Heather Peeler, ACT for Alexandria, via Zoom
More than 1,200 people joined a virtual town hall Tuesday evening called “Facing Racism. Demanding Change.”
The virtual town hall was hosted by ACT for Alexandria, Alexandria’s community foundation, the City of Alexandria and several community-based organizations.
Its purpose was to honor George Floyd, the African American man killed by police in Minneapolis on May 25, and to provide an opportunity for residents to share their voices.
You can watch the virtual town hall replay at the bottom of this page.
The event featured a panel of civic leaders, including Living Legend and Activist Joyce Rawling, Alexandria City Councilmember John Taylor Chapman, Alexandria City Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Gregory C. Hutchings Jr., and Alexandria youth leader Kamryn Powell.
During the event, Alexandria Police Chief Michael Brown said the video of George Floyd horrified him and his death at the hands of police should never happen to anyone.
“I don’t want to see this again. I want us to be able as a community … to find ways that we don’t have to see this again. There’s nothing that’s perfect, and certainly policing isn’t — it’s a messy business. … But there’s no excuse for what we witnessed on that video.”
He continued by saying that our community must come together to find solutions: “It has to be all of us who have a moment of introspection — a gut check if you will — to fix this problem once and for all, and to come up with meaningful interventions and solutions.”
Brown said he was horrified at the injustice the George Floyd video showed and makes him even more committed to seeing positive change. “I’m in the fight with us, because I don’t want to do it again.”
Schools Superintendent Hutchings said the schools have a major role to play in ensuring children learn about our local history (Alexandria was heavily involved in the slave trade). Further, the Alexandria City Public Schools system has to work toward eliminating systemic racism at all levels in our local educational system.
Just a few months ago, Alexandria became one of the few cities in the United States to hire a Race and Social Equity Officer. Jacqueline Tucker started her job in February with the monumental task of collaborating with City departments and employees, community members and other stakeholders to ensure all voices are heard in Alexandria. (Read more about her here.)
During the virtual town hall, after showing data points on racial disparities here in Alexandria, she said she wanted “to make sure that we don’t continue to have these disproportionate outcomes.”
ACT for Alexandria started a concerted effort to help build racial equity capacity in the City of Alexandria. The ultimate goal of the initiative has been “to achieve a future when race no longer predicts one’s outcomes in life; when everyone has what they need to thrive, no matter what neighborhood they live in, the color of their skin, their gender, or where they were born.”
Related: Mayor, Police Share Thoughts on George Floyd Tragedy
You can watch the virtual town hall, which was broadcast to Facebook, here.
