UnRested:
Echoes from the Grave
A new docu-series unveiling the untold stories of Tampa Bay’s 11 lost Black cemeteries
Based on the award-winning journalism of Paul Guzzo
UnRested is an investigative journalism docuseries that pulls back the veil on one of America’s most overlooked injustices: the deliberate erasure of Black cemeteries. Anchored in over 150 articles and the exclusive reporting of award-winning journalist Paul Guzzo, this four-part series investigates Tampa Bay’s eleven lost Black burial grounds—and reveals a much larger national story of systemic cover-ups, racial injustice, and historical amnesia.
Our five-minute teaser is more than a trailer—it’s a reckoning. It grips viewers with stark visuals, black-and-white photographs, and unearthed records that speak louder than headlines. These aren’t isolated incidents. They’re evidence of a broader American pattern.
Logline:
"UnRested: Echoes from the Grave" unveils the hidden stories of 11 lost Black burial grounds in Tampa Bay, following journalist Paul Guzzo as he exposes systemic erasure and explores the lasting impact of racial injustice on the American narrative.
Investigating Erased Cemeteries: Why It Matters
This is journalism in motion—exposing truths long buried and demanding accountability. UnRested is remembrance, resistance, and a call to action. Because once you know the truth, you can’t unsee it.
The series investigates four interwoven themes through the lens of Tampa's II lost cemeteries:
1. Systematic Erasure: How policies, greed, and prejudice buried history.
2. Forgotten Legacies: The lives and stories of those lost to time
3. Community Impact: The enduring scars of racial cover-ups on Black families.
4. Patterns of Injustice: Connecting Tampa's story to a larger American patter of racial oppression
Episode Summaries
The docuseries will explore four themes of the Il lost, erased and destroyed Black cemeteries found throughout the Tampa Bay area.
How it started
In 2018, Ray Reed, the retired head of Hillsborough County's indigent healthcare system, reached out to the Tampa Bay Times with an intriguing claim- he was regularly visited by a nearby indigent cemetery's ghosts who pestered him to bring them dignity in death.
How it happened
Following the Civil War, freed enslaved men and women founded their own communities outside the Tampa Bay area's city's limits. Each community had a school church and cemetery But, as the cities' populations grow, the boundaries expanded and used questionable but legal devices to take the land
The people of the cemeteries
When the cemeteries were erased, so were the stories of their founders and those buried in each. Those include one freed enslaved man who rose to become a state senator who helped found Florida's modern education system and another who created the largest
What next
Most of those who own the cemeteries did not know they were purchasing land with erased graves of planeering Black residents. Now, the cities, counties and the state must wrestle with how to make these property owners financially whole-some have lost millions of dollars
Style and Voice:
UnRested combines the depth of investigative journalism with the artistry of immersive storytelling. Using a non-linear narrative, the series masterfully weaves Tampa's buried histories with similar injustices across the US, creating a visually haunting yet deeply empathetic experience. Through archival footage, poignant interviews, and modern-day visuals, the series captures the visceral reality of systemic racism while amplifying voices of resilience and hope.
The Story
Exclusive Investigative Archive Behind UnRested
