We're thrilled to shine a light on Robert Farizer, a dedicated caretaker of the Simmons Center garden for the past decade. As Robert embarks on his retirement after 22 years working at Brown, we thank him for his dedication to the Simmons Center and wish him all the best in the years ahead.

Reina Thomas develops and leads programs that connect RI high school students, educators, and the public with the Simmons Center's scholarship and resources. A Brown MAT graduate, her deep background in education and her passion for equity are key to the success of her work, which includes programs like the Black and Indigenous High School Summer Institute (BIHSI), MET in the Text, and The Teach-Ins.

The Simmons Center welcomes a new cohort of six Public Humanities MA Students to campus in the fall of 2025. This cohort is expected to graduate in 2027.

“The Tally” (Voyage of the Slaving Brig Sally 1764–1765) and “Voices from the Middle Passage” are now part of the Simmons Center’s permanent collection and are on view at the Center after being generously donated by the artist, Pamela Pike Gordinier.

In July 2025, we welcomed 15 High School students for a week of learning, reflection, and community-building focused on the often-untold histories of Black and Indigenous peoples in New England. Brown’s Simmons Center, NAISI, and the Tomaquag Museum led courses on the 13th Amendment and The War for the Dawnland, with guest speakers and space to reflect on these important stories.

Hosted by the Simmons Center and NAISI, "In Conversation" brought together Black and Indigenous scholars, educators, and community historians for two days of dialogue on teaching and preserving these intertwined histories. The symposium fostered collaboration across disciplines and communities, centering knowledge sharing, listening, and learning.

The Simmons Center hosted a book launch for The Imagined New (or what happens when History is a Catastrophe?), edited by Anthony Bogues, Leora Farber, Zamansele Nsele, and Surafel Wondimu Abebe. Panelists Brian Meeks, Lindsay Caplan, and Geri Augusto joined Bogues for a discussion moderated by Philip Gould, exploring art’s power to challenge history and reimagine the African Diaspora’s futures.

For Patricia Santos, the Reimagining New England Histories Professional Learning Opportunity was more than professional development, it was a call to teach for justice. Through collaboration with the Curriculum Committee, she helped refine lessons that center Indigenous histories and contributions, ensuring that truthful, inclusive narratives reach classrooms year-round.

Simmons Center Director, Anthony Bogues, reflects on the Center’s 12th year—a time marked by the loss of Professor Lundy Braun, the launch of our pilot MA in Integrative Studies focused in Public Humanities, and the opening of "In Slavery’s Wake", a major exhibition with the Smithsonian exploring Black freedom and the legacies of slavery and colonialism.

At UNESCO’s request, the Simmons Center is leading a global project mapping anti-Black racism. After two years of collaboration with scholars and activists across Africa and the Caribbean, the project’s Steering Committee met at Brown in March 2024 to finalize the report, slated for publication in late 2025.

In May 2024, a research update on Archives of Slavery and Justice shared new findings on the free and enslaved laborers who built Brown University. Drawing on the Brown Family Business Records, the project reexamines archival materials to uncover names, relationships, and stories that reshape our understanding of the university’s early history.

In 2024, the Human Trafficking Research Cluster marked major milestones: launching a new book on sex worker health in Rhode Island, continuing collaborative research with Red Canary Song, and preparing to debut “Liberation Atlas,” a digital map of policing violence against Asian massage workers in NYC.

As part of the 2023 Black Alumni Reunion, former Ruth J. Simmons Center fellows reflected on their journeys as leaders in curation, preservation, and interpretation. Sharing insights from their work in museums and cultural institutions, they discussed how the Center’s community and vision continue to shape public humanities and the pursuit of restorative justice.

At a conference honoring George Lamming, Professor Brian Meeks examined Lamming’s political vision for a unified Caribbean. Through his edited volume "On the Canvas of this World," Lamming brought together leading regional thinkers to imagine an expansive, inclusive anti-colonial future—one that continues to illuminate paths forward amid today’s global challenges.

The Reimagining New England Histories Curriculum Committee is developing free, inclusive lesson plans that center Black and Indigenous experiences across the Dawnland. Supported by the Simmons Center, the team is creating an interactive website to make these resources accessible to educators and aligned with state standards.

The Race, Medicine, and Social Justice Cluster reflects on a year of impactful scholarship and the profound loss of Dr. Lundy Braun. Co-led by Dr. Braun and Dr. Taneisha Wilson, the Cluster advanced critical work on racism in medicine and will continue to honor Dr. Braun’s legacy through ongoing events, research, and transformative public health advocacy.

Reimagining New England Histories is a four-year collaboration between Brown, Williams, and Mystic Seaport Museum that centers African and Indigenous histories in the region. Supported by a Mellon Just Futures grant, the project produced exhibits, publications, and curricula while building lasting, reciprocal relationships with community partners.

In 2023–2024, the Carceral State Reading Group served as a vital space for dialogue on captivity and repression, engaging with local and global crises. Anchored by Brown’s acquisition of Mumia Abu-Jamal’s archive, the group hosted a public symposium exploring resistance, political imprisonment, and organizing, with lasting materials now available for continued learning and action.

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.

Entwined: Freedom, Sovereignty, and the Sea is the culminating exhibition of the Reimagining New England Histories project. Co-created with Indigenous and Black communities, it reclaims maritime histories beyond colonialism and slavery, centering ancestral knowledge, survival, and ongoing sovereignty across 12,000 years of history.

The Mass Incarceration Punishment in America Research Cluster explored the roots and impact of mass incarceration, emphasizing race and anti-Black racism. In 2023–2024, it hosted author talks, live oral histories with formerly incarcerated individuals, and built an archive centering incarcerated voices through its Mass Incarceration Lab.

Art and the Freedom Struggle: The Works of Mumia Abu-Jamal (March 1–December 11, 2024) explores artistic expression under incarceration. Curated by Melaine Ferdinand-King, the exhibit draws from Abu-Jamal’s archive and features his art, poetry, and music centered on abolition, Black liberation, and community. The show includes events, a catalog, and a new essay by Abu-Jamal.

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.

In its first year, the Slavery’s Financial History Research Cluster gathered Brown scholars to explore how slavery shaped global finance. Through guest lectures and collaborative discussions, the group emphasized "following the money" as key to uncovering new insights into slavery’s role in modern economic systems.

In 2023–2024, the Symbolic Garden of the Enslaved team adapted through their first winter, mulching with comfrey and collecting seeds. They hosted an African-inspired amulet workshop in spring and revitalized the garden in summer with new plantings and structures. They also began building a website to share the garden’s history, symbolism, and plant profiles with the public.

This past semester, as part of the Simmons Center’s Community Engagement Initiative and K–12 focus, we hosted Providence Youth Student Movement (PrYSM) in Norwood House as they held their annual fall training series. This year’s series was called Liberation 101 and was led by Suonriaksmay Keo (she/her/hers), the Youth Engagement Director of PrYSM.

The Simmons Center is excited to welcome our first cohort of Public Humanities MA Students to campus in the fall of 2024. This cohort is expected to graduate in 2026.

As part of the Simmons Center’s 10th anniversary, the Marian Anderson String Quartet returned to campus with "On Being Enslaved"—a powerful recital tracing the journey from auction block to concert stage, uniting music with memory, resistance, and healing.

Libby Heimark reflects on Dr. Simmons’ transformative presidency and enduring influence. From championing need-blind admissions to confronting Brown’s historical ties to slavery, Simmons combined courage, strategic vision, and scholarly integrity. Her leadership led to the creation of the Center for the Study of Slavery and Justice which has become a global model for institutional reckoning with historical injustice.

In Spring 2023, the Simmons Center welcomed three Providence high school students to its Student Enrichment program, supporting youth-led social justice projects. From African American fashion to youth activism and Ethnic Studies in medicine, students explored local history, conducted research, and engaged with community partners.

“There was a transnational flow of medical knowledge about how disease spread that increased between 1756 and 1866 and transpired not only at familiar hubs of medical research but also at sites of imperialism, slavery, war, and dispossession.” (Downs, Maladies of Empire, p. 5)

The Cluster hosted Dr. Michael Walker for a talk on his book, "Indefinite: Doing Time in Jail", exploring incarceration’s toll. Students archived letters, testified for reform, and amplified voices of those impacted by prison.

David Haas reflects on how Brown’s groundbreaking Slavery and Justice Report first drew his attention back to the university. He celebrates Dr. Ruth J. Simmons’ bold leadership in initiating a deep institutional reckoning and highlights the Simmons Center’s evolving role as a hub for interdisciplinary scholarship and public engagement

The Simmons Center, in partnership with the Tomaquag Museum, hosted a free 6-day Black & Indigenous Summer Institute for Rhode Island rising 10th–12th grade students. The Summer Institute is designed within a restorative justice framework that centers self-reflection, critical thinking, and reading against the grain to reframe how we understand history and heal our communities.

In a joint project with the International Institute of Social History, the Cluster unites scholars from across continents. Since 2021, the group has met in Amsterdam and Jamaica to examine racial capitalism, colonial rule, and slavery’s lasting impact, fostering global discussions on these interconnected histories.

The Stolen Relations project, launched in 2015 at Brown University, seeks to recover and reinterpret the often hidden histories of Indigenous slavery, offering a fresh perspective on the colonial past and its lasting impact.

Dr. Brenda Allen, President of Lincoln University, recounts her early role as Associate Provost and Director of Institutional Diversity and Allen's key role in guiding the Steering Committee on Slavery and Justice through complex debates over slavery’s legacy, ultimately helping produce a landmark report grounded in intellectual rigor and institutional courage.

Amanda E. Strauss reflects on the powerful connection between art and archives through Jess Hill’s quilt “Oh Say, Can You See: America and Its Birth” (2022). Now part of the Hay’s permanent collection, it is displayed on its grand staircase. For Strauss, the piece captures the layered history the Center explores and evokes personal memories of her own beginnings in textile storytelling.

From 2022–2023, the Reimagining New England Histories committee collaborated with educators and scholars to create K–12 lessons centering Black and Indigenous experiences in New England. Their work reframed Thanksgiving, highlighted mariners’ histories, and launched a student podcast contest to challenge colonial narratives.

In 2023, the HTRC celebrated the launch of "White Supremacy, Racism, and the Coloniality of Anti-Trafficking", an anthology exploring how anti-trafficking efforts are rooted in systemic racism and colonial power structures. The cluster also premiered "Fly in Power", a documentary on Asian migrant massage workers, highlighting labor exploitation and racial justice.

As part of the Simmons Center’s 10th Anniversary series, writer and ritual performance artist Cherise Morris ’16 returned to Brown for the premiere of the cosmic matter of Black lives. Through poetry, prayer, and ancestral wisdom, Morris invited audiences into a ritual performance exploring diasporic healing, ecological harmony, and racial justice.

In 2022–2023, Allyson LaForge, supported by the Simmons Center, led key efforts to inventory 10,000 cultural Belongings at the Tomaquag Museum. She helped adapt the museum’s cataloging system to reflect Indigenous knowledge systems, laying the groundwork for a major move and future use of Traditional Knowledge Labels.

To mark its 10th anniversary, the Center presented 'Racial Slavery, Marronage, and Freedom', a retrospective featuring Edouard Duval-Carrié, Jess Hill, and Rénold Laurent. Each artist, a longtime collaborator of the Center, debuted new work exploring resistance, memory, and the legacy of slavery through bold, layered visual storytelling and reflection.