Maryland Lynching Truth & Reconciliation Commission Public Hearing
“Telling stories that were not meant to be passed on is an act of resistance and self-determination,” Dr. Braxton shared. “With love for ourselves and the ancestors—and hope for future generations—we can transform memory into repair.”
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. The panel, titled “From Pain to Power: Mental Health Solutions for Coping and Thriving,” included fellow national leaders Dr. Gail Christopher and Dr. Cheryl Grills and was moderated by Commissioner Christopher Haley.
In her powerful testimony, Dr. Braxton traced the legacy of racial terror lynchings through her own family history, community memory, and scholarly insight. She honored the lives of those lynched in Prince George’s County—lifting up their names as a sacred act of remembrance—and calling forward the healing, narrative repair, and collective justice that stand at the heart of the Braxton Institute’s mission.
The Maryland Lynching Truth and Reconciliation Commission (MLTRC) is recognized as the first statewide truth commission in the United States dedicated to investigating racial terror lynchings.
