Descendants of Jesuit Slaveholding Are Pursuing Truth and Racial Healing

AMDG: A Jesuit Podcast

In the year 1838, the Jesuits of the Maryland Province sold at least 272 enslaved men, women and children to a plantation owner in Louisiana, in part to provide financial support to Georgetown University, which was struggling at the time. The Jesuits have long been aware of this shameful history, but living Descendants of the 272 enslaved persons have only learned about their ancestors over the past five years thanks to meticulous genealogical research. More than 10,000 living Descendants have been identified since 2016. Two of those Descendants are today's guests: Joe Stewart and Cheryllyn Branche. After learning of their family histories, Joe and Cheryllyn worked together with other Descendants to found the GU 272 Association. The association approached the Jesuits in 2017, looking to dialogue with the Society of Jesus in pursuit of creating a billion-dollar foundation to support racial justice work and educational opportunities for Descendants. Our third guest today is one of the Jesuits who participated in this dialogue process, Fr. Timothy P. Kesicki, SJ, the president of the Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States. These three along with other Descendant leaders and representatives from the Jesuits and Georgetown University went through a years-long dialogue process and arrived at a memorandum of understanding: The Jesuits of the US would contribute $15 million to start the foundation and pledge to fundraise an additional $85 million. The result is the Descendants Truth and Reconciliation Foundation, which was announced this past March. The foundation marks the first time in history the Descendants of those enslaved have collaborated like this with successors of the enslavers. You can learn more about the history and the foundation at their website, which is www.descendants.org. Joe, Cheryllyn and Fr. Tim talked to host Mike Jordan Laskey about the dialogue process and their vision for the foundation. They hope this unique pathway forward might inspire similar efforts throughout the country. Learn more about the GU 272 Descendants Association: https://gu272.net/ Learn more about the Descendants Truth and Reconciliation Foundation: https://www.descendants.org/ AMDG is a production of the Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States.