News

Dec 19, 2023

Building a bigger table for reflections

Laura Hill, founder and director of Coming to the Table-Historic Triangle, and

Laura Hill, founder and director of Coming to the Table-Historic Triangle, and Will Hairston, co-founder of Coming to the Table-National and a founding board member of the Virginia Racial Healing Institute, at the Heal Greater Williamsburg, Heal the Nation Community Day on Saturday, Oct. 22, 2022. Courtesy of Will Hairston

In the blink of an eye the one year anniversary of my column, Building A Bigger Table, arrived! Yes, April marks a year since I shared the childhood memory about my dad's Thanksgiving ritual — adding a leaf to the dining room table to make space for extended family and friends. His simple gesture to "build a bigger table" still inspires me.

My dad never imagined the indelible impact he was making. Today I lead the Virginia Racial Healing Institute, a non-profit that offers programs that invite diverse people to "come to the table" and work together to help heal wounds caused by stoking fears and racial divisions.

Through this column I set out to create space for more voices and issues impacting the Historic Triangle region today. Along the way, my writing has afforded me the opportunity to meet fascinating people and to learn more about community needs and resources.

One of my fondest memories was meeting Pulitzer prize-winning author Isabel Wilkerson, who wrote the New York Times-bestselling book, "Caste: The Origins of our Discontent." Wilkerson was the keynote speaker during William & Mary's Women's Weekend. The key takeaway from her address was that while we can not change what has happened in the past, we can analyze and repair systems that continue to perpetuate injustices. Wilkerson compared this to taking responsibility for repairing an old family house. "We may not have built the house, but when the basement is flooded with water, we have to fix what's broken." she said.

Another meaningful memory was attending a community breakfast at Sentara Williamsburg Regional Medical Center, where the results of their 2022 Community Health Needs Assessment were shared. Two of the most pressing needs, caring for an aging population and health equity, hit home recently when I started navigating health care resources to assist my mother after she fell at home.

Occasionally while out and about in the community, I have crossed paths with strangers, who stop me to say, "Hi Laura! I read your column!" Last year during a Juneteenth event at Bicentennial Park, I met a friendly woman who approached me and uttered those words. To my surprise, she turned out to be Jeanne Zeidler, the former mayor of Williamsburg.

Then there was a candid cashier at a checkout counter who recognized me and inspired me to write about the affordable housing dilemma. She was working two jobs and still struggling to stay afloat due to soaring rent increases.

My greatest joy comes from "Sankofa" moments, when we go back to uncover and reclaim forgotten history. Over the past year, William & Mary dedicated its $2.9 million Hearth: Memorial to the Enslaved; the Bray School, the oldest school for free and enslaved Black children was relocated; a historical marker was erected near an entrance of the Yorktown Naval Weapons Station to recognize The Reservation, a free African American community that owned homes and businesses there from 1862 to 1922; and the recent DNA findings of human remains found buried under the 1856 site of historic First Baptist Church revealed that the people were of African ancestry and had ties to the church.

I have learned valuable life-lessons from writing Building A Bigger Table. The greatest lesson is that when opportunity knocks, open the door! A year ago I invited you to take your seat at the "table." I hope you did, and that you will "stay" at the table and make space for others.

When we work together to create a more just and equitable community, we all win!

Laura D. Hill is the founder and director of Coming to the Table-Historic Triangle, a program of the Virginia Racial Healing Institute. Learn more about her work at Comingtothetable-historictriangle.org.

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