Building Unity in the Community at Bullock Temple CME’s Unity Garden
Bullock Temple CME Church is located at 1513 Park Street—right across the street from Central High School in Little Rock. The Reverend Dr. LaVerne Bell-Tolliver, the pastor of Bullock Temple, calls it “the corner of hope and history.” This historic location, together with a tradition of community engagement and activism, make Bullock Temple CME uniquely placed to facilitate community dialogue and healing. Bullock Temple is currently doing just that with the recent dedication of a Unity Garden on the church grounds.
In 2007—during the 50th anniversary commemoration of the 1957 Central High crisis—a time capsule was buried on the church grounds. This time capsule contained numerous items, including the Little Rock Nine’s hopes for the future. On Sunday, October 29, 2017, a Unity Stone and Unity Park Garden were dedicated on the same spot. The dedication followed an interfaith service on “Unity in the Community” where representatives from different faith traditions and people of conscience offered prayers and thoughts for unity, particularly as it relates to the racial divides in Little Rock.
The goal of Bullock Temple and the organizers of this project are to make the Unity Garden a special place for community reflection and visitation. In addition to providing a place for community connection, they hope that, for the many who come to Little Rock Central High School and the Little Rock Central High National Historic Site annually, this will be another noteworthy stop.
Sanford Tollette, who organized the dedication along with Joel Johnson and a team of community representatives, said “Unity in the Community is 25 years old, created before the 50th anniversary of the Little Rock Central High School desegregation crisis. Our goal is to create hope to prevent hate. Hope is simply to Help Open People’s Eyes. Doing so makes it possible to avoid hate: Hidden Anger Troubles Everyone. That is what Unity in the Community is all about.”
For more information about the Unity Garden or to find out how you can contribute, please contact Sanford Tollette at [email protected].