“That’s my daddy,” said 5-year-old Anais Lewis of Roanoke, while staring at the mural of his father, John R. Lewis, whose image and life was memorialized on May 26 at the Sankofa Community Orchard, 301 Covington Road on Richmond’s South Side. Mr. Lewis, who died in January 2021, taught students how to grow their own food and spent time “hanging out” in the garden, often keeping youngsters out of harm’s way as they got their hands dirty together. Mr. Lewis was the co-founder and executive director of Renew Richmond, a nonprofit that operated several urban agricultural sites and sometimes had pop-up stands where fresh produce that was grown and harvested by local Black youthS and adults was also often sold by them too. He advocated for Black communities to understand the power of gardening and self-sufficiency.
Duron Chavis, the founder of the Sankofa Community Garden, said Mr. Lewis was one of the “founding fathers of Black urban agriculture in the City of Richmond.” The mural was created by lead painter Sir James L. Thornhill assisted by R. Vashti Woods, both of Richmond.
