Trump Orders Deep-Clean on Black History While Private Heroes Play Archaeologist
KEY POINTS
- •Shonda Rhimes' Rhimes Foundation purchased the Mississippi barn where Emmett Till was murdered in 1955 for $1.5 million to protect it.
- •The African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund recently granted $5 million to preserve historically Black churches nationwide, including sites linked to MLK Jr. and Reconstruction.
- •Black activists including the Banner twins and journalist Michael Harriot bought former plantations to turn them into educational sites amid federal rollback on Black history preservation.
In the current historical Hunger Games, the Trump administration is scrubbing 'equity-related' public history like a toddler erasing a drawing — except the drawing is America’s Black legacy. Enter Shonda Rhimes’ Rhimes Foundation dropping $1.5 million to rescue the Mississippi barn where 14-year-old Emmett Till was brutally killed in 1955, because apparently private bosses love history more than Uncle Sam. The African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund flexed $5 million preserving legendary Black churches spanning from LA's Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X speech stage to Beaufort, SC’s freedmen-built First African Baptist Church. Meanwhile, twin sisters Jo and Joy Banner white-knuckled a Louisiana plantation from wedding guests to 1811 German Coast slave revolt educators. Journalist Michael Harriot bought a Georgia plantation too, shouting, 'Time for us to write history, not cameo in it.' Trump’s executive antics silenced federal Black history preservation, but as the government peaces out, Black activists rebuild cinemas, churches, and plantations one grant at a time, proving that where historians fear to tread, activists bring the receipts.
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When the government ghosted Black history like it was last season's HBO drama, Black philanthropists showed up with Netflix-level budgets and zero tolerance for historical deleting.
If FBI Agents cleaned up history the way Trump's admin is scrubbing equity, we'd have no 90s sitcoms left.
Trump’s idea of history preservation is like deleting your browser cache — now with less memory for Black achievements.
Source: Axios | Published: 2/1/2026 | Author: Russell Contreras
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