2023 Racial Justice Essay and Creative Arts Contest Winners

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

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

Essay and Creative Writing Winners
Tami Ademumo1st PlaceFrederick Douglass High School
Dorothy Quanteh2nd PlaceCharles Herbert Flowers High School
Jessica Kennerly3rd PlaceSuitland High School
Amber WareHonorable MentionCharles Herbert Flowers High School
Emani Rose-LouisHonorable MentionFrederick Douglass High School
Visual Arts Winners
Carissa Nwabueze1st PlaceEleanor Roosevelt High School
Ismael Mercado Cruz2nd PlaceFrederick Douglass High School
Bria Pruden3rd PlaceSuitland High School
A’nya VestHonorable MentionFrederick Douglass High School

Thomas Juricks’s Remembrance Ceremony

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

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.

Join Us: April 15, 2023 – PGCLMP’s Community Remembrance for Mr. Thomas Juricks at Harmony Hall Regional Center

The Prince George’s County Lynching Memorial Project’s first Community Remembrance event which will honor Mr. Thomas Juricks, the first known victim of a racial terror lynching in Prince George’s County. We hope to see you there! The event is free and open to the public. Registration is encouraged but not required:  https://bit.ly/TJuricks2023.

The event will be held on Saturday, April 15th, 2023 at the Harmony Hall Arts Center in Fort Washington.

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Local History Remembered: 

Prince George’s County Lynching Memorial Project (PGC LMP)

to Honor County’s Earliest Known Lynching Victim

Event: Community Remembrance for Mr. Thomas Juricks

Date: Saturday, April 15, 2023

Time: 1:00 – 3:00 PM

Location:   Harmony Hall Arts Center in the Harmony Hall Regional Center, 10701 Livingston Road, Fort Washington, MD

The Prince George’s County Lynching Memorial Project (PGC LMP), a local grassroots organization, will hold a community remembrance to honor Mr.Thomas Juricks, whose 1869 lynching is the first documented in Prince George’s County.  The community remembrance is co-sponsored by the M-NCPPC Black History Program.  The event is free and open to the public.  Registration is encouraged but not required:  https://bit.ly/TJuricks2023.

This moving program will tell the story of Mr. Thomas Juricks, a Black laborer and farmhand who lived with his family in the Piscataway area near Fort Washington and was extrajudicially murdered by a masked mob of White men on October 12, 1869. The historical aspects of his life and tragic lynching will be paired with a long overdue send-off for Mr. Juricks that will acknowledge and honor him through a libation ceremony, soil collection, music, poetry and dance. Students of several local schools will be performing.  Opportunities will be provided to the entire community to reflect and acknowledge that his life mattered and understand how this violent history reverberates into present-day issues such as white supremacy, mass incarceration and educational disparities between races.

“It has been our honor to collaborate with the Chapel Hill community of Fort Washington  in researching the history of the lynching that took place there and in presenting what we hope will meaningfully honor the life taken and commit us all to the cause of racial justice in Prince George’s County,” stated the PGC LMP Co-Chairs Crystal Carpenter, Rev. Diane Teichert, and Krystina Tucker.     

PGC LMP is a registered non-profit, all-volunteer organization affiliated with Bryan Stevenson’s Equal Justice Initiative (EJI) and the Maryland Lynching Memorial Project (MDLMP). Its mission is to educate the public on the truths of our nation’s continuing legacy of the institution of slavery and its impact on enslaved persons and their descendants, memorialize victims of racial terror lynchings in our county, and advance the cause of racial justice and reconciliation through mutual support and collaboration.

For more information about the event, email us at princegeorgescolmp@gmail.com.

The Untold Story of the 1869 Lynching of Mr. Thomas Juricks in Piscataway

Information here: https://ww1.pgcmls.info/event/6372270

Date: Saturday, May 21, 11 AM – 12 PM

Where: Oxon Hill Library

Were you aware that a Black man was lynched in Piscataway in 1869? Likely not, as with other racial terror lynchings, these incidents were not shared historically. This presentation tells Mr. Juricks’ tragic story, one of four documented racial terror lynchings that occurred in Prince George’s County, Maryland. It also explains the necessity to tell this buried story from our past while learning about the PGCLMP and how you can get involved in their work around truth, reconciliation, and healing.

Please be advised that the status, location, or format of this event may change based on COVID-19 pandemic conditions. Please visit this page prior to traveling to the branch/venue for the program.

  • Face masks and physical distancing are required for all participants over the age of 2.
  • Please register via the link on this page or by calling (240) 455-5451 to show interest and to receive event updates.
  • Registration does not guarantee admission.
  • Participation is permitted on a first-come, first-served basis.
  • Capacity limits may apply.

Tenga en cuenta que el estado, ubicación, o formato de este evento puede cambiar dependiendo de las condiciones de la pandemia COVID-19. Por favor, visite esta página antes de ir a la sucursal/lugar para el programa.

  • Máscaras y distancia social se requieren para todos los participantes mayores de dos años.
  • Por favor regístrese por medio del enlace en esta página o llame al (240) 455-5451 para demostrar su interés y recibir las últimas noticias.
  • La registración no garantiza su admisión. 
  • La participación se permite por orden de llegada.
  • Podrá aplicarse límites de capacidad.

The Untold Story of the Lynching of Mr. Thomas Juricks – November 13, 2021

The Prince George’s County Lynching Memorial Project invites you to hear the truth of our history in a special event on November 13, 2021 at the Accokeek Branch Library in Accokeek, MD as we share the untold story of the lynching of Thomas Juricks in Piscataway in 1869.

This event is free and open to the public and begins at 3 PM on Saturday, November 13, 2021.

During this pandemic, safety and health protocols are in effect. Please wear a mask.

Download a flyer.

Register for this special opportunity.

Lynching in Maryland Conference

Maryland Lynching Memorial Project, our state parent organization, is hosting its 4th annual conference online on Saturday, November 6, 2021 with powerful speakers and resources for this important truth telling work. Details from their registration site are below:

The Maryland Lynching Memorial Project is holding our 4th annual “Lynching in Maryland” conference on Saturday, November 6, 2021 from 9.30a to 12.30p. Once again this year, the conference will be held virtually due to the ongoing public health emergency. 

As in years past, the program will include a variety of presentations, panel discussions and films that consider the history of racial terror lynching in Maryland, its lasting effects and efforts around the state to confront the truth so that healing and reconciliation might be achieved.

Register here.

PGC LMP Tour of Piscataway

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!

Lynching in Maryland Conference

The Maryland Lynching Memorial Project’s annual “Lynching in Maryland” conference will be held online this year due to the ongoing public health emergency. This will be the third year we have presented this program.

This year’s conference will be held:

Saturday, October 17, 2020
10a to 12.30p

One of this year’s keynote speakers will be Michael Pfeifer, Ph.D., Professor of History at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice and the Graduate Center at the City University of New York. Dr. Pfeifer has studies the history of collective violence and criminal justice in the United States and is the author of no fewer than five books on the history of lynching including a seminal work on the subject, Rough Justice Lynching and American Society, 1874-1947(University of Illinois Press).

At the upcoming conference, Dr. Pfeifer will speak about a relatively neglected chapter in the history of racial terror, namely the lynchings of enslaved persons and free blacks before the Civil War. This period includes the lynching of Dave Thomas in Denton, Md., in 1854, the first documented racial terror lynching in Maryland.

In addition, there will be a timely and important panel discussion on how the legacy of lynching continues to influence the Black vote. Another panel will examine the state of social justice activism in Maryland from the Eastern Shore to Garrett County in the west. There will also be updates from representatives of the MD Lynching Truth & Reconciliation Commission and the Equal Justice Initiative.

Tickets to the virtual conference are $10. We encourage you to register now!