For more coverage, pictures, and videos of vigil, please 
visit our blog post
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Beloved Community Cville held a “Slave Auction Block Vigil” on Sunday, March 1st at the Historic Court Square in downtown Charlottesville to acknowledge the trauma which took place there and to honor local enslaved ancestors. The experience of the descendants, and their enslaved ancestors, was at the forefront of the event and was brought alive through song, prayer, story-telling, reading of names, and ritual. 

​Don Gathers, Organizer with Beloved Community Cville, gave an introduction to the vigil, while Professor Jalane Schmidt described the route for the vigil and reminded the crowd of the solemnity of the occasion.
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Participants began by walking to the former site of Eagle Tavern where, Myra Anderson, a sixth-generation descendant of the Hern family, who were enslaved at Monticello by Thomas Jefferson, read aloud the names of the 33 people who were sold there. Rev. Carolyn Dillard, the Associate Minister of Zion Hill Baptist Church of Keswick, followed with a prayer.
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The next reflection location was where the slave auction marker was located until it was stolen in early February. The gathering listened to a portion of a 1949 interview with Fountain Hughes, a 101-year-old formerly enslaved Charlottesville man. After a moment of silent reflection, Rev. Xavier Jackson, pastor of the Chapman Grove Baptist Church, beautifully expressed the mood of the gathering with a sung meditation.
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At the former location of Swan Tavern, Cauline Yates, descendant of Sally Hemings' sister, Mary, read aloud the 1852 letter by Maria Perkins, an enslaved woman from Charlottesville. Following the reading of this letter, Apostle Sarah Kelley, pastor and founder of Faith, Hope and Love International Healing and Deliverance Center, sang, “Trouble of the World.”
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The vigil was concluded at the steps of the Courthouse where Rev. Brenda Brown-Grooms, a Charlottesville native and co-pastor of New Beginnings Christian Community, invited descendants to come forward to ladle out a libation to the ancestors, as she sang, “I Told Jesus” and “Wade in the Water."

Don Gathers ended the vigil by offering a benediction.
For more coverage, pictures, and videos of vigil, please visit our blog post.
Photo credit: Kristen Finn
Beloved Community Candlelight Vigil
held for
August 12th activists

On August 11, local anti-racist activists and survivors held a candlelight vigil in downtown Charlottesville to reclaim the spaces where people were injured and traumatized two years ago. Elizabeth Shillue of Beloved Community Cville led the effort with support from Don Gathers, Jalane Schmidt, and Walt Heinecke. The event was held in honor of those who showed up on August 12, 2017, to express gratitude for their protection, pray for their continued healing, and issue a spiritual call for transformation.

“Tonight is about reclaiming the locations where folks were injured and traumatized 2 years ago. Singing and praying for our healing and transformation.
As we continue working to create the beloved community here in Charlottesville.”
-- Elizabeth Shillue
 
“The tragic and traumatic events that took place here on A11 and A12 perpetrated by the white supremacist have permanently stained our community and scarred our individuals. It is an act of power to have the community acknowledge the suffering and sacrifice that took place and hold it with deep care. For many, it’s a cathartic and therapeutic step towards the healing process.”
-- Don Gathers 
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We began by gathering at First United Methodist Church, a location that was used by many as a safe space on Aug 12, 2017, and then we proceeded by foot to 5 downtown locations where people were injured by white supremacists two years ago, as well as other spots of historical significance. At each location local leaders offered prayers, songs, and words of history to the activists, organizers, and survivors of August 12th.

Contributors included Elizabeth Shillue, Brenda Brown-Grooms (via Susan Minasian & Michael Cheuk), Sharon McCord, Dr. Jalane Schmidt, Dr. Wes Bellamy, Apostle Sarah Kelley, and Don Gathers. 
Locations included: First United Methodist Church, Market Street Park, Congregation Beth Israel, Court Square, Market St parking garage, and 4th street where the car attack took place. We finished our vigil at the public art exhibit on the Violet Crown wall, where many of the activist's photos are currently on display as part of the Inside Out project.

It was a Spirit filled time of reflection and community care! 

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