ABOUT THE DESCENDANTS FORUM
The Descendants Forum is a growing congress of Descendant-led organizations committed to collective memory, shared governance, and the ethical stewardship of history. Rooted in the knowledge, leadership, and lived experience of Descendants of enslaved African and African American ancestors, the Forum provides a space for coordination, dialogue, and collective action across communities shaped by enslavement, displacement, and historical injustice.
The Forum is not a single institution or authority. It is a shared table—one built on respect, reciprocity, and long memory.
The Descendants Forum has five primary objectives:
Convene Descendant-led organizations and allies of structural parity across regions, histories, and traditions
Strengthen collaboration without erasing local autonomy or specificity
Share models for ethical research, public history, reparative practice, and community governance, and
Support collective voice in national and international conversations about memory, justice, and repair.
Raise and disseminate funding to Descendant-led organizations.
The work of the Descendants Forum is guided by five core principles:
Descendant Leadership: Decisions about Descendant histories, data, memory, and representation must be led by Descendants themselves.
Collective Stewardship: History is not owned—it is held in trust for past, present, and future generations.
Plurality and Difference: The Forum honors the diversity of Descendant experiences while creating space for shared purpose.
Transparency and Care: Ethical practice requires openness, consent, and accountability—to communities and to one another.
Future-Facing Memory: Remembering the past is inseparable from shaping more just futures.