Local nonprofit details decade-long effort to restore East Knoxville African American cemeteries

Knox Reanimation Coalition leaders told the African American Equity Restoration Task Force they have spent more than a decade restoring historic African American burial sites in East Knoxville and need ongoing funding and local volunteers to continue the work. The coalition, represented at the July meeting by George Kemp, president, and board member Andre Canty, described three main initiatives: restoration work at the Odd Fellows (Odd Fellows) Cemetery on Bethel Avenue, work at Citizen (sometimes called Good Citizen or East Fort) Cemetery, and the Iffel Scholars education program that teaches writing, research and digital storytelling to middle and high school…