WILLIAMSBURG — The Journey to Racial Healing Ceremony is set to take place on June 11 at 1 p.m. at James City County’s Freedom Park.
The ceremony will honor a descendant of enslavers, Donna Melcher, who is making personal reparations after spending five years researching her own family’s ties to slavery.
“What I’m hoping to show is that we need reparative actions not only on a national level but also on a familial level,” Melcher said. “This can be a step toward the healing of our nation.”
Melcher is donating $10,000 each to both the Historic Triangle chapter for Coming to the Table and to Freedom, Ga., a planned city intended as a safe haven for people of color.
Melcher is also scheduled to be a featured speaker at the ceremony. Other guest speakers include Bill Sizemore, a member of Coming to the Table-Historic Triangle and author of “Uncle George and Me,” Alicia Thomas, a representative of Freedom, Georgia, and Chairman of the James City County Board of Supervisors John McGlennon.
“We plan to make this an annual event for people who are seeking to acknowledge and heal from racial wounds due to their family ties to slavery,” said Founder and Director of Coming to the Table-Historic Triangle Laura Hill.
According to its website, “The Coming to the Table vision for the United States is of a just and truthful society that acknowledges and seeks to heal from the racial wounds of the past — from slavery and the many forms of racism it spawned.”
For more information on the event please head over to the Eventbrite webpage or to Coming to the Table-Historic Triangle official website.
