Dé Bryant, Ph.D., is the recipient of The History Museum’s 2024 African American Legacy Award.

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Dé Bryant, Ph.D., a professor at Indiana University South Bend is the recipient of The History Museum’s 2024 African American Legacy Award.

The African American Legacy Award is presented annually by The History Museum to celebrate the immeasurable contributions of African Americans in the St. Joseph River Valley, to honor the legacies and achievements of past generations, to shine a light on those in the present, and to influence efforts that will impact the future.

In her three-plus decades in South Bend, people have gotten to know Bryant not just as students in her classroom but also through her many community activities, including her Ubuntu Spirit Project, as a member of the Sisters of the Nile and Company dance troupe, as a co-founder of Black Lives Matter-South Bend, and with her Public Intellectuals Forum program.

Bryant specializes in community psychology and works to bring groups together.

Dr. Bryant says she’s honored to be acknowledged for her work in the community and says she’s just getting started.

“The Social Action Project I founded when I arrived here in 1990, what I want to do now is to continue establishing its roots and then extend it outward nationally as well as internationally,” she said.

Ancestry Unveils New Collection of Newspaper Articles Related to Enslaved People in the United States Pre-1870

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Ancestry®, the global leader in family history, announced the publication of approximately 38,000 newspaper articles related to enslaved people in the United States from 1788-1867. Featuring details on more than 183,000 formerly enslaved people, the new free collection could help millions of descendants discover more about their families. This collection is the latest step in Ancestry's commitment to make culturally significant history that is at risk of being forgotten available to everyone at no cost.

To help contextualize the African American experience during the period of enslavement, Ancestry turned to experts, academics, and historians like Dr. Karcheik Sims-Alvarado, Assistant Professor of Africana Studies at Morehouse College.

"Greater access to these records on Ancestry will enhance understanding of how chattel slavery and the forced movement of enslaved people became normalized in the United States," shared Dr. Sims-Alvarado. "This collection is invaluable for providing descendants of enslaved individuals with insights into their ancestral histories and their forebears' acts of resistance and resilience, despite the Emancipation Proclamation being largely ignored by enslavers, newspaper publishers, and lawmakers. By piecing together individual stories, researchers can construct a more detailed picture of the lived experiences of Black Americans, enriching our collective understanding of history."

This collection features crucial details about more than 183,000 enslaved people including names, ages, physical descriptions and locations. Many of these original newspaper articles contain never-before seen information about enslaved individuals pre-1870 in communities where courthouse and community records were otherwise destroyed or lost. The newspaper articles within the collection contain sensitive content related to the buying and selling of enslaved people that may be distressing or traumatic for some audiences.

"Family history research can be challenging for Black Americans due to the long history of slavery in the United States and the lack of documentation about those who were enslaved," said Nicka Sewell-Smith, professional genealogist and Senior Story Producer at Ancestry. "Exploring the articles in the context of their original publication can help us understand more about how slavery shaped everyday life in the United States and can help descendants of previously enslaved people unearth key discoveries about their family history."

This collection complements the more than 18 million records already available for free on Ancestry that document the lives of formerly enslaved or newly emancipated individuals. This includes Freedmen's Bureau and Freedman's Bank records, select U.S. Federal Census records, and other records of the enslaved.

To help foster a deeper understanding of the period of enslavement and the role newspapers play in chronicling chapters throughout history, Ancestry is hosting community dialogues and education opportunities, including:

• On Thursday, August 1st, 2024, Ancestry will host a panel discussion, "Genealogy & Journalism: Leveraging Primary Source Records to Amplify Storytelling," at the National Association of Black Journalists convention in Chicago.
• We partnered with Bethany Bell from the University of Virginia to equip viewers with critical reading strategies and tools to help prioritize their mental and emotional well-being while reviewing the collection. http://blogs.ancestry.com/cm/enslaved-people-newspaper-collection

Explore the new Articles of Enslavement collection for free here: www.Ancestry.com/Articles-of-Enslavement.

OneUnited Bank Unveils OneLove TV Campaign to Celebrate Juneteenth

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In honor of Juneteenth—the federal holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the U.S—OneUnited Bank, the nation's largest Black-owned bank, proudly unveils the OneLove™ Card TV commercial campaign, which symbolizes the Bank's unwavering commitment to love, belonging and freedom.

The TV campaign, a first for the Bank, depicts diverse friends discussing the benefits of the OneLove Visa debit card during a lively brunch at Pips on La Brea, a popular Black-owned live jazz club and restaurant in Los Angeles, CA. The combination of the diversity of friendships and the financial rewards offered by OneUnited Bank, including WiseOne Insights, which promotes financial literacy using artificial intelligence, sends a powerful message about the benefits of freedom.

Teri Williams, President & COO of OneUnited Bank, underscores the significance of this campaign: "We are so proud to release our OneLove TV advertising campaign and the beautifully designed card, crafted by internationally acclaimed muralist Addonis Parker, which we believe celebrates freedom and transcends race, religion and nationality. Love and belonging are what connect and strengthen us. It reminds us of the power of freedom, the importance of financial literacy and that we're stronger, together, as a community."

You can view the new OneLove TV ad below. To join this transformative movement and learn more about OneUnited Bank's array of benefits, community programs and educational initiatives, visit www.oneunited.com/onelove. To learn more about belonging, which provided inspiration for the OneLove card visit the Othering and Belonging Institute at UC Berkeley HERE.

VeganSoulFood.org Recipe Site to Launch on Juneteenth

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Food Empowerment Project (F.E.P.), a vegan food justice organization, is excited to announce its new website, VeganSoulFood.org, just in time to celebrate Juneteenth.

Vegan Soul Food is more than a recipe website; it's also a tool to help us understand the power of our food choices. By launching on Juneteenth, we're celebrating the power of the Black community and their resilience in preserving traditions from generation to generation.

Inspired by Black collective members jaz Boler and Kennedy Little and board member Elise Ferguson, F.E.P. launched Vegan Soul Food to highlight the wide variety of flavor-filled foods from the African diaspora that do not include animal ingredients and showcase that it is possible to eat vegan and still incorporate our traditional favorites.

"Vegan Soul Food has incredible traditional dishes that don't involve the exploitation or suffering of animals," says F.E.P.'s vegan programs collective member, jaz Boler. "It supports a healthier, happier lifestyle that we all deserve!"

Vegan Soul Food features more than a dozen delicious dishes from African and Afro-Caribbean to Afro-Latinx and Jamaican culture! Indulge in delicious eats like  "Lobster" Macaroni and Cheese, Bahamian "Conch" Fritters, and Soul Food Chick'n Salad!

Todd Anderson of Turnip Vegan, who donated a tasty Black-Eyed Peas and Greens with Chipotle Mushroom Sausages recipe, says, "Vegan soul food brings back cherished memories with a new twist that's not only delicious but also better for our health."

Youth Advocacy Collective Member Kennedy shares, "No matter your background or ZIP code, everyone should have access to a platform that uplifts your culture and shares the importance of community and compassion. To me, that's what VeganSoulFood.org is, and I can't wait to see how it broadens perspectives on vegan dishes and the lifestyle. I'm excited for my family, friends, and community to be a part of this resource!"

Give your cooking some new inspiration and visit VeganSoulFood.org! The site goes live on Wednesday, June 19. 

F.E.P.'s other recipe sites include VeganMexicanFood.com, VeganFilipinoFood.com, VeganLaoFood.com, and VeganChineseFood.com

About Food Empowerment Project
Food Empowerment Project (http://www.foodispower.org), founded in 2007, seeks to create a more just and sustainable world by recognizing the power of one's food choices. In all of its work, Food Empowerment Project seeks specifically to empower those with the fewest resources. Its advocacy areas include fair conditions for farm workers; the availability of healthy foods in Black, Brown, and Indigenous communities; and the protection of animals. A vegan food justice organization, Food Empowerment Project also works to expose negligent corporations, such as those that push unhealthy foods into low-income areas, those that perpetuate food deserts (or food apartheid areas), and those that sell chocolate derived from the worst forms of child labor. Food Empowerment Project is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit.

The Institute of Museum and Library Services Awards Nearly $6 Million in Grant Funding for African American History and Culture

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The Institute of Museum and Library Services has announced the FY24 recipients of its Museum Grants for African American History and Culture (AAHC). Awardees will receive up to $500,000 each for projects that build the capacity of African American museums or support the growth and development of museum professionals at African American Museums. This year, 30 institutions have been awarded a total of $5,916,807.

Since its establishment in 2006, the program has provided $35,714,804 million in funding to over 250 African American museums and Historically Black Colleges and Universities. By investing in these institutions, IMLS helps ensure that their histories are preserved and that their students have opportunities to explore the museum field. Independent research on the program indicates that 71% of grantees would not have completed their projects without the AAHC grant.

The announcement of these awards comes shortly before Juneteenth, a commemoration of the final enforcement of the Emancipation Proclamation and a celebration of African American resilience. Like museums and institutions of higher education throughout the country, many of this year’s grantees will mark the occasion with special events. IMLS is proud to support them as they share our nation’s history.

“The history of the United States cannot be told without the inclusion of the African American experience,” said Acting IMLS Director Cyndee Landrum. “With these awards, IMLS furthers its commitment to African American museums and HBCUs and affirms their unique ability to protect, preserve and make accessible stories which have been systemically obscured.”

All awarded AAHC projects can be found on the IMLS website. Three of this year’s awardees are detailed below:

• Motown Historical Museum
  Motown Historical Museum will improve the archival repository for its collection of over 20,000 objects that document Motown history. For the project, the museum will hire a registrar and a preparator to work with staff to update collections records, conduct environmental monitoring, and supervise the installation of archival storage units. By relocating the objects into the archival storage units in a new location, the museum will mitigate environmental risks to the collection and improve the accessibility of the collection for museum staff. Beneficiaries of this project will include scholars, musicians, and public researchers of Motown history.

• Banneker Douglass Museum Foundation
  The Banneker-Douglass Museum will identify lineal descendants or communities that are culturally affiliated with the remains of 13 individuals of African descent that are currently housed at the Maryland Archaeological Conservation Laboratory in Calvert County, Maryland. In collaboration with Maryland Historical Trust, Maryland Commission on African American History and Culture staff will conduct DNA analysis and research local history to determine lineal descendants. With the permission of descendants, project staff will commission facial reconstructions of the deceased individuals and coordinate reburial ceremonies. A university research Fellow will assist project staff in creating a local history research report, which will be made accessible online for a public audience. The project team will invite descendants to associated programming and lead public workshops on how to conduct genealogical research. 

• Center for African American History and Culture & Library Services
  The Center for African American History & Culture at Virginia Union University will digitize and provide access to the Hartshorn Memorial College collection from the Archives and Special Collections at the L. Douglas Wilder Library. The collection documents the history of Hartshorn Memorial College, a women's college and Historically Black College that merged with Virginia Union University in 1932, and contains archival materials and primary resources such as documents, catalogs, photographs, and correspondence. Project staff will train and work with paid student interns to digitize the collection and provide public access to the collection through an online database. Beneficiaries of the project will include researchers and scholars of HBCU and women's history.

The Museum Grants for African American History and Culture Program is the second IMLS Museum Services program to announce its FY24 awardees. Recipients of the American Latino Museum Internship and Fellowship Initiative, 21st Century Museum Professionals Program, Inspire! Grants for Small Museums, Museums for America,Museums Empowered, and National Leadership Grants for Museums programs will be announced later this summer.

About the Institute of Museum and Library Services
The Institute of Museum and Library Services is the primary source of federal support for the nation's libraries and museums. We advance, support, and empower America's museums, libraries, and related organizations through grantmaking, research, and policy development. IMLS envisions a nation where individuals and communities have access to museums and libraries to learn from and be inspired by the trusted information, ideas, and stories they contain about our diverse natural and cultural heritage. To learn more, visit www.imls.gov and follow us on Facebookand LinkedIn.