Virginia's Black History Museum projects message to "defend historical truth"

Zoom in: The Black History Museum of Virginia in Jackson Ward honored the April 3 anniversary Wednesday night, with photos of Black soldiers who passed through the Leigh Street Armory projected onto the museum's silhouette.

• References to the Leigh Street Armory, which is known as the oldest U.S. armory for a Black militia and houses, were scrubbed off the Virginia National Guard's site last month as part of the Pentagon's purge of "DEI content."
• The idea for the projections came shortly after that removal.
• And the words shown — "Resist Historical Neglect" and "Defend Historical Truth" — came from the museum's executive director, Shakia Gullette Warren.

Flashback: You might recognize the style from the looping Confederate monument projections that garnered national attention in 2020.

• Both were designed by Richmond-based artists Dustin Klein and Alex Criqui.

What they're saying: "As we continue our mission to preserve and uplift Black history, stories like this remind us why that work is so essential," the museum wrote in a post.