In a conversation for Juneteenth, contributors to The Atlantic‘s “Inheritance” project about American history, Black life, and the resilience of memory—including playwright and Atlantic contributing writer Anna Deavere Smith, senior editor Vann R. Newkirk II, staff writer and author of the new book How the Word Is Passed Clint Smith, and managing editor and “Inheritance” lead Gillian B. White—share reflections on their writing to surface Black history that has been intentionally obscured, and shake our national memory.

The first two chapters of “Inheritance” examined the stories we tell ourselves and the spaces and places where the memories of Black history live, with essays from Anna Deavere Smith on her experience as a Black woman at a predominantly white college; Vann Newkirk on the threats to the Voting Rights Act; and Clint Smith with the June issue cover story, “The War on Nostalgia,” on what it will take to end the myth of the Lost Cause.

Support for The Atlantic’s “Inheritance” project is provided by Salesforce.