Learning from Greensboro

Lisa Magarrell, a human rights lawyer and Senior Associate at the International Center for Transitional Justice, was an advisor to the Greensboro Truth and Reconciliation process. Joya Wesley, a Greensboro-based writer, editor, and public relations consultant, was Communications Director for the Greensboro Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Bongani Finca is a former member of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

• Foreword, by Bongani FincaPrefaceList of AbbreviationsPART I. INTRODUCING THE TRUTHChapter One. The Truth about GreensboroChapter Two. Remembering Victims and SurvivorsChapter Three. Individual TruthsChapter Four. The Truth Commission IdeaPART II. THE TRUTH-SEEKING PROCESSChapter Five. Building the FrameworkChapter Six. Seating the CommissionChapter Seven. Starting up, Establishing IndependenceChapter Eight. Research and the Complexity of TruthChapter Nine. Engaging the PublicChapter Ten. The ReportChapter Eleven. Next Steps and ResponsePART III. PEOPLE, POLITICS, LESSONS AND LEGACYChapter Twelve. The Project and the CommissionChapter Thirteen. The Media and Official GreensboroChapter Fourteen. Opposition and CritiquesChapter Fifteen. Interest and Support from OutsideChapter Sixteen. Lessons from the ProcessChapter Seventeen. An Early AssessmentChapter Eighteen. Comparing GreensboroChapter Nineteen. Greensboro's LegacyNotesIndexAcknowledgments

"Greensboro's Truth and Reconciliation process was a crucial step into something new for America: it recognized that so long as the darker events of our communal past lie buried and unacknowledged, they act like toxic waste, seeping continually to the surface to poison the present. This book is a very human and insightful record of one city's courageous attempt to expose and cleanse its buried shame. It has important guidance and encouragement for other potential TRC-type processes in the USA."-Rev. Dr. Peter Storey, Professor Emeritus, Duke University Divinity School, former South African TRC selector"A mid-sized town in America decides to confront its painful past, which harkens back two decades and stretches beyond the zone of comfort for many. This book, both unerringly honest and wonderfully accessible, opens us to a fascinating process which brought South Africa, Peru, and Northern Ireland to North Carolina. Do we have something to learn from our past? We certainly do. Is confronting the truth easy? Absolutely not. This terrific book shows us just how, and why."-Priscilla Hayner, author of Unspeakable Truths: Facing the Challenge of Truth Commissions"A great, optimistic story. It will be read widely and will drive more and more communities to engage in the hard work of establishing and supporting TRCs."-Alfred L. Brophy, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill"The story and experiences detailed in these pages serve as an excellent blueprint for future communities across the world, including the United States, interested in gaining reconciliation and hope for facing the future-together."-North Carolina Historical Review"Highly recommended."-Choice