely rose to the challenge. \u00a0When these teens returned each day from their work sites, we, the program staff, would help them process their experiences. \u00a0This processing is designed to help them see these experiences through the lens of \u00a0Catholic Social Teaching<\/a>: Who are you are serving? \u00a0What are their needs? \u00a0How did they come to have these needs? \u00a0What can be done to not only meet these needs now, but work towards ensuring that those needs can be met more consistently and justly in the future?<\/p>\n

What the teens learned is that the poor conditions at Greenwood Cemetery are mostly the result of racism, carelessness, and greed. Greenwood’s plight seems to be an apt metaphor for how we treat those in the margins of society. \u00a0Humanity and dignity of the poor, vulnerable, or otherwise cast-out seem to be of lesser value than of those who just happen to be of the right social class, ethnic background, or economic status. \u00a0For many buried at Greenwood, the eternal fate of their bodies seems to have a lot to do with the fact that they just happened to die in St. Louis, while black.<\/p>\n

The people buried at Greenwood Cemetery deserve dignity in death as they did in life. \u00a0It is ‘what belongs to them’. \u00a0It is just. \u00a0The association caring for Greenwood these days is doing amazing work, but they need more help. \u00a0This help can come in the form of a donation or volunteering your time to help recover the grounds. \u00a0To learn more, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

-Shannon<\/p>\n

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Think for a moment. Beyond the things you own, what belongs to you? What are you owed?\u00a0 Are you entitled to be treated in a certain way, to be allowed access to certain groups, to enjoy certain privileges? My guess is that, in answering those questions, you would likely place very few restrictions on yourself.\u00a0…<\/p>\n

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