The African slave and free persons of color burial ground in Newport, Rhode Island represents to me more than simply a historic cemetery. Also buried on these grounds are my maternal grandparents, uncles and my own father. For generations, my family would come to remember not only our family, but the history of African Americans in Newport. Today, I bring my children so they too can remember their family and the important history of persons of color in shaping Newport.

While the burial markers and stories on the web site are about persons of 18th century Newport, I also wanted to share two very personal markers that represent an important chapter of African American history. During World War II African American men and women served with distinction in service to America, even though they were largely assembled into segregated units. My father, Archie William Stokes would serve as a Staff Sergeant with the 3331 Quarter Master Truck Company seeing combat in North Africa and Italy. My uncle, Alfred Steward Barclay would become a member of the famed Tuskegee Army Air Corp, dying while serving his country in 1945.

I was once asked to define true bravery & patriotism, my answer: "the African American men and women who would willingly serve, fight, and even die in a foreign land for a country that would not recognize their full rights as citizens at home." Why We Care is simply in recognition of the sacrifices made by the African American men, women and children that have come before us. This web site is dedicated to them.

Keith William Stokes
Newport, Rhode Island