Over the past year, the Race, Slavery, Colonialism and Capitalism Research Cluster deepened its impact through a spring workshop, student-led panels, and original research projects. Graduate and undergraduate fellows collaborated with leading scholars to examine racial capitalism and imperialism, while building community across disciplines and institutions.

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.

During her fellowship with the Reimagining New England Histories project, Cheryll Toney Holley worked to amplify Black and Indigenous voices and challenge traditional narratives of the region’s past. Serving on exhibition, K–12 curriculum, and publication committees, she helped develop community-centered educational materials and public history projects.

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.

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.

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.

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 Chair of the Advisory Council, Spencer Crew, reflects on a landmark year for the Simmons Center—honoring Ruth Simmons through the Center’s renaming, supporting a new MA in Integrative Studies, and celebrating a major international exhibition with the Smithsonian while highlighting the Council’s deepening role in advancing the Center’s mission.

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.

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.

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.

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.

A decade after opening, the Center was renamed for President Emerita Ruth J. Simmons in honor of her landmark efforts to uncover Brown’s historical ties to slavery. The renaming ceremony featured new campus signage and a special gift to Dr. Simmons: a custom box archiving a decade’s worth of exhibition catalogs, celebrating the Center’s public humanities mission.

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.

The Unfinished Conversations Series is a global oral history and archival project documenting how the legacies of slavery and colonialism shape lives today. Led by the Simmons Center and Global Curatorial Project partners, it has recorded over 200 hours of interviews across four continents, centering community voices often erased from official histories.

During Family Weekend, 2023 Heimark Artist in Residence Renée Elizabeth Neely-TANNER presented an artist talk and exhibition exploring the legacy of the Great Dismal Swamp Maroons. Her work connected their resistance and freedom to the expressive possibilities of abstract art, inviting audiences to reflect on history through a liberatory visual lens.

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.

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.

In Slavery’s Wake: Making Black Freedom in the World is a traveling exhibition exploring the global legacies of slavery, colonialism, and Black freedom-making. Featuring over 100 artifacts, images, and multimedia, it connects history, art, and descendant voices from The Unfinished Conversations oral archive. Co-curated by Brown and the Smithsonian, it will tour five countries from 2025–2028, fostering global dialogue.