Connecting
Connecting is a major topic that Coming to the Table addresses. All of the stories featured on this section are about individuals who have made personal connections with others as a means to deal with the way the legacy of slavery has impacted their lives.
Local CTTT Groups
The transformational nature of the CTTT approach requires that we meet face to face so that we can build authentic relationships, strong enough to withstand the challenges of honestly facing our past, present and future together. National meetings are much too expensive and logistically demanding to provide enough opportunities for “in the flesh” connection and healing.
Gather at the Table
Coming to the Table will be featured prominently in the upcoming book Gather at the Table, written by CTTT members Tom DeWolf and Sharon Morgan, and due to be released in October by Beacon Press. Authors Morgan and DeWolf used the CTTT model of healing to build an honest interracial friendship over three years and across thousands of miles and twenty-seven states.
Our National Gathering
Sixty people from around the US met in Richmond, VA March 16-18 for a first-ever National Gathering of the Coming to the Table Community. Roughly half were descendants of people who had been enslaved, about half were descendants of enslavers, and a few were neither.
Unexpected Cousins
By: Dionne Ford
When Sheila Reed Findlay used DNA testing to help her trace her family tree, she didn’t expect to learn that she was a biological match to a Virginia family that was white.
Bridging the Gap
In August of 2010 I traveled from relatively cool and mossy Seattle to the humid, cricket-buzzing
heat of southeastern Mississippi for a family reunion I will never forget.
CNN-news story "When Kin of Slaves and Owners Meet"
This story, featured on CNN.com, tells the connecting story of our very own Betty and Phoebe.
A Growing Smoke in the Distance
Healing the legacy of slavery between Betty Kilby Baldwin and Phoebe Kilby has been an event that has hinged on the promise of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. His dream and their lives have coincided in a remarkable way and when told, in their own words, their story holds a large degree of power.
