Monuments are all around us … testaments to people and places of the past. Today’s BUZZ begins with just such a monument located on the courthouse lawn in Franklin County, Virginia, honoring the county s ancestors who fought for the Confederacy in the Civil War. It’s a common monument in the South, but increasingly, people are asking why? Who is it honoring? Who is it not? Ignored by county officials to have the monument removed, the nonprofit Franklin County NAACP has created a project called “ Raising the Shade” to build new monuments that celebrate the county s 70 African-American ancestors who fought for the Union during the Civil War in a branch of the Army known as the United States Colored Troops. This is part 1 in a series that BUZZ is privileged to produce in 2025 following the Franklin County NAACP’s work.