Addressing the United Nations in Geneva during a meeting of the Reparatory Justice and Cultural Heritage: Museums and Restitution International Civil Society Working Group, Braxton Institute President Dr. Joanne Braxton delivered a powerful call to reframe global museum restitution.

In April 2026, a delegation from the Braxton Institute—Rev. Dr. Kelle Brown, Rev. Dr. Rebecca Parker, Rev. Dr. Joanne Braxton, and Ms. Maxine Gross—traveled to Geneva, Switzerland, to participate in the 5th Session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on People of African Descent. The convening brought together activists, scholars, and institutional leaders from across the globe, all working toward reparatory justice, cultural preservation, and systemic equity.

As the United States approaches its 250th birthday, the Braxton Institute’s upcoming programming reframes the national anniversary through the lens of reparative justice, memory, and the enduring resilience of Black communities.

The Braxton Institute gives thanks for the sacred work accomplished in the historic March 25, 2026 U.N. Resolution Declaring the Trafficking and Racialized Enslavement of Africans as the Gravest Crime Against Humanity. This resolution connects with the reparations movement in Maryland, particularly with regard to historic Black communities within a broader moral and global framework.

We share the following excerpted remarks by Dr. Joanne Braxton originally delivered as a keynote address entitled “Crossing Consciousness: Birthing Deep River” at Black Liberation in the Americas, Biennial Conference of the Collegium for African American Research at the University of Muenster, Germany in March 1999. The call to visit African American “sites of memory” remains vital today, especially in this historic moment, coinciding with both the United Nations resolution for repair and the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States. 

“Black-Eyed Susans for Repair,” a new coalition of Maryland reparations advocates named for the vibrant and resilient state flower of Maryland, convened for the first time on February 9, 2026.  In the words of Dr. Joanne Braxton, the convener: “One thing about a Black-Eyed Susan, when you see one, you never see one alone, you see a whole bunch! We are here today at this gathering because of those who came before us, for the beauty of those who struggle alongside us, and also for those who will follow.”

The Braxton Institute celebrates the Maryland Lynching Truth and Reconciliation Commission (MLTRC), the first state-sponsored effort in the United States to investigate, document, and reckon with the history of racial terror lynchings. The Commission’s Final Report was submitted to the Governor and the General Assembly in December 2025. On Wednesday, January 14, the commission held a virtual briefing hosted by members of the Commission - providing the public with an overview of the key findings and recommendations.

In December 2025, Maryland lawmakers overrode Gov. Wes Moore’s veto, leading to the establishment of the Maryland Reparations Commission. After generations of chattel slavery and Jim Crow, the state of Maryland is finally acknowledging what descendants and communities have said for generations: reparations are necessary.

Recently, the Braxton Institute was represented at the First Repair National Symposium for State and Local Reparations in Evanston, Illinois—a city recognized nationally for implementing the first municipally funded reparations program in the United States.

On Saturday, November 22, 2025, I had the honor of representing the Braxton Institute at A Day of Acknowledgement: Confronting the Legacy of Slavery, held at Maryland Hall in Annapolis. The program centered on a historic moment: County Executive Steuart Pittman’s formal apology for the profound and enduring impacts of slavery on generations of Black Americans.

On Tuesday October 7, 2025 the Braxton Institute pulled together a remarkable group of local, regional, and national reparations leaders to witness a historic presentation by the College Park Restorative Justice Commission to the College Park, Maryland City Council. “The Way Forward Towards Restorative Justice in College Park” is a comprehensive range of initiatives that, when carried out, will make good the City’s promise for repair.

With gratitude and commitment, we are living into a season of momentum in Lakeland, Maryland, anticipating a transition from harm to hope and greater well-being for the entire City of College Park, Maryland. What was once held in vision has become consensus, and what was once consensus is now moving toward implementation. This new phase of reparations work is grounded in clear priorities articulated by the Lakeland community itself, and these restorative priorities are moving the city from acknowledgment into action.

From the archives of the Lakeland Community Heritage Project and the testimony of Lakelanders, members of a historic African American town in Maryland adjacent to Washington, DC, five recurring themes emerge. These themes describe the strength and vitality of Lakeland before “urban renewal.” Social psychiatrist Mindy Fullilove, M.D., observed that these “Five Pillars” represent all of the necessary components for a healthy urban habitat.

I stand in the light of who I am now and who I am becoming,
a witness to the mending of what is and what was broken,
I am a keeper of the pieces I have gathered,
I am a child of those who walked before me whose shoulders upon which I stand…

Blair Bowie is a voting rights attorney at the Campaign Legal Center (CLC) who is determined to restore voting rights for incarcerated Americans. Bowie works with Restore Your Vote, a program striving to abolish the last remaining Jim Crow law: the disenfranchisement of people with felony convictions.

It has been a rigorous season here at the Braxton Institute—advancing the Reparations for Lakeland Now! campaign, contributing to a landmark report of historical harm, and holding healing-centered space through our Golden Repair Circle of Care for Reparations Leaders. Our efforts are rooted in a vision as bold as it is tender: to repair what has been broken, and to restore what sustains us.

The release of Restorative Justice for Lakeland: A Report of Historical Harms, Contemporary Impacts, and Policies for Redress marks a milestone in a long and ongoing struggle. It also marks something more: an affirmation of presence, memory, and power. It is now impossible to erase Lakeland from its history—or from its future.

In the wake of Governor Moore’s veto of statewide reparations commission legislation—and his affirmation of the urgency of addressing structural racial harm through tangible action—we offer these proposals as opportunities for meaningful action now.

I was deeply honored to attend the fourth session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on People of African Descent (PFPAD) in New York City, from April 14-17, 2025. For weeks leading up to this convening, there had been online side events. Many of these events focused on the intersection of health and healing and addressing the violence against Black women and girls around the world… These preparatory programs updated participants like me with the latest knowledge about conditions impacting people of African descent globally… This was my first Permanent Forum on People of African Descent, and I was approaching it with my “beginner’s mind,” the student with everything to learn.

As the fullness of spring blossoms— bringing beauty even in these challenging times— I find myself reflecting on the persistent progress of our work here at the Braxton Institute. I think of its richness, its fervor, and its steady emergence from the shadows of history into the transformative light of repair.

For those who observe the Christian traditions of Holy Week, Good Friday invites remembrance of Jesus’ crucifixion. Some Christians mark the day with rituals contemplating the Stations of the Cross or Jesus’ seven last words; grateful devotions to honor his suffering and death as a saving sacrifice that forgives human sin. But not all Christians approach Good Friday this way. For others, such as myself and many like me, Good Friday is a day to grieve the historical reality that the Roman Empire publicly executed Jesus to terrorize his disciples and to quell uprisings of Jewish resistance.

On April 4-5, 2025, Dr. Joanne Braxton, President of the Braxton Institute, was honored to join a distinguished panel of experts at the Maryland Lynching Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s historic public hearing on the enduring legacy of racial terror lynchings.

Like the majority of black women in America, I waited on the most recent presidential election results with bated breath, hoping against hope that this country was progressive enough to choose a woman of color to lead it. Exhausted by nearly a decade of divisive,  hate-filled political rhetoric, I desperately wanted to turn the page on this disheartening chapter and finally feel like we were moving forward. 

In honor of Black History Month, we reflect on the power of remembrance— both as a means of honoring and also as a force for justice.

The Braxton Institute continues to lead the conversation on reparative justice and community restoration, as highlighted in a recent NBC4 special. The segment featured Dr. Joanne Braxton, founder and President of the Braxton Institute, alongside Maxine Gross, College Park Reparative Justice Commission Chair and Braxton Institute’s Reparations for Lakeland Now! initiative. 

Today was a long but good day. I had the honor of giving testimony before the Maryland Senate Committee on Education, Energy, and Environment on MD SB469 – the Harriet Tubman Community Investment Act (Maryland Reparations Study for Black Descendants of Enslaved Individuals). We were required to submit our testimony in advance, and I thought I was being slick by submitting mine as “written testimony” instead of “oral and written testimony'“; My plan was to have my testimony on the record and then sit back and watch the activities unfold.

On Thursday February 20th, 2025, Senator Joanne Benson along with a panel of witnesses introduced the Harriet Tubman Community Investment Act to the Education Environment and Energy subcommittee in the senate of the Maryland General Assembly. This subcommittee determines whether the bill will move on to the joint committee for voting.

At what is yet still the beginning of a new year, I greet you with Joy and Hope, in the name of all that is Holy.