Join us for a showing of the film "Mending Walls: The Documentary" followed by a Q&A discussion with creators and members of Mending Walls RVA. Started in 2020, the Mending Walls project was founded by Hamilton Glass in response to the unjust killing of George Floyd. The project has continued to beautify public spaces around Richmond, Va., with murals that spark conversation regarding social justice, human experience, and expression.

Enter a question for Director Hamilton Glass and other panels from Mending Walls RVA when completing the registration form! We will ask as many audience questions as time allows after the film.

For semi-live-virtual and on-demand conference attendees: This session will only be available as an on-demand audio recording. Please watch Mending Walls: The Documentary via a link to the film at https://vpm.org/mending-walls, then listen to the audio recording of the post-movie discussion with members of Mending Walls RVA.

Who is Dr. Arthur Romano?

Arthur Romano, PhD, is assistant professor at the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution at George Mason University.

His book, Racial Justice and Nonviolence Education: Building the Beloved Community, One Block at a Time, advocates for “the beloved community” as the “framework for the future.” It examines key concepts from the teachings of Martin Luther King, Jr., such as making nonviolence a way of life for courageous people, attacking forces—not people—doing evil, accepting suffering without retaliation for the sake of the cause to achieve the goal, and avoiding “internal violence of the spirit” as well as external physical violence. Don’t miss the book signing tonight at 8 p.m.!

Who is Robert McCartney?

Robert (“Rob”) McCartney, MSW, is the CEO of The Barry Robinson Center, a behavioral health system in Norfolk, Va., anchored by a 72-bed residential treatment center. In the past six years, McCartney has led the transition of the center’s residential program from a typical residential treatment center to a premier program whose primary mission is to help military-connected children and their families heal. Since 2013, The Barry Robinson Center has provided care to 500-plus military children, adolescents, and their families from 35 states and four countries.

Who is Ron Jones?

Ron Jones is an Emmy-Award-winning actor, writer, educator, and social activist whose work spans 25 years. As the current executive director of Dialogues on Diversity, Jones oversees the nation’s premier social justice, diversity awareness theater company, leading more than 100 performances, lectures, and workshops in North America annually.

His humor and talent for innovation have launched a range of performance, lecture, game, and workshop platforms that help individuals and organizations address issues of cultural difference in more open, healthy, and respectful ways. Programs by Jones have been profiled by major media outlets such as CNN, The Washington Post, and Fox News.

Jones is committed to using creative ways to bring “Compassionate Activism” into America’s discussions and actions around social change. He believes that only through understanding the mechanisms of bias and oppression can we work to dismantle them. Also driving his approach is his belief that too few Americans know the stories and complexities of sometimes-shameful stories that make us all a “beautiful experiment.” Jones will explain why he believes learning our collective stories is the only way to change hearts and bring lasting change lives

Who is Sarah Butts?

Sarah Butts is the NASW director of public policy, responsible for leading the association’s public policy, political and legislative affairs agenda, overseeing field organizing, working at both the national level and with NASW chapters, fundraising for political candidates, managing endorsement efforts, and developing and advancing the association’s strategic goals and objectives in Congress and the White House.

Prior to joining NASW, Butts was executive director of the Grand Challenges for Social Work at the University of Maryland School of Social Work. A macro social worker with experience in management, community organizing, and public policy, she is a founding administrator of the American Academy of Social Welfare and Social Work, which sets a research-informed social policy agenda for the profession.