The Poppaw Queen is a historical documentary film, directed by Malachi E. Robinson, chronicling the story of Mary Queen and her descendants' historic fight for freedom. The documentary encompasses dynamic interviews and vibrant spoken word performances, challenging viewers to recognize the deep-seated injustices of the past and inspire actions towards a just future.
This project has been sponsored by the City of Bowie, Maryland State Arts Council, Anacostia Trails Heritage Area, Maryland Heritage Areas Authority, Joe's Movement Emporium and the Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County.
UPCOMING EVENTS AND SCREENINGS
THE POPPAW QUEEN: HEALING JUSTICE FORUM
Date: Saturday, February 1 2025
Time: 3pm (Reception); 5pm (Program Starts)
Where: Creative Suitland 4719 Silver Hill Road Suitland, MD 20746
FILM SCREENING AND DISCUSSION W/ ALEXANDRIA FILM FESITVAL
Date: Friday, February 21 2025 6pm
Where: The Lyceum, American History Museum
201 S Washington St, Alexandria, VA 22314
FILM SCREENING AND DISCUSSION W/ DOCS IN PROGRESS
Date: Thursday, February 27 2025 6pm
Where: Docs in Progress
8560 Second Ave., Suite 113, Silver Spring, MD 20910
WHO IS MARY QUEEN?
MARY QUEEN, also known as the “Poppaw Queen” or “Queen Mary” was born—a free woman of color—between 1680 and 1690 near the Popayán Province, in South America. During the time of “Queen Anne’s War,” she embarked a two–year voyage to England after the British privateer Captain Woodes Rogers laid siege on the port town of Guayaquil in modern–day Ecuador. Around 1715, Mary was brought to the South River Hundred, in Anne Arundel County, Maryland by Captain Thomas Larkin. She entered an indenture with merchant-planter James Carroll, at his Fingaul plantation in All Hallows Parish, Anne Arundel County, Maryland, but was illegally enslaved and never set free. In his last will and testament dated 12 February 1728, James Carroll bequeathed Fingaul, along with his White Marsh properties—including the “Bright Seat Farm”—to Jesuit superior, Rev. George Thorold, S.J. Two of Mary’s daughters—Nanny and Phillis—remained at Fingaul, while she and her son, Ralph, were later sent to the ‘Old Bohemia’ plantation, in Warwick, Cecil County, Maryland. Many, if not all, of the Queen families enslaved by the Maryland Jesuits descend from the maternal lines of either Nanny Cooper (a.k.a. “Queen”) or Phillis Queen.
In 1796, some of Mary Queen’s descendants petitioned for their freedom in the Courts of Maryland and the District of Columbia on the claim that she was born a free woman. Many recovered their freedom, while others were unsuccessful and remained enslaved by the Jesuits.
(--excerpt from the Queen Family Heritage Foundation website, see link here: https://queenfamily.org)
The South lost ... and this is good ... and that hateful flag needs to come down ... and reparations need to be offered and if none of that can happen ... well ... let there be poetry.
Nikki Giovanni, Acolytes, 2007