 All right everyone well it's two o'clock so I think we should go ahead and dive in. But before we do I have a couple housekeeping items just quickly cover. So before we get started just a reminder that all of our sessions are being recorded and the chats are being recorded as well. So we're going to ask that everyone please abide by our Passboard Code of Conduct and I will drop the link to the code of conduct in the chat. When you're in the session you will be muted and for those who need it close captioning is available you can start it on your Zoom settings, your Zoom audio settings. If you have any questions we have an FAQ section on our site and in our SOSU platform. We also have a help desk available and we have a line available at 2025886100 for those who need it and with that I will hand this over to our panelists. So hello everyone my name is Brent Legs I'm the Executive Director of the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund at the National Trust for Historic Preservation and I want to welcome you to the 13th annual meeting where the African American Preservation is meeting. It's an honor to spend the next 50 minutes with you talking about the opportunity out of a moment of crisis. This is also an opportunity for us to all celebrate the successes and the leadership of the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund. So before I provide a brief presentation I want to welcome my colleagues Loana Holland Moore and Breonna Rhodes who will speak after me and our hope is to continue our format for anyone that's participated in a previous meeting. The idea is to create space for us to have a dialogue and exchange about issues and opportunities impacting the Black Preservation movement in the United States and we hope that we can still curate that kind of conversation and exchange with you and before I talk about the Action Fund I again just want to highlight that we started this meeting around a conference table at the St. Paul National Conference in 2007. This, that moment, created the blueprint for all of the diversity programming that we see today and we at the National Trust are exceptionally pleased that the African American Preservation work that we first started by creating the Rosenwald Schools Initiative in 2003 really has set the blueprint for our broader diversity preservation work across the country. Now you all know that the Action Fund was created in the aftermath of Charlottesville in 2017. These three images demonstrate how some Americans expressed their cultural values in public space, values of hate and racism. We created the Action Fund to demonstrate that preservation could provide leadership and that we could shift national consciousness and in essence begin the process of reconstructing our national identity. We hope that this work begins to foster truth, healing and reconciliation. The Action Fund is a movement to redefine a new American narrative and culture. In essence, we are building a true national identity that reflects our country's diversity to create a more equitable and just society. Preservation today, contemporary preservation is a tool for social justice. We wanted to build a new team of leaders, esteemed leaders that's part of our National Advisory Council. This is the 20 member board of the Action Fund which is co-chaired by Darren Walker who's the president of the Ford Foundation, an actor and director, Ms. Felicia Bouchotte. And if you look at these faces, these luminaries, Dr. Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, the first African American to chair the history department of Harvard University, and the national president of the Association for the Study of African Life and History, the organization founded by Carter G. Woodson, or the 14th secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, Dr. Lonnie Bunch. They are advising us and supporting us in the work to preserve 150 Black history sites across the country. So the Action Fund was created as a five-year, $25 million campaign, largest campaign ever undertaken on behalf of Black American historic places by the National Trust. And I'm proud to say that in under three years, we have raised more than $24 million. And we are building and we are building a new community of partnerships and support and shifting the role of philanthropy in the United States towards preservation as racial justice. We also are leveraging our media engagement to amplify this work and the amazing, beautiful, and complex culture of Black America through these kinds of publications. Now I want to highlight our view of preservation as equity and activism. So you probably know that the signature pillar of the Action Fund is our national grant program. Over the last three grant rounds, we've received almost 2,000 proposals requesting nearly $200 million. I'm glad to say that we have supported 65 preservation projects nationally and invested almost $5 million in sites of Black resilience, activism, and achievement and so much more. These numbers affirms that African American historic places have been undervalued and underfunded and we are working to mitigate disinvestment in African American cultural assets. We also are working across our National Trust Historic Sites portfolio. I hope that you have seen the rubric on teaching slavery interpretation and descendant engagement, which we hope becomes a national model for the field and brings communities together to talk about these issues. We're also exploring across some of our historic sites. This idea of shared governance and authority, which we hope will also be a national model for the stewardship and interpretation of traditional historic sites like James Madison's Montpelier. We're working at nontraditional sites to advance this idea of equitable interpretation and to reveal the often overlooked and hidden narratives of Black identity embedded in these kinds of stories. And we're working with artists who can help reimagine the interpretation of this history. We have worked across 11 national treasure campaigns at places like Chaco Bottom in Richmond, Virginia, once the second largest slave holding center in the United States. We are proud to have partnered with the local community and grassroots advocates to develop a community driven vision for memorialization, economic development, and education. And this is the vision that the Richmond community has for reactivating this cultural landscape in the heart of Richmond, Virginia. Many of you have seen news about our partnership and project at the Nina Simone Chout at home in Triune, North Carolina. You probably are aware that four New York City visual artists as a form of arts activism and politics would create an LLC, save the house from demolition, formed a partnership with the National Trust. And we have worked with other national partners like the World Monuments Fund, Preservation North Carolina recently protected the property in perpetuity by using a preservation easement the strongest legal tool possible to protect historic places. And we are finalizing plans to develop a stewardship plan for this site. We're doing this to honor the voice of the American Civil Rights Movement and the legend known as Ms. Nina Simone. We are inspired by the awe and beauty in history of our more than 100 historically black colleges and universities. We have piloted through our Hoku program a preservation and practicum where we partnered with Morgan State University and Tuskegee University introducing students in their school of design preservation theory where they learn that at the Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming, they come back and apply those skills on a real-world project on their campus. And we believe that this is the pipeline for the next generation of black professionals in preservation. We also have just piloted a $1 million HPCU Cultural Heritage Stewardship Initiative. This is in partnership with the National Endowment for Humanities, the Kaplan Fund and other partners. And we will partner with up to eight HPCUs fund two campus-wide preservation plans and up to six individual building plans. And our goal is to equip HPC's with the knowledge to steward the most remarkable collection of historic buildings arguably anywhere in the world. I hope that you have seen our latest research report that was released on October 15th. It's called Preserving African-American Places, Growing Preservation's Potential as a Path for Equity. We study 10 mid-size and major markets with historically black African-American neighborhoods and you can see some of the statistics on the right but it has affirmed that the disinvestment, that we're fighting disinvestment, that we're still fighting issues of urban renewal, that we are fighting to retain our cultural assets and fighting against demolition and the issues that disproportionately impact black historic neighborhoods and communities. We're working to create space for new voices and for new ideas and we've established a fellowship program. These are four of the newest cohorts you hear from Breonna Rhodes in a minute. Kandace Taylor, she is the author of a Green Book. They came out last year and is working with us to identify 10 Harlem-based Green Book sites that are eligible for listing in the National Register. Yoruba Richan is producing a short doc on the story of preserving the home of John and Alice Coltrane in New York and Jenna Dublin is the co-author of the Equity Research Report that I just mentioned. And then there is another component of Hope Crew. It's our Intro to Preservation Trades. We are working with Diverse Youth, introducing them to the history that surrounds them, places like Nina Simone's house where a small team of paid craft workers would paint the exterior of Nina Simone's house. We see this as an opportunity to build a pipeline for the next generation of qualified preservation craft professionals in the field of preservation. We also are committed to building the organizational capacity of site directors across the United States. And over the last three years we've worked with 25 non-profit organizations building their capacity in preservation planning, non-profit management and fundraising, and this was the cohort that are convening in Maryland. And last, we convened our very first Cultural Preservation Leadership Summit, a two-day event in March of 2018. It was co-sponsored by the Ford Foundation Center for Social Justice. We had an elegant affair the night before at the historic Apollo Theater. Elizabeth Alexander recited poetry, went Marsalis, played for us. They had a stimulating conversation and we look forward over the next couple of years to bring all of you together in the next Cultural Preservation Leadership Summit to discuss the opportunities before us to amplify this important work. And then last, and for anyone that is unmuted, please mute your microphone. So last, I just want to say that we are committed to securing new and equitable investment with through our federal government to diversify national park service programs. You might not know that the National Park Service can't lobby and advocate for itself. The National Trust plays its leadership role and I'm glad to say that since 2015 we have secured almost a hundred million dollars in partnership with Congresswoman Terry Sewell, Congressman James Clyburn, and other congressional members to establish the underrepresented communities grant program, the civil rights and HBCU grant programs, and the civil rights and reconstruction air and networks. This is preservation activism and equity. So I'm going to leave you with this. So during the Black Lives Matter protest movement here in D.C., this summer, an unnamed protester would write these words on the side of the Decatur House and the shadows of the White House. The Decatur House is a national trust historic site operated by the White House Historical Association. It's a space where enslaved Americans were once held in bondage. And the question states, why do we have to keep telling you Black Lives Matter? This is why the action fund is so important because we continue to use this as a platform to fight for justice, to honor our ancestors, and to reimagine preservation practice in the United States. You receive just a sampling of our work. And again, I wanted to share this with you because I want you to celebrate with us for doing what has yet to be imagined, for setting that blueprint for the other diversity communities that will follow the action fund. And together we can transform the American cultural landscape, secure new investment, create new partnerships, and build a national ethic for the preservation of American history and our historic places. So with that being said, I'm going to turn it over to my colleague, LaWanna Hollenmore. Thanks, Brent. You know, one thing you have to think about when we talk about African American history is the fact that it is American history and that our sites are tangible connections to our past and to that history. And for that reason, it makes it so important to be able to save them, to be able to preserve them, to be able to take care of them, to be able to be their stewards. We at the Action Fund hope to draw attention to the remarkable and still largely unrecognized collections of places and stories of African American activism and achievement. And through the elevation of those stories, we hope to contribute to that collective narrative, which is our American history. And this year, for our national grant program, we just wrapped up year three of our grant cycle and awarded $1.6 million to 27 African American historic sites, organizations nationwide in four categories, capital projects, programming and interpretation, project planning, and organizational capacity. And we have awarded a total of $4.3 million in funding to 65 sites and organizations so that they may accomplish their goals. Over the past three years, I've had a chance to really see the breath of needs of African American preservation nationwide, and there is a need. And this year, for instance, we've received over 500 LOIs with over 470 of them being eligible. And what it is is that once we receive them, they undergo an evaluation process and are narrowed down to those 50 that we invite for a full application. And of those evaluators, we have external reviewers as well from Harvard Touch and Center for African and African American Research, Masala, Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. And once those applications, we whittle them down even more. And that's how we determine our final awardees. And I'd like to tell everybody, and many of you that have talked to me know, I say this all the time, that it is extremely competitive, but you have a chance. And in order to do so, you have to put in. And the call for LOIs for letters of intent is almost always the very beginning of December, around December 3rd or so. So please definitely check our website around that time to find out more information about it. Also, I'm holding a grant session tomorrow at 2 p.m. about best practices in terms of applying for an Action Fund grant. And I'll be joined by three of our awardees from each of our three years that will be sharing their experiences about the process so you can find out more information then as well. And just in general, you can also contact our grants department, let them know that you have a project that you're interested in that is of an African American site or place. Feel free to email me at Elmore at Saving Places or I'll be happy to answer questions that you might have. And with that, actually I'll go ahead and thank you all for coming. And I'll turn it over to our Action Fund Fellow, journalist Breonna Rhodes, who will share more about the work that she's doing for the Action Fund to help to share the full stories of these sites. Thank you. Hi, everyone. My name is Breonna Rhodes and I'm the Action Fund Editorial Fellow. Before I begin to tell you all about the projects that I have worked on, I want to say that this has been a fulfilling and amazing experience over the past nine months. I have spoken to great people and have completed extensive research to tell the stories of these historic sites. This has been the most beneficial and influential commitment I've made towards my journalism career. And I feel confident that I am now a woman in preservation and a historian as well. So let me touch on a couple of stories that I've worked on over the past couple of months. Just to start off, the first story that I decided to focus on was the John and Alice Coltrane home. During this time, we were at the beginning of quarantine and artists were learning how to tap into their creativity at home. I think this site is a source of inspiration for creatives who are making this adjustment and also giving them an encouragement to let them know that the effort to create and limit the experiment with artistry. The accomplished jazz musicians and composers used their former 1952 Long Island, New York suburban home not only to escape from the outside world but to cultivate their most iconic masterpieces from 1964 to 1973 while being surrounded by love, support, and more. John spent five days in isolation in one of his upstairs rooms with just a pen, paper, and saxophone to create his legendary piece, A Love Supreme. And the piece continues to inspire musical artists across various genres to this day. One of the highlights of this story was actually speaking to the Coltrane kids, which is Ravi and Michelle. And it was so great to hear about the touching moments while they experienced at the home. And one thing that stood out to me that Michelle said that she said that their parents were the epitome of a black love story. So I thought that was so amazing. And the fund will actually continue to provide assistance for the home and turning it into a cultural education center. Right after working on that story, I worked on a civil rights listicle, and I focused on seven historic civil rights sites that exemplify the fight against racial justice. You all know in 2020, activists and protesters are still taking a stand in large part due to the killings of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDay, and George Floyd, and many more. And for many around the world, these fatalities are emblematic of the systemic racism black people continue to face. Activism and protests are not new to the history of the fight against racism. And I wanted to highlight that and talk about the leaders from the civil rights movement who paved the way for those who are amplifying their voices today, and also highlight significant sites across the country, such as A.G. Gaston Motel, the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, and the other historic sites that I mentioned in the story that continues to tell the narrative of why all Americans should continue to fight for equal treatment. These places not only represent the history of that struggle, but also establish a framework for the contemporary protest movement. In specific, I want to highlight the Nina Simone childhood home that Brent mentioned earlier during our talk. I am a native North Carolinian, and this home is very dear and true to my heart because Nina Simone is a native North Carolinian as well. Simone used her voice during the civil rights movement to address oppression and racial inequality. Mississippi goddamn was written after the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in 1964 in Birmingham, Alabama. And while I was interviewing Brent for the story, he's made a quote that really touched my heart and stood out to me. And he mentioned that it takes on one with influence to speak on behalf of removing and speaking in reference to Simone, and she did that and she risked her career. And the bravery of a black woman during that period to stand up for justice is being modeled in the black women who lead black lives matter. There are reincarnations of Nina Simone. The stories of the seven places that I highlighted still remain powerful today. And just like Brent, I truly believe that these sites remind us that we are the light barriers and the social innovators who have taken on the burdensome but beautiful road to shield national consciousness. The next story that I worked on was August Wilson Childhood Home. And you know, for many of us, we are inspired by our communities and our surroundings that ignite one of the kind masterpieces that, you know, impact the world. And that is definitely what August Wilson did. And one thing that I've highlighted as well in this story is about the celebrities and entertainers like Denzel Washington, who have donated money to help restore the house. He's also collaborating with the Wilson family estate to make a series of motion pictures based on Wilson's body of work. And the trailer of Wilson's award-winning play, My Rainy's Black Bottom, was just recently released starring by Ola Davis and the late Chadwick Boseman, which will be out at the end of the year. This is the last film Boseman was featured in. And I want to say may he rest in peace. After this story, I worked on a CTV and John Lewis story guide. You know, you all know on July 17, the United States lost two notable trailblazers of the Civil Rights Movement. And I wanted to highlight how both men dedicated their lives to the fight for racial and social equality for Black Americans. The guide offers a look at the sites and locations that honor both Lewis and Vivian and their impact on civil rights. So I highlighted First Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama. And that was the location when Lewis first met Martin Luther King, Jr. And I also highlighted Nashville, Tennessee. In Nashville, Tennessee, that was the location where Lewis and Vivian both spearheaded their fight for civil rights. And another location was the Freedom Rides Museum in Montgomery, Alabama. And the museum recognizes the fearless endeavors of the protesters who participated in the 1961 push to desegregate public transportation and seating. Another location was Parchman Farm in Mississippi. Both Lewis and CTV and were arrested and jailed at Parchman for disorderly conduct and disturbing the peace. One of the most recent projects that I've worked on are the significance of a historic Black neighborhood across the country. When I tell you all, I truly enjoyed this project. I took a lot of time to really create a list of cool that highlighted these neighborhoods because in the 20th century, the first half to be particular, Black Americans identity and their influence on the United States was very impactful. In reaction to racist actions and laws during that period, Black neighborhoods provided a sense of belonging, serving as a space not only to garner wealth, but also to celebrate Black culture in a unique and authentic way. And during this time, Black culture identity began to emerge. But you know, Black Americans were still dealing with Jim Crow, segregation, desegregation, and other factors. Many of these communities then last because of factors such as gentrification and outright racism. However, I wanted everyone to know about how these communities have full rich history. And the particular sites that I highlighted were the Greenwood, Black Wall Street District in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the Haiti District in Durham, North Carolina, Harlem in New York, U Street right down the street in Washington DC, Jackson Ward in Richmond, Virginia, and a few others. It's what I want to say is that it's great to see the support for Black businesses now. It's on the rise now, and that's why I came up with the idea to acknowledge these areas who laid the foundation or the blueprint for successful Black businesses today. My most recent piece that was published, I think, I believe last week was a story gone on Black politicians who have paid the way for the current politicians that we recognize now. As we prepare for the upcoming election, which has the chance of being a historic election, this year, United States Senator Kamala Harris became the first Black and South Asian American to run for Vice President. And I want to say, overall, it's safe to say that I've had an incredible journey during this fellowship process. And I'm excited about the two upcoming seasons that I will end the fellowship out with. This fellowship experience has made me proud to be a Black woman, journalist, activist, historian, and all of the above. And I'm forever grateful for the trust and the action for the team. And I hope that I can continue to tell amazing stories as well. Thank you all, and I'm happy to answer any questions. Thank you, Brianna. That was fantastic. And thank you, Luana. So at this point, we want to facilitate a conversation with you. And again, I hope that these three speakers, that we were able to demonstrate the power of having African-American professionals, whether in a traditional space like a preservation practitioner or a journalist like Brianna, that we all can contribute to the work of telling the full American story. So thinking about this year, pivotal year, we have racial unrest and racial injustice that has been most visible. And I know that all of us, Black, white, and beyond, that we have been deeply impacted by the horrific killings and murder in American streets. We also are facing a health pandemic, COVID, and I know that that has impacted a lot of your preservation projects. I'm sure many of your organizations are struggling to sustain operations, retain staff, if you have paid staff. So I want to ask you a question and feel free to either raise your hand or show us in some way so that you can unmute and share how have you responded? What has been your opportunity in these moments of crisis? Have you found new ways to be more creative to leverage digital technology and programming to expand your audience and to increase your fundraising? Have you been more creative in the way that you think about preservation and the memorialize and memorializing ephemeral history related to the Black Lives Matter protest movement and beyond? I want to hear from you about your preservation opportunities or even some of the challenges that you're facing in this moment. Who wants to share? This will be a test case for bravery. Hi, Brent. It's Janie. Hey, Janie. How are you? I'm well. Hi, everybody. Well, I certainly want to share this because even though COVID has been just traumatic for all of us, it has also provided new experiences and new opportunities and new ways for us to preserve the great history of African-Americans and to preserve our stories. So in South Carolina, we launched Black Carolinian Speak, Portraits of a Pandemic, because we found that in South Carolina, there was very little in the archives about the influenza of the pandemic of 1918. We didn't want that to happen again. It was not going to be happening on our watch. So we have this project and you can appreciate this. When it was brought to the Executive Committee, I said we have no money, guys, but I'll find a few dollars. So we found $500 to launch a website. We are collecting stories. We have now collected over 65 moral histories from across the state. Our goal is to collect over 100. We've collected artwork. We've collected diaries. We've collected stories from people and we are archiving them at the South Carolina Department of Archives and History. So I found $500 to do a webpage. Someone heard us, heard me talking about it. We have attracted more than $50,000 in the last four months to support this project. Brett, you know me. You know how I go after the money. Yes, you do. And some of my colleagues, members of our foundation, our chair and our vice chair, are on this webinar. So I want to publicly thank the National Trust. We are so indebted to you. That training that we came to just sparked us so much. And so I'm sure that Dr. Watson, who's on with us and who's our chair, and Dawn Dawson-House, who's our vice chair, will share my sentiments and our thanks to the National Trust. We have great things going on in South Carolina. Folks, check us out at wegoja.com. W-E-G-O.org. Thank you, Brett. Thank you. And you all can hear that Janie is a legend in preservation. And she participated the South Carolina African American Heritage Commission Foundation. They participated in our six-month preservation leadership training. And their goal was to raise $50,000 over that six months. They accomplished that. And you probably have seen in the chat that they've raised an additional $300,000 rebranded the organization. They're killing it. They are a shining example of the power statewide preservation organizations to take a leadership role in preserving and telling this important history. So thank you, Janie. You are quite welcome, Brett. And thank you. My heart goes out to you. Thank you. Who else has an example of innovation during a moment of crisis? I'd like to go. Please, go ahead. So my name is Arianna McCow. I'm the president and principal conservator of Zilani Glass Conservation. And I come to this as someone who is hands-on, preserving different pieces. We primarily work on historic buildings, often churches. And in this moment, in general, I don't like to put myself in the in the floor. I like our work to speak for ourselves, but I felt like this was a moment for me to speak up to our community, especially the stained glass community where people often perceive it to be very Eurocentric. And so both in the people that I hire to work for my company, and also reaching out to the people and the communities that we serve, I've brought myself more to the fore to say, look at the people who you are choosing to conserve your pieces. And we like to broaden the scope of the people who are training. So we've been working along with nonprofits because I strongly believe in having interns that are paid to come work for us. And finding organizations that already exist that reach out to the community were based in West Oakland. So finding those young people who may not know about this as a career path and working on that. And I'm also on the board of the Stained Glass Association of America. And I encouraged the board to put out an actual statement about equity and who they reach out to. And through discussions with them, they said at the beginning, well, you know, we're equitable, why do we need to state this? And after going through conversation, they were enlightened to, you know, you need to speak what you do because sometimes people don't know that's what you do. So coming from a different perspective, but boots on the ground and would love to support and find more projects that we can work on. So my team isn't just working on a narrow group of things, because I know there are lots of projects that we can conserve. We just don't know about them. Thank you for your leadership. Thank you for moving that organization towards a space of equity and putting that that ethic on paper and in writing. And thank you for the paid internships. Yeah, well, I hope that you get to meet our colleague, Milan Jordan, who is the new director of Hope Crew. And there's a lot of mission alignment and what you just described. You too should certainly talk. And then we gave our largest grant this year of $150,000 to historic Vernon AME church in Tulsa, one of the last standing remnants of the racial massacre from 1921. And that $150,000 is funding the partial restoration of their stained glass windows. Yeah, so maybe you could be connected to that project in some way. Would love to. Thank you so much for the time and for people listening. Hi, Brian. This is EJ Scott. We met in Virginia at the preservation Virginia farm. You were our keynote speaker that day. And hi, Luana. Nice to meet you. I just want to say that the graffiti that you showed in your presentation where the gentleman was asking how many times do we have to tell you that black lives matter is has is sort of my perspective on things because I believe that the reason that we're in this situation, I guess, is people having difficult to understand our value is because of the lies and the propaganda that has been perpetrated against us over the years. I have as I took the believe I told you before, I work on telling the stories of ordinary people when they came come out of enslavement to know what they did in or once they first emerged from enslavement and how those families have progressed over time. There was, as you know, we were generally relegated to certain neighborhoods of certain streets. And where I live in Virginia, there was a street called Liberty Street. There were two houses built on that street in 1870. And they wanted to tear them down because they'd gotten into certain disarray. I worked, I consider myself an activist community organizer. So I got the community to show up at some city council meetings and demand that that not happen. What I found out and doing some research is that when the city of Manassas had applied for the historic designation for the city itself, they use those houses built in 1870 on their application. But once they received the designation, they drew Liberty Street out of the historic district. So we demanded that they put Liberty Street back in the historic district. And we also have a marker telling the story of how this gentleman escaped from slavery, went to New York, was paid $1,000 for his service, came back here and purchased 14 acres and started and built these homes that still exist today. Those homes, one of them sold for $104,000. And now, then recently, it sold after refurbishment, sold for $477,500. We had another one that sold for $415,000. It is currently on the market for $525,000. I think these are important things that we need to work at because this will help us generate generational wealth. And that's what we need in our communities. So I wanted to tell that story because I'm just so excited about it. And one other thing, just this past weekend, we dedicated a monument to Jenny Dean, who was built the first school here is the Manassas Industrial School for Colored Youth. This was a school that allowed people to go beyond education from like the third or fifth grade, the first one, teaching them trades. Well, that is fantastic. And I just want to say that your story is a common story where we have to fight this kind of cultural inequity and advocate on behalf of our history to be recognized within the traditional systems of preservation and you exemplify the power of grassroots preservationists. Like we can fight against this when we are committed to securing equity for our history and for our neighborhoods. So thank you for that. So in our last few minutes, I just want to open up the floor to anyone if you have a comment or something that you want to share. 10, 15 seconds, any thoughts about the future of the Black Preservation Movement and work. And I also want to just acknowledge our allies that are here with us, that work with us on the ground, you know, this multiracial, multigenerational coalition of advocates, it will take all of us to elevate the significance of Black culture in American history. And I thank you for being part of this movement. So in the last few minutes, anybody want to share an opportunity? Hi, this is Tiffany Perry, and I am the Chief of Staff at Russ College. Russ is the oldest HBCU in the state of Mississippi. I am very new to this role. And so I have only been Chief of Staff now for about six weeks. And this preservation work is extremely new for me. I have a marketing and communications and operational efficiency background, but as Chief of Staff, I'm now juggling a lot of different priorities. One of those being the restoration of the Mississippi Industrial College, which is another HBCU that closed in the 1980s that we have acquired as a part of Russ College as a part of our role. So we have a new president as well. She's the former Mayor of San Antonio, Texas, Dr. Ivy Taylor. And so just being on this call is so inspirational. You all have shared a lot of great information. But I'm really looking forward to learning a lot throughout this conference about preservation, especially on HBCU campuses and kind of the work that can be done there. So thank you to everyone who really shared, because as a newbie to this work, these types of conferences and conversations are very critical for us on HBCU campuses. Excellent. And thank you for sharing. Thank you for joining Russ College and providing your expertise. And I'm so pleased to hear that Russ College has a commitment to preserving and stewarding its campus, returning it back to its fullest glory. I'm sure you've been in touch with my colleague, Tiffany Tobert. Yes. Yes. Yeah. So Tiffany is a project manager for the HBCU Cultural Heritage Stewardship Initiative. And it sounds like you all will submit a letter of inquiry. I'm hopeful. And that would be correct. Fantastic. Well, thank you. Thank you. If there's one more, I'd like to ask a question, Brent, if that's okay. Yeah, go ahead. Hi. I'm Michelle Robinson. I'm a professor at Spellman College, so in the HBCU conversation. I also serve as a community partner for the Historic Black Townsend Settlements Alliance. And we just recently came in contact with a community that's struggling with preservation of a piece of property that has been, for lack of a better word, swallowed up by a local institution. And I wondered if the National Trust offers any kind of legal sort of guidance for people who are in those kinds of battles. This is something I haven't been faced with before. We've been working in communities for about five or six years just supporting the work they're doing in preservation, but never in the sense that things are being sort of acquired and stories being lost as a result of that acquisition. And I just wondered if there's any kind of initiative like that going on? Well, through the Action Fund and just at the National Trust, we provide technical assistance in many different areas, whether it's legal advocacy, it's preservation, and beyond. So yes, you should reach out, connect with my colleague, Luana Holland Moore. And we'll be able to connect you to the right person internally at the National Trust so that we can learn more about what the real threats are and offer some guidance and for some solution. Okay, thank you. Yeah. Everyone, I just want to say thank you. I trust that you will have a fabulous conference. And again, it's just, it's beautiful to spend time and space with you as we uplift and celebrate the power of African-American historic places in history. Enjoy your conference. Bye, everybody.