REPLAY: The Empathy Tours

Jalane Schmidt recently brought a group of Virginia teachers to see Charlottesville’s tiny monument to its enslaved residents. One teacher had a startling personal revelation at that site.

Elgin Cleckley is an architect who studies empathy. He says redesigning public space can help heal racial wounds.

Danville, Virginia was once a Confederate capital. Now, teams of citizens are working together to tell the story of a different Danville: a city that hosted Martin Luther King Jr. and Thurgood Marshall, a city where brave teenagers forced the public library to integrate, and where opportunity for all is on the rise. Karice Luck-Brimmer recently took students and teachers from Averett University on an eye-opening tour of African American Danville.

When we hear about the end of Jim Crow, we hear mostly about kids attending schools or about major court cases. But what did the process of legal desegregation look like in everyday life and culture? Jennifer Ritterhouse shares the story of  Sarah Patton “Pattie” Boyle and her transformation from segregationist to ardent desegregationist in mid-20th century Virginia.

Jody Allen discusses how Black Virginians collectively built their own institutions during the Jim Crow era.

Camilla Williams was an African American opera singer from Danville, Virginia. She shares her memories and music with us, and Ethel Haughton explains why Williams’ legacy is so important today.