Richmond's Black History Museum joins global network for education on slavery

The big picture: UNESCO, the UN's internal cultural and educational agency, earlier this month selected 22 sites worldwide to create the Network of Places of History and Memory linked to Enslavement and the Slave Trade.

• The initiative is part of the agency's broader mission to memorialize the experiences of enslaved people and their descendants.
• Participation in the program will allow the institutions to share best practices for preservation, interpretation and educating the public about the legacy of slavery.

Zoom in: BHMVA was selected for the inaugural class of places.

• UNESCO also selected President Lincoln's Cottage in D.C. and two sites in South Carolina: the International African American Museum in Charleston and Penn Center on St. Helena Island.

• Museums and cultural institutions in Mexico, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Ghana, Haiti, the Netherlands and Nigeria are also in the inaugural class.

What they're saying: "To tell the historically significant and indelibly intertwined narrative of the role of Richmond, Virginia, and the enslaved Black bodies who were here in the full context of the national and global fight for freedom is our honor," BHMVA executive director Shakia Gullette Warren said in a statement.