By: Traymar Brown, DCLI Intern
June 4, 2023 – A ceremony in remembrance of Samuel J. Bush, was held on the northwest corner of the Macon County Courthouse.
June 3rd, 1893, marks the date Samuel J. Bush, a Black man, was abducted from his jail cell and lynched by a mob of White citizens from Mt. Zion. Mr. Bush had been apprehended and held in the Macon County Courthouse after being accused of assaulting two White women. None of the culprits were held accountable for the hate crime committed against him.
A historical marker from the Illinois State Historical Society, acknowledging the brutal murder of Mr. Bush, now resides on the northwest corner of the Macon County Courthouse lawn.
Many organizations and activists had tried to obtain a historical marker in regards to the lynching of Mr. Bush. It wasn’t until the 130th anniversary of the murder, when two organizations Affordable Activism and Walk It Like We Talk It partnered, that the project was finally completed.
“It was important to me that we do whatever we could to have the marker for the 130th anniversary of Mr. Bush’s murder, which is today, the very day that 130 years ago that he was murdered,” Dana Thomas, founder of Affordable Activism said.
This serves as the first Illinois State Historical Society marker dealing with racial terror lynchings; there are 27 reported lynchings in Illinois, according to Macon County Historian, Mark Sorensen.
A plethora of people, including the great-great nephew of Mr. Bush, Vernon Wimberly, were in attendance as the story of Mr. Bush’s murder was revisited, and community leaders spoke on the impact of the incident.
“130 years ago, today, that’s six and a half score, our fathers murdered our fathers in this new nation reportedly conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal,” Dr. A.D. Carson, Professor of Hip Hop at the University of Virginia, said. “In the thirteen decades since the racist, criminal terroristic lynching of Samuel J. Bush, here in Decatur, on June 3rd, 1893, I imagine folks would like to spend a lot of time trying to convince us how much has changed, and I am not one to deny obvious things. Change is constant and inevitable, so we can be rest assured and certain that some things have indeed changed, but as is true with everything, context is important.”
An official proclamation, declaring June 3rd as Samuel J. Bush Remembrance Day, was read by Mayor Julie Moore Wolfe.
“Whereas in the 21st century, the people of Macon County, hereby assert that there should never again be such flagrant disregard for human life, and the trampling of rule of law under any circumstances, particularly when compounded by motives of racial reprisal,” Mayor Moore Wolfe said. “Now, therefore, I, Mayor Julie Moore Wolfe, do hereby proclaim that vigilante justice is reprehensible and repugnant to human civilization in any form, that Samuel J. Bush’s tragic and evil death is testament why modern democracies must defend and protect equal opportunity for everyone. And advance the sacred value of rule of law, because without it, civilization devolves and descends into inhumanities like lynching and ugly vigilante justice. Further, let it be resolved, that I, Mayor Julie Moore Wolfe, in honor of these universal truths do hereby proclaim June 3rd as Samuel J. Bush Remembrance Day.”
Following the proclamation, Wimberly asked the Mayor if the proclamation should serve as an apology. The mayor nodded, thus showing agreement.
“To the mayor, I accept this as an apology, should I,” Wimberly asked. “I accept that because that is the only thing I am here for.”
While the historical marker has been installed, the organizations plan to continue the education and storytelling of the lynching, in the form of a scholarship fund for students.
“This is not the end, this is just the beginning,” Wimberly said. “My hope is that these awards go to our young kids for college. I want nothing but to see our kids educated, educated beyond what people are trying to stop. This is what I want the most for them. It is for them. For them, for they are our future. Without them, we have no future.”
For those interested in supporting this endeavor, CLICK HERE.
