Central Nova News

We are excited to announce a new round of Tables of Conscience book-themed dinners to raise money for the 2024 scholarships in the names of Joseph McCoy and Benjamin Thomas. These will be held in January and February in order to raise the amount needed by March 1, 2024 for two scholarships worth $3,000 each for two African American Alexandria City High School students. 

Three ACRP Members have volunteered to host dinners in their homes for 8-12 people from 6-9 p.m. Those interested in attending will select one of the books listed below and buy a ticket through the Office of Historic Alexandria’s online ticket system. About a week before the dinner, ticket holders will receive an email with the name and address of the hosts. 

Please consider buying a $125 ticket based on a book you would like to read and join other ACRP members to discuss one of these racial justice topics. (The book is not included in the ticket price and should be purchased separate from a local bookstore.) We hope to sell out, so please don’t hesitate and purchase your ticket today. Use some of your holiday respite to read one of these interesting books! Better yet, give the gift of a social justice experience this holiday season by buying a ticket and a book for someone else.

If you are unable to attend one of the dinners, you can still support the Memorial Scholarships by donating through our campaign page with the Scholarship Fund of Alexandria.

January 13

Book: Slavery By Another Name, the Reenslavement of Black Americans from the Civil War to World War II, By Douglas A. Blackmon

This Pulitzer prize winning history details how not long after the liberation of African Americans from bondage at the end of the Civil War, the new citizens were forced back into involuntary servitude. Journalist and University of Virginia Miller Center Forum Chair Blackmon reveals the stories of those who fought against the use of selective enforcement of laws and discriminatory sentencing to reenslave Black people during an “Age of Neoslavery'' brought about by the South’s exploitation of a clause in the 13th Amendment. He describes the way companies and governments profited by “leasing” the labor of those they accused and convicted of petty crimes. Alexandria used such labor to repair and build streets, alleys and sewers soon after the conservative democrats regained control of the local government in 1873. 

February 3

Book: It's the Little Things, Everyday Interactions that Anger, Annoy and Divide the Races, By Lena Williams

Described as a “sounding board for Blacks and whites concerned with bridging the racial divide,” New York Times Journalist Lena Williams book is sometimes amusing and other times pointed. It is true we no longer live with legal segregation, but a divide between Black and white people still exists, even in Alexandria. We live near each other, but we generally do not have close relationships that cross the “color line” and even when we do, the dominant white culture can cause miscommunication that can generate anger. This frank, funny book helps us understand, and eliminate alarmingly common interactions that cause friction for both Black and white people.

February 10

Book: The Half That Has Never Been Told: Slavery and American Capitalism, by Edward E. Baptist.

Edward Baptist puts slavery at the very center of this nation’s political and economic past. Deemed a “radical new interpretation of history” this award winning book details how slavery grew the United States into a modern, industrial, capitalist nation. “In the span of a single lifetime, the South grew from a  narrow coastal strip of worn-out tobacco plantations to a continental cotton empire.” In the process of telling this story, Baptist humanizes those enslaved and shares the truth about the brutality they faced through the testimonies of survivors, politicians and entrepreneurs as well as plantation records and newspapers.

To request a reasonable disability accommodation or an alternative format, e-mail historicalexandria@alexandriava.gov, or call 703.746.4554, or Virginia Relay 711.

For inquiries from the news media only, contact the Office of Communications & Public Information at newsroom@alexandriava.gov or 703.746.3969. 

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This release is available at alexandriava.gov/go/5274.

 Original source can be found here.