WILLIAMSBURG — Two speakers, one black and one white, will discuss their ties to slavery at Williamsburg’s fourth annual Journey to Racial Healing Saturday.
The event, taking place June 21, from 1-4 p.m. at the Stryker Center, is sponsored by the Virginia Racial Healing Institute and will feature speaker Charles Holman, a lawyer and genealogist, who discovered that his paternal great-great-grandfather was enslaved by the ancestors of former Presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush.
According to organizers, at age 22, Holman became one of the youngest lawyers in the history of Michigan, following in the footsteps of his paternal great-grandfather, a formerly enslaved man who became one of the first lawyers of color in his state. As an assistant U.S. attorney, Holman won national recognition for successfully prosecuting defendants who burned black churches in the South. He also served as a trial attorney in the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department and at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
His links to the Bush family were the subject of a 2024 article in The Washington Post.
“The key to researching family history is persistence,” Holman said. “Combine that with an insatiable curiosity and there’s no telling what you will find.”
Also speaking will be Bill Sizemore, a retired journalist and author of the book “Uncle George and Me: Two Southern Families Confront a Shared Legacy of Slavery.” After discovering that his paternal great-great-great-grandfather enslaved 16 men, women and children on his tobacco farm in Mecklenburg County, he sought out and established a relationship with their descendants, organizers said in a press release.
The June 21 event will include refreshments and an opportunity to visit the annual Juneteenth art exhibit in the Stryker Center. Admission is free, but registration is required.
The Virginia Racial Healing Institute manages Coming to the Table-Historic Triangle, the local chapter of Coming to the Table, a national racial reconciliation organization. Additional sponsors are the Let Freedom Ring Foundation, Williamsburg Christian Church, St. Martin’s Episcopal Church and Greater Williamsburg Movement.
“We appreciate the community support for the fourth annual Journey to Racial Healing ceremony,” said Laura Hill, founder of Coming to the Table-Historic Triangle. “Last summer I was one of millions of people reading about Charles Holman’s story in the Washington Post newspaper. I am delighted that he is traveling to Williamsburg to share experiences on his journey to racial healing.”
