African American Legacies: Remembering Resilient Communities

African American Legacies: Remembering Resilient Communities gathers the recollections of 24 remarkable individuals. It includes those from both urban and rural backgrounds, from poverty and privilege. They are janitors, teachers, lawyers, professors, and government employees. But what unites them all is the unifying experience of a people and culture defined by community, family, and faith. For by and large, they were a group of people whose parents had come of age during the period of enforced American segregation – the era of Jim Crow. Thus, their community was a self-styled one, forged by its own members, preserved through dedicated work and devotion.

The project was directed by Professor Hoda Mahmoudi, Research Professor and Chair, The Bahá'í Chair for World Peace, University of Maryland College Park.

The Stories

Our 24 interviewees, whose stories paint a remarkable portrait of American life.

Special thanks to The Abdolhossein and Guitty Ejtemai Foundation

Each step writes the story of our becoming.

Each step writes the story of our becoming. •

The Book

The stories we tell shape the tapestry of our existence.

The world is full of painful stories. Sometimes it seems as though there aren't any other kind and yet I found myself thinking how beautiful that glint of water was through the trees.

OCTAVIA BUTLER

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