Thirty Richmond community leaders have formed a new Hope in the Cities Council to provide a space for networking, sharing of concerns and insights, and exploration of opportunities for honest conversation on critical issues.

In 1972 Cleiland Donnan decided to be part of the solution to racial division in Richmond. It was an unlikely choice for someone who spent their life teaching the fox trot and social graces to the children of Richmond’s affluent West End.

Students from Duke University Divinity School visited Richmond this month on a “pilgrimage of pain and hope.”

The Richmond Slave Trail Commission has unveiled a vision for a $100 million to $150 million heritage site in Shockoe Bottom (the historical site of Richmond’s slave market).

Leading practitioners of conflict resolution, dialogue and community building will come to Richmond, VA to explore the trust deficit that divides the U.S. at the local and national levels and globally as well. The forum is sponsored by Initiatives of Change at the University of Richmond, June 4-7 and will draw participants from many walks of life to share best practices of building bridges and living with integrity.

Eighteen people gathered in a circle on Saturday, May 16 at the Hope in the Cities office to either participate in or observe a dialogue between Evangelical Christians and Muslims.

Matthew Freeman, Community Facilitator for Hope in the Cities, facilitated a discussion at Leadership Metro Richmond’s spring luncheon program on May 15 using audience response keypads.

Class Picture CCTP 2009 (Photo: Cricket White)
Where did sixteen people from Richmond, VA, one from France, one from Guatemala and one from Latvia come together? Four were in their twenties or thirties; five were in their forties; thirteen were in their fifties or sixties. There were nine Caucasians, ten African Americans, and representatives of Christianity, Islam and Judaism, as well as those with no religious affiliation.

Can’t guess? It was the Connecting Communities Trustbuilding Program!

A group of High School aged students hailing from various schools in Liverpool, U.K., came to Richmond for a week in February in their attempt to create a documentary film about slavery and its impact today.

Rob Corcoran, hombre modesto, de voz suave con un acento que lo traiciona y muestra su origen escocés, Director Nacional de Iniciativas de Cambio, EEUU, conversa con Mike Lowe.