Looking to Black and Indigenous Foremothers to Resist Erasure

In the local area, a significant aspect of American history remains overlooked. The contributions and lives of free Black women and Indigenous women, who are considered foremothers of generations of African Americans, are largely absent from the official narrative of American freedom. Their erasure from historical records and public memory has been a longstanding issue, dating back to colonial times. The earliest colonial records, such as the 1620 Virginia census, reduced individuals to categories, obscuring their identities and histories. Further details on this topic are available from Ms. Magazine, which explores the systematic erasure of these women and their descendants from American history.