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THIS WEEK'S EVENT & NEWS SUMMARY

IN THE COMMUNITY

Hambone
Hambone
August 22 - September 1 | Various Times | Jefferson School African American Heritage Center | $10-15 | Tickets>

Imagine a kingdom located in CVille, uncorrupted by the wyte gaze. Imagine if Vinegar Hill, Gospel Hill, Star Hill had survived and thrived. If traditions from West Africa, South America and everywhere else we were stolen from created a community that resisted an Anglo sensibility, what would that look like? Sound like? Feel like?

This is the story of a Prince, dealing with the loss of a father and a message from his ancestor. A mother grieving a husband while trying to protect her kingdom and her son. A brother consumed with a jealousy so great it forces him to do the unthinkable. The ultimate Black family drama.

The Jefferson School African American Heritage Center and the Charlottesville Players Guild bring you....Hambone.

Directed by Shelby Marie Edwards
Adaptation by Leslie M. Scott-Jones
Produced by Mitsuko Nazeer


The prodigal son returns.
For Tickets & More >
Coming to the Table
Coming to the Table Pot-luck Dinner Meeting

Thursday, September 5 | 6-8:30pm | Trinity Episcopal Church

The local Coming to the Table group invites you to join us for a meal and an opportunity to connect with others who are committed to addressing the harmful legacies of slavery and working to dismantle systems of racial inequality and injustice here in our community and beyond. Bring a dish to share or just come!

Details >
Swords Into Plowshares
August 25 - September 15
Reverends Isaac Collins of Wesley United Methodist and Phil Woodson of First United Methodist will discuss biblical texts and their relationship to the monuments around Charlottesville from the perspectives of oppressed people. This is the first of their “Swords Into Plowshares” series (see flyer), a 6-week study on what the Bible says about injustice, idolatry and repentance. They will meet on Sunday mornings, 7 am at one of Charlottesville’s idols of white supremacy:

8/25 - Johnny Reb Statue
9/1 - Lewis and Clark Statue
9/8 - Clark Statue
9/15 - Jefferson Statue

An Evening with Walé Oyéjidé, Esq
Saturday, September 14 | 6:30pm | Jefferson School African American Heritage Center

Walé Oyéjidé, Esq. is a creative director, designer, writer, speaker, filmmaker, musician and lawyer who combats bias with creative storytelling. He will join us for a conversation with Dr. Kwame Otu, an Assistant Professor at UVA's Carter G. Woodson Institute of African American & African Studies.

A Q&A will follow.

As the founder of the brand Ikiré Jones, Mr. Oyéjidé employs fashion design as a vehicle to celebrate the perspectives of marginalized populations.

Mr. Oyéjidé is a TED Fellow, an Open Society Foundations Moving Walls Fellow, and a National Geographic Explorer. His apparel design can be seen in the Marvel Studios film Black Panther and other films. Further, Mr. Oyéjidé's design work was part of the "Making Africa" contemporary design exhibit, which was at the Vitra Design Museum in Germany, the Guggenheim Bilbao in Spain, the Kunsthal in Rotterdam, and the HIGH Museum of Art in Atlanta.

This event is made possible through the generous support of UVA Arts, the Bama Works Fund, SunLight Time Foundation, and Ting Charlottesville.
Details >
The Secret Life of Photographer Ernest Withers
The Secret Life of Photographer Ernest Withers

Tuesday, September 17 | 6pm | Jefferson School African American Heritage Center

In conjunction with the Ernest Withers: Picturing the Civil Rights Movement 1957-1968 exhibition now on display, the Heritage Center is hosting Preston Lauterbach, author of Bluff City: The Secret Life of Photographer: Ernest Withers.

In this gripping narrative history, Preston Lauterbach examines the complicated political and economic forces that informed Withers’s seeming betrayal of the people he photographed. Withers traversed disparate worlds, from Black Power meetings to raucous Memphis nightclubs where Elvis brushed shoulders with B.B. King. He had a gift for capturing both dramatic historic moments and intimate emotional ones, and it may have been this attention to nuance that made Withers both a brilliant photographer and an essential asset to the FBI. Written with similar nuance, Bluff City culminates with a riveting account of the 1968 riot that ended in violence just a few days before Dr. King’s death.

A Q&A and book signing will follow.
Details >
Enrique (left) shortly before he begins his journey north from Honduras

'Enrique's Journey': How to Fix Immigration in a Humane Way

Wednesday, September 18 | 6:30-8:00PM | The Haven at First and Market

Join Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Sonia Nazario, author of Enrique's Journey, for a wide ranging and provocative exploration of the promise and perils of immigration. In conversation with Miller Center Faculty Senior Fellow David Leblang—who is also professor of politics in the College of Arts and Sciences and of public policy at the Batten School—Nazario will engage in a broader discussion of conditions in Central America, changes in U.S. immigration policies, and ways in which communities welcome immigrants and refugees.

Book signing and sale will follow.

This event is part of "Welcoming Week," an annual series of events in which communities bring together immigrants, refugees, and native-born residents to raise awareness of the benefits of welcoming everyone. This discussion is cosponsored by UVA's Miller Center, Office of the President, College of Arts & Sciences, Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy, Karsh Center for Law and Democracy, Office of the Vice Provost for Academic Outreach, Democracy Initiative, the Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service, and Welcoming Greater Charlottesville. 

*This event will not be live-streamed.
Photo: Enrique (left) shortly before he begins his journey north from Honduras

Learn More >
A Different Side
Documentary Premiere of "A Different Side..."
Thursday, September 19 | 6:30pm | Martin Luther King Jr. Performing Arts Center
This summer a team of teenage filmmakers created a documentary about their own experiences as young Black men. They want to tell their story to police officers, teachers, school administrators, and anyone who may have a misperception of young Black man in our society.

RSVP here: http://adifferentside.eventbrite.com 

We will feature a panelist of filmmakers from both the 2018 and 2019 Black Male Achievement documentaries and premiere our new documentary “A Different Side…” It would be an honor to have you at our documentary premiere to celebrate of Black excellence in Charlottesville.

Please contact Daniel Fairley at 434-529-7101 or fairleyd@charlottesville.org.
To view last year’s documentary enter the password LHSBMA here: www.bit.ly/lhsbma
 
Learn More >
Building a More Inclusive Community: Local Voices on Diversity 
September 12 - October 24 | Various Times | The Center 
A Night of Black Innovation in Music!
A Night of Black Innovation in Music!
Saturday, September 21 | 7:00pm | Jefferson School African American Heritage Center | Suggested Donation: $20 | Tickets>

A Night of Black Innovation”, the first of a series commemorating the ingenious cultural contributions of African Americans in America. “A Night of Black Innovation” kicks off the first event highlighting innovation in Black music.

The renowned infusions of Black artistry, creative expression, innovation, improvisation, and experimentation are deeply embedded in the cultural landscape of American identity, tracing back to African origins. The revolutionary social commentary in Black music and culture is perceived globally, and perceptible in the chords and lyrics of American music today.

Produced by Executive Director, Andrea Douglas, Musician and Restaurateur Jay Pun, and Photographer, Producer Carol Ross, this extraordinary cultural event incorporates delectable food; a documentary short film produced and directed by Monty Ross; and live music performances featuring local artists Jamal MillnerIvan OrrMorwenna Lasko & Jay Pun, Dante Walker, Nathaniel StarYolonda Coles Jones, Jacob & Jen Tal, Renaissance Soul (Renaissance School's High School Music Ensemble) and others.
Tickets >
“How to Be an Antiracist” with Dr. Ibram X. Kendi

Tuesday, September 24 | 6:30 – 8 pm | Jefferson School African American Heritage Center

In How to Be an Antiracist, Kendi asks us to think about what an antiracist society might look like, and how we can play an active role in building it. See below for more information.

To Learn More >

OPPORTUNITIES

My White Perceptions, Silence, and Fragility
Deadline to Register, September 4 | Beginning This Fall | Time and Location TBD | 

Who is the group for? 

This discussion group is targeted at people who identify as white or as having race and/or class privilege. Participants should be interested in asking questions like:

  • How does my racial identity impact the way in which I view and move through the world?

  • How will a deeper understanding of my racial identity impact my behavior?

  • How can I get better at talking about privilege, oppression, and what to do about it?

What are the goals of the discussion group?

  • Participants will be able to define white supremacy and racism (multiple levels) and explain the ways they see these forces operate in themselves and the world around them.

  • Participants will reflect on their level of understanding of the myriad ways white supremacy impacts them, and those around them, and design a plan for how to continue to develop this lens. This plan will include potential blindspots and how they will be combated.

  • Participants will reflect on their evolving engagement with antiracist work and design a plan for deeper involvement. This plan will include identified obstacles that might cause participants to avoid antiracist work and how they will overcome them.

How is the group structured? 

Each week, participants  prepare by reading 1-2 short articles (approx. 20 - 30 minutes worth of reading). Then, they meet and discuss during in a 90 minute facilitated session, leaving with an action that they commit to for the following week, aiming to disrupt patterns of behavior that preserve white supremacy. These disruptions can be as simple as breaking a pattern of silence between two friends who know they share liberal ideology, but who avoid talking about whiteness, privilege, oppression, etc. 

To Register >
Finding the Enslaved Laborers at UVA
Like 'Finding the Enslaved Laborers at UVA' on Facebook!
This page is for Finding the Enslaved laborers who built the University of Virginia. If you have or believed to have enslaved ancestors that lived near and around the University of Virginia please contact us. The area is the city of Charlottesville and the surrounding counties of Albemarle, Louisa, Nelson, Fluvanna, Greene, Buckingham, Orange, and throughout Virginia.

The President’s Commission on Slavery at the University (University of Virginia, Charlottesville) has designed a memorial to the enslaved laborers who built the University. The memorial will be viewed by only the descendants in the fall of 2019. We are looking for descendants of the enslaved workers. If you think you had ancestors who lived near or around the University of Virginia there might be a chance you will connect. We will post names/surnames and other information. If you have any questions, please post or email: enslavedlaborersuva@gmail.com.
Like the Page Here >

IN THE NEWS

By: Emily Hays | Original Publication: Charlottesville Tomorrow | Published August 2019 | Photo: Mike Kropf/Charlottesville Tomorrow

"Albemarle quietly one of few local governments with equity office...

The hearing late July on redeveloping the Southwood Mobile Home Park was an unusual Albemarle County meeting in many ways. 

Audience members overflowed the auditorium where the meeting was being held. Spanish-speaking residents of the park listened to the meeting through a translator arranged by the developer Habitat for Humanity of Greater Charlottesville. And both audience members and members of the Albemarle Planning Commission deliberating about the project spoke explicitly about race and racism. 

While the white supremacist rallies in August 2017 that turned Charlottesville into a hashtag have shaken the way the city discusses policy, the reverberations have been less public in the county government next door. 

Terms like “racism” and “white supremacy” are now part of every Charlottesville City Council meeting, either in speeches by activists or in discussions by councilors. But in more than 1,500 pages of Albemarle Board of Supervisors meeting minutes, “racism” and “white supremacy” came up a combined total of 10 times between Aug. 12, 2017, and April of this year..."

Keep Reading >

FEATURED ARTICLE

By: Hannah Natanson | Original Publication: The Washington Post | Published August 2019 | Photo: Mary Garner McGehee

"Once a month, the two African American women walk to the former slave auction block in Charlottesville.

They stand before a crowd that often numbers in the dozens. University of Virginia professor Jalane Schmidt gestures toward the ground, pointing out a small concrete marker, flush with the brick sidewalk, that declares: “On this site, slaves were bought and sold.” Beside her, Andrea Douglas, executive director of the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center, clears her throat.

With that, the tour — which will stretch for roughly 90 minutes and take attendees through the history and legacy of Charlottesville’s embattled Confederate monuments — begins.

“Objects in our public space … are meant to do something, your body is supposed to act in relationship to those objects,” Douglas told a crowd in June. “That is part of the power of them.”

“For instance, you walk across here and you would miss it,” Schmidt chimed in. “You have to literally look down in order to see it."

The women always begin their tour, which includes stops at statues of Confederate generals Robert E. Lee and Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson, at the auction block. That’s so the narrative will remain “centered around the humanity of black people whose lives were torn apart by the Confederacy,” Schmidt said in an interview..."

Keep Reading >

PUT ON YOUR CALENDAR

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1st Harambee Family Events

January-December 2019 | Various Times | Various Locations

Charlottesville, VA - Harambee Family Events is a calendar that highlights African American Cultural Activities in Charlottesville and surrounding areas. The calendar, created and designed by author, award winner, Mr. Alex-Zan, presents 18 events from January 2019 - December 2019.

The Harambee (Swahili - All Pull Together) culture events objectives are to inspire and unify area citizens to communicate more effectively and create/maintain a positive environment for change and civility. The calendar also strives to strengthen family relations and culture awareness, particularly African Americans who have experienced a lack of inclusion in many area events.

The Harambee Family Event Calendar will be distributed throughout Central VA. - schools, churches, businesses, clubs/organizations and social media to name a few. The calendar sponsors are: (CAT) Charlottesville Area Transit, Wegmans, Blue Ridge Graphics and Carter Myers Automotive.

To view the calendar, visit: Alex-Zan.com

ABOUT UCARE

UCARE is a coalition of community and university members, founded with the goal of understanding and addressing racial harms that may be seen in the community and at the university, in areas such as housing, employment, health, education, the justice system, and more. UCARE has connected community and university groups and individuals. We have prompted changes in how UVa understands and represents its history. We have called attention to and prompted action addressing racial disparities in student admissions and faculty recruitment as well as in conditions of workers, including support for a living wage. But we have much more to do; the quest for racial equity is a long ways from being over. We are grateful to Westminster Presbyterian Church for their financial support the last two years. And we are pleased that the W. W. Kellogg Foundation has offered us a grant for two years. Among other items, this will allow UCARE to convene Charlottesville Acts for Racial Equity (CARE). Stay tuned for ways you can be involved in 2018.
 
If you have community events of interest please  email us at ucarestaff@gmail.com.

You will reach UCARE project manager Frank Dukes.

And, as always, if you have  ideas for funding sources to support this work, please contact us at that same address.

Submissions

Please submit information about someone or an organization that have positively impacted the community. Submit at UCAREStaff@Gmail.com.
Deadline: Every Thursday
 

Feedback

Please share your opinions about the new design of the newsletter to us at UCAREStaff@Gmail.com.
 
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University and Community Action for Racial Equity · P.O. Box 400179 · Charlottesville, VA 22904-4179 · USA

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