Re-imagine a More Truthful History. That was the theme tonight, August 12, 2020, of the Charlottesville Clergy Collective Interfaith presentation. The occasion? The third anniversary of the White supremacy and Neo-Nazi rioting in Charlottesville.
Certainly, we can never forget the weekend they gathered here from all over the country. Remember how many brought weapons that ranged from AK-47 rifles to soda bottles filled with cement? Above all was their goal: protest the planned removal of the R. E. Lee statue from the downtown Market Street Park near the Court House, formerly Lee Park.
On day 2, the uprising became so violent that the governor ordered disbursement of the rioters. With no such plan in place, police drove the rioters out of the park and into the community. There, they became face to face with the non-violent community protesters. Sadly, by days end, two state policeman and a local peaceful protester, Heather Heyer, were dead.
Above all, Charlottesville continues to seek healing from the horrific event. In that spirit, this evening, the Charlottesville Clergy Collective Interfaith group held a Re-Imagine a More Truthful History service in downtown Charlottesville. I invite you to view and share it with us here.
Mary Jo! Thanks for sharing your words of wisdom and this video.
sarai
Thank you, Sara. I’m glad that we get to meet here from time to time. As always I wish you and Ray safe space and good health. As always, MJ
Thank you, Mary Jo, for your deep compassion and willingness to speak the truth we all need to know and remember. The monument in Birmingham is so beautiful! Thank you for sharing.
Rita
Thank you, Rita, for sharing your thoughts with me. It’s interesting. I’m spending time with your poem tonight and experiencing that you are saying through your deep connection with nature the very same message that this beautiful program said last evening. Peace and love to us all.
Mary Jo,
I so admire what you are doing in your blog and in giving your memoir to survivors like you. Thank you for sharing this very meaningful video. I plan to pass this on to several of my friends who will appreciate it as much as I do.
Hugs,
Linda
I so much appreciate your feedback, Linda. Thank you for passing this video on to your friends. Wish everyone could see it and take it all into their hearts. I’m getting ready to write my Living in Covid Time story for the anthology before the 8/31 deadline. Trying to get into words and structure how the changes that the pandemic and the racial uprisings have brought shifts within me. Very happy to find you here…. Take such good care and look forward to our next conversation.
Thanks for sharing this Mary Jo. I will pass it on. Hugs, Jan
So many thanks for sharing, what is for me, this incredible gathering of voices of men and women of multiple ethnicities. Heart!