The day Virginia took down Confederate statues, a Black church remembered a lynching victim

The day Virginia took down Confederate statues, a Black church remembered a lynching victim

On Aug. 28, 1899, hundreds of Black residents of Alexandria, Virginia, gathered at Shiloh Baptist Church after a white mob lynched 16-year-old Benjamin Thomas. On Friday night, August 28, 2026, exactly 127 years later, I sat inside the same church as Alexandria gathered there again. The same day, about 100 miles south, workers in Richmond […]

Commentary: The Day Virginia Took Down Confederate Statues, a Black Church Remembered a Lynching Victim

On Aug. 28, 1899, hundreds of Black residents of Alexandria, Virginia, gathered at Shiloh Baptist Church after a white mob lynched 16-year-old Benjamin Thomas. On Friday night, August 28, 2026, exactly 127 years later, I sat inside the same church as Alexandria gathered there again. The same day, about 100 miles south, workers in Richmond