Flowing beneath the cool greens of cypress, the spreading branches of leaning hickory, and through shadowy bayheads, Florida's creeks and streams glide certainly toward the sea. Rich in color, they mirror the world that grows down their banks. They are beautiful places to stop and contemplate the flow of life, this story we all share. Ancient people discovered these glades, pulsing with the sound of Southern dog-days' cicadas. For thousands of years this place was theirs. New people came. Looking, looking. Strange faces reflected in the dark current. Faces from far away.

Oh, what terror colonial slavery brought to the shores of America. What pain and suffering. Slave masters pointed mean fingers out toward the dark forests. "Don't go there," they warned, "Terrible things live there. Nightmares live there—things that will eat your flesh and leave your spirit wandering in eternal agony. Don't go there."

There were those who didn't believe the master's stories. Sharp eyes, yearning for freedom, watched the forest's edge. In autumn, they watched the birds drift south. The forest shadows beckoned them. Their bravery was as certain as dark water. They escaped into the waiting shadows and flowed south listening to the song of birds. Wary of anyone not of their kind, they skirted settlements.

Their quick minds adapted to the new land. They used ancient hunting skills and they watched and they listened. But, they were not alone. Trackers, as skilled as they were, noticed the evidence of their passing. They met Indians whose generations had known the secrets of the forest. African words and Indian words are continents apart. It's amazing to consider how fast these escaped Africans picked up the native tongues.

The native people and the escaped Africans had something in common. They both fled from the invading Europeans.

Florida was Spanish then. In 1693, King Charles II proclaimed that escaped slaves, fleeing to Florida, would be free if they embraced the Catholic faith and swore allegiance to the King. African minds were just a few words away from freedom.

Oh, the colonies to the north were enraged by it. In St. Augustine the ex-slaves wore Spanish uniforms and took up arms. Governor Oglethorp led an army south to punish them. He captured abandoned Fort Mose (Mos-say). In the marshland just two miles north of the oldest city, African soldiers battered Oglethorp's army.

Still the river of Africans escaping slavery flowed south. With passing time they traveled even further south to live their lives unmolested in freedom. Hunting, fishing, and driving their cattle, they came to this good earth surrounding Tampa Bay.

Searching the forest tangles of Pinellas' past, I found no tracks. Standing on the edge of Tampa Bay, squinting out at this perfect refuge, I didn't find them. When my wife, Elizabeth Neily and I met, we both wondered about early African American history along Florida's west coast.

Historian Canter Brown gave us a glimpse. In his booklet, African Americans on the Tampa Bay Frontier, we discovered a reference to a community called Angola over by the Manatee River. During one of the African American History Conferences in Bartow, Elizabeth Neily asked Canter about his research on Angola. He told her about Vickie Oldham, an African American news-woman who had taped a story on the history of Sarasota. Finding little black history, she settled on a brief description of Angola.

There was an African American community here before Florida was acquired by the United States in 1821. Beginning around 1812, Angola was an important African American community in the Tampa Bay area. Angola was our own.

In central Florida, not far from Bushnell, was another African American town—Pilaklikaha (Pea-lak-lee-ka-ha). Also called Abraham's Old Town, it had been founded before Florida became a territory. Armed with its recent discovery and its excavation by the University of Florida, I decided to attempt an African American history exhibit where I work as a ranger at Boyd Hill Nature Park in south St. Petersburg. When the administration agreed, I asked Elizabeth to contact Vickie and invite her to be a speaker.

Vickie explained how she got involved in the "Looking for Angola project.

"14 years ago, I was contracted to produce a short documentary on the history of black Sarasota. Sarasota County historian Ann Shank pointed her to Canter Brown's book. It was just coming out. I included information from Canter's book. At the time I was hosting a TV show on the local ABC affiliate. I interviewed Canter for the show because I was intrigued by the story he shared. I had never heard the history of Angola shared by anyone before.

I was contracted again in 2003 by Sarasota County Government to write the script for a full length documentary about the county's history. There were two writers who worked on the script before I was hired. When I saw their work, I noticed that the Angola story was not included. I'm sure it wasn't intentionally left out. Few know the history of Angola because there's not lots of information available. I included the Angola story in the documentary and substantiated what I wrote with Canter's research. I could only include a few sentences. The story kept nudging long after that project was completed.

The story spoke to me personally. I was empowered as I reviewed the courage, determination and enterprise of the inhabitants of Angola, who risked everything for freedom. They came here determined, set up a settlement which became a haven for escaped slaves and were making it on their own (this phrase played over and over in my mind). I saw parallels between their story and my own life. The inhabitants of Angola spoke 'life' and 'encouragement' to me. If they survived the most horrific, harrowing experiences in the flight to freedom, with few resources, then surely I could survive with my many resources.

I decided to see if there was funding for a documentary about the Angola Settlement. That was my plan. It has turned into so much more.

I organized a conference call on October 31, 2003 between Ann Shank, Jan Mathews (who was Director of the Div. of Historical Resources), TV 19 Station Manager Joe Gaither, Archaeologist Marion Almy, Dr. Canter Brown and Dr. Rosalyn Howard. Canter told me about Rosalyn's work. Rosalyn and I met in Tampa to discuss Angola prior to the conference call. (I was amazed after hearing Rosalyn's research about the blacks who escaped the raid of Angola; survived and made their way to Andros Island Bahamas where their is a descendent population. I was totally blown away.

After the call, I knew what I had to do...seek a grant or some sort of funding to begin the documentary project."

Who else could I invite to speak? While at a reenactment at DeSoto National Memorial, Elizabeth spoke to local archaeologist Bill Burger, about the project. To her surprise, Bill said that he had poured many hours of research into the Angola settlement. They shared their dream to someday see an archaeological survey done to try to find the settlement.
I called Bill to invite him to speak at the program. He read his outline to me over the phone which highlighted the events leading to Angola and its destruction in 1821. He had also pinpointed locations where he believed the site might be.

"Bill," I said, "Why don't you excavate Angola?"

"I'd like to," his reply came with a hint of irony, "I'd really like to, but I believe that someone else has already started the process." I could picture Bill's wry smile on the other end of the phone. I invited him to speak.

Elizabeth called Canter Brown back. He told her there was a group of people interested in looking for Angola. She called "the other party", an archaeology group in the area.

"No," she was told , "we already have more work than we can handle," came the answer.
She called Bill back to see if he was still interested. "Sure, if they could get a grant. to fund it." came his reply.

Elizabeth was in the process of writing a grant to the Secretary of State, Bureau of Historic Resources. She knew that they also funded archaeological excavations.

She called Vickie back. Had Vickie ever met Bill Burger? No, she hadn't. Elizabeth told her all about Bill's research, the grant, that there was no claim on the project, and gave her Bill's phone number.

The most amazing thing happened. Vickie not only called Bill, she downloaded a copy of the grant and began the work to apply. The grant deadline was only a week away. It was an impossible deadline. Vickie Oldham was not only courageous, she was determined. The phone lines buzzed between Elizabeth, Bill, Vickie and Canter. Letters of recommendation had to be gathered. Volunteers for in-kind contributions had to be found. A plan had to be designed. And a not-for-profit organization willing to apply for the grant had to be found. All this in just a few days.

"Hey," Vickie told Elizabeth, "I work in TV. Deadlines are my life."

I must admit, I didn't believe it could be done. I advised Elizabeth to tell Vickie to put the grant off to the following year. Others advised her to do the same.

"I met with Bill Burger and Cathy Slusser (Director of Manatee County Historical Resources) who both wanted to wait for the 'next grant cycle'. We'd have more time.

I couldn't wait.

I didn't want to wait.

I didn't know if I'd stay in the area. I was anticipating a move out of the Manatee/Sarasota area. I felt the time to move on the grant was now, not later.

As a journalist, I'm accustomed to quick turnarounds on stories, meeting impossible deadlines. I assigned questions from the archaeology grant for each scholar to answer, gathered support letters, in-kind contributions for the match, edited the submitted answers, found a non-profit, met with a successful grant writer for advice, followed her advice. We made the deadline. How glad I am that everyone worked together so well and quickly to make this happen," she added.

Vickie's efforts were nothing short of amazing. She managed to pull the whole thing together and then overnight it to Tallahassee. She made it happen.

In March 2004, Elizabeth joined Bill and Vickie in Tallahassee. They stood up to support each other's grant at the grant hearing. Canter Brown, was also there to speak in support of the grants. Elizabeth came back from our State Capital, bubbling with excitement. "It looks like we are both going to get funded," she chortled. "Both grants were rated in the top five for our category. We just have to wait for approval from the legislature."

It's really nothing short of amazing how this project came about. I'm committed to making sure the people of Angola are remembered and honored; that the story is repeated over and over, that school children and everyone will know it and be empowered as I was and still am every time I repeat it, hear it.
On Sunday, December 12, Elizabeth and I drove to Bradenton. The excavation was beginning. Vickie, doing what she does best, was conducting interviews with television and newspaper reporters. Bill beamed as we walked up.

They were finally looking for Angola.