In this next “in conversation” video, Dr. Virgil Wood talks about the Alexander Wood legacy, the Julius Rosenwald school he attended as a young child and the community that nurtured him, and the concept of a Deep Woods memorial park that is under development in Texas.
BCI
Houston Event – Dec 13
At 4:30pm on Thursday, Dec 13, 2018, Dr. Virgil Wood, Dr. Carlos Phillips, Dr. Owen Cardwell, Dr. Ralph Hall, and Dr. Ryan Hulbert will be speaking at Booker T. Washington High School in Houston about “Lifting the Veil of Ignorance, Reversing the Jail Trail, and Jump Starting Viable Economic Futures for All.” Please come and join us if you are located in the Houston area.
BCI Event and Humanities Summit
On Tuesday, November 27, the VT-VUU Beloved Community Initiative (BCI) held its 2018 Essay Contest Awards Ceremony and Humanities Summit. During the event, three of the six winning students read their essays to the event participants and engaged in a conversation about their essays with Dr. Virgil Wood (Church Leader, Educator, and Civil Rights Activist) and Prof. Corey Walker (VUU Vice President, Dean and Professor of Religion and Society) .
Following the award ceremony, Afira Devries (President & CEO, United Way of Roanoke Valley), Dr. Owen Cardwell (Distinguished Chair of Education, University of Lynchburg), Prof. Corey Walker, and Dr. Virgil Wood each spoke about how they are working to address inequality and advance social and economic justice.
The photos below (taken by Prof. Peter Magolda) capture several moments from the event.
Dr. Virgil Wood
To close the event, Rachel Weaver (Assistant Professor, Creative Technologies, School of Visual Arts, Virginia Tech) announced the launch of the BCI video project to document the narratives, histories, efforts, and visions of those working to advance Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s conception of the Beloved Community in the 21st Century. The project’s teaser video below can also be found on the new BCI YouTube channel.
Watch the BCI Event Live
The 2018 Beloved Community Initiative Humanities Summit (from 1:30-5:00pm on Tuesday, Nov 27) can now be watched live via Facebook and Zoom.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/184681032460304/
The event will feature the following sessions:
1:30 – 2:45 PM: The History of the Civil Rights Movement through the Lens of the Winning Essays and the Ancestors
- Panel host: Prof. Sylvester Johnson (Director of the VT Center for Humanities)
- Panel members: Essay Contest Winners, Dr. Virgil Wood (Church Leader, Educator, and Civil Rights Activist), and Prof. Corey Walker (VUU Vice President, Dean and Professor of Religion and Society)
3:00 – 4:45 PM: Strategies to Overcome Structural Forms of Inequality to Create Systems of Economic and Social Justice
- Panel host: Dr. Ralph Hall (Associate Professor, SPIA)
- Panel members: Afira Devries (President & CEO, United Way of Roanoke Valley), Dr. Owen Cardwell (Distinguished Chair of Education, University of Lynchburg), Prof. Corey Walker, and Dr. Virgil Wood
4:45 – 5:00 PM: Special Announcement (by Rachel Weaver, Assistant Professor, Creative Technologies, School of Visual Arts, Virginia Tech)
