Dennis Farm Charitable Land Trust's 2025 “It Begins with Each of Us: Fostering Racial Understanding” Forum

With a shared commitment to presenting a more inclusive—and thus a more accurate—telling of our nation’s history, the Museum and the Dennis Farm Charitable Land Trust hosted the eighth “It Begins with Each of Us: Fostering Racial Understanding” forum, a candid conversation about race in our nation’s history at the Museum on Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025.

The theme of this year's forum was “The Declaration of Independence and Equality" and explored the ways in which, despite its novelty and immediate promise, the Declaration surpassed expectations but also fell short; how its ideals have been adapted and have proliferated but also have yet to be fully realized even to this day. Panelists also discussed how African Americans, other people of color, and women have fought to make the ideals of the Declaration applicable to their own communities throughout history, and how we apply those struggles to our reverence for and appreciation of this founding document today.

Featured panelists included Jeffrey Rosen, President and CEO of the National Constitution Center, and Martha S. Jones, a cultural-legal historian and the Society of Black Alumni Presidential Professor at The Johns Hopkins University. The conversation was moderated by Adrienne G. Whaley, Director of Education and Community Engagement at the Museum of the American Revolution.

Featured Panelists:

• Jeffrey Rosen
  President and CEO of the National Constitution Center
• Martha S. Jones
  Cultural-legal historian and the Society of Black Alumni Presidential Professor at The Johns Hopkins University

Moderator:

• Adrienne G. Whaley
  Director of Education and Community Engagement at the Museum of the American Revolution