Emily DeMarco – Prince George's County Lynching Memorial Project

2023 Racial Justice Essay and Creative Arts Contest Winners

November 11, 2023 by Emily DeMarco

The Prince George’s County Lynching Memorial Project is honored and excited to congratulate the winners of our 2023 Racial Justice Essay and Creative Arts contest. Each of our nine award winners is a Prince George’s County high school public, private, or homeschooled student.

Winners Jessica Kennerly, A’nya Vest, Ismael Mercado Cruz, Tami Ademumo, Amber Ware, Dorothy Quanteh, Bria Pruden and Carissa Nwabueze pose with Greenbelt Mayor Emmet Jordan at the awards ceremony.

The students were celebrated at an awards program attended by their families, friends, teachers, and community members held at the Greenbelt Community Center on June 17, 2023. Students presented their essays, creative writing, and artwork to audience applause. We thank the Greenbelt Black History & Culture Committee, Greenbelt Recreation Department, and the City of Greenbelt for sponsoring our awards ceremony and Greenbelt Access Television for recording the ceremony.

Student winners received certificates and scholarship money for their future educational pursuits. In addition, winners were invited to attend the Hurston/Wright Foundation Summer Writer’s Workshop at Howard University. We are grateful for the donations from community individuals and organizations that made the scholarships possible. We commend all students who entered their justice reflections in our contest.

To watch a recording of the full awards ceremony, click here: https://youtu.be/vLOChpcgv0A

PGCLMP Co-Secretary Lula Beatty calls the names of the four documented lynching victims.

A full list of this year’s winners can be found below.

Essay and Creative Writing Winners
Tami Ademumo	1^st Place	Frederick Douglass High School
Dorothy Quanteh	2^nd Place	Charles Herbert Flowers High School
Jessica Kennerly	3^rd Place	Suitland High School
Amber Ware	Honorable Mention	Charles Herbert Flowers High School
Emani Rose-Louis	Honorable Mention	Frederick Douglass High School

Visual Arts Winners
Carissa Nwabueze	1^st Place	Eleanor Roosevelt High School
Ismael Mercado Cruz	2^nd Place	Frederick Douglass High School
Bria Pruden	3^rd Place	Suitland High School
A’nya Vest	Honorable Mention	Frederick Douglass High School

Thomas Juricks’s Remembrance Ceremony

August 25, 2023 by Emily DeMarco

Did you miss our community remembrance ceremony for Thomas Juricks? Did you attend and want to relive the reverent, special time? Are you looking to see how a similar event for your own community might be structured?

We thank our partners at the Maryland Lynching Memorial Project (and its founder and director Will Schwartz) for capturing the ceremony in full. Watch below.

Thomas Juricks Community Remembrance

August 25, 2023 by Emily DeMarco

On March 11, 2023, members of the Prince George’s County Lynching Memorial Project, the Chapel Hill Citizen Association, and youth volunteers and their mentors from Union Bethel Church gathered at the lot adjoining Grace United Methodist Church in Fort Washington to collect soil in remembrance of the life and tragic death of Thomas Juricks, at the approximate site of his death. On October 12, 1869, Juricks became the victim of a racial terror lynching in Piscataway; he is the earliest known victim in Prince George’s County.

On April 15, 2023, over 200 county residents, PGCLMP volunteers, political leaders, and others gathered at Harmony Hall Regional Center to tell the truth of this historic tragedy, memorialize Mr. Juricks and give him the home-going he has always deserved, and dream together of how we can advance toward a future where the lingering affects of racial terror lynchings give way to true progress and equality for all.

Please enjoy this video compilation of some images from this meaningful event, created by PGCLMP member and co-secretary Katie Pugliese.

“Echoes of the Enslaved” Event

September 5, 2022 by Emily DeMarco

The Prince George’s County division of M-NCPPC is hosting its annual “Echoes of the Enslaved” event September 16 and 17, 2022. This year’s event will focus on the lasting legacies of chattel slavery in Prince George’s County with Riversdale House Museum highlighting their work with descendants of those who were enslaved.

On September 16, three descendants will participate in a panel discussion at 6 p.m., followed by an opportunity for attendees to break into small discussion groups to talk about the legacies of slavery and their impact on the modern world. The second portion begins at 8 p.m. This event is free but registration is limited to 50 people. Click this link to register, and see the accompanying flyer for more information.

On September 17 from noon – 4 p.m., there will be a celebration of resilience, health and wellness on the grounds of Riversdale House Museum. The festival-like event will include musical performances, cooking demonstrations, history talks, an archaeological dig, genealogy opportunities, family wellness activities and more. This event is FREE, with no pre-registration required.

Echoes22_FINAL_update Download

Special General Meeting

August 19, 2022 by Emily DeMarco

The Prince George’s County Lynching Memorial Project will hold a special general meeting this Saturday, August 20, at 2 p.m.

Most of this meeting will be focused on planning for the soil collection ceremony to honor Mr. Thomas Juricks. We need many hands to make light work, so even if you are not on that committee, or not on any committee, please attend if you are able so you can consider ways you might be able to help. We have opportunities for folks with all types of skills and varying levels of time commitments. Something as simple as sending one email to one contact could help tremendously.

We hope to see everyone there! As always, newcomers are warmly welcomed.

PGC LMP Essay and Creative Arts Contests Winners

June 23, 2022June 22, 2022 by Emily DeMarco

The Prince George’s County Lynching Memorial Project is honored and excited to congratulate the winners of our racial justice essay contest and our racial justice creative arts contest. Each of our winners is a student at a high school in Prince George’s County.

Students who won the essay and creative arts contest pose with award plaques and certificates around a posterboard for PGC LMP — Chelsea Nelson, from left, Chase Matthews, Kai Lampley, Anise Lampley, Miso Abitria, Aleila Rankin, and Diana Osuji (on behalf of Stephanie Osuji) accepted their awards from Greenbelt Mayor Emmett Jordan (back center).

Members of our coalition celebrated the winners and their families at two county Juneteeth events: a display table at the county Parks and Recreation Department festival and an awards ceremony held at the Greenbelt Community Center. It was great for us to gather in person after a long pandemic season of meeting virtually, and it was even better to hear from the talented students who took part in our contests.

Diana Osuji shares a moment of joy with Greenbelt Mayor Emmett Jordan, left, and PGC LMP member Dr. Lois Rosado.

Thanks go to the city of Greenbelt for providing space for us to host our awards ceremony and to Greenbelt Access Television (GATe) for broadcasting and recording the ceremony; to our sponsor of the essay contest, the Equal Justice Initiative; and to the co-sponsors of our creative arts contest, the Prince George’s County NAACP chapter and Joe’s Movement Emporium; and to our guest judges from the community who selected our winners.

Thank you as well to each of the students who entered these contests. Congratulations to the following students who were selected as winners. They received an award plaque or certificate as well as scholarship money for their future educational pursuits.

Essay Contest Winners

Name	Award	School
Stephanie Osuji	1st Place	Eleanor Roosevelt High School
Alyssa Liverman	2nd Place	Dr. Henry A. Wise Jr. High School
Miso Abitria	3rd Place	Charles Herbert Flowers High School
Aleila Rankin	3rd Place	Oxon Hill High School
Ji’Mie Womack	Honorable Mention	Charles Herbert Flowers High School
Blessing Nwoke	Honorable Mention	Eleanor Roosevelt High School

Creative Arts Contest Winners

Name/Title of Submission	Award/Category	School
Anise Lampley “Perennial Prejudice”	1st place: Creative Writing	Oxon Hill High School
Chase Matthews “Hoodie”	2nd place: Creative Writing	Home-schooled
Kai Lampley “The Tree of Cain”	3rd place: Creative Writing	Oxon Hill High School
Chisom Amaikwu “When Race Clashes with Police”	Honorable Mention: Creative Writing	Academy of Health Sciences: Prince George’s County Community College
Nadia McCall “Gentrified”	1st place: Visual Arts	Charles Herbert Flowers High School
Richard Martin “Lynching”	2nd place: Visual Arts	Laurel High School
Seanna Harper “Her Life Mattered”	3rd place: Visual Arts	Chesapeake Math and IT (CMIT) North
Momdjo Ashuakpa Windioscars Mbi “Environmental Racism”	Honorable Mention: Visual Arts	Central High School
David Ingram “Justice”	1st place: Spoken Word	Charles Herbert Flowers High School
Chelsea Nelson “Black Baby’s First Misrepresentation”	2nd place: Spoken Word	Central High School

PGCLMP at Juneteenth Celebrations

June 16, 2022 by Emily DeMarco

The Prince George’s County Lynching Memorial Project is pleased to be participating in several of the local Juneteenth events this year!

We are providing an information booth at the Prince George’s County Parks and Recreation Department Juneteenth Festival at Watkins Regional Park on Saturday, June 18, from noon to 5 p.m. Come meet coalition members, learn about the history and continuing legacy of racial terror lynchings and the institution of slavery in our county, and see some of the winning artwork from our student creative arts contest. We will also be giving away prizes on the hour to folks who can answer questions about our work and the lynching victims, so be sure to read our informational materials and this website for a chance to win. For details about the event, visit this link.

Then, join members of our Education Committee at the Greenbelt Community Center gymnasium from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. on June 18 for an awards ceremony honoring the winners of the arts contest and the racial justice essay contest. Hear some of the essayists read from their work and join us in celebrating the talented young people in our county. See the flyer below for more information.

Webinar: Where Do We Go From Here?

May 10, 2022 by Emily DeMarco

The History and Genealogy Committee invites you to Part III of their webinar series. This session is on Thursday, May 12, from 7 – 8:30 p.m. and features a full panel of guest speakers.

“Where Do We Go From Here?” will address issues that intersect: communities of color, immigration, housing, voting, poverty, reparations, and more, with a focus on how to build coalitions to do this work.

Mission Statement Change: A Change for Honor, Respect, and Accuracy

April 18, 2022 by Emily DeMarco

The Prince George’s County Lynching Memorial Project has revised its mission statement to honor and show respect for the Africans who were enslaved in America and reflect accuracy in current historical terminology. The specific changes made were: first, to explicitly state our concern with the fates of the Africans who were enslaved and their descendants and to honor their full humanity by not implicitly suggesting they were only “slaves”; and, second, to use the now preferred term of the “institution of slavery” versus “slavery” since the institution or system of slavery and other systemic oppressions are the major causes of current day racial injustices and are a major focus of our work. Selected sources supporting the reasons for this change include the following:

New Mission Statement

The Prince George’s County Lynching Memorial Project educates the public about the truths of our nation’s continuing legacy of the institution of slavery and its impact on enslaved persons and their descendants, memorializes victims of racial terror lynchings in our county, and advances the cause of racial justice and reconciliation through mutual support and collaboration.

PGC LMP Tour of Piscataway

July 30, 2021 by Emily DeMarco

The Prince George’s County Lynching Memorial Project will be hosting a tour of Piscataway sites associated with the 1869 lynching of Thomas Juricks, on Sunday, August 8, 2021, beginning at 3 p.m.

The tour has been developed by our Community Remembrance Project Committee, with one of our volunteer members using historical records and maps to identify sites associated with Mr. Juricks’s life as well as the horrific events of that day. The tour will be conducted via carpool, with vehicles traveling to the various sites and attendees gathering on roadsides to hear and discuss the history.

The tour is FREE and open to the public. We would especially love to have some of our neighbors in Piscataway and surrounding communities join us, share their stories, learn about our work, and connect with us.

We will meet at the Fort Washington Forest Community Center and leave promptly at 3 p.m., so arrive around 2:45 if possible. The tour will go until 4:30 p.m. and be followed by an optional social gathering.

We are also planning a community remembrance project for Mr. Juricks and welcome community members to be involved in all stages of that process. Contact us for more information, to give suggestions or to ask questions.

Hope to see you on August 8!