As originally broadcast February 5, 2025, on Blue Ridge PBS …
Monuments are all around us … testaments to people and places of the past. Today’s BUZZ begins with just such a monument located on the courthouse lawn in Franklin County, Virginia, honoring the county’s ancestors who fought for the Confederacy in the Civil War. It’s a common monument in the South, but increasingly, people are asking why? Who is it honoring? Who is it not?
Ignored by county officials to have the monument removed, the #nonprofit Franklin County NAACP has created a project called “Raising the Shade” to build new monuments that celebrate the county’s 70 African-American ancestors who fought for the Union during the Civil War in a branch of the Army known as the United States Colored Troops.
Their work is being funded through a grant from Virginia Tech’s “Monuments Across Appalachian Virginia” initiative, which is in turn funded by the Mellon Foundation.
This is part 1 in a series that BUZZ is privileged to produce in 2025 following the Franklin County NAACP’s work.
#blackhistorymonth #blacklivesmatters #africanamericanhistory #confederatemonument #confederateflag #nonprofit #nonprofitorganization #nonprofitmarketing #buzz4good