Our network links 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.
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.
Network goals
Reclaim black histories which have been underrepresented in the national story
Redress the exploitation and erasure of black cemeteries within urban redevelopment decision making and land use practices
Restore dignity to black cemeteries to honor the deceased
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.