Please forward these links to anyone who might be interested, A link here does not necessarily mean agreement or endorsement by the Council of Independent Colleges. Note: We have been sharing curated links about the legacies of slavery every week (more or less) since July 2022. This is the final weekly roundup, though we may post occasional links in the future. Check this space in May for a series of final reflections on the Legacies of American Slavery initiative from our Regional Collaboration Partners. In the meantime, please visit the project timeline for more details about our work.
- Brian Lyman, “A poisoned cause, a pointless sacrifice,” Alabama Reflector (April 28, 2025): LINK. Today is Confederate Memorial Day, “one of three state holidays [in Alabama] honoring men who killed American soldiers in defense of white supremacy.” A White newspaper editor reflects on the meaning of the day: “Given the choice, I would fire every single Confederate holiday into the sun. But if the state insists on having them, we may look at those men [in a local graveyard] decaying beneath the Stars and Bars and reflect on where embracing authoritarianism leads.”
- Megan Pauly, “New Burying Ground [Memorial] honors enslaved labor at University of Richmond,” Virginia Public Media (April 25, 2025): LINK. On April 23, the University of Richmond (a CIC member institution) “held a dedication ceremony…for a new memorial honoring enslaved people who labored on the university’s land. The memorial is located on what is believed to have been a burial ground for enslaved people.” This was the culmination of a six-year effort to engage community members and honor the site.
- Haniyah Philogene, “A plantation museum spotlighting the truths of slavery has lost federal grants in ‘furtherance of the president’s agenda,’” The Grio (April 24, 2025): LINK. “Louisiana’s Whitney Plantation—open since 2014 as a museum dedicated to education about the legacy of slavery in the U.S.—lost its federal grants as a result of Trump’s attack on DEI.”
- “Black churches back embattled Smithsonian African American history museum after Trump’s order,” Associated Press via NBC News (April 23, 2025): LINK. A Baltimore pastor walked to Washington, DC, to lay a wreath at the entrance of National Museum of African American History and Culture “in support of its mission, which [has] incurred President Donald Trump’s criticism alongside other Smithsonian Institution sites.” Part of a grassroots effort by predominantly Black congregations.