Historic Black Sites Under Threat, May 3 Mobilization Set

Reverend Shavon Arline-Bradley, president and CEO of the National Council of Negro Women (NCNW), is mobilizing a national response to what she called a deliberate effort by the Trump administration to erase Black history and dismantle long-standing institutions. “Our ancestors have seen racism before,” Bradley said on Black Press USA’s Let It Be Known news program. “But they haven’t seen this level of foolishness in the White House that is outright anti-law. What we’re seeing now is lawlessness.” NCNW has adopted a “Three C Strategy”—consumer action, constituent engagement, and commitment—aimed at protecting Black institutions and advancing economic power. That includes defending NCNW’s historic headquarters, the Mary McLeod Bethune Council House in Washington, which Bradley warned could be targeted by the Department of the Interior.

Across the city, civil rights veteran Dr. Frank Smith is fighting to complete the expansion of the African American Civil War Memorial Museum. Budget freezes have stalled progress. “We survived slavery, Jim Crow, and the Ku Klux Klan. We’ll survive this,” Smith said. “African-American soldiers helped Lincoln save this union. Now, we need to finish what we started.” Meanwhile, Black Press USA has confirmed that the Trump administration has begun dismantling exhibits at the National Museum of African American History and Culture. Journalist April Ryan reported the removal of the iconic Woolworth’s lunch counter sit-in exhibit. The display honors four North Carolina A&T students who sparked a national wave of protests in 1960. “This president is a master of distraction and is destroying what it took 250 years to build,” said Rep. Alma Adams of North Carolina. “You can take down exhibits, close buildings, ban books, and try to change history, but we will never forget.”

Officials also notified Rev. Dr. Amos Brown, pastor of San Francisco’s Third Baptist Church, that his loaned Bible and a historic volume by George W. Williams would be returned. Emails dated April 10 and 15 confirmed the transfer. Bradley said a national mobilization is set for May 3 in Washington, D.C., urging people to join the Smithsonian and support endangered cultural institutions. “This is not random,” she said. “This is consistent. This is deliberate.” NCNW is also countering recent executive orders eliminating civil rights protections and gutting diversity programs. “We’re issuing a newsletter to respond to every executive order so that Black women understand what this water hose is all about,” Bradley said. She also called out Target’s retreat from its 2020 diversity pledges. “They were the leaders in DEI. But now they’re scared. We need to push them to do the right thing anyway, even if the words change.” With $1.7 trillion in annual Black consumer spending—half from Black women—Bradley said economic power must be leveraged. “That kind of economic power should never be underestimated.” She concluded, “The Black Press is our Underground Railroad. If we don’t invest in the Black Press, we lose our Underground Railroad—period.”