~~ January 2021 Newsletter ~~

Happy New Year ~ Happy New Beginnings!
A Message from our Co-CEO's
~~~
Bringing LOVE to the Fight
Dear Friends and Family,

In July, we joined hearts and hands in leadership of CTTT - RVA. In our new roles as co-CEO's, in the midst of a global health pandemic, political conflicts, an economic crisis and racial unrest - we worked together with dozens of faithful volunteers, dedicated contracted staff and loyal participants to meet the challenges of 2020. We realized early on that our charge as leadership would require more than the business-as-usual approach. It would require the spiritual strength that comes with holding a vision - living and speaking into the future what our CTTT - RVA community wanted to see and be. We had to BELIEVE something we could not see was possible, as if it already existed. It was our job to make this happen, or rather, support our whole team in bringing this about.

Affirmation is the backbone of transformation. Both of us start the day literally RAISING OUR SPIRITS. One of the sources we use is Sojourners Magazine. Often inspiring, it bravely focuses on current issues that wind up on our virtual desk every day. Please enjoy Adam Russell Taylor's offering on the power of affirmation. It definitely will take you places you - and we - have never been.

Adam Russell Taylor writes, "...I stopped making New Year’s resolutions and replaced them with what I call New Year’s affirmations. Resolutions can often feel like weights that cause you to sink under pressure and expectation rather than a flotation device to lift you up to attain your hopes and aspirations. Building on what has worked for me personally, I want to share some affirmations for our nation and world, as well as for Sojourners' work and mission in 2021..."

Our affirmations for this new year:

  • Together, we are able to ENVISION a racially healed Richmond.
  • Together, we are all able to AFFIRM stability.
  • Together, we are able to GROW into that vision. 

Bringing LOVE to the fight...and to our TABLE -

Marsha Summers, Co-CEO Danita Rountree Green, Co-CEO
National Day of Racial Healing
Commemoration
Tuesday, January 19, 2021
7:00 - 8:30 pm EST / 4:00 - 5:30 pm PST**
Coming To The Table - RVA presents an impactful MUSICAL and storytelling event on Zoom for ALL 45 chapters in 18 states...and beyond!

The event is designed to energize our nationwide CTTT chapters, celebrate our growth in 2020 and galvanize and inspire us all for the work ahead in 2021. Join us for this 90-minute special event, highlighting the vision, mission and powerful approach of CTTT. This event is co-sponsored by the Living Legacy Project. Through its programs and pilgrimages, LLP educates the public about the American Civil Rights Movement and its enduring lessons in order to challenge and inspire ordinary people to do extraordinary things.

Come join this free event that will inspire and support racial healing. Invite a friend!

**See link in the right column about a National Day of Racial Healing film screening event on this same evening, in part sponsored by the Arkansas CTTT affiliate, and beginning at 9 pm EST, after our event!

Education For Action Book Circle
(2nd Thursday of the Month)
Thursday, January 14
Via Zoom
6:30pm - 8:00 pm EST
Throughout 2021, the Education For Action Book Circle will be taking a deep dive into:

Black Reconstruction in America
by W.E.B. Dubois

In January we will begin with reading the first three chapters.

Each month we will look at a few chapters together to delve deeper into why this has become such an influential text! Dubois’ analysis of the first reconstruction period offers indispensable insight for how we understand and act in this kairos moment.

Come join us and learn about the Third Reconstruction moment.

Contact Darren for more information.
CTTT - RVA Movie Circle
(4th Monday of the month)
Voices of Fire
(6 episodes on Netflix)

Monday, January 25th
Via Zoom
6:30 pm - 7:30 pm EST
Bishop Ezekiel Williams of Faith World Ministries in Hampton Roads, VA and his panel of judges set out to create a great Gospel Choir filled with voices of every age and color. The six episodes take you on this journey from Audition to final Performance.

Our ZOOM conversation about this movie is scheduled for Monday, January 25 starting at 6:30pm. Please watch the movie prior to our gathering and come prepared to participate in our ZOOM discussion. Reservations are limited and the deadline is January 23.

Contact Julie to be added to the Movie Circle mailing list and to receive an invitation to the next gathering.
And under the auspices of the Good Fellowship Circle:

Racism at Work (RAW)
...for a Deeper Understanding of Systemic Racism
(mostly 4th Wednesdays)
RAW Truth Session 1
Racism and Systemic Racism:
What Are They and How Do They Relate?
Featuring Sabrina Dent, PhD
Wednesday, January 27
Via Zoom
7:00 pm – 8:30 pm EST
Learn the RAW Truth about systemic racism in Richmond. This inaugural RAW Truth Session will give Coming To The Table - RVA members and friends the opportunity to hear from a subject matter expert and build a deeper understanding of systemic racism, as opposed to personal racism or prejudice. Explore how the social constructs of race and racism have been systematically woven into the very fabric of the many social, cultural, economic, and political sectors that stitch Richmond - and America - together.

The first session will feature Dr. Sabrina Dent, Senior Faith Advisor for Americans United for Separation of Church and State.

A separately emailed event invitation will be sent within the next week. In the meantime, contact our team if you have any questions.
Reading For Change Book Circle
(4th Thursday of the month)
Stolen: Five Free Boys Kidnapped into Slavery and Their Astonishing Odyssey Home
by Richard Bell 
Thursday, January 28
Via Zoom
6:30 pm – 8:30 pm EST
Per goodreads.com: "A gripping and true story about five boys who were kidnapped in the North and smuggled into slavery in the Deep South—and their daring attempt to escape and bring their captors to justice, reminiscent of Twelve Years a Slave and Never Caught.

Impeccably researched and breathlessly paced, Stolen tells the incredible story of five boys whose courage forever changed the fight against slavery in America."

Email our co-conveners team to be added to our Book Circle mailing list to receive an invitation and Zoom details.
Reparations Circle
Now is the time to act. Get involved. Help create a more just and equitable America.
Share Your Blessings
For those of you that have been blessed, for the month of January, please consider helping us build meal kits for the The Atlantic Outreach group. These kits will contain ingredients needed to make a full meal for a family of four. 
Project Harmony Cemetery
Join Lex Musta, (Project Director, History, Arts & Science Action Network - HASAN), for a conversation on the important restorative justice work of Project Harmony Cemetery. This work helps ensure the lives of these heroic Liberation Community members in DC, many of whom made significant contributions to American life with import reaching to the present day, are remembered, and honored.
Looking to help "fix what's broken" in RVA and not sure where to start? Check out these opportunities where you can lend your time and talents to create lasting change.
If you would like to join this circle to learn more about opportunities with which you can help, please join us.
In This Issue...

1.Message from Co-CEO's

2.National Day of Racial Healing

3.Education for Action Book Circle

4.Movie Circle

5.Racism At Work (RAW)

6.Reading for Change Book Circle

7.Local members in Action

8.CTTT masks available

9.2021 CTTT - RVA Monthly Theme Calendar

10.New CTTT - RVA roles, new programs
HIGHLIGHTED EVENTS

(RVA): CTTT - RVA Event
(NAT): CTTT - National Event

(Live ONLINE; also recorded)
CTTT Guided Meditation via ZOOM (NAT)
Contact Hayat with questions after checking out the link above.

Education For Action Book Circle via ZOOM (RVA)
Contact Darren to be added to mailing list.

National Day of Racial Healing
Special Musical Event via ZOOM (RVA).
Contact Hayat for more information.

Movie Circle
via ZOOM (RVA) Contact Julie to be added to mailing list.

RAW (Racism at Work) Special Event with Dr. Sabrina Dent, expert presenter
via ZOOM (RVA). Contact our team to be added to mailing list.

Reading for Change Book Circle via ZOOM (RVA)
Contact Book Circle Co-Conveners to be added to mailing list.

From our Arkansas CTTT Family:

Film Screening event for National Day of Racial Healing on 1/19/21 at 9:00 pm EST (1/2 hr. after our event)

Imaginary Walls: A Documentary About Healing Racism

CTTT - RVA 3rd Tuesday (and beyond)
Theme Calendar
for 2021!
Look out for more awesome programs as we move
through another exciting year of learning and
growing together! Here’s a sneak-peek of the
themes we will be featuring each month. Don’t
miss a moment; it’s going to be revolutionary!


JANUARY
Racial Healing
FEBRUARY
Black History / Black Future Month
MARCH
Women’s History Month/
Black Feminism & Intersectionality

APRIL
Taking Care of Each Other & the Earth

MAY
People Over Prisons/Freedom Fighters

JUNE
Making Room at the Table/ Celebrating Inclusivity

JULY
Local Heroes/ Celebrate Richmond

AUGUST
Sacred Ground: Preserve the Past

SEPTEMBER
Family Reunion/ Art & Culture

OCTOBER
Monuments & Movements

NOVEMBER
Truth & Reconciliation/ Remembering our Ancestors

DECEMBER
Giving Back/ Reparations
Happy New Year/ Happy New Happenings in 2021
We are pleased to announce & celebrate those who have graciously taken on new leadership roles within CTTT - RVA in 2020.

Thank you for stepping up to meet the
challenges presented during the pandemic - for supporting our growth & for carrying us into a new EVENTFUL year!
*Barbara Brown
is now Co-Chair with Martha Rollins of our Board of Directors

*Julie Appleby
& Meldon Jenkins-Jones
are now Co-Conveners of the Movie Circle

*Ambassador, Jo Booker, has accepted the role of Co-Convener of the Facilitators Circle with Bonnie Dowdy

*Hayat Bain, who has served and serves in many capacities, is now our Communications Coordinator and continues as a 3rd Tuesday gathering co-convener

We also celebrate the creation of our new Book Circle -
Education4Action,
co-convened by
Darren Utley &
Cheryl Goode

And the resurgence of the Good Fellowship Circle, with Co-Conveners, Jerry Swerling & Clarence McGill, launching the RAW Series (Racism At Work).

*Special thank you to board member
Tina Slaughter & SEED Lead Frank Moseley II for taking on roles as Reparations Circle
Co-Conveners
Thank you all for your service & for bringing your talents to the table!
Check out what YOUR local CTTT - RVA family is putting into action...
Join Doug Steele as he traverses from Richmond through the Appalachian Mountains to Alabama, out to the scenic western parks and back home. Doug's journey takes him on the Alabama Civil Rights Trail where he was able to see where Martin Luther King, Jr. penned his famous Letter from a Birmingham Jail and visit the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI) site, which is comprised of the National Memorial for Peace and Justice and the Legacy Museum.
"Driving away from the EJI, I passed by grand old antebellum homes that were in disrepair and abandoned. It seemed clear that the South is in urgent need of a racial reconciliation in order to move forward. So much remains to be done."
16th Street Baptist Church
Statue across the street from the church
"If indeed a society is judged by how it treats its weakest members, we have a big to-do list."
For a video tour of Doug's stops in Birmingham and Montgomery...
Were you ever curious about those monthly Guided Meditations provided for by the national Coming To The Table Mindfulness Working Group and on the national website? Well, this month's meditation will be led by CTTT - RVA's very own Hayat Bain!

Check it out and begin to find the inner peace we all so long for!
 Sign Up to become a Coming To The Table national member
We encourage all CTTT - RVA members to also become members of Coming To The Table at the national level. Our local chapter is part of a big family all across our nation, under a collective umbrella.

As a member of Coming To The Table, you become part of a nationwide community committed to truth-telling, transformation and liberation. 

There's no membership fee to join Coming To The Table, but the ability for CTTT to meet ever-growing needs, including providing support to our local chapter, DOES depend on the generous financial support of our members. So we hope you will contribute financially, as you are able!

See link in the next section for purchasing a Coming To The Table face mask.
Available Now!

Protect yourself and others! Proudly display your commitment to racial healing and justice during the Covid-19 pandemic with this Coming To The Table logo Face Mask. All profits will go to support the work of Coming To The Table. More information can be found here.
Make your 2021 affirmation to
take action!
Become a CTTT - RVA volunteer!
Thank you to all of our generous donors in 2020!

Your support of racial healing, truth telling, greater interracial understanding and the dismantling of systems of oppression are making a difference in Richmond and beyond!
Because of her interactions with CTTT - RVA, one member wrote:

“I have new insights, greater wisdom, a greater sense of belonging to this one human race, a restored interest in research and learning, and a strong desire to share what I have learned with others outside this company of survivors and strivers." --JB
Coming To The Table - RVA