Stories of Local Activism #5
Reimagining America Project
Building a “Beloved Community” Through Truth, Testimony, and Systemic Repair
Charlotte, North Carolina
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The Reimagining America Project (RAP) began in 2020 after the murder of George Floyd.
It grew out of a meeting between Rev. Dr. Rodney Sadler and former Charlotte Mayor Jennifer Roberts during local protests. They felt that real change would require dealing with racism at its source, instead of simply responding to repeated crises.
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RAP brings people together to look honestly at how racism has shaped life in Charlotte, both in the past and today. The group runs public events and issue-based committees that collect stories, records, and community testimony. This creates a space for residents to be heard and for the wider community to witness harm that is often ignored or minimized.
RAP also aims to move beyond conversation. It calls on local institutions to acknowledge their role in unequal outcomes and to take concrete steps to repair harm. The focus is on building shared understanding, strengthening accountability, and pushing for changes that people can see in policies, practices, and everyday life.
RAP community meeting outside Grace A.M.E. Zion Church, a historic building in the former Brooklyn African-American neighborhood in Charlotte, N.C.
Brooklyn Village was razed in the 1960s.
RAP also aims to move beyond conversation. It calls on local institutions to acknowledge their role in unequal outcomes and to take concrete steps to repair harm. The focus is on building shared understanding, strengthening accountability, and pushing for changes that people can see in policies, practices, and everyday life.
Mission
Reimagining America’s mission is to call to account the history of racialized oppression in Charlotte, and then to foster—through testimony, witnessing, and atonement—measurable systemic changes to end systemic racism permanently.
What They Do
RAP’s work is organized as a commission with public-facing truth-telling and committee-led focus areas.
1. Convene public truth-telling through “witness” hearings
RAP’s commission model centers testimony from multiple types of witnesses.
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Historical witnesses: Context-setting presentations on systems such as housing, education, policing, and health access.
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Impacted witnesses: Short personal statements and Q&A to ensure stories are fully told.
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Confessing witnesses: For systems that are implicated in disparity, representatives acknowledge the harm and bring plans or resources for change.
2. Advance committee-led focus areas
RAP’s published focus areas are Bridging the Gap, Criminal Justice, Health Justice, Education, Environment, and Voting Rights.
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Bridging the Gap: RAP equips communities with tools and spaces for difficult conversations, dialogue, and relationship-building across difference. This focus area emphasizes civic trust, shared understanding, and community capacity to engage constructively across lines of race, identity, and experience.
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Voting Rights: RAP addresses how discrimination and structural barriers shape political power and participation, with an emphasis on expanding equitable access and representation. This work reinforces democratic inclusion by helping communities understand and confront the systems that suppress or dilute civic voice.
3. Host civic learning events and partnerships
RAP convenes civic learning opportunities and collaborations. It also hosts legal experts to address public concerns and explain election security and dispute processes.
Mission and Challenges
Rev. Dr. Rodney Sadler and the Honorable Jennifer Roberts
Theory of Change
Truth-telling + Witnessing + Atonement → Measurable Systems Change
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Create community-facing truth and documentation
Use hearings and structured testimony to surface the lived impacts of racialized systems and establish a shared factual record.
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Build cross-community capacity to talk, learn, and act
Pair truth-telling with skills for dialogue and relationship-building, so communities can sustain hard work beyond a single moment.
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Translate testimony into focus-area solutions
Committees connect historical patterns to current disparities and elevate practical reforms across education, health, environment, criminal justice, and voting rights.
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Move institutions from acknowledgment to repair
The model explicitly includes “confessing witnesses” from systems that have contributed to disparity, paired with plans/resources intended to support systemic change.
IMPACT
Some of the key milestones:
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​Hosted its first public hearing in May 2021 (“The Racialization of the Criminal Justice System”), featuring notable witnesses, including state Senator Mujtaba Mohammed.
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In July 2022, RAP hosted its first in-person retreat for the Board and Commissioners to convene and share a vision for the future.
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Sept 2022 RAP collaborated with The Carter Center on a Trusted Elections town hall focused on public concerns and election integrity processes.
Take Action
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Share this story with your network.
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Attend events and/or watch recordings: https://www.reimaginingamericaproject.org/event
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Join or support committee work: https://www.reimaginingamericaproject.org/committees
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Donate to RAP: https://www.reimaginingamericaproject.org/donate
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Follow Their Work
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ReimaginingAmericaProject
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/upsemcsjr/?hl=en
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Connect to Learn More
Website: www.reimaginingamericaproject.org
Email: info@ReimaginingAmericaProject.org
