It was “For Such A Time As This”

This year, Initiatives of Change USA hosted our 5th Annual Intersecting History Museum Crawl & Community Conversation. This flagship program brings together local cultural institutions, bold changemakers, and community members to spark conversations about history, memory, justice, and the struggle for freedom, focused on the theme For Such a Time as This.

We began with the inaugural Intersecting History Community Conversation & Changemakers Awards at the historic Hippodrome Theater in Jackson Ward, where we celebrated the recipients of IofC USA’s first ever Changemakers Awards. After dinner, Executive Director Allan Charles-Chipman will moderate a conversation with this year’s awardees: 

• Dr. Ram Bhagat

• Tanya Gonzalez

• Sereen Haddad

• Dr. Sesha Moon and Enjoli Moon 

These amazing honorees joined us for a candid conversation about their transformational work, how the current political climate has shaped their efforts, and the ways they have persevered to continue serving the Richmond Region, moderated by our Executive Director Allan-Charles Chipman.

The following Sunday, we brought the Richmond community together for our popular Intersecting History Museum Crawl. 10 Richmond-area museums and cultural institutions opened their doors free, welcomed all, and offered unique programming and experiences. Participating partners included

• The American Civil War Museum

• The Black History Museum & Cultural Center of Virginia

• The Branch Museum of Design

• Elegba Folklore Society

• The Institute for Contemporary Art at VCU

• The Poe Museum

• The Virginia Holocaust Museum

• The Valentine

• Virginia Museum of History and Culture

• The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts

As in previous years, The Museum Crawl invites visitors from the Richmond Region and beyond free of charge to explore exhibitions and learn about the ongoing impact of history on our community, our state, and our nation. This year, based on our theme For Such a Time as This, we encountered visitors to reflect on the courage of changemakers—past and present—who have faced adversity with resilience, love, and solidarity. 

To ensure greater access to our partner institutions, we offered free charter bus transportation throughout the day, provided by partners at Victory Travel and made possible by support from Richmond Region Tourism. 

As so many of our truth-telling institutions and justice-centered organizations are under attack, it is critical that we gather as a community to uplift, inspire, and empower one another. It’s what we did during our museum crawl, and what we are dedicated to doing as a part of our mission. 

Together, we invited the Richmond Community to stand in solidarity with us and join their neighbors for the 5th Annual Intersecting History Museum Crawl & Community Conversation, and they responded with their excitement, their engagement, and their commitment to justice.

We were honored and thrilled to hold such a space for our attendees during such a time as this, and we look forward to returning again in 2026 for a sixth year of this remarkable community event.