CHICAGO (AP) — Black cemeteries are scattered throughout the United States, telling the story of the country’s deep past of cemetery segregation.

As these burial grounds for the dead mirrored the racial divisions of the living, Black communities organized to defend the dignity of their deceased and oppose racist cemetery policies.

Many Black Americans excluded from white-owned cemeteries built their own burial spaces, and their descendants are working to preserve the grounds.

Racism still haunts these cemeteries, though. Many are at risk of being lost and lack the support other cemeteries have received.