January 2025 Edition
Why We Remember
Several members of the Alexandria Community Remembrance Project attended the Maryland Lynching Memorial Project’s annual meeting on Nov. 2, 2024 at the Reginald F. Lewis Museum in Baltimore, MD. Alabama native and President of Sandpiper Advisory Group, Ashley Mann, Esq., helped frame the day-long conference. Her remarks spoke to why it is important to understand our shared history and to continue to collectively and intentionally remember and honor the lives impacted by past injustices. With Ms. Mann’s permission, we are sharing her remarks as the feature story for this issue of the ACRP newsletter.
History is not something that stays behind us. Events of the past impact systems and generations that are still in place today for all of us - some of those things being the same atrocities, the same concepts but repurposed, repackaged and relabeled.
Some things in history may be hard to remember, but it is unacceptable to forget. History and the act of continually remembering is not something that is static. It requires us to remember history and go back to fill in the gaps of the untold stories, researching and discovering, to develop a fuller picture and discover the truth of what has occurred.
The act of remembering and truly remembering goes beyond dates and events, it’s about holding space for the lives that were impacted, for the deep wounds and trauma that remains and for the lessons that call to us across time.
To remember is to confront, to acknowledge and to honor. As one of the individuals in our meeting yesterday wisely noted, we cannot hope for healing and reconciliation if we haven’t first laid the foundation for truth. We know that truth is often selectively remembered. Some remember a nation’s past in a way that comforts or reflects them, or only reflects partial realities. This selective memory impacts how we respond to present day injustices and can blind us to inequities and injustices persisting today.
The more accurately we know and engage with our history the more we recognize the injustices in our present world.
The awareness and the truth is foundational not just for us here, but for generations that will follow us. Being intentional to remember brings focus not just to the events, but to the human lives, the real bodies, the real souls who were victimized and dehumanized. When we humanize these experiences we cultivate empathy and recognition of a shared humanity. When we see each other clearly, we begin to move closer to empathy and bind communities together with the courage required to address these injustices.
Remembrance also has the power to shape identity and connectedness. When we look back with honest eyes, we see the ties that bind us across culture, nation and time. For many people, acknowledging their own histories, along with the joy, struggles and triumphs that come along with those, creates a sense of place and identity. When we confront these truths collectively, as each of us has done through our coalition work, we deepen our bonds and fortify our communities.
Our role today, as interconnected as it is, requires us to develop a profound understanding of our collective comprehensive histories. By understanding the histories of many cultures and peoples who share this world with us, we reengage and cultivate that respect, that patience, the civic courage and that humanity which is essential for our shared future.
As we reflect today and hear from the amazing artist that Will has presented to us, I would like us to consider the critical role of education in this work. If we want future generations to see more clearly, to act with empathy and respect we must ensure that our schools and communities are attending and acknowledging these histories. Teaching history honestly and truthfully and comprehensively equips students not just with the facts, but also with moral insight needed to make thoughtful decisions. Every choice that they make, every choice that we make, every action that they take and every action that we take as citizens reflect the understanding of shared humanity and justice.
In closing, I want to urge each of us to see remembrance as both a responsibility and a privilege. When we hold space for past injustices, we honor those who endured them, acknowledge their humanity and lay the path forward to understanding, healing and justice. So we must remember not just for ourselves, but for the future generations who will carry the torch that we light today.
Click here to view a video of Ms. Ashley Mann giving these remarks which begin at 18:00 Min.
In The News
Centering Truth in History
Between 1850 and 1918, William Grayson, William Thompson and Charles Allie Thompson were lynched in Culpeper County, Virginia. On December 16, 2024, the 16th Circuit Court Judge Dale B. Durrer, reviewed from the bench, a motion presented to him by Commonwealth’s Attorney Russell Rabb III declaring the men who were deprived of their right to due process of law innocent of the charges brought against them.
Judge Durrer wanted a public event in the county courtroom to acknowledge the community’s commitment to the truth and show Culpepper’s capacity for reconciliation. By owning these stories they better understand themselves and can move forward together, he said.
“We are not perfect, but this is a country born of change, born of revolution and one that aspires to get better,” Durrer told the packed room.
Rabb presented the motion and a thick spiral bound book full of documents, evidence that was plucked from opaque rooms and mislabeled files, by voluntary researcher Zann Nelson. The white resident of Culpepper spent years thoroughly researching the three cases in an effort to establish the truth, right the historical record, and find a way to bring some semblance of justice to the men posthumously.
“Your Honor, these three incidents were not spur of the moment. They involved premeditated calculation and thought,” Rabb stated. The order reframes and puts in context what happened, it tells us so much more, he added.
The judge signed the order making it official.
“Too often we have ignored these stories…at best history helps us recognize our mistakes and see the evil corners where we can dwell,” said the Judge, adding what makes us uncomfortable makes us grow.
The report will be published in the county’s index books, making the research available to any and all to inspect and reflect on this part of our collective past.
In closing, Judge Durrer declared, this action by the Culpepper community “makes our nation better.”
ACRP Expands Steering Committee
On Jan. 31, ACRP will officially bring on board the following six additional steering committee members: Jacquay Plummer, Dr. Emerald Christopher, Rev. Dr. Taft Quincy Heatley, Rev. Josette Franklin, Jean Kelleher and Paul Glist.
VA NAACP Lawsuit Against Confederate School Names Moves Forward
On Friday, Jan. 24, a Judge dismissed the Shenandoah School Board’s attempt to have the suit dismissed, allowing the NAACP’s complaint to move forward. The complaint alleges the school board violated the law when it changed the names of two schools back to confederate leaders. Read more in the Virginia Mercury.
General Assembly Considers Stripping UDC of tax Exempt Status
A bipartisan bill that would strip tax-exempt status from organizations tied to the Confederacy passed the House by a 53-42 vote on Friday. It targets groups like the Virginia Division of the United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC), ending their property and recordation tax privileges.
Read more at Virginia Mercury.
Upcoming Committee Meetings
ACRP’s Schools & Libraries Action Committee will meet on Wednesday, Jan. 29 at 5 p.m. at Alexandria’s Black History Museum, guest speaker is ACPS School Board Chair Michelle Rief.
ACRP’s Steering Committee will welcome new members at the annual planning meeting on Friday, Jan. 31 from 9 - 1 p.m. at The Lyceum.
Alexandria Community Remembrance Project
The Alexandria Community Remembrance Project (ACRP) is a city-wide initiative dedicated to helping Alexandria understand its history of racial terror hate crimes and to work toward creating a welcoming community bound by equity and inclusion.
In Memoriam
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