Faith-based walk against racism will pass through Annandale
Walk the Walk 2020, “a faith pilgrimage of reckoning, resolve, and love,” will be passing through Annandale on Wednesday, Aug. 26.
The event emerges from a declaration by white clergy and faith leaders “to take responsibility for our role in uprooting white supremacy and anti-Blackness in our lives, faith institutions, and our nation.”
The pilgrimage starts in Charlottesville on Aug. 20 and will end up at Lafayette Park in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 28 in time for the Commitment March, a national event on the 57th anniversary of Martin Luther King’s historic “I Have a Dream” speech.
Walk the Walk was organized by a coalition of these organizations: Faith in Action, Red Letter Christians, Vote Common Good, Greater Things, and the Truth and Conciliation Commission.
People can sign up to participate in the full distance or a one-day walk.
On day 7 of the walk, Aug. 26, the group will start at the Manassas battlefield, walk through Centreville, head along Braddock Road, and end up at Wakefield Park in Annandale at about 3 p.m.
On the first day of the event, Aug. 20, there will be multiple events in Charlottesville, as Walk the Walk participants visit key points from American history, including the legacy of Thomas Jefferson, the Civil War, lynchings, and the Unite the Right white supremacy rally in August 2017.
On Aug. 27, several events are scheduled in Alexandria.
The idea for the walk came from the murder of George Floyd and the protests that followed, says Bing Huo of Vote Common Good. “White clergy got the message that they should be the ones to speak out now.”
The Walk the Walk organizations call upon predominantly white congregations and faith traditions to atone for ways their communities have been complicit with and profited from racism. They support racial justice initiatives and urge elected officials to protect voting access for Black, Brown, and indigenous citizens and redirect funds from criminal justice and immigrant detention to education and healthcare.
Walkers will be escorted by the Virginia State Police. “This is not about civil unrest,” Huo says. “This is a nice peaceful, orderly walk.”
3 responses to “Faith-based walk against racism will pass through Annandale”
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That’s a nice to thing to do hopefully there no rain in the forecast
Wish there was a more inclusive, less divisive "All lives matter" walk
and not another event that ignore brown and yellow people of this country.
Explain how this event is not inclusive and divisive? YOU are making it divisive. Every protest should not have to justify their existence by acknowledging every other injustice that is present in the world. You’re just looking for an easy out. Be better bro.