2023 In Review
2023 In Review
We close out this year having accomplished much and with the recognition that much awaits us in 2024. Oak Ridge Periodic Tables began the year with a sponsorship of the Scarboro 85 monument reveal at a luncheon held in January. This amazing story has been a central focus point for us in 2023, which will continue into next year.
This hidden history of 85 black students, who just weeks after the murder of Emmitt Till, left the community which had educated and cared for them for so long and became the first students to desegregate a public school in the Jim Crow south. Unable to play sports or even go to certain places with their friends after school, the 85 endured hardships and kept the faith, paving a path to the future – a future we enjoy and benefit from today.
In February, we hosted Katori Hall’s “The Mountaintop,” a stage play set with only two actors which imagined Dr. King’s final night at the Loraine Hotel in Memphis. It was a powerful testament to “staying the course” and came with the challenge to “pick up the baton” and keep pushing forward. After the play we held a discussion about what the ‘mountaintop’ might look like in Oak Ridge and this conversation opened the door for us to begin planning our racial bridging supper series this fall.
We held several events in the following months, working with the Scarboro Community at various levels, while also partnering with Dr. Leah Schade of Lexington Theological Seminary, who led over 50 of us in a series of lectures on overcoming differences and divisions. We worked with United Way, the Family Justice Center, the YWCA, Arc of Anderson County, the Oak Ridge Disability Advisory Board, the Oak Ridge Symphony Orchestra, and many others over the course of the year.
In the fall, we pushed through a whirlwind of activity, hosting 11 events and conversation in just nine weeks, chief among these was a four-part racial bridging journey where we deepened relationships and grew closer together. We closed out the year sponsoring the WDVX live radio broadcast “Secret City Live” with the hopes of bringing it back to Oak Ridge on a regular basis, not just for the healing power the music brings our community, but also to make sure stories are shared that might be otherwise missed.
Our next event is in January and we will be hosting survivors of domestic violence with the aim of letting these women know we see them, and that our community loves and cares for them.
In total, approximately 3,000 people experienced some form of community-building enterprise in 2023 through Oak Ridge Periodic Tables. As we close the year celebrating these accomplishments, we also look to the work that is yet to be done. If you’re new to Periodic Tables, please take a look around our website and get to know us.
Most importantly, as we close out 2023, we wish you and family the happiest of holidays. It’s humbling to be able to serve you and the many wonderful people who call Oak Ridge home.
Blessings,
David