Baptist News Global will offer a three-day interactive educational event in Virginia this September focused on exploring the hidden history of racism in America.
The event is open to all BNG readers. Participants will engage with BNG Executive Director Mark Wingfield and the BNG board of directors, as well as a group of keynote speakers.
The dates are Sept. 13-15, and the locations are Richmond, Va., and Colonial Williamsburg. Different packages are available for out-of-towners who need lodging and for those who live nearby and do not need lodging.
“Our board of directors is moving to a new model of meetings, so that each fall we will gather for two days of in-person board meetings, followed by a few days of educational events that bring in readers, donors and others interested in our work,” Wingfield said. “This is the first event of that new model, and we are thrilled to welcome our readers and supporters to engage their minds with us.”
Keynote speakers are Adam Bond, senior pastor of the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church in downtown Richmond, founded by free men and slaves in 1857; Dontrese Brown, executive director for the EDGE Center for Career Development at Randolph-Macon College and co-founder of Hidden in Plain Site; Valerie Cassel Oliver, curator of modern and contemporary art at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts; and BK Fulton, former president of Verizon who now is a filmmaker and entrepreneur based in Richmond.
Interactive events include a walking tour of Richmond’s paved-over historical sites related to slavery; a visit to the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts for a special lecture on the permanent installation titled “Rumors of War” by Kehinde Wiley; a visit to historic St. John’s Church in Richmond; a tour of excavation work being done at First Baptist Church of Williamsburg, one of the country’s earliest African American congregations founded by free and enslaved Black worshippers; and a special interpretive tour of Colonial Williamsburg focusing on parts of the story you won’t normally hear.
Throughout the three-day event, participants will engage in guided conversation about what they are seeing and learning. Package pricing includes all events, lectures and most meals. Transportation to and from Richmond is not included, but ground transportation during the event is included.
More information, pricing and registration forms are available here.
Keynote speakers: Bond, Brown, Oliver, Fulton
