Fifteen-year-old Bélizaire was enslaved by the Freys in New Orleans. A family descendant painted him out of the 1837 portrait, hiding this part of the family history for a century. Art collector Jeremy K. Simien purchased the painting and had it fully restored, revealing Bélizaire’s image, now displayed at The Met. But as attacks on Black history grow, the hard-won truth that enslaved lives like Bélizaire’s cannot be erased from our collective memory is once again under threat. Here are 3 types of institutions we must protect and preserve:
Museums: The current administration is targeting Smithsonian museums, including the National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC), by demanding they whitewash exhibits deemed “woke." Take action: Visit or donate to NMAAHC. Support your local Black museums and cultural institutions.
Schools: Schools are consistently misrepresenting Black history. Currently, right-wing companies like PragerU are bringing revisionist history into the classroom. One PragerU video features a cartoon Christopher Columbus saying, "Being taken as a slave is better than being killed." Take action: Share accurate Black history stories with children (and adults, too!).
Monuments: One hundred thousand white women from the United Daughters of the Confederacy once lobbied to erect Confederate statues outside courthouses and in public squares and parks, to intimidate Black people. After the Civil War, they worked overtime to rebrand the national narrative about the War and its cause: slavery. Many of those statues were taken down in 2020. But Trump is working to restore them. Take action: Read ‘How The Word Is Passed’ by Clint Smith.
We must take action now, before our history is completely erased.