Journey of Hope 2006 launches!

The picture above is a bit dark -- it shows Connie Watts, organizer for the Journey of Hope...From Violence to Healing. But if you look closely at the table in front of Connie, you can see that Journey participants have their media kits, notebooks, pens, clipboards and other materials they need to take Virginia by storm.

Because tomorrow is Day One of a two-week journey that will culminate with the annual conference of the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty.

From the front lines, Robert Hoelscher, a Journey participant and campaign coordinator for Murder Victims' Families for Reconciliation, reports:

Today, I'm on my way to the Virginia Journey of Hope 2006. Every day for the next two weeks, starting tomorrow, murder victim family members opposed to the death penalty will tell our stories at over 100 events across the state. My flight from Austin to Virginia went through Chicago. It was a picture perfect day, bright sun and few clouds. As the plane turned to land at Midway Airport, something caught my eye on the ground below. It was a cemetery. The sun was bouncing off the marble headstones, creating a festival of flickering light. I think of these next two weeks. And how our stories will chronicle a graveyard of death. The thought sits heavy in my chest.

Keep an eye on this space. We'll be blogging the Journey "live," just as often as Robert (and possibly others) can access a computer and send in the stories of their journey.