The Slavery, Memory, and Reconciliation Initiative has inspired the Georgetown community to create artistic performances, art exhibitions, and documentaries. Below are some of those significant works.
Requiem for the Enslaved (2021)
Carlos Simon, Associate Professor of Performing Arts, composed Requiem for the Enslaved to commemorate the enslaved men, women, and children sold by the Jesuits in 1838. Commissioned by Georgetown University with support from the President’s Office, the committee for Slavery, Memory, and Reconciliation, and the Department of Performing Arts, Simon wrote the composition after visiting the plantation sites in Louisiana associated with the GU272 and visiting the Booth Family Center for Special Collections to see documentation of the sale.
On November 5, 2021, Simon debuted the composition at the Library of Congress. Requiem for the Enslaved was released as an album on June 22, 2022, featuring spoken word written by Marco Pavé, Georgetown University’s Grammy-nominated hip-hop artist-in-residence and musical performances by Hub New Music and Grammy-nominated MK Zulu on the trumpet with Simon on the piano. These artists performed Requiem for the Enslaved at the launch event for the Georgetown Center for the Study of Slavery and Its Legacies on September 19, 2023.
Castellanos, Logan. “Georgetown University Launches Center for the Study of Slavery and Its Legacies with Musical Performance.” The Hoya, September 22, 2023.
Cohen, Nick. “Georgetown Professor Debuts Performance Honoring GU272+ at Library of Congress.” The Hoya, November 19, 2021.
“Conversation with New Hub Music.” Interview by David Plylar with Carlos Simon, Jesse Christeson, Alyssa Wang, Nicholas Brown, Michael Avitabile, November 5, 2021. Posted by The Library of Congress, November 5, 2021.
“Grammy-Nominated Professor Honors 272 Enslaved People Through Hip Hop and Liturgical Work.” University News, November 16, 2022.
Huzienga, Tom. “'Requiem for the Enslaved' holds a major university's truths up to the light.” NPR Music, June 17, 2022.
Left of Black, “Requiem for the Enslaved.” Interview by Marc Anthony Neal for Left of Black with Carlos Simon and Rapper Marco Pavé. Posted by John Hope Franklin Humanities Institute, Duke University, January 26, 2023, YouTube.
Here I Am (2021)
Written and performed by GU272 descendant Mėlisande Short-Colomb, Here I Am describes her complicated relationship with Georgetown University, the institution saved by the sale of her ancestors. This play honors the journey of eleven generations of her maternal grandmothers whose lives have been tied to the Jesuits since the early eighteenth century, when they illegally enslaved Mary Queen.
Thousands have seen Here I Am: it premiered virtually in April 2021, made its in-person premiere at Gaston Hall in April 2023, and was performed at Loyola College in March 2024. Short-Colomb has adapted parts of Here I Am to support the University Seminar on Race, Power, and Justice (UNXD 1200), the one-credit course required of all Georgetown undergraduates.
Other contributors to the production included: Derek Goldman, director; Jared Mezzocchi, multimedia design and direction; and Grammy-Nominated musician Somi, original music. In addition to her ongoing advocacy for the GU272, Short-Colomb serves as a Research and Community Engagement Associate for The Laboratory for Global Performance
Galbraith, Susan. “A powerful theater of witness marks Emancipation Day in ‘Here I Am.’” DC Theater Arts, April 16, 2021.
- Kotkin, Amy. “A descendant of Jesuit human trafficking has her say in ‘Here I Am.’” DC Theater Arts, April 7, 2023.
- Vincentelli, Elisabeth. “How a Multimedia Whiz Seized Digital Theater’s Big Moment.” New York Times, April 21, 2021.
- Wild, Franziska. “Here I Am Is Filled with Ancestors and Living History.” Georgetown Voice, April 11, 2023.
I Am the Bridge (2023)
A production of The Descendants Documentary Project, a series of documentaries that elevate the voices of the GU272 descendants, I Am the Bridge explores the experiences of Mėlisande Short-Colomb as a Georgetown student enrolled in the College of Arts and Sciences. She took advantage of her legacy status for Georgetown admissions in 2016 at the age of 63 to ensure that university remembered the suffering of her ancestors and seriously considered reparations. Short-Colomb inspired students to advocate for reparations from Georgetown who ultimately proposed a student activities fee of $27.20 annually to fund descendant scholarships.
I Am the Bridge has been screened at a Gaston Hall performance of Here I Am (April 2023) and the Universities Studying Slavery Conference at King’s College in Halifax (October 2023). Students taking the University Seminar on Race, Power, and Justice (UNXD) view the film in one of their sessions.
The creative team for I Am the Bridge included: Bernard Cook, Producer and Principal Investigator; Mėlisande Short-Colomb, Creative Principal and Co-Producer; Dawne Langford, Editor; Christina Dropulic, Co-Producer and Assistant Editor; and Kuna Hammad, Director of Cinematography.