Can you imagine asking any old random person on the streets of Richmond, “Will you be the voice of
God for me?” And then listening like it really was a word from God, whatever the person said? This is apparently a practice that is part of a cultural expectation in India, as reported by Jungian analyst and teacher Robert Johnson. He tells about the custom and about the day that he decided to try the custom out. Being a good Catholic, he had prayed repeatedly but found no clarity to move ahead. So he observed people walking by, then walked up to a somewhat older man, and asked, “Will you be the voice of God for me?” The man stopped his
walking, interrupting his plan for the day, and led Robert to a spot where they could sit and talk. What a cultural expectation!
In our meetings, we don’t think of being the voice of God. We don’t even usually give counsel, but simply listen deeply and share honestly. The honest speaking and deep listening can, however, lead to changes in our own willingness to be voices for justice: in who we claim as family, how we vote, how we advocate, and how we spend our money. Some of us believe God and Justice speak in unison! We want to be more than just politically correct thinkers. We want to be doers of justice. At the Coming To The Table National Gathering, we heard stories of how our friends and leaders are changing their behaviors and becoming bolder in their speaking up for racial justice. We are becoming BOLD in our personal advocacy for equity. We want to be BOLD in our boots-on-the-ground partnerships. We want to become BOLD in putting our money where our mouths are!
Keep celebrating independence and live toward a USA becoming “One nation, under God, with liberty and justice for all.” Let’s be bold voices for justice for all of us.
Come and learn about the Micah Initiative from our own Pam Smith. This program is a partnership of primarily faith communities with Richmond Public Schools, serving K-5. Trained volunteers serve as tutors and mentors for economically disadvantaged students through its vibrant network of dozens of faith communities and 23 elementary schools so that every child believes, “I am valuable.”
The Micah Initiative is open to and represented by all faith communities and works in close partnership with Richmond Public School (RPS), Communities in Schools (CIS) and Mentor Virginia. Micah is excited to welcome Coming To The Table - RVA members into the family as new volunteers! The Micah Association was established in the late 1990's as an outgrowth of a tutoring program started by St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in partnership with Woodville Elementary School, with leadership from a task force led by Ruby Martin, former civil rights director under President Lyndon Johnson. Micah’s animating verse is Micah 6:8 – “Seek justice, love kindness, walk humbly…”
What happens when a White woman, Phoebe, contacts a Black woman, Betty, saying she suspects they are connected through slavery? A surprise. Betty responds, “Hello cousin.” Open to exploring difficult truths and sharing an admiration for Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., they embark on a path toward reconciliation. Each tells her dramatic story - from Betty’s experience desegregating her county’s only high school to Phoebe’s eventual question to Betty: “How do I begin to repair the harms?”
JOIN the Richmond Public Library and CTTT–RVA for this virtual discussion of COUSINS..., racial healing, and justicewith the authors, Betty Kilby Baldwin and Phoebe Kilby.
Throughout 2021, the Education For Action Book Circle will be taking a deep dive into:
Black Reconstruction in America, 1860 - 1880
by W.E.B. Du Bois
For our July circle, we will be looking at Chapter 9 of the text, "The Price of Disaster."
Du Bois’ game-changing reading of the vital role of the enslaved liberating themselves and taking up arms in the ending of the Civil War should be required reading especially for anyone living in the South. Join us as we continue to mine Du Bois’ analysis of the first reconstruction period for indispensable insight about how we understand and act in this Third Reconstruction moment.
We will shift to 1st Thursday's beginning in August.
Our July book is Yellow Wife by Sadeqa Johnson. Originally from Philadelphia, she currently lives near Richmond, Virginia, with her husband and three children. The site Goodreads.com has the following description of this book:
Born on a plantation in Charles City, Virginia, Pheby Brown was promised her freedom on her eighteenth birthday. But when her birthday finally comes around, instead of the idyllic life she was hoping for with her true love, she finds herself thrust into the bowels of slavery at the infamous Devil’s Half-Acre, a jail where slaves are broken, tortured, and sold every day. Forced to become the mistress of the brutal man who owns the jail, Pheby faces the ultimate sacrifice to protect her heart in this powerful, thrilling story of one slave’s fight for freedom."
Contactthe Reading For Change Book Circle co-conveners to be added to their mailing list.
This film explores Richmond's complex history through the lens of Confederate monuments, supported by an extensive visual record never before presented in a single work.
Please watch it at your own convenience and join us in person for a lively discussion and dinner on Monday, July 26 at 5:30 pm.The location will be announced closer to the event.
Above: All but one member of the 2021 CTTT virtual National Gathering Planning Team, coming together from one side of the country to the other!
Clockwise from upper left: Kelly Lyn, Kim Cook, Hayat Bain,Stacie Walton, Tom DeWolf, Jodie Geddes with Cielo, Angela Dickey, Venetia Bailey, Jane Carrigan, and Tom DeWolf in center spot. Missing: Sharon Williams
The Coming To The Table virtual National Gathering in June, with its theme of BOLD: Building Our Legacy Daily was a great success and we are already talking and being asked about when/where/how/virtual-in person-hybrid we might have the next one! More than 300 people registered from our close to 50 chapters in 18 states plus the Virgin Islands!
From our own chapter or affiliate group, we had 10 members register and participate at various levels. CTTT-RVA Co-CEO Danita Rountree Green, as well as Board Chair Barbara Brown, RAW Working Group member and facilitator Midge Falconer and Hayat Bain presented during the conference. And Hayat was also a member of the National Gathering Planning Team. Hours of preparation and lots of energy were invested by so many to co-create an enriching and inspiring gathering!
We invite you to join us next time for the CTTT National Gathering, and right now we don't know when and where that will be! Below you can read moving reflections from 3 of our CTTT-RVA members who participated:
I probably would not have travelled and stayed in a hotel for the CTTT conference as I really didn't know the scope of CTTT. However, I took a chance on this year's as it was on Zoom. What a gift! I was amazed at such a totally loving, open, non-judging group of folks. I learned things about myself, heard of concepts that I must grapple with and explore enthusiastically. I explored both things I'd been interested in and things to which I did't think I could contribute. I came home full of excitement to get into action on linked descendants and some form of reparations. Next time I will be going no matter where it is held. - Eileen Rodan
~~~
Finally, after 4+ years! I finally was able to get to the Coming To The Table National Gathering! After several years of facilitating at local meetings of CTTT-RVA, watching as a Monday men's meeting was added to our large Tuesday group, as well as two Book Circles and our ever popular Movie Circle. So, I knew that Coming To The Table is important, but the National Gathering showed me how Awesome it is!
The planners, including our own Hayat Bain, did a really great job putting it together!
I really enjoyed listening to the keynote speaker on Thursday, Dr. Joy DeGruy, educator and author of "Post-Traumatic Slave Syndrome", as she demonstrated that one person working with others can make a difference.
Friday, work consumed most of my day, but I was able to catch part of the evening schedule. Listening to the beginning of Yeye Luisah Teish's presentation, inspired by African religious experience, I felt uncomfortable since I am a Christian. However, I am now motivated to research early Christianity in Africa.
Saturday, I learned a lot from Dr. Ruth Baskerville, who led two of the writing workshops I attended, especially, "Your Legacy-From Griot to Script." And the film that presenters from our CTTT chapter showed in the "Connections That Grow Us" workshop brought tears to my eyes!
Although prior commitments kept me away from many of the sessions on Sunday, I look forward to listening to the recordings of all four days. That way, I can attend the sessions I missed while participating in the sessions I did attend, as well as the others. But I did attend the very last session and made two friends who both are interested in starting groups in their own towns in Tennessee and Florida. I think that the "Connections That Grow Us" workshop recording will be really inspring and helpful to them. Thank you, Hayat, for all the hard work of you and the rest of the CTTT National Gathering planning team. - Meldon Jenkins-Jones
~~~
This year CTTT's National Gathering took on the daunting task of engaging in constructive conversations amongst Black, Brown, and White people across "Our Nation" virtually. As a member of the CTTT-RVA chapter, I was excited for the National Gathering's commencement in order to engage in restorative and open-minded conversation amongst all who chose to participate. I was thrilled to connect with others beyond the limitations of our racial divide. However, I cannot say that this charge of enthusiasm did not come without its reticence.
As a young man, I have always acknowledged my racial identity as African American, as I was unfortunately shunned from my father's Caucasian lineage after his early passing. However, as I have grown into manhood a passion to mend the bridges between cultures has begun to bloom from within, intending to cast a wider net amongst freedom. Most importantly the Freedom to Love - for family, friends, and those who may have wronged us. It was here at the National Gathering where I was able to cast my net and connect with so many unique individuals discussing different cultures, histories, and most compelling genealogies. I am immensely grateful to the CTTT National Gathering for giving me and many others an opportunity to share in oneness through acts of Awareness, Mindfulness, and Value for Humanity, allowing me to forgive blocks I had towards my personal heritage that I have stumbled over in the past.
Thich Nhat Hahn said, "In Love, you attain freedom," and it is with this unhesitating and fearless act of restoration we all voluntarily began to "Build Our Legacy Daily" with one another, and it is also where I learned to "Bravely Open Limitations towards Differences". - Matthew Hayes
CTTT-RVA
OUT IN THE
COMMUNITY
BLM 804
Community Walk for Justice
CTTT-RVA joined Black Lives Matter 804 and Urban League of Greater Richmond Young Professionals for a Community Walk for Justice on Saturday, June 5, 2021. We walked from J.R. Tucker High School to the Henrico Police Department building and back. The march was to show support for six priorities that the organizations want law enforcement agencies and government to implement:
• Adopt theBREATHE Act, proposed legislation for a community based approach to public safety
• Establish a federal commission to study the legacy of slavery in the US and the ongoing harms it caused
• Repeal marijuana prohibitions and fund reparations for those arrested and charged for drug offenses in the past
• End qualified immunity for police officers
• Free people wrongfully convicted
• Establish civilian review boards
L to R: Sabrina Jordan, Danita Rountree Green, Ralph Roane, Hayat Bain, Midge Falconer
Chlo'e Ewards and Ralph Roane of Black Lives Matter 804
Juneteenth Celebration at
Dorey Park
Several CTTT-RVA members had a great time participating in the Juneteenth Celebration and Commemoration at Dorey Park on June 19, 2021. We set up an information table and were able to meet people and share the mission and vision of Coming To The Table. The event was very well attended and about 25 people signed up to join our mailing list and were entered into a raffle to be gifted with one of two books - Cousins... by Betty Kilby Baldwin and Phoebe Kilby (see piece above on our virtual event with the authors on July 27th) AND The Little Book of Racial Healing by Thomas Norman DeWolf and Jodie Geddes, CTTT national co-managers.
Left to right: Hayat Bain, Jo Booker, Ralph Roane, Midge Falconer, and Ralph's two beautiful daughters!
Jo Booker of CTTT-RVA talking with a friend near our booth in Dorey Park.
Movie Premier at Maymont Park
How The
Monuments
Came Down
CTTT-RVA members were at the premier of this remarkable documentary in which our own Martha Rollins is a cast member. The evening featured a live performance by Butcher Brown, a pre-screening panel discussion, and the film premier, produced by Field Studio in association with Virginia Public Media (VPM).
Jonathan Davis, Martha Rollins and Hayat Bain enjoying time together for the film premier in Maymont Park
CTTT-RVA
TRANSITIONS
Martha's Retirement
Cal and George Jennison hosted a retirement party for Martha Rollins at their home on June 30th. The event was attended by CTTT-RVA members and close friends of hers. Martha has devoted her life to serving others, to truth telling and to forging and supporting connections that bring about racial healing. She is a co-founder (with Danita Rountree Green) of Coming To The Table - RVA and has served as Co-CEO and Board Chair, among many other gifts and talents she's offered to our growing organization. Martha carries around her own Ampersand (&) and believes in possibility and in "living in the and"!
We are so grateful for Martha's visionary leadership and for her not taking "no" for an answer. She is a force of nature and without her our CTTT chapter would likely not have sustained the huge growth we've had and might not be the force for good to the degree that it is in our community.
THANK YOU and thanks also to Randy Rollins, Martha's husband, for supporting her as she was supporting us all these years! We love you, Martha!
Here are a couple of photos from Martha's retirement celebration, below. The first one is (left to right) Marsha Summers, current co-CEO, Danita Rountree Green (co-founder and current co-CEO) and Martha Rollins. The second one is Martha and Randy Rollins.
Darren Utley Relocating
Darren and his family recently moved to Wisconsin where he has accepted a job as pastor of a Presbyterian Church there. Among other things, he was co-chair of our board for a time and before that he co-convened a monthly dinner and conversation gathering with Cheryl Goode. More recently he has been - and will continue to - co-convene the Education For Action Book Circle on Zoom with Cheryl.
CTTT-RVA Board Chair, Barbara Brown, hosted a heart-filled and intimate gathering in honor of Darren so that those closest to him could say good bye and thank him for his service with our chapter and in our community! We will miss Darren's quick wit, his sharp intellect and desire for truth-telling, as well as his big heart!
Darren opening a gift at his farewell party and Martha capturing video.
From 2017 or so: Members of our then Leaders Circle. Left to right: Cheryl Goode, Marsha Summers, Hayat Bain, Danita Rountree Green, Darren Utley. Missing from photo: Barbara Brown and Martha Rollins
Allison Thomas
Retiring from Our Board
Allison Thomas, beloved board member and friend, is transitioning off of our board after offering very generous service, giving of her time, expertise and treasure to get our new nonprofit off the ground over the past two years or so. Allison is a member of the national CTTT Linked Descendants Working Group and a co-convener of the Los Angeles, CA area CTTT chapter. THANK YOU for all you've been and done for us! We're looking forward to staying connected!
Conversation with authors Betty Kilby Baldwin and Phoebe Kilby about their book, COUSINS: Connected Through Slavery, a Black Woman and a White Woman Discover Their Past - and Each Other.
(RVA)
CTTT - RVA
Theme Calendar
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
If you would like to join theReparations Circleto learn more about opportunities with which you can help,please join us.
“Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend."
~ Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King
Why do we need more Black people at our tables in these conversations?
Click here to read a NewYork Times Race/Related article by Jenee Desmond-Harris that helps us understand the diversity within the African American community, while answering the following question: What advice do you have for prospective and aspiring white allies about evaluating media from diverse sources and ultimately drawing their own conclusions?
Racism At Work (RAW)
Our hard working RAW Working Group is pausing events this Summer to plan our next RAW Truth Series in the Fall.
Click here to find the Summary and Transcription of the May RAW Truth Session.
AND
Click here to read a recap of all sessions this year, expressions of gratitude for all who made this dynamic series on systemic racism possible, and reflections on the way forward into the Fall RAW Truth sessions. Hint: We need YOU!
FREDERICK DOUGLASS'DESCENDANTS DELIVER HIS 4TH OF JULY SPEECH
Last summer as the country was in the midst of protesting for racial justice and reforms in the wake of the death of George Floyd and others, NPR had an idea.
The media company asked five young descendants of Frederick Douglass to read and respond to excerpts of his famous speech, "What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?"
Click the link below to hear the speech excerpts interpreted by the youth, plus their impressions.
Meldon was chosen as the first recipient of the Virginia Library Association's 2021 Librarians of Color Forum Award, to be presented at their conference in October.
The Pan-African flag was created in 1920 to represent people of the African Diaspora and to symbolize Black liberation in the United States. It was designed by Marcus Garvey and the red, black, and green colors are very symbolic. Since the creation of the Pan-African flag, there have been many other flags created based on the original design. If you were to create your own flag, what would it look like?
As a Black History at Home activity, we invite you to design your own flag! Share your design with family and friends and of course, share with us on social media!
One CTTT-RVA Member's June Pilgrimage to Tulsa to Commemorate the 100th Anniversary of the Tulsa Massacre
Click here to view facilitator Doug Steele's video of the Tulsa commemoration.
Doug shares, "Being present there let me realize the enormity of what was lost. What you see there as the current Black Wall Street is a mere sliver of what it was before 1921. And then, despite the rebuilding efforts that went on in spite of the denial of any and all insurance claims because the massacre was portrayed as a "riot", the urban renewal of the 1960's completed the destruction of Greenwood. The Reconciliation Park and the under-construction Greenwood Rising Museum are nice, but do nothing to put the descendants of the massacre back in the position they would have been had the destruction of Greenwood not taken place. It is difficult to accept that what has been lost has been lost forever. There is much healing to be done in Tulsa, honest and difficult conversations to transpire between descendants of the victims and of the perpetrators."
3rd Tuesday
Family Gathering
SAVE THE DATE!
We will see you at the CTTT-RVA Family Reunion on Tuesday, September 21st, 2021 in person at the Virginia Museum of History & Culture!!!
