A Message From Our CEO

SPRING FORWARD

OR FALL BACK

Daylight Saving Time begins on the second Sunday in March. To remember which way to set their clocks, folks use the expression, “Spring forward, fall back.”

I’m one of those folks who always needs a reminder of which way to go. Not just with my clock but also when I’m driving. Yes, I admit that I am directionally challenged - should I take THIS left or my OTHER left? This confusion might also happen when I’m walking somewhere. I was so grateful when my kindergartener, in a moment of frustration, stuck his little hand out with pointer finger up and thumb extended out, and said, “Mommy, LEFT makes an 'L'." That kid is still a genius today.

Question: Which path should I take today?

Answer: It doesn't matter which way you go as long as you go forward.

Thank goodness the planet is on course, the clock is ticking and time is marching on. I can tell when the season is changing - the trees begin to green a bit, it gets warmer, and I’m baffled on which coat-sweater-jacket to put on in the morning. If the garment is too heavy, I’ll ditch it in the middle of the day. It’s okay to let things go. I’m grateful for the choices I have and the decisions I get to make.

When I hear "SPRING FORWARD", I see myself jumping into the newness of life. I’m not losing an hour; I’m getting a headstart on tomorrow! As we spring forward into a vision of a racially healed world, take a moment to smell the flowers and feel the breeze on your cheek. It's a reminder that something else is possible and is coming to life right in front of you. All we have to do is keep moving forward.

Your friends at Coming Together Virginia invite you to march into March with us as we face our weathered past and become active participants in the beautiful blended future that awaits. Move boldly and intentionally into a new beginning for our city, the Commonwealth and the nation. Spring forward with CT-VA!



(DST begins on Sunday, March 12 @ 2:00 A.M. Saturday night clocks are set forward one hour (i.e., losing one hour to “spring forward.”)

Check out this TED Talk where Dr Carmara Jones talks about spring flowers and how racism blooms: Allegories on race and racism | Camara Jones | TEDxEmory

Danita Rountree Green

CT-VA CEO

3RD TUESDAY GATHERING

Dinner & Conversation

March 21st

6:00 - 8:30 pm ET

IN-PERSON

Ginter Park Presbyterian Church

Fellowship Hall

3601 Seminary Ave.

Richmond, VA 23227

Changemakers Unite!

How To Become a Community Advocate

Join Coming Together Virginia  on March 21st and meet area changemakers who are making a difference in their neighborhoods, churches, workplaces and schools. Activist Elijah Lee; Librarian and social advocate Meldon Jenkins Jones; and father and community advocate Lawrence Robinson, who is bringing fathers together who have lost children, as well as others, will share their inspiring stories and information about their organizations or initiatives.

As we have seen, both globally and locally, the best advocates for change are people who can move others to action, no matter their age. If you are thinking of working on global or community advocacy, join us to hear some tips on how to get started. There is a changemaker in YOU!

We will provide some main dish items and ask that you bring a side dish to share. We will also be requesting a donation to help cover our expenses. No one will be turned away for lack of funds.

Look for an invitation in your inbox and an opportunity to register for this event within the next couple of days.

The March Forward!

"Don’t Fall Back"

Monthly Giving Campaign



GOAL - 100 New Monthly Givers in 100 Days!

Justice takes Allies! Please help us move into a new season with a statewide reach, spreading the work of racial healing and a new vision of hope.

LET’S KEEP MOVING!

Become a CT-VA monthly giver. Select a giving level that works for you!

$10 per month Facilitating the Future Gift supports our facilitator team as they hold brave and safe space for transformational conversations.

$20 per month Truth-Telling Gift supports technology for virtual and in-person programs featuring dynamic speakers, trips and pilgrimages.

$30 per month Crossing Borders Gift supports bringing people together from different backgrounds to share ideas that can impact communities.

This is where the magic happens!

$40 per month 40 Acres and a Mule Reparational Gift supports community advocacy, revitalizing neighborhoods, and the redistribution of resources.

$50 per month Faith in Action Gift supports our Becoming Community Series in houses of worship, expanding their vision of inclusion and love.

OR...MAKE A ONE-TIME DONATION TODAY! THANK YOU!

Go to our website and commit to helping Coming Together Virginia fulfill our Vision and Mission.

MOVIE CIRCLE

(4th Monday of the month)

via Zoom

Monday, March 27th 

6:30 - 8:00 pm ET



The Woman King tells the story of the Agojie, the all-female warrior unit that protected the West African kingdom of Dahomey during the 17th to 19th centuries. Set in the 1820s, the film stars Viola Davis as a general who trains the next generation of warriors to fight their enemies. It is directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood and written by Dana Stevens, based on a story she wrote with Maria Bello. The film also stars Thuso Mbedu, Lashana Lynch, Sheila Atim, Hero Fiennes Tiffin, and John Boyega.

Join us to discuss this movie that is based on a truly historic period in history. Relax and watch it in the comfort of your own home. Then gather with us for fellowship and conversation on Zoom on the 4th Monday of the month at 6:30 pm ET. We look forward to being with you on March 27th.

Robin Allman and Barbara Brown

Movie Circle Co-Conveners

Reading For Change

BOOK CIRCLE

(4th Thursday of the month)

via Zoom

Thursday, March 23rd

6:30 - 8:00 pm ET

Montgomery, Alabama 1973. Fresh out of nursing school, Civil Townsend has big plans to make a difference, especially in her African American community. At the Montgomery Family Planning Clinic, she intends to help women make their own choices for their lives and bodies.

But when her first week on the job takes her down a dusty country road to a worn down one-room cabin, she’s shocked to learn who her new patients are. As Civil grapples with her role, one day she arrives at the door to learn the unthinkable has happened and nothing will ever be the same for any of them.

Inspired by true events that rocked the nation, this is a profoundly moving novel about a Black nurse in post-segregation Alabama who blows the whistle on a terrible wrong done to her patients.

Please join in the discussion of this book. Even if you have not had time to finish it or read it, feel free to join the discussion anyway.

Doug Steele

RFC Book Circle Convener

Education For Action

BOOK CIRCLE

(2nd Thursdays, beginning in May)

In-Person

Thursday, May 11th

6:00 - 8:30 pm ET

CT-VA's Education for Action Book Circle will not meet in March nor in April. Look for a message in April about the next book we will read in our circle. We look forward to seeing you on May 11th, the 2nd Thursday. This will be an in-person potluck dinner gathering. Please e-mail Cheryl Goode for the location and other information.

-Action Update-

Things happen quickly and we want to keep you informed. 

The "ACTION UPDATE" will be a monthly feature of our newsletter. 

Richmond Black Restaurant Experience is back for its seventh year running, through March 12th. The weeklong event celebrates Richmond's diverse and thriving Black culinary scene while honoring the significant historic contributions Black people made to the city and its food culture.



There's plenty of great food to eat all week. The concept of the event is simple — support participating Black owned restaurants, food trucks and caterers by dining out at them all week. The week is bookended by two food-focused festivals — Mobile Soul Sunday and Stick a Fork in It.

But the beauty of the event is the conversations it inspires and the intentionality behind its execution. Richmond is a critical place in the Black American story. "About 1 in 4 Black folks can trace their history back to the docks here," RBRE co-founder Amy Wentz tells Axios of the significant role the city had in the American slave trade. Food is an important part of that story.

"The Richmond food scene started with us," Wentz says, noting figures like John Dabney, the once enslaved Richmonder credited with perfecting the Mint Julep — and helping invent modern mixology. With the event, "we're simply saying, as Richmond becomes this foodie town, we want to put our mark on it," she adds.

Unlike other restaurant week events, RBRE strives to include everyone involved in the culinary scene, not just Black restaurant owners, but chefs, cooks, caterers and food truck operators. (excerpt from article in Axios Richmond)



Coming to the Table

National Gathering

Returns In-Person

Join our larger national community of Coming to the Table for several days in a "village" of learning together and connecting around racial justice and healing!

Oakland, CA

June 15-18, 2023

It has been five long years since Coming to the Table has met in-person for a National Gathering. The covid pandemic led to postponing the 2020 NG. We gathered "virtually" in 2021.

This year we will gather in person once again. In keeping with the intention to hold National Gatherings in different locations around the country, for the first time we will gather on the West Coast, in Oakland, California, the home of RJOY (CTTT is a program of Restorative Justice for Oakland Youth) and where, in 1966, Huey Newton and Bobby Seale founded The Black Panther Party. 

This is an exciting time of expansion and collaboration across the country for CTTT and we look forward to welcoming everyone back to the Table in person. We hope to see YOU in June!

This year's theme is based on the OAK in Oakland: Strengthening Our Ancestral Kinship, and the kinship between the OAK in Oakland and the strong, ancestral tree in the CTTT Logo. Together, we'll explore reparations, truth-telling, genealogy and linked descendants, mindfulness and healing while also engaging in skill building activities related to courageous conversations and actions to dismantle systemic racism.

Contact Hayat if you'd like to chat with someone local who has experienced the NG in-person and virtually and is involved at the national level.

CT-VA Leaders Shine

The above photo was taken at a recent Leadership Metro Richmond (LMR) alumni luncheon – CT-VA's Anita Johnson and Leslie Crabb are talking to the 2021 Leader Who Serves Award winner Carol Adams – both of them had a connection to her – she is amazing! 

Leslie Crabbs and Anita Johnson were awarded the Leader Who Serves Award for their class. This is given to a person (and in this case a first-time pair)  “who made significant strides and made a contribution to the community in the year since he/she completed their class." The recipients are nominated by their class and selected by a volunteer committee of the class.

Created in 1980 as an innovative program to address racial and gender divides in our area’s community leadership, LMR is now a network of 2,000+ members from the business, nonprofit and governmental sectors of our community who have the desire to serve and the ability to lead.

Congratulations to Leslie and Anita, and as Leslie says, "If we could all learn to listen to one another across the racial divide - hearing how we are more alike than we are different – how important it is for us to learn from someone else, to hear their story and share our own!" 

Thank you for your continued support of

Coming Together Virginia.

Please consider making a donation.