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Kate Gharib is the granddaughter of the Rev. William Richard “Bill” Fisher. Bill passed away April 16, 2020. Bill’s wife, Barbara, shared this story with the conference office for us to share with you. Please take a moment to watch this inspiring piece produced by Kate.

From the Henrico Citizen — A Glen Allen college student’s short but powerful video – showcasing nine black students from the community – is beginning to go viral, just as the national video that inspired it did.

But the unlikely story of how it came to be is perhaps its most inspiring aspect, reflective of the message it shares.

Glen Allen High School graduate Kate Gharib, a rising sophomore at the University of South Carolina who is a few days from her 19th birthday, was feeling troubled by the plight of black Americans, in light of the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis last month, and itching to do something to help.

When she awoke Friday morning, she checked Facebook and saw a video from black actor Tyler Merritt. In it, he shares an assortment of his random likes and dislikes (“I’ve done goat yoga – I’m really not proud about that,” he says at one point), before closing with a chilling statement: “I just wanted you to get to know me better – before you call the cops.”

Moved, Gharib noticed on her Facebook feed the post immediately under the video, which was from a friend of a friend and included that person’s own typed list of facts about himself, in the same form Merritt had presented his.

“It made me think. . . it would be really impactful to do that specifically for Glen Allen,” said Gharib, who is white. “People are going to watch that video to be able to say, ‘I went to high school with that kid, or I know his family.’ Something like that, I feel like it would hit people a lot harder.

Read full story here in the Henrico Citizen

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