July 1st 2024.
Marvin Dunn, a renowned historian from Florida, has recently received a generous grant of $1.5 million from the Mellon Foundation. This funding will provide him with the means to expand his "Teach the Truth" tours, which focus on educating people about sites of racial violence, to other Southern states. As reported by the Miami Herald, Dunn is planning to collaborate with universities in these states to further expand the reach of his tours. Furthermore, he emphasizes that the story he tells through his tours is not just about Black history, but rather a crucial part of American history that we all share.
In a recent interview, Dunn spoke about the importance of acknowledging the dark past of our country. He stated, "Florida was not the only state where lynchings took place. It's all of our history. It's all of our pain. It's not just Black pain or white guilt, it's all of our responsibility to correct this record." His words highlight the significance of understanding and learning from our past mistakes as a society.
The idea for these tours first caught the attention of Phillip Brian Harper, the higher learning program director at the Mellon Foundation, in 2023. After reading about Dunn's tours, Harper decided to grant him $150,000, marking the foundation's second time supporting Dunn's center, which facilitates the tours. Harper commended Dunn's commitment to telling the complete story and stated, "If we don't have a full variety of perspectives grounded in the full variety of experiences that inform the history and culture of this country, people will go through their lives poorly informed about the true depth, complexity, and richness of this country." He believes that by supporting Dunn's efforts, they can prevent society from becoming "extremely impoverished."
This time, the Mellon Foundation has awarded $1.5 million to Dunn's center, which could lead to the expansion of several sites in Alabama, Georgia, and Mississippi. In an interview with the Herald, 84-year-old Dunn expressed his continued passion for bringing people to places where tragic events occurred due to racial hatred. He stated, "We're just now beginning to find out where the worst lynchings in Georgia took place. That's why we need to do this: I'm considered an expert on anti-Black violence in the country, at least in the South, and I'm not sure what happened everywhere in Georgia, but I know a lot of people died by the rope. We'll find out and take people to those places."
Given Dunn's advanced age, he plans to involve faculty members to lead the tours in the states they will expand to. He also intends to compensate students who will work as guides for the tours. Although the tour's final sites have not been decided yet, Dunn is considering taking the tour to either Emmett Till's grave in Mississippi or the Equal Justice Institute in Alabama.
The "Teach the Truth" tours gained national attention after Florida Governor Ron DeSantis' controversial decision to restrict the teaching of Black history in Florida classrooms. In 2023, high school student Jamora Arroyo-Jefferson attended the first tour and was inspired to make a short documentary about her experience. Her documentary went on to win the 2024 Princeton Prize in Race Relations and a South Florida Regional "Certificate of Accomplishment." It also received praise from Dunn himself, who stated, "Jamora, I congratulate you on your excellent documentary on the first 'Teach the Truth' tour. I have seen no other film that captures my work so effectively, and I have been followed on the tour by MSNBC, CNN, and a host of other filmmakers. Your film goes to the very heart of the purpose and success of the tour. To have this quality of work come from a high school student is incredible."
On a related note, the National Museum of African American History and Culture has recently acquired Charleston Slave Badges for a searchable exhibit. This exhibit highlights the harsh reality of slavery in America and serves as a reminder of the importance of understanding and learning from our past.
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