~~ June 2021 Newsletter ~~
A Message From Our Co-CEOs
Dear CTTT-RVA Family -

Spring is on its last fresh breath, and Virginia heat is about to take over for a few months. Covid restrictions are loosening. People are starting to travel a little. Hugs and bare faces are sometimes ok after a year of wondering “Who was that masked man?” We are ready for the new and improved to begin!!  

New for the summer with our programming means one more 3rd Tuesday Zoom, then two months without, while staff and volunteer leaders attend the CTTT National Gathering. We will share our stories with other chapters about what happens in Richmond, and who our collaborative partners are. We’ll tell stories of vulnerability shown in breakout rooms, where honesty makes healing possible. We’ll tell about the terrible gaffes we’ve made that ended up bringing us to a new and improved place in how we do this work. We will have a chance to share wisdom, humor, and questions. We will learn new and improved ways from friends working in other parts of the country. 

Our 3rd Tuesday Family Gathering Zoom is focused on Making Room: Celebrating Inclusivity. With the recent rise of deadly violence in Israel/Palestine, we are broadening our view – opening our eyes – to a story that parallels some aspects of our own history. Justice, equity, and mercy are violently denied out of fear and lack of vision for what new and improved could look like. The CTTT-RVA program planning team will help us widen our lens to include friends and family facing another divide with roots of hostility that may be even older than ours. The purpose is not to “fix” but to see and hear and feel. To identify more fully with others facing injustices in other broken systems. 

After June’s Reparations Circle panel of luminaries, 3rd Tuesday gathering, Juneteenth Events, Book Circle discussions and virtual National Gathering excitement, come Summer in-person opportunities, including free-style movie discussions and a book event featuring authors of the book Cousins, Phoebe Kilby and Betty Kilby Baldwin.  This book, written by a CTTT founder and a longtime participant, best exemplifies the work of Coming To The Table by crossing lines and intersecting personal narratives.  It bears witness to how we all come together, carrying our collective histories, and intertwining them for good.  

At the table, we share, discover, listen, compare, and discern.  In so doing, we begin to blend our narratives as we create a greater understanding of each other.  At its core, this is the goal of storytelling, the mission of CTTT and vision of unity we strive for.  Through the sharing of stories, we are making room at our table and celebrating the new narrative that takes us beyond our differences. 

Bringing love to the fight -
Marsha Summers, Co-CEO Danita Rountree Green, Co-CEO
Reparations Circle
Learn More About the Micah Initiative
at Richmond Hill

Wednesday, July 7, 2021
Conversation via Zoom
7:00 - 8:30 pm ET

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…”

June CTTT-RVA Family Gathering

~ Making Room at Our Table:
Jewish Activism and Palestine Solidarity ~

Tuesday, June 15th 6:30 - 8:30 pm ET
(3rd Tuesday Gathering)

 “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King
 
When we don’t know, we don’t grow. 
When we choose to not know, we cannot grow.

Join us as we make room at our table for Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb, who will share her perspective on Palestine solidarity work and how it relates to overcoming white supremacy and racism in the United States. There are moments when ongoing settler colonialism and its system of racialized hierarchies becomes acute. How do Jewish people who support global human rights, including the rights of Palestinians to be free of ongoing militarized occupation, find ways to unite for change on the basis of being in solidarity with people who are most directly impacted by the systemic harms caused by white supremacy?

Here is an interview on Democracy Now! with Raoul Peck, director of Exterminate All the Brutes, an HBO 4-part documentary series on colonialism and the origins of white supremacy.
Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb, one of the first women to become a rabbi in Jewish history, is a pioneer Jewish feminist, human rights activist, writer, visual artist, ceremonialist, community educator and master storyteller. Lynn engages in multifaith, intergenerational, and multicultural organizing in solidarity with racial, indigenous, gender justice and Palestinian liberation struggles. She is board chair of Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity, on the organizing team of The Grassroots Reparations Campaign and on the rabbinic council of Jewish Voice for Peace. 
Education For Action Book Circle
(2nd Thursday of the Month)
Thursday, June 10th
Via Zoom
6:30 - 8:00 pm ET
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 June circle, we are reading Chapter VIII, Transubstantiation of a Poor White.

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.

Contact Darren for more information.
Reading For Change Book Circle
(4th Thursday of the month)
Bound for the Promised Land:
Harriet Tubman - Portrait of an American Hero
by Kate Clifford Larson
Thursday, June 24th
Via Zoom
6:30 – 8:30 pm ET
From our May book of A Promised Land to our June book, Bound for the Promised Land: Harriet Tubman - Portrait of an American Hero by Kate Clifford Larson, you will go beyond the biographies and myths of our youth to learn more about this courageous woman. As described on Goodreads.com:

"Harriet Tubman is one of the giants of American history—a fearless visionary who led scores of her fellow slaves to freedom and battled courageously behind enemy lines during the Civil War...and yet next to nothing has been written about this extraordinary woman...The truth about Harriet Tubman has become lost inside a legend woven of racial and gender stereotypes... Kate Clifford Larson gives Harriet Tubman the powerful, intimate, meticulously detailed life she deserves.

Drawing from a trove of new documents and sources as well extensive genealogical research, Larson reveals Tubman as a complex woman— brilliant, shrewd, deeply religious, and passionate in her pursuit of freedom. The descendant of the vibrant, matrilineal Asanti people of the West African Gold Coast, Tubman was born into slavery on the Eastern Shore of Maryland but refused to spend her life in bondage."

Join us this month as we discuss her complex and inspirational life.

Email our co-conveners team to be added to our Book Circle mailing list to receive an invitation and Zoom details.
Movie Circle
(4th Monday of the month)
Movies with Impact:
Your Choice!

Monday, June 28, 2021
Conversation In-Person
6:30 - 8:30 pm ET
‌
In June we are returning to our original Movie Circle format of meeting in person over dinner to discuss a movie.

This month we will discuss the impact movies have had on Social Justice over the years, starting in 1915 with The Birth of a Nation, a black and white silent film to perhaps The Birth of a Nation, a 2016 documentary.

Please watch any movie you have been curious about and come prepared to join us in a lively discussion of what the movie meant to you or the questions or concerns it awakened in you!

Having an issue deciding which movie to watch? Choose one from our movie list on our website that you might have missed before! Click here to go to the CTTT movie list.

The location will be announced closer to the event as we tally participation.

Registration will be limited so please register early.
The National Group Planning Team - pictured above - began working together in late 2019 to plan the 2020 National Gathering at Eastern Mennonite University. When the Covid-19 pandemic forced the cancellation of those plans, the team stuck together, and began imagining a completely different kind of Gathering, and continued to work hard to create an experience you won't want to miss.

We are very proud of our own Coordinator of Communications and Partnerships, Hayat Bain, who has been working tirelessly with this team, putting together a great event. And several other CTTT-RVA family members are involved with planning and facilitating interesting and informative breakout sessions.

Here are the fruits of their labor!
Register NOW for this unique opportunity to come together to listen, learn and grow with CTTT members from around the United States!

If cost is an issue, please know that there are scholarships available. Click here to complete the "Contact Us" form to request more information and/or an application form. Please note in your message that your request for Scholarship information is for the National Gathering.
Juneteenth Celebration in Dorey Park!

Saturday June 19, 2021
1:00 - 10:00 pm ET
Dorey Park, Henrico County

Juneteenth celebrates enforcement of the Emancipation Proclamation reaching the westernmost Confederate state of Texas. While the Proclamation went into effect in 1863, the news was purposefully withheld from enslaved people until the arrival of Union troops in Galveston Bay, Texas on June 19, 1865.
Juneteenth marks our country’s second independence day.

Grab a friend, meet a friend or make a new friend and join Henrico Recreation & Parks and Coming to the Table - RVA at Dorey Park for fireworks, live music performances, food trucks, a vendor fair, live history interpreters, and games for kids.

We are looking for individuals who would like to take shifts at our information table (set up as early as 11 am; breakdown at 5 pm), as well as people who would like to assist the Parks department with an interactive art exhibit. Please contact Leslie Crabbs if you are interested in participating.
Schedule of Juneteenth Celebration Event
in Dorey Park

1:00 pm – Gates open
All Day – Food trucks
1:20 pm – HCPS Black Student Union performs “NO CHAINS”
1:35 pm – “Lift Every Voice and Sing”
3:00 pm – Bak N Da Day
1-5 pm – Vendor fair, activities for kids, roaming historical interpreters, car club expo by Urban Wranglers RVA and Urban Jeepz New England
5:00 pm – Ezibu Muntu
7:30 pm – Plunky & Oneness
9:00 pm – Fireworks Finale
HIGHLIGHTED EVENTS
(RVA): CTTT - RVA Event
(NAT): CTTT - National Event

Thursday, June 10th
6:30 - 8:00 pm ET
Education For Action Book Circle via ZOOM.
Contact Darren to be added to mailing list.
(RVA)

Monthly CTTT - RVA 3rd Tuesday Family Gathering via ZOOM. Register at left. Contact Hayat for more info. (RVA)

CTTT Guided Meditation via ZOOM.
Contact Hayat w/questions after checking out above link
(NAT)

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

Coming To The Table National Gathering via ZOOM. Click dates for more info and to register. Email Hayat with questions. (NAT)

Movie Circle Conversation will be
In-Person. Register at left. Contact Julie to be added to mailing list. (RVA)

Reparations Action Circle Conversation via ZOOM Learn More About the Micah Initiative at Richmond Hill. Click here to be added to the Reparations Circle Mailing List
(RVA)

Save the date for an in-person special event: Conversation with authors Betty Kilby Baldwin and Phoebe Kilby about the book, Cousins: Connected Through Slavery, a Black Woman and a White Woman Discover Their Past - and Each Other.
(RVA)
CTTT - RVA
Theme Calendar
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
Why Do You Give?
Do you want to see your donation increased?

Now is the time!

Click the Birdie link below and select "Coming To The Table - RVA"

Birdies for Charity will add 10% to your donation! All proceeds go directly to bringing more programs to YOU!

Thank you!
Coming to the Table - RVA is looking for someone who would like to utilize their bookkeeping and online QuickBooks skills to further our mission.

If you have about 6-8 hours a month and a passion for this work, we would love to hire YOU!

Contact Marsha:
804-874-2709
or via email.

Learn More About the Micah Initiative
at Richmond Hill

Wednesday, July 7th
7:00 - 8:30 p.m. ET
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.”
Read previous issues of the
If you would like to join the Reparations Circle to learn more about opportunities with which you can help, please join us.
It's been a while since the start of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
As the global community waits to see if it will hold, many are eyeing one of Israel's closest allies: the United States. The Biden administration is facing pressure from within the Democratic party to recalibrate its stance on Israel.
But while the debate around the Israeli-Palestinian conflict seems to be shifting, it's possible that U.S. policy will not. NPR's Asma Khalid, Philadelphia Inquirer opinion writer Abraham Gutman, and CAIR Executive Director Nihad Awad speak on this important topic.
In February 2021, Virginia became the first southern state to declare racism a public health crisis. Please join The Institute for Public Health Innovation, for its second webinar of the 'Racism is a Public Health Crisis' series. This webinar will provide perspectives on similar resolutions passed across the nation and the next steps for Virginia.

Key Speakers include

Tia Taylor Williams, MPH, CNS
Director for the Center for School, Health, and Education and the Center for Public Health Policy at the American Public Health Association

Dr. M. Norman Oliver, MD, MA
State Health Commissioner
VA Department of Health (VDH)

If you attended last month's Racism At Work (RAW) meeting, you were enlightened by the poem By and By. To check out more poems like this, check out this book by Michael Nelder.
“There is more that unites us than divides us. So make it a point to talk with someone who is different from you. You may find that you have more in common than you think”
― Johnny Corn
Racism At Work (RAW)

Our hard working RAW Working Group is pausing events this Summer to plan our next RAW Truth Series planned for the Fall.

Click here to find the Summary and Transcription of the May RAW Truth Session.

AND

Click here to read a recap of 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!

Looking Back to Move Forward

Can family and community history really help heal a nation? We think so. Learning about how the past impacts the present brings us closer to understanding the truths of this country, increases empathy and makes the call for transformation even clearer. All are invited to join friends, neighbors, and community members in observation of Juneteenth, the anniversary of emancipation from enslavement for African Americans and in honor of African American resilience. Both virtual and in-person talks will be offered via zoom and the experiential offerings will take place in the Richmond Hill Garden. Click link below learn more and register! Sponsored by the Richmond Hill Collaboration, including CTTT-RVA!
Take the next step!
Become a CTTT - RVA volunteer!
Leslie Crabbs, Newsletter Layout Editor and Coordinator of Fund Raising & Donor Relations
Hayat Bain, Coordinator of Communications & Partnerships
Coming To The Table - RVA