The Center for the Study of Slavery & Justice at Brown University in partnership with the Tomaquag Museum is hosting a free 6-day Black & Indigenous Summer Institute for R.I. high school (rising 10th-12th grade) students where critical thinking and reading against the grain takes center stage in how we understand history. The program is designed within a restorative justice framework where deep self-reflection and community healing are the foundation we build on to uncover the hidden stories of R.I’s communities of color. Students will develop plans, strategies, or programs that enrich communities and seek more Just Futures. Local field trips to places such as Mystic Seaport Museum and The Mashantucket Pequot Museum occur daily, culminating with a celebratory visit to Martha’s Vineyard to visit the Aquinnah Cultural Center and the beach.

This program is aligned with the Reimagining New England Histories (RNEH): Historical Injustice, Sovereignty, and Freedom. Organized jointly between the Center for the Study of Slavery & Justice, Williams College, and Mystic Seaport Museum, the RNEH project aims to use the sea as one lens to grapple with intertwined histories of Indigenous and African-American experiences in the Northeast and the closely related impacts of colonization and enslavement that have so deeply affected multiple communities. Equally important, the project aims to foreground the continuous work Black communities and Native nations have undertaken to maintain sovereignty, freedom, self-determination, and cultural thriving in this region.