Community Conversations
Our next Community Conversation in partnership with the Gwinnett County Public Library will take place on March 14, 2022, at 7pm. Register for this virtual event here.
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Who We Are
The Gwinnett Remembrance Coalition (GRC) is a group of concerned Gwinnett residents who have come together with a shared purpose — to memorialize local victims of racial terror lynchings and to educate the Gwinnett community about this dark chapter in our county’s history.
While confronting this history is painful, doing so is essential if we are to learn from the past and move beyond it. Our silence about this history allows the legacy of racist violence and injustice to continue to poison our community in ways that harm us all. Only by coming together to face past wrongs can we ensure that they are not repeated.
GRC members come from a variety of backgrounds, races and ethnicities, faith traditions, occupations, and neighborhoods, with strong buy-in and leadership from Gwinnett’s African-American community. There is room in our coalition for anyone who feels called to join us in doing this work, which is more important and timely than ever.
Our Work
To achieve this goal, GRC is partnering with the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI), the organization that recently established the National Memorial for Peace and Justice, as well as the Gwinnett Historical Restoration & Preservation Board, the Gwinnett County Commission, and the City of Lawrenceville to carry out the following steps:
In taking these steps, we are following in the footsteps of our neighbors in the DeKalb Remembrance Project and the Fulton County Remembrance Coalition.
Get Involved
You can support our work in many ways, including by volunteering your time and skills, sharing oral histories and other sources of historical research, and providing financial assistance.
The Gwinnett Remembrance Coalition (GRC) is a group of concerned Gwinnett residents who have come together with a shared purpose — to memorialize local victims of racial terror lynchings and to educate the Gwinnett community about this dark chapter in our county’s history.
While confronting this history is painful, doing so is essential if we are to learn from the past and move beyond it. Our silence about this history allows the legacy of racist violence and injustice to continue to poison our community in ways that harm us all. Only by coming together to face past wrongs can we ensure that they are not repeated.
GRC members come from a variety of backgrounds, races and ethnicities, faith traditions, occupations, and neighborhoods, with strong buy-in and leadership from Gwinnett’s African-American community. There is room in our coalition for anyone who feels called to join us in doing this work, which is more important and timely than ever.
Our Work
To achieve this goal, GRC is partnering with the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI), the organization that recently established the National Memorial for Peace and Justice, as well as the Gwinnett Historical Restoration & Preservation Board, the Gwinnett County Commission, and the City of Lawrenceville to carry out the following steps:
- Conduct research on lynchings of African Americans that occurred in Gwinnett County, their locations, and the stories of the victims and their families;
- Collect soil samples from the locations in Gwinnett County where lynchings occurred or, where this is not possible, from symbolic sites;
- Erect historical markers providing information about these lynchings; and
- Claim Gwinnett’s monument from the National Memorial for Peace and Justice and install it in a prominent location.
In taking these steps, we are following in the footsteps of our neighbors in the DeKalb Remembrance Project and the Fulton County Remembrance Coalition.
Get Involved
You can support our work in many ways, including by volunteering your time and skills, sharing oral histories and other sources of historical research, and providing financial assistance.
Our Mission Statement
The Gwinnett Remembrance Project acknowledges, remembers, and educates the community about the county’s violent and racist past. The Project honors the memories of Gwinnett’s victims of racial violence -- those whose names are known to us and those whose names are lost to history -- by working with the Equal Justice Initiative to erect a fitting memorial that inspires the community to come together, fosters conversations about historical and current injustices, and enables dialogue, trust, and healing.
The Gwinnett Remembrance Project acknowledges, remembers, and educates the community about the county’s violent and racist past. The Project honors the memories of Gwinnett’s victims of racial violence -- those whose names are known to us and those whose names are lost to history -- by working with the Equal Justice Initiative to erect a fitting memorial that inspires the community to come together, fosters conversations about historical and current injustices, and enables dialogue, trust, and healing.
Volunteer
If this work speaks to you, please join us. Many hands make light work, and there is much work to be done.
If this work speaks to you, please join us. Many hands make light work, and there is much work to be done.
Share Your Story
Do you have a family story of racial injustice in Gwinnett County, or a story of efforts to push back against this injustice? Do you have documents, maps, family Bibles, or other family heirlooms that shed light on these issues? We would love to document these memories so that they can be passed down to future generations.
Share Your Story
Do you have a family story of racial injustice in Gwinnett County, or a story of efforts to push back against this injustice? Do you have documents, maps, family Bibles, or other family heirlooms that shed light on these issues? We would love to document these memories so that they can be passed down to future generations.
Donate to GRC
Donate to GRC