African American Lives Financials

The work of the African American Lives project would not be possible without the imagination, intellectual understanding, patience, and support of its pioneering supporter, Eric D. 

A good friend of Takoma's founder, Malik Wilson, the two became fast friends during their time waiting in line for Baltimore's BookThing. Bonding over their love of books and literature, ideas, and the ache of an African American history gone by, what started as an easy, wishful, and reminiscent friendship soon turned to ideas of memorial, impact, preservation, service, and act. 

Named after his daughter Maria and his grandson Jacinto, the EMJ Fund speaks to Eric's lifelong social, civic, and intellectual commitment to the African American community - the community that shaped his life - and Malik's life - and worldview. 

The EMJ Fund's pioneering gift - $40,000 for 2026-2027, and $120,000 for the 2026-2029 term, is a transformative offering that grounds every effort of the African American Lives project, including its library location, Takoma House, in the Washington, DC suburbs. The EMJ Fund's gracious gift frees up efforts to interview, transcribe, and publish 120 books of "ordinary" - but far from ordinary - lives of African Americans in this country. A kind of late, last tribute to a civilization gone by, the EMJ fund is helping to sponsor a kind of final encomium, a memorial poem to one of the greatest generations that ever lived. 

Interested in helping with this important undertaking? Please email us at foundation@takoma.us.