The virginia Virginia Society on behalf of everyone is made today possible im honored to be the first to welcome you to the Virginia Museum of history and culture. applause im so thankful to see such a remarkable turnout today as we dedicate our father arthur ashe boulevard, we open our newest exhibition, together we mark the 400 anniversary of captive africans in english north america. Todays gathering is one of remembrance and reflection, it is also one of celebration. We are gathered on the front lawn of a very historic institution. In fact, this is the oldest Cultural Organization in the commonwealth of virginia, founded in 1831. For nearly 200 years, we have been collecting materials for the purpose of telling the story of this place. Some 14 million historical artifacts are housed within the walls behind me. We have much to be proud of. But we still have so very much we must do to be the state History Museum we all deserve. The one that represents all and welcomes all. applause doctor carter watson, a virginian, and the man considered the founder of black history aptly wrote, those who have no record of what their forebears have accomplished lose the inspiration which comes from the teaching of history. How very true. We must do more, be more and we will. We are committed, here at the museum, to a Bright Future dedicated inclusion access. The exhibit that we open today is a legacy project of the commonwealth of virginias 2019 commemoration, american evolution. Which remembers key historical events that occurred in virginia in 16 19 and continue to influence America Today. Including of course, the arrival of enslaved africans at point virginia. I hope that you will go and learn more about all the state what activities this year, an American Revolution 2019. Com. With the support of altria, bank of america, as well as generous supporters con rat and peggy hall, gill and charlotte minor, we have done something truly special that we are proud of. I hope you all will take time to see it. To see it and to learn. Learn the stories of 30 virginians over for centuries. Stories that people of people like arthur ashe, important stories of perseverance and also progress. Stories that remind us of the work still to be done. History is so very valuable for this reason. It gives us perspective and empathy, to make us better people and together, a better community. This is why commemorations like today are so important. This is why dedications like this are so very important. We are fortunate today to have with this or rather distinguished assembly. I would like to make if you acknowledge acknowledgments as we begin. First, to the members of Richmond City council, thank you very much, for your support and for making this happen. applause thank you to our mayor, stony, mister mayor, your team in this city has been a remarkable partner in making todays program possible, thank you, sir. And i will take that one step further, because i would like to commend the many dedicated City Employees who contributed their talent and effort to make today possible. Dozens of them, all under the leadership of chief Administrative Officer, so lena coffee glenn, thank you to all of them. I would like to acknowledge the representatives of the commonwealth, including numerous members of our general assembly, Lieutenant Governor fairfax, and governor northam, if you all would please wave and be recognized. applause i would like to acknowledge the National Representatives with us including members of the Congressional Black Caucus, including congressman bass, congresswoman pressley, congressman john lewis will be with us in just a moment, as well as our virginia representatives, congressman bobby scott and congressman don mckee chum. applause also with us this morning, our senator and fellow richmond or, tim kaine. Now i would like all members of the arthur ashe extended family to give a big waves we cannot that for you. applause it is not my pleasure to invite forward mr. Tom farrell, chairman, president and ceo of Dominion Energy, to extend his welcome which he does with our deep appreciation for dominion presenting its sponsorship for todays ceremony. Tom. Good morning everyone. Today marks a bold step forward for our city. Many folks here remember the hard work to build the author ash statue on monument avenue almost 25 years ago. Like many things important in richmond, it was very controversial. Lots of people had reasons not to build it. Or to build it somewhere else. Or to do Something Else altogether. It was not easy. But richmond is a better place today because political and Civic Leaders with vision took action. Leaders like senator tim kaine, who then served on the city council representing the Second District. applause he helped make that celebration possible. Councilwoman tim gray she helped make todays celebration possible. We should all think her for her leadership. applause these efforts demonstrate what can happen when good people who love our city come together and persevere, despite all the hurdles and all the naysayers. Two of my friends did that it generation ago. The first was a political leader, senator benny lamberts. He served on a board of directors of Dominion Energy and was my boss. He dedicated his life to serving this city and this state. He led the campaign to raise the money to build a statue. To partner and that effort was a business leader, tom toonie, who is the chief Financial Officer of Dominion Energy at the time. Tom had play tennis with arthur ash in the sixties and they were teenagers and because the law kept richmond was divided, they had to sneak around to do it. Arthur ashe was not allowed to play the tennis course just a few blocks down this ashes father would stand guard around Tennis Courts to make sure nobody harassed them. Those tennis ports theyre long gone, they run a corner. Eventually, the post office got built on that site. There is actually a lot of richmond history in that area. When it came time to honor Arthur Arthur ashe, a political leader and civic leader, got together and shoot a wonderful thing for city. Today we honor arthur ashe in this new way, not because of tennis, or wimbledon or the fact that he lived here. We honor him because he believed in serving people. His community was the world. He taught us to call out injustice everywhere, from apartheid in south africa, to poverty in haiti. You. His parents taught him that learning shapes human dignity. He believed in inclusion, despite the fact that he had grown up in a city that did not. He believed everyone deserves a job and a chance to work so they could contribute to society. He believed everyone deserves an affordable place to live. He believed in shaping a future that is different from our past. All of us here today believe those things to. He also believed that learning from the examples set from great people who come before him, like congressman john lewis. There are a lot of distinguish political leaders up here. applause and he is almost here. The governor has done a lot to make 95 work better. Looks like it could use a little more help, governor. I think we should all be very proud to have such a distinguished leader like congressman lewis come to richmond to do this event. Be applause . I believe its important to name the values that arthur ashe lived by. Today is not only about honoring such a great man. It is also about ourselves. And the values that we want to shape the future of our hometown. We believe in a richmond that welcomes everyone. One that learns from our past and built a future that is better for everyone. We believe in holding ourselves accountable to each other. And we believe and looking forward, because we have a lot of work to do to shape the future that we all believe in. So today, we dedicate ourselves to the words that arthur ashe chose for his statue. They come from st. Pauls letter to the humorous. And now, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight in the sandwich so easily in snares us. And let us run with endurance, the race that is set before us. Thank you. applause thank you, tom, from dominions wonderful and lasting support of this institution and for your presenting sponsorship today, we appreciate it. Ladies and gentlemen, if you are able, please now rise, for the presentation of colors by fort lease army color guard, and the singing of the national anthem, by representatives of sixth Zion Baptist Church of richmond. Oh, say can you see, by the dawns early light, what so proudly we yield, at the twilight last gleaming, whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight over the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming . And the rockets red glare, the bombs bursting in air gave proof through the night that our flag was still there. Oh say does that starspangled banner yet wave over land of the free and the home of the brave. applause ladies and gentlemen if you are able please remain standing it is my pleasure apart from being a longtime pastor, reverend powell is at friend of this museum having served on our board for many years his leadership shapes our vision for the future and his Life Experience continues to inspire us today reverend powell. applause what about your heads and let us pray. Oh divine spirit whose president s has been with us from one generation to another, we thank you for your kind investments in all of us. Most especially we are grateful for the grift gift of time that has steered us to do and be good. For the acts of yes the years which is part of our history, that have lifted humankind to the making of a better world we say thank you. Please forgive us for our times we have used our gifts to divide, to subjugate and to destroy. The collection and preservation of these gifts which spanned over 400 years by this organization the Virginia Museum of history and culture, these acts give us a clear picture of whom we have been. We pray that in reeling in observing this history we will vote ourselves to building that world that is most pleasing to the, on. Please be seated. Ladies and gentlemen governor of the commonwealth of virginia, ralph northam. Please be seated. Good morning. Thank you to the Virginia Museum of history and culture for hosting this gathering today and thanks to all of you for being here on this important occasion. To our congressional delegation representing other states, welcome to virginia. This year we mark the 400th anniversary of virginias long history of Representative Democracy and the arrival of enslaved africans. We must remember that our history is complex. This of virginia is rooted in the simultaneous of pursuit of both liberty and enslavement. A full accounting in demands that we confront and discuss those aspects of our history. And it demands that we look not just to point in time for hundred years in the past, but at how our commonwealth and our country evolved over the course of those four centuries. How did we live up to our ideals or failed to do so. We are examining these issues in various ways. This year through exits, forums and other American Revolution events. We are also looking at this history through exhibits. The 400 year struggle for black equality and this Virginia Museum of history and. Culture African American, black history is american history. applause and the way we teach that history is inadequate inaccurate, which makes applause which makes exhibits like this all the more important as we continue to rewrite the narrative. I hope, my intention is that virginia takes long overdue action in addressing the racial inequities that exist today. applause i am grateful for the Virginia Museum of history and culture to take up that important conversation. We need to continue to have that kind of dialog because when we know more, we can do more. Today we also honor a man who challenged limitations on a man of his skin color and by doing so advanced the struggle for equality. By breaking racial barriers in tennis, arthur ash achieved much more than sports fame. That legacy is why we are here to honor him today. Arthur ash was a ground breaker. I am proud to be here today as we honor his legacy. Thank, you and may god bless of you. applause ladies and gentlemen the sixth mound zion food choir from richmond virginia. applause applause the commonplace, people are slipping away. But as for me, all i can say is thank you lord for all youve done for me interpreter youve been my protection applause thank you lord for all youve done for me. Thank you, thank you. Thank you, thank you thank you lord for all youve done for me. Thank you lord for all youve done for me thank, you thank you lord applause ladies and gentlemen our state senator from virginia how about another great hand from six mount zion . A beautiful congregation formed by freeze but slaves after the civil war. So good to be together with all of you richmond friends. I want to thank the museum and all the elected the thank you the Congressional Black Caucus visit participating in the forum later this afternoon lets give them a big welcome thank you applause i am thrilled to be here with that federal colleagues. applause together we worry sponsors signed by President Trump to commemorate 2019 and former commission to celebrate 400 years of African American history in this country. There was a federal commission in 2007 to commemorate 400 years of english roots of this nation, there was a federal commission in 2015 to commemorate 450 years of hispanic roots of this nation if english roots matter, if hispanic roots matter african roots matter. applause i applaud my colleagues. Im an alltime and i dont look that old laughs but my goal today is old timer because 24 years ago when i was much younger, much thinner had a lot more hair and was much darker, i was a newlyelected member of the Richmond City council as we engage with our community in a very, very memorable debate about whether arthur ash statute should be placed on monument avenue in just a few miles. Some of you were particularly hopeful that you would be here today she was member of our counsel who played such a role given viola and all the 94 councillors a big round of applause. It was controversial, there were protests. There were discussions, there were different points of view. Tom farrell said while about whether arthur ash should be recognized it all and if he should, shouldnt be on monument avenue, some said monument avenue should only be reserved for several or general, other said that monument avenue was not good enough for arthur ash. We talked all over that at the time. The debate finished the seven hour meeting until one of the morning. 100 people came and spoke. The pulitzer prizewinning Washington Post journalist who just died in the last two months came to cover this. Here is what he wrote. At the time. I came expecting an angry meeting. But what i witnessed instead was a thoughtful discussion on public art, the potency of historic symbols, racial healing and formative action. Thats what richmond did at the time and the decision to put the ash statue on monument avenue was a healing in a city and commonwealth and country that still needs healing to this day. applause i want to congratulate the mayor, i want to congratulate city council for this active healing. The naming of the boulevard, a principle gateway into our city to honor the great arthur ash. Some people ask the question about whether names or naming or renaming are important. Names are very important. The power to name is very important. Let me prove to you. In the book of genesis, the story of the formation of the world men and women in the garden of even. What is the first power but god gives demand . The power to name. This is the story that is sacred to jews, christians and muslims. Its in the current, the story is well known. Got gives a command to be fruitful and multiply he gives a warning dont eat from that tree or something bad will happen. And he gives a power, the first power given to man was the power to name all of the animals in the world. God couldve named all the animals, god was gone. But god decided that it was very important for man. Four men to be able to choose the names of those around. To choose the names that would be given to his reality. He brought them to man to see what you would call them and man show the name for each one. Naming is important. This is not a minor thing that we are doing today. We have to acknowledge that so many of the names on a map of richmond, on a map of virginia on a map of this country, so many of the names were not chosen by a full community invested with the power to choose the name of the reality or tell the story about who they were. No, so many of the names that we live with were chosen by tiny, tiny subset of people. People who do not represent the full community of our city or state or nation today. This is an act to rectify that. Arthur ash boulevard is a name chosen by an ably representing richmonds full community. That makes this Team Applause that makes this a very great day for our city and hopefully a day that will be followed by many more such days. Thank you so much its great to be with you today applause ladies and gentlemen, mr. David harris nephew of arthur ash. applause good morning. It seems i am using modern Technology Today everybody else has books. Thank you for your kind words, thank you for supporting this effort. This commonwealth in this state. Additionally, richmond, this is truly a spectacular, momentous day. applause one we should never forget. Our efforts together or epic. Today, we are letting the world know raci