By Venita Maria Benitez – President, National Freedom Day Foundation
Royal Descendant of the 1606 Virginia Charter and Revolutionary War Patriots
Nationwide — “I am the echo of rifle fire and council votes. I am the living proof that Black freedom was earned—not given.”
We Are Not Region 6. We Are Not Diaspora. We Are Foundation.
Let me speak with the weight of every ancestor behind me—from the sacred soil of Virginia to the throne rooms of England. I am a Foundational Black American (FBA). And that means something.
FBA is not a label. It’s a lineage. It’s not a club. It’s not a nonprofit. It’s not a movement. It is blood, soil, sacrifice, and survival—rooted on American ground.
We are not interchangeable with “Black” or “African American” as defined by census categories. We are not Pan-Africanism. We are not Region 6. We are not a branch of a tree we didn’t grow from. We are the tree.
Royal Bloodline: The Charter That Birthed a Nation – America
In 1606, King James I issued the Virginia Royal Charter, authorizing the Virginia Company of London to establish Jamestown—the first permanent English settlement in North America. That charter birthed the colony that would become a nation known as America.
I am a documented descendant of:
• Edward Maria Wingfield, 1607, first president of Jamestown and shareholder in the original Royal Charter
• Bartholomew Gosnold, who named Jamestown in 1607
• King Henry II, King John, King Henry III of England
• William the Conqueror, Edward III, and Alexander the Great
In 2006, I was invited to London as a family member to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the Royal Charter. I stood where my ancestors stood. I didn’t just witness history—I carried it in my blood.
Revolutionary Patriots: 1776
My lineage includes patriots who fought to birth the United States:
• Major William Moseley Jr., Continental Army, Virginia Line (White) Listed in the SAR Patriot Research System, which tracks verified Revolutionary War service for membership eligibility
• George Key, Colored Private, Revolutionary War (Black)Not verified SAR listing – Meant Black patriots were not formally recognized in early SAR records due to racial exclusion and lack of documentation, or his records are buried in pension files or local militia rolls.
• The Jacksons, Black soldiers who later served in the United States Colored Troops (USCT) during the Civil War – the birth of the United States
• Alexander Trent Moseley, father of Nannie Moseley Jackson, protector and patriarch during Reconstruction
These men were not just soldiers. They were liberators. They fought under the same flag, bled on the same soil, and laid the foundation for a nation that still struggles to honor them.
Morton & Nannie: A Love Story Written in Census Lines
In 1870, two names appeared on separate lines of the U.S. Census:
• Morton Deane, 17 years old, newly freed. Counted for the first time as a citizen—not property.
• Nannie Moseley Jackson, 16-year-old, newly freed and born into legacy. Counted for the first time as a citizen—not property.
Morton rose from bondage to become a first time, in the history of the United States of America, a Black Richmond City Councilman. He operated a mobile library wagon—distributing books to Black families during Reconstruction. He didn’t just survive history. He shaped it.
Nannie hosted sewing circles that doubled as political organizing. She was the keeper of the Deane family Bible—a living archive of births, deaths, and marriages. She came from the Moseleys and the Jacksons—Revolutionary War patriots, USCT Veterans, and land-owning educators.
Together, they brought eleven children into the world, each branch a branch of a legacy rooted in resilience. From their home grew generations of soldiers, Marines, Vietnam War Veterans, and Army Veterans, and defenders of the United States of America. They didn’t just raise children. They raised leaders.
Woodland Cemetery: Where Giants Sleep
Morton and Nannie Deane rest beneath the soil of Woodland Cemetery in Richmond, Virginia. Richmond’s sacred ground for Black excellence. It is the final resting place of many Black Veterans, including Buffalo Soldiers, Freedom Fighters, USCT (United States Colored Troops), and other military heroes. In life, they built a legacy of resilience and leadership. In death, they join the ranks of those who shaped a city, a people, and a future. Founded in 1917 by civil rights leader John Mitchell Jr., it holds over 30,000 burials, including:
• Arthur Ashe Jr. – Tennis legend
• Rev. John Jasper – Preacher and political force
• Dr. Zenobia Gilpin – Physician and public health leader
• Morton Deane – Councilman who rose from chains
• Nannie Moseley Jackson – Matriarch of a dynasty
Thanks to the recent restoration efforts, their names and legacies are finally being honored publicly.
“This is not just a burial ground. It’s a battlefield turned sanctuary.”
The Bloodline That Bled for Freedom
From Morton and Nannie came:
• Daughter Ruth Deane Poindexter – Educator and legacy keeper
• Son Oscar L. Deane and wife Ollie Lawson Deane
• Grandson “Uncle” Leon Thomas Deane – Medal of Honor recipient, Vietnam Veteran
• Grandson “Uncle” Ralph Edward Deane – Vietnam Veteran
And now, generations later, I—Venita Maria Benitez—have picked up the torch. I am not just any person saying “FBA.” I am the great-great-granddaughter of Morton and Nannie. I am a living continuation of their fight. And I will fight for their justice—and the justice of tomorrow.
We Are the Teachers
Pan-Africanism wants to define us, flatten us, and fold us into a diplomatic label. But here’s the truth:
You learn from us. You do not speak for us.
You do not carry the emotional weight of our ancestors. You do not feel the sting of denied burial rights. You do not know what it means to hold a Medal of Honor and know the man who earned it was honored, but never shows up in the registry. You do not know the pride of standing over the grave of a man born enslaved who became a City Councilman. You do not know what it means to be invited to England as a descendant of the Royal Charter—to stand where Edward Maria Wingfield once stood and know your family helped birth a nation.
So do not tell me who I am. Do not tell me what I am owed. And do not tell me to share my reparations.
Reparations Are a Legal Debt—Owed to Us Alone
We are not asking for reparations. We are owed them.
They are not symbolic. They are not global. They are specific—to Foundational Black Americans.
Our ancestors were enslaved here. Buried here. Denied pensions, land, and justice here.
So when global institutions try to speak for us, I ask:
Where are your war records? Your burial sites? Your Congressional medals? Where are your receipts? I have mine.
Legal Reckoning Is Coming – The African Union
Africa must own its role in the transatlantic slave trade. That includes:
• Selling your own into global slavery
• Selling our ancestors into American slavery
• Profiting from their capture and export
• Refusing to acknowledge your role in our suffering
• Refusing to pay reparations
The Slavery They Don’t Want You to Quote
According to the UNESCO book The Slave Trade, slavery today on page 39, and according to the International Labour Organization:
• Nearly 300 million people are enslaved worldwide
• An additional estimated 249 million children, ages 5–18, live in slavery—primarily in India
• Africa leads in child slavery today
This is not ancient history. This is happening now. And it has been happening for so long, some have come to see it as normal.
But for Foundational Black Americans, slavery isn’t distant. It’s our grandparents. Our burial sites. Our denied pensions. Our stolen land.
We carry that pain every day. And we will not let it be diluted by global generalizations.
A Call to Action
Start by searching the United States Federal 1870 Census. Find your great-great-grandparents.
Trace your lineage. Know your truth.
Because I already did.
“I am not looking for answers—I am becoming one.” — Venita Benitez
National Freedom Day is a public holiday signed into law by the late President Harry S. Truman on June 30, 1948– Celebrated each succeeding February 1st for all citizens of the United States of America to commemorate FREEDOM and the 13th Amendment (abolishing slavery) by Abraham Lincoln in 1865. Founded by Major Richard R. Wright Sr., a formerly enslaved man who became a banker and educator. NFD purpose honors freedom, equality, and the contributions of White, Black, Natives, Indigenous Americans to U.S. history. Learn more at NationalFreedomDay.org. Contact Venita Benitez at Venita@NationalFreedomDay.com