Back by Popular Demand: Tables of Conscience Dinners Return to Support ACRP Scholarships

Back by Popular Demand: Tables of Conscience Dinners Return to Support ACRP Scholarships

The Alexandria Community Remembrance Project (ACRP) is excited to announce the return of the highly anticipated Tables of Conscience book-themed dinners! These engaging, thought-provoking events will raise funds for the 2025 scholarships in the names of Joseph McCoy and Benjamin Thomas, two African American teenagers lynched in Alexandria.

The dinners will take place on October 26, November 2, and November 16, 2024. Attendees will join in discussions based on books that tackle racial justice issues in the homes of ACRP members. All proceeds from the dinner go toward funding two $3,000 scholarships for Alexandria City High School students that will be awarded in March 2025.

Each dinner is limited to 8-12 participants, and reservations are required. A $125 donation per person is needed to secure a spot. About a week before the event, guests will receive an email with the name and address of the host. Please notify us of any food allergies or preferences during registration, and hosts will do their best to accommodate requests. Support the cause and join us for an unforgettable evening of food, conversation, and community!

The Dinners

• Saturday, October 26, 2024, 6-9 p.m.
  Book: The Hate U Give, By Angie Thomas

This award-winning book is about an African American teen, Starr Carter, who sees a white police officer kill her best friend from childhood. Mississippi Author, Angie Thomas, shares a no holds barred story about how Carter experiences this murder and reacts to the racism surrounding her at home, school and in the world. Although this book is classified as a Young Adult Novel, it has been recommended for adults and has been described as a compelling, thought-provoking read. This is an oft challenged and banned book.

12 Tickets Available

• Saturday, November 2, 2024, 6-9 p.m.
  Book: In the Pines: A Lynching, A Lie, A Reckoning, By Grace Elizabeth Hale

When she first heard her mother's story about a thwarted lynching in a small Mississippi town where Hale's grandfather was the sheriff and seeming hero, the author of In the Pines: A Lynching, A Lie, A Reckoning, was a college student. The family lore inspired Hale, who is white, to focus her graduate studies on "whiteness," which led to the publication of her earlier book (and a ToC dinner book in 2023), Making Whiteness: The Culture of Segregation in the South 1890-1940. During a visit to her grandmother's house, Hale discovered a 1947 front page article detailing the lynching of Versie Johnson. The graduate student immediately realized the news account - and family lore - wasn't true, but she wasn't sure what to do with the new insight. But after watching her students protest the white supremacists march through Charlottesville in 2017, Hale knew she had to research this piece of racial terror history and tell the truth. Bryan Stevenson called her book, "courageous and compelling" and an "essential and critically important" read.

12 Tickets Available

• Saturday, November 16, 2024, 6-9 p.m.
  Book: The Hidden Roots of White Supremacy: and the Path to a Shared American Future, Robert P. Jones

The roots of white supremacy reach back to the 15th century and the Doctrine of Discovery - a belief that God gave Christians the right to dominate any land not already inhabited by the faithful, according to its author Robert P. Jones, who is also founder and president of the Public Religion Research Institute. This book explores the connection of past injustices and massacres perpetrated against native and Black Americans, while also examining current attempts to repair these historic wrongs. The New York Times said it is "full of urgency and insight."

8 tickets available.

Reserve your tickets at The Alexandria Shop

How to Purchase a ticket

Each reservation requires a $125 donation per person. The dinner's discussion book must be purchased separately from a local bookstore.

1. Reserve your ticket: https://shop.alexandriava.gov/Events.aspx
2. Pay for your ticket

Pay by credit card on the ACRP's campaign page on the Scholarship Fund of Alexandria (SFA) site. Make a donation of $125 per reservation, print out the donation slip from SFA and bring it to the dinner.

OR

Pay b​​​​y check payable to the Scholarship Fund of Alexandria, and mail to:
ACRP
Lloyd House
220 N. Washington Street
Alexandria, VA 22314.

ACRP will have your receipt if paying by check.

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

For more information, visit alexandriava.gov/Historic.

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For reasonable disability accommodation, contact Nicole Quinn at [email protected] or call 703.746.4554, Virginia Relay 711.

If you prefer communication in another language, free interpretation and translation services are available to you, please email [email protected] or call 703-746-3960.

About the Alexandria Community Remembrance Project:

The Alexandria Community Remembrance Project (ACRP) is a city-wide initiative dedicated to helping Alexandria understand its history of racial terror hate crimes and to work toward creating a welcoming community bound by equity and inclusion. It is a part of the Alexandria African American History Division of the Office of Historic Alexandria.

About the Office of Historic Alexandria:

The Office of Historic Alexandria preserves and shares the history of the City of Alexandria with eight museums, historic sites, archives, archaeology, tours, exhibits and public programs. Through powerful storytelling and confronting the City's past, Historic Alexandria enriches the present and inspires the future. We enhance the quality of life for residents and visitors and serves as a partner in the City's equity and inclusion initiatives. For more information, visit alexandriava.gov/Historic.

Alexandria at 275: Connecting to our past to define a brighter future.

Since its 1749 founding, the historic city of Alexandria has played a major role in our nation's story and reflected its progress toward inclusivity. Learn more about Alexandria's 275th anniversary and embark on the next chapter in our city's vibrant history at alexandriava.gov/ALX275.

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