Monica Marie Esparza

Monica Marie Esparza born March 27, 1962, in Brooklyn, New York, was the eldest daughter of ancestor Antonio L. Esparza and Delores Del Rio Esparza. She transitioned peacefully at home on February 21, 2026, surrounded by love, in Richmond, Virginia. Monica was an artist, author, community activist, historian, reverend, visionary, and so much more; a true renaissance woman. She was a proud Wildcat and fondly shared stories of her time at Armstrong High School. She graduated from the University of Maryland in 1984 earning a Bachelor’s degree in Urban Planning. In 2024, Monica, a lifelong learner, walked the stage for the first time at Virginia State University with a Master’s degree in Media Management. An avid traveler, Monica was a flight attendant for Air Atlanta, a pioneering Black-owned luxury airline, early in her career. An entrepreneur at heart, she owned businesses that uplifted her community, including Caribbean Beats in Jackson Ward, KII Industries, and AfroCity Tours. For over a decade, she was the Marketing Manager in the Civil Rights Division at the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT), helping women and minority-owned businesses navigate the agency’s procurement network. An advocate for the youth, she also served in Richmond Public Schools as a Career & Technical Education Instructor. Of all of her pursuits, she was most proud to be the trustee of Image Church - Renewal of Life Trust, where she carried forward her father’s legacy of land stewardship and preserving green spaces as pathways for healing and transformation. Throughout her life, she believed deeply in the power of community, freedom, and justice. Monica led the first Ancestor Day and Fete in 2011 at the African Burial Grounds and, for many years, continued the tradition, raising awareness through tours, advocacy, and building a Tekhen monument, which currently stands, symbolizing the spiritual resurrection of a liberated and inspired people. More recently, Monica dedicated her life's work to preserving the Hickory Hill Community Center, the first school for African American students in the County, which was established as early as 1856. As a direct result of her tireless work, Hickory Hill Community Center was placed on the State and National Register of Historic Landmarks in 2024. She chronicled the history, fight, and victory in her book “Curating Victory: Ecologies of Hickory Hill Life & Resistance.” Monica lived fully and freely all over the world, including in some of her favorite places such as Belize, Brazil, Costa Rica, Dominica, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, and Jamaica. She loved adventure, comedy, drawing, being one with nature, especially by the river or ocean, dancing, delicious food, gardening and farming, quilting, soul-moving music from all genres, and lively festivals. She leaves to carry her light forward, her three children, Imani Esparza, Issa Esparza, Kehinde Esparza; and her two grandchildren, Mia & Damaal Jr. To cherish her memory, mother Delores Esparza, sisters Mechelle Esparza-Harris and Melody Esparza Gray, nieces and nephews Catherine Harris, Kendra Esparza-Harris, and Nigel Harris; and a multitude of extended family, close friends, and kindred spirits. We will miss her forever, honor her legacy, and lift her spirit as an ancestor. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that offerings be sent to the Renewal of Life Land Trust through this link to continue her legacy through land stewardship and tree plantings in her honor. https://imaniesparza.wixforms.com/f/7432881780337673216

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Monica Marie Esparza

March 27, 1962 - February 21, 2026