Historic Black Churches
I have lived on Salt Spring Island since 1963. Salt Spring is part of the Gulf Islands (between Vancouver, Canada and Seattle, Washington), neighbors of the San Juan Islands in the USA.
We moved here when I was just 8 years old, during the tragic aftermath of the JFK assassination. I have grown to love this community and attend the Full Gospel Community Chapel at Central.
The first church here was built by former slaves from Missouri who travelled first by covered wagon to California and then by steamer to Canada. Sir James Douglas of British Columbia (then a colony of Great Britain) was part-black himself (his mother was from the Caribbean) and put out the call for settlers from all over the world. He was also convinced that Black Americans would be both loyal to Great Britain and resist calls from (white) American goldminers who were then agitating for the union of BC with the United States. He organized the first (all-black) militia in Victoria, our capital, and gave out land grants to prospective settlers.
This is how Sylvia Stark and other Black Americans came to Salt Spring Island before the Civil War.
My dad took me to see "Granny Stark" on her 104th birthday because I turned 10 on the same day, August 15, 1965. She lived in a log cabin, raised sheep and grew apple trees, and was born in Missouri back in 1858. I will always treasure the memory, and seeing her derringer (small pistol), which really impressed me as a boy.
Remarkably, considering her courage and perseverence, she was a tiny lady, less than 5 feet tall.
Many of her ancestors still live here (and Los Angeles), and I went to school with several Black kids. Nobody dared to call them names or make racist remarks, they were all members of prominent families here.
I am good friends with Robert Woods, the former superintendent of Highways Maintenance, and he also attends our church, as do other members of the (small) black community.
The original name for our island was Chuan Island (meaning home of the Thunderbird) and considered taboo by the local Salish nation people. It was the Black community that renamed the island after local salt springs, and built the first Baptist Church at Central. Central hosts our local movie theater, the highway yard, a park, several churches and a fire station.
By the way, I lived in the USA from 1973-1983 and took Black Studies at Seattle Central Community College in 1980-1981. I was the student editor of the campus newspaper during that time.
We moved here when I was just 8 years old, during the tragic aftermath of the JFK assassination. I have grown to love this community and attend the Full Gospel Community Chapel at Central.
The first church here was built by former slaves from Missouri who travelled first by covered wagon to California and then by steamer to Canada. Sir James Douglas of British Columbia (then a colony of Great Britain) was part-black himself (his mother was from the Caribbean) and put out the call for settlers from all over the world. He was also convinced that Black Americans would be both loyal to Great Britain and resist calls from (white) American goldminers who were then agitating for the union of BC with the United States. He organized the first (all-black) militia in Victoria, our capital, and gave out land grants to prospective settlers.
This is how Sylvia Stark and other Black Americans came to Salt Spring Island before the Civil War.
My dad took me to see "Granny Stark" on her 104th birthday because I turned 10 on the same day, August 15, 1965. She lived in a log cabin, raised sheep and grew apple trees, and was born in Missouri back in 1858. I will always treasure the memory, and seeing her derringer (small pistol), which really impressed me as a boy.
Remarkably, considering her courage and perseverence, she was a tiny lady, less than 5 feet tall.
Many of her ancestors still live here (and Los Angeles), and I went to school with several Black kids. Nobody dared to call them names or make racist remarks, they were all members of prominent families here.
I am good friends with Robert Woods, the former superintendent of Highways Maintenance, and he also attends our church, as do other members of the (small) black community.
The original name for our island was Chuan Island (meaning home of the Thunderbird) and considered taboo by the local Salish nation people. It was the Black community that renamed the island after local salt springs, and built the first Baptist Church at Central. Central hosts our local movie theater, the highway yard, a park, several churches and a fire station.
By the way, I lived in the USA from 1973-1983 and took Black Studies at Seattle Central Community College in 1980-1981. I was the student editor of the campus newspaper during that time.
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