What a
Weekend!

Time To Heal

Friday, Sep 20 | 5–8 PM

“For there is always light, if only we’re brave enough to see it. If only we’re brave enough to be it.” – Amanda Gorman

We hold a guided meditation practice & libation ceremony at “Ground Zero” – formerly the location of America’s 2nd biggest slave market – that reflects on the intergenerational trauma of the African American community and imagines a path towards collective healing. The practice will be enhanced by sound bowls, and African drummers.

This is a free community event. It requires a registration. 

Run Richmond 16.19

Saturday, Sep 21 | 7–11:15 AM

“A people without knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots.” – Marcus Garvey

Our cultural run-or-walk event offers two courses that allow you to run through more than 400 years of Black history: A 16.19K Run and a 6.19K Run/Walk.

You’ll also have the opportunity to download a free audio app narrated by Djimon Hounsou that converts your phone into an outdoor museum guide. The race also includes a libation ceremony held by the Elegba Folklore Society.

Register here.

Africa ReConnect

Saturday, Sep 21 | 10–2 PM

“There is no beauty without color.”

Our free finish festival celebrates the beauty of African and African American culture through a live performance by Mighty Joshua (reggae band), a drum circle, electric slide dancing, a Black history pop-up exhibit, a vendor village, and African American foods & drink vendors.

This is a free community event. No registration required.

INTERSECTING HISTORY COMMUNITY CONVERSATION

Thu | Visit Eventbrite for details

Kicking off the International Peace Week celebration, Initiatives of Change USA will host a special Intersecting History Community Conversation, focused on this year’s theme “US:A Belonging Beyond Borders.”

The conversation will feature advocates and thought leaders participating in an engaging discussion about belonging, the role borders have in hindering cultural, social and historical exchanges, and how we can address this separation on a local, national, and global level.

BLACK HISTORY
BUS TOURS

Fri – Sun | Take a look at our travel packages

This offering is exclusively available when you book a travel package.

Join a 90-min Black History Bus Tours provided by Walking the Ward with Gary Flowers. The tour will reveal the Black History of Richmond, including the educational, religious, civic, benevolent, and cultural institutions that made Historic Jackson Ward the birthplace of Black Capitalism in the United States (the original “Black Wall Street”), and “The Harlem of the South”. 

RIVERFRONT
CANAL CRUISES

Every Day | Visit website for details

Participate in a 40-minute history boat tour of the James River and Kanawha Canal along downtown Richmond’s historic canal walk.

THE VALENTINE

Fri – Sun | 10–5 PM

Free museum entry with your Run Richmond 16.19 race bib.

The Valentine has been collecting, preserving and interpreting Richmond Stories for over 125 years. The museum displays the toppled Confederate statue of Jefferson Davis. In displaying the statue, The Valentine confronts its past: The museum’s first president, Edward Valentine, designed the statue before it was erected on Monument Avenue in 1907.

In addition, the exhibit Sculpting History at the Valentine Studio: Art, Power, and the “Lost Cause” American Myth uses evidence to show how Edward Valentine, leaders in Richmond, and others around the country reframed the reality of the Civil War. It uncovers the stories behind the Lost Cause, its legacy, and those who resisted the myth.

INTERSECTING HISTORY MUSEUM CRAWL

Sun | Visit Eventbrite for details

The International Peace Week celebration hosted by Initiatives of Change USA concludes with a special, 4th annual Intersecting History Museum Crawl based on the theme “US:A Belonging Beyond Borders.” Attendees will be able to visit 9 area museums free of charge while exploring exhibitions and gaining a more inclusive, peace-focused understanding of our city’s history. Charter buses will offer rides between museums at no cost to attendees, thanks in part to sponsorship from Richmond Region Tourism.

The participants include:

• American Civil War Museum-Historic Tredegar
• Black History Museum and Cultural Center of Virginia
• The Branch Museum of Architecture and Design
• Institute for Contemporary Art at VCU
• The Poe Museum
• The Valentine Museum
• Virginia Holocaust Museum
• Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
• Virginia Museum of History & Culture