Tresean Gilliam (right), an eighth-grader at Henderson Middle School, interviews longtime North Side resident Florence Jackson as part of the "Unsung Heroes" project. (Photo by Heather Lyne, Embrace Richmond)
Starting back in December, about 20 students from John Marshall and Richmond Community high schools and Henderson Middle School interviewed older residents who lived in Richmond’s Brookland Park neighborhood decades ago when racial tensions were flaring and school integration was still a new idea.
The project, coordinated by the nonprofit Embrace Richmond, culminates Tuesday evening in a live performance titled “Together We Rise” at the Pine Camp Cultural Arts and Community Center.
Paige Chargois, one of the first students who helped integrate schools in Richmond, says she hopes this project will serve to remind young people of their ability to effect change in their communities.
“We cannot wait for adults to change our culture. History reveals that the greatest change agents are young people,” she says.
Chargois says she spent much of her childhood fighting for integration.
According to Heather Lyne, operations manager for Embrace Richmond, the idea of a performing arts event to go along with the interviews came about when coordinators noticed the wealth of young talent on Richmond’s North Side.
Inspired by what they learned through the “Unsung Heroes” project, several students at John Marshall High School wrote an original song, “Being Black in America.”
Antione Ford Jr., one of the students who wrote the song, is a rapper and marching band percussionist. He says the project has given him another way to show off his creativity.
“My favorite part has been performing, just because I can show my friends, ‘This is who I’m gonna be and this is how I can do it,’ ” Ford says.
The song was produced at DaSpot Recording Studio on Brookland Park Boulevard. With the help of Zane Robinson at Life’s Interpretation LLC, they were able to record a music video, too.
“That’s why I love doing this, because I provide an outlet … I’m trying to build entrepreneurs and entry-level job opportunities so they don’t have to continue that struggle,” Robinson says.
Lyne says Embrace Richmond, which has been working in the Brookland Park area since 2013, focused the project around an important milestone in Virginia’s racial history: In September 1960, Chandler Junior High School, now Richmond Community High School, became the first school in Richmond to be voluntarily integrated. J. Austin Brown, principal of Richmond Community, said upon hearing the history he knew it was something that needed to be shared. In February, Brown invited some of the first people to help integrate the schools, including Chargois, to speak at Richmond Community for Black History Month.
Reservations are full for Tuesday’s “Together We Rise” program, but those who are interested can register for the waiting list.
Embrace Richmond also plans to make a digital version of the program available on its website and other platforms. Lyne says the organization’s director, Wendy McCaig, hopes the presentation will catalyze more dialogue about race and integration in Richmond. With additional funding, Lyne says, the “Unsung Heroes” program may be able to continue its interviews and tell neighborhood stories from the decades after the events described in “Together We Rise.”