“Race, freedom, and justice” is the theme of a new project launched by Hope in the Cities in collaboration with the Black History Museum and Cultural Center of Virginia, the state NAACP, and other partners, including school-age students. It will explore aspects of the Civil War with emphasis on slavery, emancipation, racial equity, and healing.

This month Hope in the Cities and the Virginia Center for Inclusive Communities launched a region-wide project aimed at provoking discussion about new policy options to address poverty and structural inequity in metropolitan Richmond. Forty people took part in a weekend training as presentators of “Unpacking the 2010 Census: The New Realities of Race, Class and Jurisdiction."

Distinguished historians of the Civil War and its aftermath spoke on “Healing the Wounds of History: North-South, Black-White” at a special forum in Washington, DC, on December 12. “We want to explore how the wounds of history are playing into the political polarization,” said former diplomat Joseph Montville, the moderator, noting that “resentment is very much alive in Congress today.”

Amy Potter Czajkowski, Caux Scholars (‘97) and a former program director at Easter Mennonite University (EMU), writes about the visit of Nobel Peace Prize winner Laymah Gbowee to the EMU campus and her participation in a symposium about societies in transition.

“Whatever the differences between Europe and America, the focus on trust as an indispensable foundation for constructive change in community relations, economics, and politics resonates everywhere,” writes US IofC national director Rob Corcoran following a twelve-day visit to six cities in the UK and Netherlands.

"It's not enough to know our own history," says John W. Franklin, "We must know each other's histories... We may learn things that will change our world view." Franklin, the director of partnerships and international programs at the Smithsonian's Museum of African American History and Culture, which is due to open in 2015, spoke to 350 people at the 15th annual Metropolitan Richmond Day.

“A year ago when we began our planning, we couldn’t have known how relevant this theme and location would be,” says Rob Corcoran, National Director of Initiatives of Change. “With the government in paralysis, financial systems closing down, and the global order in chaos, holding such an event in Washington, DC, created a sense of focus and urgency among the more than one hundred participants.”

“Your work in healing communities and encouraging reconciliation reminded those in attendance of the fundamental importance of organic, community-led processes,” wrote Gay Rosenblum-Kumar, Executive Secretary of the Interagency Framework Team for Preventive Action, following a showing of An African Answer at the UN Headquarters in NY.

Hope. Obama won the presidency on it. America was built on it. But how are we supposed to maintain hope for equality in a nation that once institutionalized inequality? That went to war to maintain that inequality? That designated people, based on their skin color, as either an entire person or 3/5ths of one?

Champions of trustbuilding are all over the earth. Some operate across the world’s divides while others work on a national scale. Many work right in the neighborhood, building trust on the street corner and in the living room. Four renowned trustbuilders were honored Friday night, illuminating the efforts of those who live The Trust Factor.