Let freedom ring! // People of all backgrounds, ethnicities and faiths came from across the nation to participate Monday in the “Let Freedom Ring: A Call to Heal a Nation” initiative at historic First Baptist Church of Williamsburg. There, they rang the church’s newly restored bell as part of the initiative marking the church’s 240th anniversary and to engender racial healing, peace and justice nationwide. People from across the nation can ring the bell in person or virtually during Black History Month.
Monday’s kickoff included noted civil rights and justice advocates, remarks from former U.S. Ambassador Susan John Cook and the Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr., as well as descendents of President Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings, the African-American woman he enslaved and fathered six children with, who rang the bell. Entertainer Valerie Simpson of the famed singing duo Ashford and Simpson sang during the ceremony, along with the Hampton University Symphonic Choir.
