Why Invest in the Mission of the Descendants Truth & Reconciliation Foundation?
Some debts cannot be measured in dollar amounts. They can, however, be measured in what was taken: in children separated from their parents, in labor never compensated, in names nearly erased from history, and in what was never given: education, dignity, and safety.
In 1838, the Society of Jesus sold more than 272 enslaved people — women, men, children, and infants — to save Georgetown University from financial ruin. The lives and forced labor of these individuals were leveraged to fund institutions that would go on to shape American education and American Catholicism. For generations, this history was buried in the past.
Today, the Descendants Truth & Reconciliation Foundation exists to ensure that what was taken is returned — not as a transaction, but as transformation for generations of Descendants to come.
Investing in People
The Foundation’s programs are responses to the conditions those 272 people were sold into. Despite promises made by the Jesuits who sold them, they were denied education, safety, and care in old age, and even the right to gather in community. Each of the Foundation’s pillars addresses these denials directly.
Through the Descendant Scholarship Program, the Foundation partners with Thurgood Marshall College Fund to award need-based scholarships to students at HBCUs and other post-secondary institutions, including community colleges. Hear directly from scholar August Matthews, a junior at Loyola University Maryland earning a degree in communications.
Through the Aging with Dignity Program, the Foundation partners with Rosarium Health to help elderly Descendants remain safely in their homes. Through home modifications designed by licensed contractors and clinically trained assessors, Descendants can age with dignity, surrounded by the lives they’ve built. Read about the ramp installed at Guy Locklear’s home in Baltimore, allowing him to move in and out of his home safely.
Through the Community Healing Program, the Foundation partners with organizations such as Dialogue on Race Louisiana and The Stories of Us to create spaces where Descendants and Jesuits can sit in honest proximity with one another to listen, reckon, and begin to close a distance that silence has long stood between them. Hear from a visitor to The Stories of Us exposition at last year’s Juneteenth celebration in New Orleans.
Impact That Reaches Beyond Descendants
When a Descendant earns a degree, it changes the trajectory of their family for generations. When an elder Descendant remains safely in their home, they stay connected to their family, community, and history. When a Jesuit and a Descendant come together to listen, not debate, the distance between them, once defined by silence, begins to close, allowing true healing to begin. Reconciliation is a gift given to all, and so the reach of this work extends further still.
This work is just as important on an institutional level. When institutions reckon with the past, they become more credible and worthy of the trust they ask of the world. Georgetown University and the Society of Jesus have been changed by this work, too.
Learn more about this unique partnership between the Descendants of the enslaved and the present successors of Jesuit enslavers:
How To Become Part Of This Journey
You can advance the work of truth and reconciliation forward through many kinds of contributions. Whether through financial gifts, volunteer time, strategic connections, or sharing your story, what you bring makes an impact.