We are proud to work with fellow racial justice organizations across TN. Meet The Beck Cultural Exchange Center.

The Beck Cultural Exchange Center's mission is to be the place where African American history and culture are preserved, nurtured, taught, and continued. Established in 1975, Beck is designated as the state repository for Black history and culture in East Tennessee. 

Beck's vision is to be the desired place where people go to learn, discover and experience the rich legacy of African Americans inside a vibrant Cultural Corridor, The Beck Cultural Corridor. The Beck Cultural Corridor is a project that will reclaim and unsilence Black history and culture beginning in the area known as urban renewal.

Rev. Reneé Kesler is the current President of Beck. Hear Rev. Kesler speak about Beck during our March Zoom call with fellow TN racial justice organizations here.

This week we are getting to know Lamont Turner. Lamont serves as President of Tennesseans for Historical Justice and brings a wealth of experience advocating for racial justice, education, and equity in Tennessee. He is a Director for Franklin's Charge, a nonprofit organization focused on preserving America's threatened Civil War battlefields in Williamson County, TN. He also serves as Director for The Public, a nonprofit organization focused on promoting anti-racism through education, advocacy, and action. 

Some of Lamont's recent work includes:

• A Presentation to Lynching Sites Project of Memphis on January 25, 2021
• Participation in the Middle Tennessee African American Heritage Collective Zoom call with THJ board member John Ashworth on February 4, 2021
• Speaking on the Beyond Words Ministry Podcast (Macon, GA) for their Black History Month segment on February 24, 2021
• Speaking at Battle Ground Academy (Franklin, TN) to close Black History Month on March 1, 2021
• Attending the TN Racial Justice Group Zoom call on March 11, 2021

Lamont is the author of WINNING Beyond The Scoreboard As The UNDERDOg: The Final Score Is What Counts! He will be releasing a book in 2021 on how the south can heal its Civil War wound of white supremacy. Currently, he's participating in a book study on Myths America Lives By: White Supremacy and the Stories That Give Us Meaning with The Public.

When Lamont is not in the office he enjoys spending time with his wife and 2 daughters pictured below. (Reach out to Lamont for the backstory on his winter attire at the beach 😎)      

A mission of the Tennesseans for Historical Justice is to collect information about racial violence in Tennessee and make it available to the public. Our hope is that people will use this information to conduct further research into these cases and stories to better understand our history and learn how to more effectively and completely address current incidents of racial terror to promote transparency, justice, and conciliation.

Specifically, we are collecting cases and stories of racially-motivated beatings, hangings, bombings, and violence regardless of whether the case has been solved and the assailant prosecuted. We need to make a complete and thorough list for posterity.

We are seeking to uncover stories of individuals who were victims of violence motivated by an anti-racial bias. We know that many of these cases are documented in the state and the federal criminal justice system through police reports, grand jury transcripts, and other court records. While we are looking for these documents, we are also searching for stories that may have only been recounted in a newspaper or magazine article, or maybe not documented at all.

Through our work, we know that a good number of instances of racial violence exist only in the memories of the individuals who experienced the terror, witnessed the incident, or who heard about it through family lore. Understandably, these folks are hesitant to share these stories for fear of retaliation against them and their families. The fear of more violence, for exposing the truth of the past, is real. Without a proper investigation of these cases and stories, however, the people of Tennessee will never know their past. As the old adage goes, if we don't understand our history, we are doomed to repeat it.

Tennesseans for Historical Justice pledges to investigate all reports of racial violence with compassion, sensitivity, and with an eye towards justice and conciliation, pursuant to Chapter 966 Tennessee Public Acts 2018.

We need your help. Let's work together to understand our history and make the state a safer and more welcoming place for all.

Click “Alert THJ” below to send us information you may have on cases or stories of racial violence in Tennessee.

Along the path to justice, conciliation, and healing are many broken pieces.

It is never too late for justice. It is never too late for conciliation.

It is never too late for healing.

Tennesseans for Historical Justice is a Tennessee non-profit 501c3 corporation. Our mission is to uncover the truth about racial violence in Tennessee in order to achieve justice, conciliation and healing across our state. Victims of racial violence deserve justice and our state deserves healing. But we cannot do this alone.

We need your help. Join our team, volunteer, or make a donation- we are eager to work with you! Click the button below to find out how you can support our mission.