Fall has arrived and we are back to learning about and attending programs related to racial justice. As we write, Boston and other Massachusetts cities are hosting the annual celebration of #DouglassWeek.

Launched in 2021, the collaborative event series highlights Frederick Douglass’s time in Ireland in 1845. He spent about four months there in self-imposed exile after the publication of the first edition of Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave.

On September 29th, the Museum of African American History was the venue for a lively evening of music, poetry, and the written word. Emceed by Paul Oakley Stovall, the program had a warmth and intimacy in part, in our view, because of the presence of Nicole Morris, great-great-great-great granddaughter of Frederick Douglass, Anna Murray Douglass as vocalist, and her father Kenneth Morris, who spoke movingly about his grandparents. Among other spoken-word offerings was a reading of “The African American Meetinghouse: A Living Ancestor” by Regie Gibson, poet laureate of Massachusetts.

We’ll be back in touch with the recording of this event when it becomes available. For now, the King’s Chapel Homecoming and Memorial Dedication Service (September 14, 2025) is now on video.

September 30, 2025.  Yours in the work of racial repair,  Mary Beth Clack, Mary Blocher, Cindy Coldren, Pat Krol, Liz Levin.