Two-time Oscar nominee Djimon Hounsou, the Beninese actor of “Amistad” and “Gladiator” fame, is hosting Run Richmond 16.19: Celebrating Unity in Diversity on Sept. 21. His foundation is also hosting a free Time to Heal event Sept. 20 at the Main Street Station that will include an African libation ceremony and meditation.
Saturday’s route will include sites symbolizing 400 years of the city’s Black history, including areas active in the trans-Atlantic slave trade, the Civil War and the modern civil rights movement. It was in 1619 that enslaved Africans first arrived in a British North American colony, aboard ship at present-day Fort Monroe in Hampton.
The Black History Museum & Cultural Center of Virginia, in Richmond, is among several community organizations collaborating with the race, which includes a 10.6-mile run and a 6.19K (3.85 miles) walk/run. Registration fees, which vary depending on the run or walk, include access to an audio app narrated by Hounsou; educational videos; and entry to a post-race festival and the Valentine Museum.
This is the event’s third year, and Hounsou has participated in each. He started his California-based nonprofit in 2019 to connect people of the African diaspora to Africa, to contribute to healing and reconciliation, and to raise money to combat modern slavery and human trafficking.
“I feel this compelling need to give back to my continent, to my people, and to champion the idea of reconciliation and reconnection,” he said in a news release.
Shakia Warren, executive director of the Black history museum, said Richmond is the perfect setting.
“Throughout America’s history, there is no other city that defines the progression of African Americans’ freedom story like Richmond, Virginia,” she said in a news release. “From the expansion of the transatlantic slave trade along the banks of the James River, to the removal of the Confederate monuments, Richmond has become the center of African American culture and history in the United States.”
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If you go
A Time to Heal
When: 5 to 8 p.m. Friday, Sept. 20
Where: Main Street Station, 1500 E. Main St., Richmond
Cost: Free
Details: runrichmond1619.org
Run Richmond 16.19
When: 8 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 21
Where: Kanawha Plaza, East Canal Street
Registration: Required. Information pickup Friday and Saturday.
Details: runrichmond1619.org
