The struggle for freedom, dignity, self-determination and community/national development is a saga of a people in a strange land resisting, surviving, maintaining families, building institutions and creating a future in the face of unspeakable oppression, exploitation, terror and violence. All across this land there are slave quarters, hundreds of sites where Black people were lynched, and locales where Black towns and institutions were destroyed. But, there are also Black burial grounds, Black towns, e.g. Nicodumus, Kansas, Mt. Bayou, Mississippi, houses of worship, meeting halls, one-room schools and other significant institutions that speak to the triumphant quest of a determined people to create a new African community in this hostile land.

One such important place, Elaine, Arkansas, illustrates this kind terror. From September 30 - October 1, in the Red Summer of 1919, White mobs attacked, tortured, and massacred hundreds of innocent African Americans, leaving a wound in the soul of the families of this Black community which has yet to be healed. This event is one of the most deadly incidents of racial violence in US history, and yet, few Americans are familiar with this historical chapter. Click here to learn more about the story of Elaine, AR, and be sure and check out our newest projects at the top of the page!