Police investigate death of beloved African American museum founder found dead in car trunk

According to CBS News, on Friday afternoon, a body was found in the trunk of her car and police confirmed it was that of 75-year-old Sadie Roberts-Joseph, a well known community activist in the Baton Rouge area. She was found just three miles from her home. Roberts-Joseph was known for her love of Black culture and her unceasing charity work. In 2001, she founded the Odell S. Williams Now & Then African American History Museum, which then became the Baton Rouge African American History Museum. The museum showcases various exhibits and artifacts that tell the stories of Black locals. According to the museum’s Facebook post Roberts-Joseph was born in rural Mississippi and settled in Baton Rouge. She had 11 siblings and grew up in the segregated south and becamea renowned advocate/activist who became the founder of the only museum dedicated to African and Black history in Baton Rouge. She would tell visitors “Culture is the glue that holds a people together. Take a step back in time and leap into your future.” 

Roberts-Joseph had also been at the center of the movement to make Juneteenth a national holiday and organized the annual celebration in the city. Her spirit was so abundant and her activism so widely felt that the Baton Rouge Police Department released a statement saying that they will do whatever it takes to determine what happened to Roberts-Joseph. “Ms. Sadie was a tireless advocate of peace in the community. We had opportunities to work with her on so many levels,” the Baton Rouge Police Department said in a statement. “Ms. Sadie is a treasure to our community. She will be missed by BRPD and her loss will be felt in the community she served. Our detectives are working diligently to bring the person or persons responsible for this heinous act to justice.” READ MORE: Miami high school teacher accused of racism allowed to hang Confederate flag at mostly minority school Though authorities have been tight-lipped about how Roberts-Joseph’s body was discovered, officials are calling her death a homocide. Baton Rouge Mayor Sharon Weston Broome and State Rep. C. Denise Marcelle made public posts about Roberts-Joseph’s untimely death. “In the midst of managing a major weather event in our parish, I was hit with some devastating news — the murder of a dear friend and a mother of the community — Sadie Roberts-Joseph,” Broome wrote in an Instagram post on Sunday. “I’ve deliberately waited to comment because of the level of love and respect I had for Sadie; and because it was such shocking news. She loved this city and its people. Her commitment to the cultural and educational fabric of our community is beyond description.”  

Source: Thegrio.com

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CBS News • Activism • Baton Rouge, Louisiana • African-American history • National Museum of American History • Baton Rouge, Louisiana • African-American history • National Museum of American History • Facebook • Mississippi • Baton Rouge, Louisiana • Racial segregation in the United States • The Advocate (Louisiana) • Activism • Philanthropy • African Americans • African-American history • Baton Rouge, Louisiana • Culture • Step Back in Time • Juneteenth • Baton Rouge Police Department • Baton Rouge Police Department • Person • Person • Edwin Godwin Reade • Miami, Oklahoma • Racism • Confederate States of America • Minority group • Authority • Baton Rouge, Louisiana • Mayor • Sharon Weston Broome • C. Denise Marcelle • Instagram • Love •