Betty Kilby Baldwin and Phoebe Kilby have told their remarkable story of reconciliation and reparation 37 times in seven months across the country, with features in , , and a .
In March, the co-authors of (Walnut Street Books, 2021) visit Harrisonburg to share more.
草莓社区 is a special place to both women; it鈥檚 where they met in a five-day class titled 鈥淐oming to the Table,鈥� during the 2007 Summer Peacebuilding Institute. Kilby holds a graduate certificate in conflict transformation and was the former first advancement director for CJP. Their connection continued through the development of the CTTT organization; its goal is to bring together descendants of slave owners and enslaved people to talk about racial reconciliation.
Their new book gives space for each woman to tell her story 鈥� Betty鈥檚 experience as one of the first Black children to attend a desegregated school in Rappahannock County, Phoebe鈥檚 desire to repair harms after a privileged life, the story of their meeting and ongoing work together.
They鈥檒l talk about all of this and answer questions from the audience at two events:
- On Wednesday, March 23, at 10:10 a.m. in Lehman Auditorium at EMU, Baldwin and Kilby will speak at a convocation in honor of Women鈥檚 History Month. Masks are optional. This event will be livestreamed on . [You do not need to be a member of Facebook to watch.]
- On Thursday, March 24, from 7-8:30 p.m., Massanutten Regional Library hosts an author event. .
The talks are sponsored by EMU, as well as the university鈥檚 . Kilby earned a graduate certificate in conflict transformation from the center in 2004 and worked as the center鈥檚 first development associate.
She and Baldwin met through the racial reconciliation organization , which started at EMU in 2006 and continues today as a program of Restorative Justice for Oakland Youth. Nearly 50 CTTT local affiliate groups can be found in 19 states.
First published 3/8