By Sarah Mansheim
This week, community members and leaders attended a two-day summit on one of our nation’s toughest topics: race.
The Summit on Race Matters was held on Nov. 10 and 11 at the Kyle and Ann Fort Arts and Sciences Building at New River Community and Technical College. The event was sponsored by the Greenbrier Valley Community Foundation, NRCTC and the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy.
The event was a dynamic combination of keynote speakers and group workshops, where people spoke to one another about sensitive topics in moderated, one-on-one conversations.
A combination of video clips, both satirical and educational, and live speeches kept attendees engaged throughout the two-day event. Speakers included Larry “Two Rivers” Brown, poet Crystal Good, NRCTC President Dr. L. Marshall Washington, Rev. Larryetta Ellis, Brit Huerta of High Rocks, Dr. Michelle Foster, Rev. Nelson Staples and more.
The crowd was filled with attendees from the educational system, city councils and municipal police forces, all of whom were seeking routes to navigating the overt and subtle ways racism affects us all.
