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Brent Leggs, executive director of the National Trust's African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund, has published a powerful op-ed in The Art Newspaper titled, "US needs monuments celebrating African American history, not Confederate statues."

Leggs' article from July 3, 2020, outlines how "telling America’s overlooked stories is fundamental to building a true national identity." He advocates for acknowledging the unvarnished history behind Confederate monuments and taking the opportunity to expand the conversation in bold, more inclusive ways. Of note:

"How should America preserve Confederate monuments so that we never forget their meaning and harm? What’s the role of the African American community, civic leaders, preservationists, artists and funders to envision landscapes of understanding and reconciliation? The purpose of preservation practice is not to stop change, but to offer tools that help a society manage change in ways that do not disconnect it from the legacy of its past. Done right, historic places can foster real healing, true equity and a validation of all Americans and their real history."

Read Leggs' full essay to learn more about the Action Fund; sites of Black resilience, activism, and achievement; and possible approaches that "represent the best in the human experience."

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See also:

• National Trust for Historic Preservation Statement on Confederate Monuments

As part of a renewed national conversation in June 2020 about what to do with Confederate monuments, Laura Itzkowitz of Architectural Digest weighed in with this June 24 article calling for America to "reexamine the monuments that purport to tell our country’s history."

She quotes Paul Edmondson, president of the National Trust for Historic Preservation: “Although some Confederate monuments were erected soon after the Civil War for reasons of memorialization, many were erected in subsequent years to serve to promote a Lost Cause mythology and to advance the ideals of white supremacy. Many of those monuments still stand but as symbols of those ideologies, and some of them have served as rallying points for bigotry and hate today.”

She also shares thoughts from Brent Leggs, executive director of the National Trust's African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund, on how we might move forward: "Through meaningful dialogue, history, and the arts, our nation should explore how best to communicate the often-overlooked contributions and examples of Black excellence and activism to demonstrate our collective and contemporary values in public spaces. We should use this moment to create a more inclusive American landscape and public space that fills gaps in this nation’s civic identity."

Read the full article to learn more about the complex and difficult history behind Confederate monuments.

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See also:

• National Trust for Historic Preservation Statement on Confederate Monuments

The African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund was recently the subject of an article in Architectural Digest titled, "When Architecture and Racial Justice Intersect."

Published on June 8, 2020, and written by Laura Itzkowitz, the article spotlights the urgency and import of protecting African American historic places:

"The recent killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery have rightfully placed a national spotlight on the institutional racism that continues to plague the United States. And while it would be easy to think that architecture has little to do with racial justice and civil rights, the fight to save African American historic places proves that preservation is political. If we want to educate future generations about Black history in America, we need to work to preserve Black historic sites now."

Read the full article to learn more about the creation and ongoing work of the Action Fund, its executive director Brent Leggs, and the many projects under way that are helping to tell our full American story.

The 1619 Project is an ongoing project developed by The New York Times Magazine with the goal of re-examining the legacy of slavery in America. Now you can support this groundbreaking, Pulitzer Prize-winning initiative—and the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund—when you purchase shirts and totes inspired by the project.

Thanks to the generosity of The New York Times Magazine, 50 percent of the sale price of each shirt and tote will be donated to the Action Fund, a National Trust program that examines and eliminates inequities through new forms of partnership, interpretation, and funding. By drawing attention to the remarkable stories that evoke centuries of African American activism and achievement, the Action Fund seeks to tell our nation’s full history and promote preservation as economic and social justice.

Printed by a social-justice heritage brand, the products are available for purchase as part of The 1619 Project Collection on The New York Times Store. (You can also check out the store on Instagram and Facebook.) Thank you for supporting this important work.

Note: For tax purposes, The New York Times’s 50 percent donation will not be viewed as a tax-deductible contribution by the merchandise purchaser.