About Us
Celebrating and promoting accessibility to Black heritage across the United States
Our Story
The Black Grassroots Heritage Preservation Network was founded by Marcus P. Smith, a Black Studies Scholar, Public Historian, Historical Consultant, and Ph.D. candidate in the W.E.B. Du Bois Department of Afro-American Studies and Public History Program at UMass Amherst. His work and research focus on the history of social movements and the preservation and interpretation of Black cultural landscapes, communities, and historic sites.
Rooted in his personal experiences growing up in the South and his academic and professional work with communities, museums, and preservation efforts, Smith established BGHPN to address challenges Black communities face in preserving their history. His dedication to carrying forward collective Black histories informs BGHPN’s mission to protect, document, share, and amplify these vital cultural narratives. Smith aims to empower individuals, groups, organizations, and communities through this initiative, ensuring their stories and contributions are recognized, sustained, and celebrated.
Contact at marcus@bghpn.org
Advocacy and Community Coordinator
Our Team
Samira Ali, a Public Historian, Archivist, Community Organizer, and cultural worker based in Minneapolis, centers her work on the intersections of race, class, housing, and historical memory. Her research and organizing focus on how working-class Black communities mobilize for material change and how those efforts are remembered, preserved, and made accessible through public history. Rooted in her lived experience and commitment to community-led preservation, Ali brings years of experience documenting public housing history, facilitating oral histories, and curating community-based exhibitions.
She was involved in the creation of We’re Still Here: Glendale Townhomes 70th Anniversary (1952–2022), an award-winning exhibit chronicling one of Minneapolis’s last remaining Section 9 public housing communities. Through storytelling, archival practice, and advocacy, she elevates the knowledge and labor of Black communities that are often excluded from official historical narratives.
As Advocacy and Community Coordinator for BGHPN, Ali helps guide the network’s preservation partnerships, policy-based advocacy, and community engagement strategies. Her work affirms the power of cultural memory as a force for justice and supports BGHPN’s mission to ensure that Black histories, especially those forged at the grassroots, are protected, honored, and sustained.
Contact at aac@bghpn.org
Mission
The Black Grassroots and Heritage Preservation Network (BGHPN) aims to promote the cultural and historical heritage preservation of Black communities. By leveraging digital platforms, advocating for greater access and protection of cultural sites, and amplifying grassroots preservation efforts, we aim to combat the erasure of Black stories and develop a network of providing individuals, groups, organizations, and communities with the resources and support they need to sustain their preservation initiatives. We work to ensure that these histories are not just preserved, but celebrated and shared with future generations.
Vision
To create a future where preserving Black history and cultural heritage is universally accessible, and to empower communities and individuals, beyond traditional institutions, to lead sustainable grassroots preservation efforts with the tools, resources, and support needed to protect their stories and spaces for generations.
Values
BGHPN values collaboration, inclusion, accessibility, education, and social justice. We cultivate ethical partnerships, elevate diverse, community-led preservation efforts, and broaden access to preservation tools and knowledge. We inform the public about rich local Black histories and wield heritage work to confront historical erasure and advance social equity.