Dialogue on Race and Descendants of Truth and Reconciliation Foundation Announce Historic Collaboration
Dialogue on Race and Descendants: Truth and Reconciliation Foundation proudly announces a historic collaboration for a dialogue that includes both Jesuits and Descendants of People enslaved by the Jesuits.
Baton Rouge, Louisiana — In a groundbreaking move, the Descendents Truth and Reconciliation Foundation partnered with Dialogue on Race Louisiana to offer two signature programs: The Historical Throughline Presentation and the Dialogue on Race Original Series. These programs focus on key racial narratives that shape public understanding and behavior, featuring facilitated discussions designed to uncover assumptions and build a shared language grounded in evidence. Together, they provide an educational process for everyday people, political leaders, and institutions to gain the tools and language necessary for understanding race, which can lead to informed actions and meaningful change.
Dialogue on Race President and CEO, Maxine Crump commented on the historic collaboration, “These two programs are customized to align with the goals being developed by THRT and the Society of Jesus (Jesuits), who are actively participating in this collaboration as part of their growing commitment to confront their past and present roles in perpetuating racial hierarchies.”
The Historical Throughline Presentation: June 28, 2025
This two-hour pictorial presentation uses a visual format to trace the deliberate construction of race and racism within American institutions, including law, education, housing, labor, and healthcare. It emphasizes that race has no biological basis but is made real through policy and power. The throughline presentation includes a one-hour dialogue, allowing participants to discuss their experiences related to the historical presentation.
The Dialogue on Race Original Series: July 2025
A four-week series where each session is built around key racial narratives that shape public understanding and behavior. This series will be a facilitated dialogue designed to surface assumptions and build shared language grounded in evidence.
“Racial healing begins when people with power and people who have been harmed sit down — not to debate history, but to confront it together.” said Monique Trusclair Maddox, President and CEO of the Descendants Truth & Reconciliation Foundation. “In these dialogues, Descendants can speak truth to the institutions that once denied their humanity, and Jesuits can listen rather than overlook the past. This creates a shared vulnerability in which real healing, and real change, can take root.”
For more information or media inquiries, contact: Abigail Smithson, Dialogue on Race, Executive Assistant, info@dialogueonracelouisiana.org
About Descendants Truth & Reconciliation Foundation
The 2016 discovery of the second largest sale of enslaved persons in America by Jesuits led to the creation of the Descendants Truth & Reconciliation Foundation, a partnership between the Descendants of the enslaved and the present-day successors of the Jesuit enslavers. The Foundation has a $1 billion vision with key objectives to support the educational aspirations of present and future Descendants; to invest in truth, racial healing and transformation programs in communities throughout America; and providing emergency support for elderly and infirm Descendants.
About Dialogue on Race
Founded in 2012 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Dialogue on Race is a national organization dedicated to ending racism through open and honest conversations. Dialogue on Race programs are acclaimed for their unique, structured series of formatted and facilitated discussions, providing individuals and organizations with a supportive space through an educational process of evidence-based information and practical tools to address race and racism, leading to understanding and change. Dialogue on Race collaborates with communities nationwide to foster sustained, supportive environments for transformation grounded in historical realities.
