Our network connects people and projects from across the country to protect, preserve, and promote Black cemetery stories.

The Black Cemetery Network (BCN) is a platform for highlighting activities to identify, interpret, preserve, and record African American burial grounds and their histories. These sites have been abandoned, neglected, erased, and continually underrecognized throughout the U.S. Our network provides a space for honoring sacred spaces and sharing stories and resources to raise awareness about the marginalization of Black cemeteries as a national concern.

Initiatives:

Interactive map of Black cemeteries in the U.S. featuring clickable site pins to learn more about the history of each site, as well as contact information to connect with community liasons.

Providing the tools necessary for site advocates to do what they do

Educational presentations and outreach events geared to raise awareness about the erasure of Black cemeteries through the lens of grassroots advocacy and community expertise.

Building Community

Connecting BCN site liasons from across the country to each other through our member portal via MightyNetworks.

Mission

To provide a space for activism, collaboration, and connecting people around our shared mission: to center Black cemeteries and reclaim lost histories through preservation and legislative advocacy.

Vision

Black cemeteries are sites of knowledge which are currently underrepresented in the national dialogue. As a means of expanding these efforts, the network is a hub for locating, preserving, and recording Black cemetery sites and associated community histories to ensure they are not lost.

History

The Black Cemetery Network [BCN] was founded in response to the national call to action to raise awareness about the issue of erasure and silencing of Black cemeteries throughout the U.S. These cemeteries contain stories about people, place, and families which are often missing from the larger public narrative. Our network connects living records of forgotten histories through research, advocacy, and collaboration.

 

Laying the groundwork for future legislation

The Black Cemetery Network was created in response to the April 2018 opening of the Equal Justice Initiative’s Legacy Museum and National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, Alabama and the February 2019 Introduction of Bill H.R.1179, The African-American Burial Grounds Network Act, into the U.S. House of Representatives.