Rossville AME Zion Church on Staten Island marked its 58th annual Family and Friends Day on Sunday, June 7, bringing descendants, members and supporters together. The event on Bloomingdale Road centered on worship, reflection and reunion, and it began in 1968 under the leadership of Rev. Wallace Lee. It was created to reconnect descendants with their roots in Sandy Ground, the nation’s oldest continuously inhabited free Black settlement and one of New York’s earliest communities. Attendees also took part in Sunday school, worship services, the baby parade, face painting, field games, music and dancing, while donations for preservation work were accepted.
