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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

As we enter Advent, a season which in the Christian calendar marks a time of preparation and renewal, we also approach winter solstice, the longest night of the year.

Make no mistake about it, the work of repair is difficult and exhausting. Most of us repairers come to the work from a place of our own injury, or from our awareness of having seen systemic harm and injury and been unable to prevent it.

It has been an incredibly rich time for the Braxton Institute as we live fully into our purpose: “to co-create collective strategies to repair and heal harms and traumas of historically oppressed communities and to lift up legacies of resistance and joy.”

Did you know it was once the custom of many African American communities to celebrate Independence Day on the 5th of July?

Welcome to the Braxton Institute’s Inaugural Newsletter!