We invite you to join the Anderson Area Remembrance & Reconciliation Initiative for a unique community gathering, a night of breaking bread together in the spirit of reconciliation, storytelling, and the Beloved Community. This first session will be an evening featuring a powerful conversation with Courtland & John Wright, life long Andersonians as they talk about their family and the lives they are building in their home right here in Anderson, SC. Through this evening of fellowship, we’ll remember the power of the table, where breaking bread becomes an act of courage, connection, and collective healing.
Date: April 21, 2026
Time: 6:00–8:30 PM
Location: Anderson Arts Center
Click Here to Register (Eventbright)
A Community Gathering by the Anderson Area Remembrance & Reconciliation Initiative
The beloved community is not just an idea.
It is something we build. Together.
It takes work.
It takes trust.
It takes empathy.
And sometimes, it starts with something simple.
A table.
A meal.
A conversation.
Breaking Bread is an invitation to come together across stories, experiences, and backgrounds to share food and sit in conversation with one another. Not to debate. Not to perform. But to listen. To learn. To see one another more clearly.
We believe that when people sit side by side, something shifts. Walls soften. Stories emerge. Humanity becomes harder to ignore.
This gathering will bring members of our community together to share food and something of themselves. It is a reflection of your story, your culture, your home.
MARK YOUR CALENDAR
Session Two: Story of Justice
Date: July 21, 2026
Time: 6:00–8:30 PM
Location: Anderson Arts Center
Featured Guest: The Honorable Judge Pauline Hankins
This evening will feature a powerful conversation with Judge Pauline Hankins of Brunswick County, North Carolina; a Juvenile Justice Judge who presides over Safe Babies Court, a program helping children and families heal from trauma. Her courtroom stands on the very land where her ancestors were once enslaved; an extraordinary story of redemption, justice, and grace.
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This event is hosted by the Anderson Area Remembrance & Reconciliation Initiative (AAR&RI), a movement of concerned individuals in Anderson County with two primary purposes. One is to honor the memory of five documented victims of racial lynching in Anderson County in the period between 1894 and 1911 by participating in the Community Remembrance Project of the Equal Justice Initiative. The other is through dialogue, education, and fellowship to move our community toward reconciliation and elimination of racial disparities and the realization of “Beloved Community” as described by The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King.