Community Remembrance Projects

What is a Community Remembrance Project (CRP) and Coalition?

CRP Coalitions are groups of people working under the guidelines and mentorship of the Equal Justice Initiative to bring awareness of the history of racial injustice to their communities. Coalitions work to share the stories of racial terror lynching victims in their county. Community Remembrance Projects work together to create and place historical markers in memory of the victims. Other projects include collecting soil from areas where lynchings occurred to be placed alongside soil from other counties around the nation. Coalitions are made up of a diverse group of people connected to the county who wish to truthfully recognize the past as well as work together to form a foundation for a better community future.

Here are more sources and additional information on CRPs.

What is the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI)?

The Equal Justice Initiative is a nonprofit and legal advocacy organization located in Montgomery, Alabama and established in 1989 by Bryan Stevenson. Bryan Stevenson is the author of Just Mercy. The work of EJI includes areas of criminal justice reform, racial justice, and public education. The organization works to represent and assist individuals who have experienced illegal convictions, unfair sentences, and abuse within state jails and prisons. They have developed guidelines for communities to engage in the work of sharing America's history of racial injustice and have also built places of historical documentation and memorial including beautiful spaces for reflection. As an organization they are committed to ending mass incarceration and excessive punishment in the United States. They believe in protecting and serving marginalized and vulnerable people, and in challenging racial and economic injustice.

Here are more sources and additional information about the EJI.

Future Endeavors

A core part of LCCRP is developing historical markers, soil collection projects and essay contests. These projects are still in progress, and we will post more details soon.

A few examples of Markers and Soil Collection projects:

A video about Soil Collection Projects