When Sarah Brown began dating Nicholas Glass in 2009, she had never heard of Loving v. Virginia. After several months together, Brown, a white woman, sought to introduce Glass, who is black, to her family members — and some met her with resistance. "Once I processed the situation, and [my] anger, I really wanted to make something constructive of it," Brown said, "[so] I started researching the history of interracial relationships in the United States." Among Brown's findings was the story of Richard and Mildred Loving, the Virginia couple whose interracial marriage would lead to the June 12, 1967, U.S. Supreme Court ruling striking down all existing anti-miscegenation laws in the country. The anniversary of that decision has come to be known — aptly — as Loving Day. The name is credited to Ken Tanabe, who inspired the day of celebration and awareness in 2004 with his senior thesis at Parsons School of Design in New York City. Brown, now 32, and Glass, 37, married shortly after moving to Vermont from Washington, D.C., in 2012. In 2014, the Essex Junction couple launched Loving Day Vermont in partnership with Burlington's Peace & Justice Center. That first year, they organized a Q&A-style lecture at North End Studios. "We felt isolated and singled out, in a way, so we were looking for a community," Brown said. While Vermont's population is staggeringly white (94.6 percent, according to the 2010 census), in D.C., she said, "[we] felt like we were just sort of the norm." She continued, "We were a little bit naïve when we moved up to Vermont, [thinking,] Oh, it's this liberal paradise." Now in its fifth year — and on the 51st anniversary of the civil rights milestone — Loving Day Vermont will be celebrated on Tuesday, June 12, with a concert and party. Singer-pianist Myra Flynn will perform a "Loving Day Edition" of the University of Vermont Live on the Lawn free concert series, hosted on the outdoor stage at the Dudley H. Davis Center. Zero Gravity Craft Brewery will present DJ Craig Mitchell and offer a Loving Day Ale. One dollar per sale of this special brew (also known as Little Wolf) will be donated to Loving Day Vermont. Last year, Ferene Paris Meyer, 36, of Burlington, joined Brown as a co-organizer of Loving Day Vermont. Meyer, a woman of color, married Josh Meyer, who is white, in 2007;…
When Sarah Brown began dating Nicholas Glass in 2009, she had never heard of Loving v. Virginia. After several months together, Brown, a white woman, sought to introduce Glass, who is black, to her family members — and some met her with resistance. "Once I processed the situation, and [my] anger, I really wanted to make something constructive of it," Brown said, "[so] I started researching the history of interracial relationships in the United States." Among Brown's findings was the story of Richard and Mildred Loving, the Virginia couple whose interracial marriage would lead to the June 12, 1967, U.S. Supreme Court ruling striking down all existing anti-miscegenation laws in the country. The anniversary of that decision has come to be known — aptly — as Loving Day. The name is credited to Ken Tanabe, who inspired the day of celebration and awareness in 2004 with his senior thesis at Parsons School of Design in New York City. Brown, now 32, and Glass, 37, married shortly after moving to Vermont from Washington, D.C., in 2012. In 2014, the Essex Junction couple launched Loving Day Vermont in partnership with Burlington's Peace & Justice Center. That first year, they organized a Q&A-style lecture at North End Studios. "We felt isolated and singled out, in a way, so we were looking for a community," Brown said. While Vermont's population is staggeringly white (94.6 percent, according to the 2010 census), in D.C., she said, "[we] felt like we were just sort of the norm." She continued, "We were a little bit naïve when we moved up to Vermont, [thinking,] Oh, it's this liberal paradise." Now in its fifth year — and on the 51st anniversary of the civil rights milestone — Loving Day Vermont will be celebrated on Tuesday, June 12, with a concert and party. Singer-pianist Myra Flynn will perform a "Loving Day Edition" of the University of Vermont Live on the Lawn free concert series, hosted on the outdoor stage at the Dudley H. Davis Center. Zero Gravity Craft Brewery will present DJ Craig Mitchell and offer a Loving Day Ale. One dollar per sale of this special brew (also known as Little Wolf) will be donated to Loving Day Vermont. Last year, Ferene Paris Meyer, 36, of Burlington, joined Brown as a co-organizer of Loving Day Vermont. Meyer, a woman of color, married Josh Meyer, who is white, in 2007;…