Imani Asukile walks among the headstones at Indian Pond Cemetery in Dade City, looking at the writing on each one. He knows some names, knew some of the people personally and even has a relative buried there. But not every grave is clearly marked and some of the names are unknown.
What is known about the old graves is that those who were buried there long ago — some at the beginning of the 20th century — faced segregation and discrimination.
(Michael Murillo/Staff Photo)
“This was the premiere cemetery for blacks in this area. They only allowed blacks to be buried at the Dade City Cemetery in the early 1970s,” Asukile said. Now, as president of the African American Heritage Society of East Pasco County, he wants to make sure the area isn’t forgotten, along with other important places, events and people in local history.
His group hosts military appreciation services at Indian Pond Cemetery each year to honor African American veterans. At a recent event, around 60 people gathered to honor World War II veterans. Their families received special congressional coins and certificates from the Wounded Warrior Project.
For the heritage society, those events create recognition for the veterans, and those buried at the cemetery where the events are held.
“You get inspiration from their stories when you understand their struggles, their victories, the hills they had to climb,” Asukile said. “We have to keep them alive.”
His group keeps those and other stories alive by hosting different events throughout the year. They have youth forums to inform young people and provide a platform for them to express their thoughts. And they have events to celebrate Kwanzaa, a week-long celebration of African-American culture held at the end of each calendar year.
Asukile said it’s the principles of Kwanzaa, including its focus on community support, interaction and problem solving, that guide the African American Heritage Society of East Pasco County throughout the entire year.
“In everything that we do, Kwanzaa is the foundation of our existence, so to speak,” he said. “That’s where everything springs from.”
If community seems to be a big focus for the group, it’s by design. Asukile and the rest of the society take the “East Pasco” part of the organization’s name seriously. Local events attended by local residents are what keep the group motivated.
“In everything we do, we try to focus on local issues and individuals. Most black history programs are national or international, and we don’t have a problem with that,” he said. But we try to say ‘How can we take the same application and apply it here locally?'” The group recognizes local community members during Black History Month in February of each year. The 2015 focus will be on the founders of local community choirs, Asukile said.
But that doesn’t mean they restrict all their work to one small area. Asukile still considers Brooksville home, so he’ll often include that community. They also work with organizations or host events in other parts of the Tampa Bay area.
With a small core of dedicated members (the heritage society has around 10 active members) they provide a year’s worth of events to keep the community’s memories alive and honor those who came before them. He also sees areas for growth, and other communities that could form their own similar groups. Asukile mentioned Wesley Chapel as an area that has a lot of potential to form an organization in the future.
Wherever another group pops up in the future, Asukile and his group will be there to welcome them. As director of multicultural student affairs and equity services at Pasco-Hernando State College, he knows the importance of having a presence in the community and being a resource for those seeking information. And with the African American Heritage Society of East Pasco County, he can put that into practice off campus, reminding residents of historic places, people and events so their stories won’t be forgotten.
“Every community has to have something or somebody who is a griot, a storyteller, a keeper of the history of the community, of the people. Every community has to do to it. otherwise you start losing the stories,” Asukile said.
For more information about the African American Heritage Society of East Pasco County, e-mail Asukile at .
