There are about 500 streets, bridges, neighborhoods, schools, and monuments in New York City bearing the names of slave owners. Identifying these places has been the work of Slavers of NY, a group of activists, educators, and researchers using historical data and street art to expose the legacy of racism and slavery in NYC.

Generation after generation, Black children have grown up surrounded by a constructed geography that suggests that the people worthy of recognition are the very people responsible for their oppression. The toll these white supremacist monuments have on Black communities is incalculable.

But the urban landscape is just a reflection of the culture that built it. The issue is not just about one street, or one racist monument – It’s about a system that upholds white supremacy to its core.

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Map by Jordan Engel. As always, the Decolonial Atlas’ original media can be reused under the Decolonial Media License 0.1.