LSP's Service to Commemorate the 79th Anniversary of the Lynching of Jesse Lee Bond
LSP's Service to Commemorate the 79th Anniversary of the lynching of Jesse Lee Bond
I SCARCE CAN TAKE IT IN by Rev. Thomas A. Momberg
One LSP pilgrim’s reflections on the EJI Memorial and Museum in Montgomery
Reflections on EJI's Museum and Memorial by Carla Peacher-Ryan
I was lucky to travel to Montgomery for the opening of the Legacy Museum and the Memorial for Peace and Justice. I was able to attend 4 of the panel discussions, the opening ceremony and the Concert for Peace and Justice. It was overwhelming and incredibly enriching.
One Man’s Thoughts on the Opening of the Legacy Museum and Memorial in Montgomery by John Ashworth
On Thursday, April 26, 2018, The Legacy Museum: From Enslavement to Mass Incarceration, and The National Memorial for Peace and Justice opened in Montgomery, Alabama. It was the vision of Attorney Bryan Stevenson, founder of the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI). The grand opening was attended by thousands from all over the United States and several foreign countries. The Legacy Museum is the culmination of years of research into America’s history of racial inequality and continued exploitation of Africans brought here in chains against their will.
Arlington must tell truth about 1939 lynching
Opinion | Arlington must tell truth about 1939 lynching
by McKinley Doty
Vigil in Arlington to Honor Jesse Lee Bond, Victim of 1939 Lynching
SATURDAY: Vigil in Arlington to Honor Victim of 1939 Lynching
ARLINGTON, Tenn. - Alumni of Arlington High School, in partnership with the Lynching Sites Project of Memphis, will host a public prayer service and candlelight vigil to commemorate the 79th anniversary of the lynching of Jesse Lee Bond on Saturday, April 28, 2018 in Depot Square at 7:30pm.
Opinion | Lynching memorial honors victims' bodies and souls
by John Ashworth
In 1917, James Weldon Johnson, best known as the author of "Lift Every Voice and Sing," visited the site where Ell Persons was burned to death beside the Wolf River, just outside Memphis.
While viewing the residue of the burned body, Johnson remarked that "the truth flashed over me that in large measure the race question involves the saving of black America’s body and white America’s soul."
Memphis church’s reconciliation project reveals untold story of slave-trading operation next door
[Episcopal News Service] A previously little-known piece of history just outside the doors of Calvary Episcopal Church in Memphis, Tennessee, is being brought to light as the church prepares to dedicate a historical marker at the pre-Civil War site of the Forrest Slave Mart.
New historical marker to tell truth of Nathan Bedford Forrest, slave trade in Memphis
A new Downtown historical marker will "tell the whole story" about Nathan Bedford Forrest and the antebellum slave trade in Memphis.
The new marker, sponsored by Calvary Episcopal Church, Rhodes College and the National Park Service, will be unveiled and dedicated April 4.
It will be erected near the corner of Adams Avenue and B.B. King Boulevard, on the church's property and near a 1955 historical marker for "Forrest's Early Home."
Unveiling of New Historic Marker - April 4, 2018
(Memphis, Tenn.)—Calvary Episcopal Church, in collaboration with Rhodes College, will unveil and dedicate a new historic marker at the site of the antebellum slave mart operated by Nathan Bedford Forrest in Memphis, Tenn. The marker, to be dedicated on April 4, 2018, will be placed near the corner of Adams Ave. and B.B. King in Downtown Memphis.
Echoes of Lynchings in Quiet Photos
Echoes of Lynchings in Quiet Photos
The scenes in many of Oliver Clasper’s photographs are utterly mundane, bereft of any dazzling camera tricks or rich colors. They are quiet, almost too much so. But once you learn what happened in these scenes from small towns, big cities or verdant fields, their almost unemotional first impression gives way to horror: Someone was lynched there.
Racial Terror Lynchings: Should these stories be told only by black people?
What is the role of black and white leadership in the Lynching Sites Project?
John Ashworth is New Executive Director of LSP!
New Executive Director of LSP...
We are excited to announce that John Ashworth will take on the role as Executive Director of the Lynching Sites Project of Memphis. John previously served as Project Manager for the May 21, 2017 centennial commemoration of the lynching of Ell Persons.
John Ashworth has served as Chairman of the Elbert Williams Memorial Committee in Brownsville, Tennessee. Mr. Elbert Williams was a lynching victim in 1940 as a result of his leadership in organizing a chapter of the NAACP in Brownsville (Haywood County).
WRBO radio interview
Listen to Christie Taylor's recent (Jan 14, 2018) WRBO radio interview with our own John Ashworth and Margaret Vandiver, for an account of the work of the Lynching Sites Project and how it connects with the issues of race in 2018. It is about a half hour in length but begins with 3-5 minutes of music - feel free to skip ahead to the interview.
Alice Faye Duncan: Memphis, Martin and me
Active LSP member, Dr. Almella Starks-Umoja, was interviewed to write this book!
In preparing to write my story, I interviewed the pastor’s daughter, Dr. Almella Starks Umoja. She was a teenager in 1968. Almella was an eyewitness.
Statue Removal-Letter to the Editor
The Lynching Sites Project of Memphis enthusiastically supports the removal of the statues of Nathan Bedford Forrest and Jefferson Davis. Our deep thanks goes out to TakeEmDown901, the Mayor, city legal team, the City Council and many others. Our mission is to locate and memorialize all the sites of lynchings that took place in Shelby County.
"The Way To Make Things Right" by Rabbi Micah Greenstein
“The Way To Make Things Right”
Rabbi Micah D. Greenstein, Temple Israel – Memphis
December 8, 2017 ~ Kislev 21, 5778 (Shabbat Before Chanukah)
Confronting the true history of Forrest the slave trader
Few Memphians know this history, so for the past three months students in my Historical Methods class at Rhodes College have been researching and writing about slavery and the slave trade in Memphis.
Opening April 26, 2018: The Legacy Museum and The National Memorial for Peace and Justice
On April 26, 2018, EJI will unveil two new national institutions designed to deepen and amplify the national conversation about racial justice.
The Legacy Museum tells the little-known true story of slavery in America and its legacy. Located on the site of a former warehouse where black people were enslaved, this narrative museum uses interactive media, sculpture, film, and exhibits to immerse visitors in the sights and sounds of the domestic slave trade, racial terrorism, the Jim Crow South, and the world's largest prison system.
Indie Memphis: 2017 Film Festival Award Winners
Servente’s other award was for “An Accidental Drowning” in the MLK50 Hometowner category, a special competition for films with racial and social justice themes created in recognition of the upcoming observance of the 50th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s trips to Memphis in support of striking sanitation workers, which ended in the civil rights leader's assassination at the Lorraine Motel.