The history of North Star Legacy Communities has been shaped both by national events, like the great migration, and local context. These historical events include periods of oppression and enslavement, emancipation, barriers in land ownership, racial violence, and turbulent economic movements.

 

North Star Legacy Communities (NSLC) are a collective and organic living museum of African American cultural heritage and resilient ingenuity. NSLCs were founded on plantation by the enslaved and some freedman. Their existence is supported by oral history content, marriages, burial grounds, built structures and, overt participation in gaining education, etc.
 

Many of these “Legacy Communities” survive to this day, but are threatened by issues such as heirs' property, economic flight, gentrification, lack of investment. Through the NSLC initiative, communities are reclaiming their histories and ensuring their future.