Maryland has taken an important step toward facing a history that has too often been ignored or minimized.
On December 9, 2025, the Maryland Lynching Truth and Reconciliation Commission (MLTRC) submitted its final report to the Maryland General Assembly — the culmination of more than six years of research, community testimony, and collective reckoning with the racial terror lynchings that occurred across our state between 1854 and 1933.
This work is historic. The MLTRC is the first state-led effort in the nation dedicated specifically to investigating racial terror lynchings, documenting what happened, honoring the lives lost, and identifying pathways to meaningful repair.
Recommendations for repair and reconciliation
The final report offers 84 recommendations designed to move Maryland toward healing, responsibility, and systemic change. These include proposals in areas such as:
- Public acknowledgement and apology
- Material reparations
- Criminal legal reform
- Education and curriculum development
- Community healing and memorialization
- Mental health and trauma-informed supports
- Ongoing structures to carry this work forward
Importantly, the Commission recognizes that harm extended far beyond individual families. Entire communities lived under threat, and generations experienced the consequences — lost opportunities, displacement, silence, and grief.
Looking forward
PGCLMP stands in solidarity with the communities, descendants, scholars, faith leaders, and organizers who have carried this work — often long before the Commission existed. We honor the families and communities who spoke painful truths, and we recognize the deep courage required to confront this history.
We encourage our community to read the report, engage in dialogue, and consider how each of us — individually and collectively — can help turn truth into action.
📄 Read the full MLTRC Final Report:
https://msa.maryland.gov/lynching-truth-reconciliation/reports/MLTRCFinalReport.pdf