The Descendants Truth & Reconciliation Foundation is an established 501(c)(3) nonprofit partnership that works to mitigate the dehumanizing impact of racism on our human family while dismantling the continuing legacy of slavery in America through truth, racial healing and transformation.
The Foundation is the first organization of its kind—a joining of the hearts and hands of the descendants of enslaved ancestors and the present successors of Jesuit enslavers. That’s why this future-looking undertaking is uniquely positioned to advance the transformative power of truth and reconciliation in America.
We have been proud to support the healing journey of the Descendants and the Jesuits as they have faced the truth about the actions in 1838 and together confronted the lasting impact of the sale of slaves to build an institution. In the creation of a Descendants Truth & Reconciliation Trust and Descendants Truth & Reconciliation Foundation, they are marking a transformative path. Their experience is a live example of the power of our Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation (TRHT) methodology. By bringing people together through storytelling, it leads to affirming each person’s common humanity, truth-telling and the transformation of hearts and minds that can lead to positive action.
It was an honor and privilege for me to work with the GU272 Descendants and the Jesuits to create this enduring charitable structure. The Descendants Truth & Reconciliation Trust and the Descendants Truth & Reconciliation Foundation have been carefully designed to provide the framework for the long-overdue and much-needed truth, healing, reconciliation and transformation in organizations, communities and individuals in our nation. By supporting these unique institutions through their development years, Mayer Brown is affirming its core commitment to bring about meaningful change in our nation by fighting systemic racism and promoting racial equity.
The Descendants Truth & Reconciliation Foundation represents an extraordinary vision of racial healing and transformation. Dedicated to the aspirations and the advancement of descendant communities, the Foundation is taking a leading role in addressing the legacies of enslavement in the United States and its impact on families and communities. As an institution that benefited from slavery, our university is honored to partner and participate in this important endeavor and we look forward to the ways that we will collaborate and support the Foundation and its mission. At Georgetown, and across higher education, we share a vital role in supporting the vision of this Foundation.