Now on view at the Ruth J. Simmons Center for the Study of Slavery and Justice, the Unfinished Conversation Series exhibition invites visitors to engage with stories from descendants of the enslaved and colonized. Drawing from a global archive of more than 150 interviews recorded across eight countries, the project sheds light on how the enduring impacts of slavery and colonialism continue to shape lives today.

A decade-long global research effort led by Brown’s Simmons Center has culminated in In Slavery’s Wake, a landmark Smithsonian exhibition tracing the global legacies of slavery and Black freedom-making. Featuring 150 oral histories, hundreds of artifacts, and contemporary art, the show centers the voices of the enslaved and colonized. It runs through June 2025 before traveling to five countries.

The Unfinished Conversations series in Senegal explored the legacies of slavery and colonialism in Saint Louis and Orkadiéré by gathering stories often silenced by public memory. Guided by teranga (care and repair), the series highlighted struggles for freedom, religious resistance, land reclamation, and the survival of enslaved descendants. These testimonies now inform the exhibition In Slavery’s Wake.

In Slavery’s Wake: Making Black Freedom in the World explores the history and enduring impact of the global slave trade through an understudied lens: the work of enslaved people and their descendants to build resilience and community through art, rebellion, spirituality and politics.

In Slavery’s Wake: Making Black Freedom in the World at the National Museum of African American History and Culture explores the global legacies of slavery, colonialism, and racial capitalism, and the enduring struggles for Black freedom. Through powerful storytelling, historical artifacts, and interactive displays, the exhibition foregrounds resistance—from shipboard rebellions to modern movements. Created in collaboration with the Ruth J. Simmons Center for the Study of Slavery and Justice, it underscores the importance of telling unvarnished histories at a time when such truths are increasingly under political threat.

'In Slavery’s Wake: Making Black Freedom in the World' at the National Museum of African American History and Culture explores the legacy of slavery and the ongoing struggle for freedom. Through artifacts, art, and immersive installations, the exhibition highlights both the horrors of enslavement and the resistance movements that followed. Created in collaboration with the Ruth J. Simmons Center for the Study of Slavery and Justice, it brings together global research to showcase the history of Black liberation across continents.

Simmons Center Director Prof. Anthony Bogues spoke on a panel at Politics and Prose in Washington, D.C. about the recently-edited volume "In Slavery’s Wake." Prof. Bogues was joined by other editors of the volume, Dr. Paul Gardullo, a historian and curator at the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) and director of its Center for the Study of Global Slavery; and Johanna Obenda, A.M. ’19, a curatorial specialist at NMAAHC who explores stories of the varied African diasporic experience through the lens of art, history, and culture.

This powerful collection of essays, brought to life with more than 150 illustrations, investigates the intertwined legacies of slavery, freedom, and capitalism. The publication is a companion to the exhibition "In Slavery’s Wake: Making Black Freedom in the World," on view at NMAAHC, and the documentary film, "Unfinished Conversations." All three projects came out of a set of conversations that began at Brown University in 2014 during a conference convened by the Ruth J. Simmons Center for the Study of Slavery and Justice.

“In Slavery’s Wake,” a new exhibition at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, deals in huge themes and vast numbers. Over four centuries, an estimated 12 million Africans were transported across the ocean on more than 36,000 voyages, an epochal forced migration that reshaped societies on both sides of the Atlantic.

The seeds of the exhibition were planted in 2014, when a group of international curators met at Brown’s Ruth J. Simmons Center for the Study of Race and Justice, which Prof. Anthony Bogues leads.

The Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture unveiled “In Slavery’s Wake: Making Black Freedom in the World”—its first international touring exhibition—Dec. 13. Through powerful forms of artistic expressions, such as quilting, music and ironwork, the exhibition reveals healing traditions rooted in the resilience of enslaved people.

Featuring more than 190 artifacts, 250 images, interactive stations and newly commissioned artworks, “In Slavery’s Wake” offers a transformative space to honor these legacies of strength and creativity. More information is available at nmaahc.si.edu/InSlaverysWake. The exhibition is open through June 8, 2025, in the museum’s Bank of America Special Exhibitions Gallery.

The exhibition delves into key questions about freedom and its expressions across six sections. Organized by the National Museum of African American History and Culture’s Center for the Study of Global Slavery and the Ruth J. Simmons Center for the Study of Slavery and Justice at Brown University, “In Slavery’s Wake: Making Black Freedom in the World” grew out of a decade-long collaboration between international curators, scholars and community members who were committed to sharing stories of slavery and colonialism in public spaces. The collective worked across geographies, cultures and languages, connecting the past and the present.

A review of the book “In Slavery’s Wake: Making Black Freedom in the World,” edited by Paul Gardullo, Johanna Obenda A.M. ’19, and Anthony Bogues, written by various contributors, which is a companion to the exhibition of the same name on view at the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of African American History and Culture.