Loving day celebration set

Published 8:07 am Thursday, June 8, 2017

In recognition of the 50th anniversary of the landmark Supreme Court case Loving v. Virginia, the Moton Museum, in collaboration with the Virginia Children’s Book Festival and Chop Suey Books of Richmond, will host a Loving Day celebration on Monday.

According to a press release, the day will begin at noon with a brown-bag lunch screening and discussion of the documentary “The Loving Story,” which premiered on HBO in 2011. At 1:30 p.m., families are invited to a public reading of the children’s book, The Case for Loving: The Fight for Interracial Marriage by Selina Alko.

“The book is geared for children in grades 1-5. Chop Suey Books is donating 20 copies of the book to be given away to families present at the reading. Selina Alko, along with the book’s illustrator Sean Qualls, will be attending this year’s Virginia Children’s Book Festival, to be held Oct. 19-21, at Longwood University,” officials said in the release.

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According to the release, in 1967, the Supreme Court declared laws banning interracial marriage unconstitutional in Loving v. Virginia.

“This 50th anniversary commemorates a civil rights landmark and the sacrifice of Richard and Mildred Loving in their pursuit of marriage equality,” officials said in the release.

The events are free and open to the public. Children must be accompanied by an adult to the events. For more information, call the Moton Museum at (434) 315-8775 or visit www.motonmuseum.org. For more information on the Virginia Children’s Book Festival, visit http://vachildrensbookfestival.com/.