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EVENT & NEWS SUMMARY

Events
Court Square Conversations
Strategic Plan for Diversity and Inclusive Excellence
“Reclaiming the City: A Focus on Human Centered Design”
Preserving African American Historic Places Mini-Conference
My White Perceptions, Silence, and Fragility
Film Screening - Connecting Lives, Opening Hearts: Community-Engaged Teaching
Harambee Family Events

Liberation and Freedom Day
Black Liberation in Civil War Charlottesville 
Procession of Freedom & Community Dinner
The Aeolians of Oakwood University Concert
Liberation & Freedom Day Collection Opening feat. the AHS Band
Hush Harbor: African-American Sacred Song Concert
The Fortune Shop African American Vendors Market
Confederate Monuments Downtown Walking Tour
Blue Ribbon Commission & General Assembly Discussion
Winneba Way Street Renaming Celebration
Open Mic: Liberation Edition
Liberation & Freedom Day Collections
African American Inter-Generational Trauma

IN THE COMMUNITY

Court Square Community Conversations
Court Square Conversations
Over the past several decades, Court Square - Circuit Courthouse Grounds, has become host to memorials and historic objects in Albemarle’s history. This important public space has not been curated to craft a narrative and to do so, we need your help. As a community, we need to have conversations about what's important to us, what do we want this space to say about us, what do we want to project today and moving forward, and how do we do that at Court Square.
 
Please join us for a series of educational tours, listening sessions, and community panels from February through May, to tour this space, develop a shared understanding of its full history, and explore together what the future could hold.
Upcoming Events

Local Monument Lab: Albemarle Courthouse Historic District
A community conversation about how residents and local government remember the past for the future. With Siri Russell, Director of the Albemarle County Office of Equity & Inclusion and Paul Farber, co-founder of The Monument Lab
March 20th from 6 - 7:30 pm
Lane Auditorium at the County Office Building
401 McIntire Road, Charlottesville, VA 22902

Court Square Tour
Meet in front of the Albemarle County Circuit Court at Court Square
to learn about the markers and memorials on the property.
Monday, March 9th from 1 - 2:30 pm
Friday, April 3rd from 11:30 am - 1 pm


Listening Sessions
March 7th at 9 am Sutherland Middle School
March 7th at 1 pmYancey School Community Center

Please stay tuned for details and additional events in the upcoming weeks.
Want to get in touch? Please email us: communications@albemarle.org
Learn More >
One Virginia
Strategic Plan for Diversity and Inclusive Excellence
TODAY, March 2 - Monday, March 30 | Various Times & Locations

The Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for the Commonwealth of Virginia is hosting five community forums around the state where Virginians can provide input on Virginia’s first-ever “Strategic Plan for Diversity and Inclusive Excellence.”
 
Virginia's Chief Diversity Officer, Dr. Janice Underwood, will lead the forums and present a draft template of the plan intended to advance visible diversity, equity, and inclusion for state government agencies. The forums will also offer ways that other sectors can participate, including non-profit organizations, local municipalities, businesses, and K-12 school districts.
 
Participants will be able to engage with the volunteer executive steering committee currently tasked with drafting the plan. Suggestions and feedback will help inform the development of an actionable and measurable framework that will foster collective and tangible change and guide Virginia’s effort to address statewide inequities.
 
All five community forums will take place from 6:00 PM to 8:30 PM
Details >
McIntire Botanical Garden’s Ian Robertson Legacy: Lectureship and Fundraiser “Reclaiming the City: A Focus on Human Centered Design” 

Sunday, March 8 | 12:30pm | Farmington Country Club

Delivered by Mikyoung Kim Award-Winning International Landscape Architect

Kim’s work around the world focuses on the healing properties of the landscape within the public realm. She is the lead designer behind the Master Plan for the McIntire Botanical Garden which recently received an Honor Award from the ASLA. She is also the 2018 recipient of the prestigious Cooper Hewitt National Design Award.

Mikyoung Kim is an award-winning international designer who brings innovative ideas to the urban landscape. She is known for culturally significant designs that serve as a powerful tool to celebrate the beauty of the collective human experience.

Mikyoung’s diverse background in design and sculpture has shaped her body of work, blurring the boundaries between landscape architecture and environmental art. From children’s playgrounds to city parks and urban master plans, her work reflects a deep commitment to memorable place making that captures the public imagination.

Her landscapes bring a richly layered civic experience to the public realm that engages the senses for a multi-generational audience. For more information please visit myk-d.com.

Learn More >

LIBERATION AND FREEDOM DAYS EVENTS

Black Liberation in Civil War Charlottesville
Monday, March 2 | 5pm | Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library

Join Prof. Ervin L. Jordan, Jr., Research Archivist, Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library, and William Kurtz, Managing Director and Digital Historian at John L. Nau III Center for Civil War History, for their discussions of The Civil War and Emancipation in Charlottesville and Albemarle.
Discussion Information >
Procession of Freedom & Community Dinner

Procession of Freedom & Community Dinner

Tuesday, March 3 | 4-7pm | UVA Chapel - Jefferson School

Join us from 4:00-5:30 pm for the “Procession of Freedom” (starts at UVA Chapel, to UVA Freedom Ring Memorial Memorial to Enslaved Laborers, down Main Street to Jefferson School)

From 5:30-7:00 pm we will host a free Community Dinner & panel discussion by descendants of local enslaved community.

Freedom and Liberation Days events are made possible through the generous support of the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center, Institute for the Redress of Inequity through Community-Engaged Scholarship, Virginia Humanities, the City of Charlottesville, Albemarle County, UVA's Division for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, the President's Commission on the University in the Age of Segregation and the John L. Nau III Center for Civil War History.

All events in the Heritage Center Auditorium are made possible through the generous support of Ting Charlottesville
Full Info >
More Information >
Hush Harbor: African American Sacred Song Concert

Hush Harbor: African American Sacred Song Concert
Thursday, March 5 | 7-8:30pm | The Haven
The concert will feature local artists and musicians performing traditional spirituals used during hush harbor religious gatherings during the period of enslavement.
 
This event is FREE and open to the public.
For More >
The Fortune Shop African American Vendors Market
Saturday, March 7 | 12-4pm | Carver Recreation Center

Vendors from the community will come together to sell all kinds of unique items. We will also be having Free Raffle for some of the items!

The Fortune Shop presents the ”Pop Up Shop!" Coming to Charlottesville March, 7 at the Carver Recreation Center. Vendors from the community will come together to sell their items in one place. Great environment for kid s and family. Free Raffle for unique items. If you like 100% All Natural Products, then this will be the event to attend.
Learn More >

Confederate Monuments Walking Tour

Saturday, March 7 | 2pm | Court Square Charlottesville

Join Dr. Andrea Douglas and Dr. Jalane Schmidt for a tour of the Confederate Statues in downtown Charlottesville to learn about these objects and the role they play in our local and national narrative.

The tour will begin in Court Square at 2pm.

Blue Ribbon Commission & General Assembly Discussion

Saturday, March 7 | 3:30pm | Jefferson-Madison Regional Library Central Library 

Join us for a community retrospective on the Blue Ribbon Commission and an update on the Virginia General Assembly's local control over monuments bill.
Walking Tour Info >
Panel Information >

Winneba Way Street Renaming Celebration

Saturday, March 7 | 5pm | Tonsler Park

Join us for the "Winneba Way” street renaming and Ghanaian Independence Day celebration.

Open Mic: Liberation Edition

Saturday, March 7 | 7pm | Jefferson School African American Heritage Center
Join us for the Spoken Word Open mic as part of Liberation and Freedom Days events.
Renaming Celebration Info >
Open Mic Information >

Liberation & Freedom Day Collections

March 4 - March 29 | Opening Reception: March 5, 6pm | Stonefield Shops Gallery 150

The exhibit will feature the artwork of students enrolled in both Albemarle County and Charlottesville City Schools, side by side, and will be held in both school divisions.

The ACPS exhibit will be held at ACPS Visual Arts Festival at the Stonefield Shops from March 4th-March 29th in Gallery 150. The exhibit will be open to the public during shop normal shopping hours, generally 10-5.The CCS exhibit will be held in the MLK Jr Performing Arts Center Lobby from February 28th – March 30. The exhibit will be open to the public Wednesday, March 11th from 4:30-6pm Saturday, March 14th from 10 am – 2 pm, and Wednesday, March 18th from 4:30–6 pm. Special arrangements to view the show at other times can be made by calling Aaron Eichorst at 434 245 2671.

More Info >
African American Inter-Generational Trauma

African American Inter-Generational Trauma

Sunday, March 8 | 2-4pm | CitySpace

Join us for a conversation on African American Inter-Generational Trauma and reception led by Dr. Jessica Young-Brown, a counseling psychologist who serves as Assistant Professor of Counseling and Practical Theology at the Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology at Virginia Union University.
Learn More >

All Liberation and Freedom Day events are free and open to the public.

Liberation and Freedom Day events are sponsored by: the City of Charlottesville, Albemarle County, the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center, the University of Virginia Office for Diversity and Equity, Institute for the Redress of Inequity through Community-Engaged Scholarship, the UVA Nau Center on Civil War History, the UVA President’s Commission on Segregation, the UVA Carter G. Woodson Citizen Justice Initiative, Charlottesville High School, Virginia Humanities, Jefferson Madison Regional Library, and the African American Pastors Council, and Beloved Community Cville.

Full Schedule >
Preserving African American Historic Places Mini-Conference

Preserving African American Historic Places Mini-Conference

Friday, March 6 | 9am-3:30pm | The Lyceum, Alexandria VA

Join us at the Alexandria History Museum at the Lyceum for a one-day conference to provide networking opportunities and tools to help build capacity and strengthen organizations preserving African American historic sites in Virginia.

Building on the success of past programs focused on advocating for African American historic resources, including schools (Rosenwald-funded and otherwise) and cemeteries, this one-day conference will provide attendees with advocacy, documentation and funding tools with time built in for collaboration and networking.

Parking information: A limited number of handicap parking spaces are available at the Lyceum parking lot. For all other attendees the Courthouse Square Parking Garage, located at 228 S. Washington Street, is the closest (2-minute walk) parking option. The Alexandria Amtrak Station and the King Street Metro Station are 1 mile from the Lyceum. City of Alexandria parking map.  

General admission is $60 (coffee and lunch included).

Register today!

To Learn More >
My White Perceptions, Silence, and Fragility

Beginning March 2-April 29 | Various Times and Locations | To Register >

A SURJ Cville Discussion Group

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. 

For More Information >
Film Screening - Connecting Lives, Opening Hearts: Community-Engaged Teaching

Film Screening - Connecting Lives, Opening Hearts: Community-Engaged Teaching

Monday, March 23 | 4:30pm | Newcomb Theatre

The community is invited to this special event showcasing the transformative power of community-engaged teaching. The evening will feature a screening of Seats at the Tablea 90-minute documentary by Rosalia Films about UVA's Books Behind Bars program founded by then-Lecturer Andrew Kaufman in 2009. Now in its 10th year, the course has UVA students meet weekly with students in a juvenile correctional center in Virginia to explore questions of meaning, value, and social justice through life-changing conversations about Russian literature.

At this event, President James E. Ryan will deliver welcoming remarks and Provost M. Elizabeth Magill will moderate a panel discussion. Reception to follow. This event is part of UVA's Public Service Week.

Panelists include:

  • Kelsey Bowmanformer UVA student featured in film
  • Bradley Brewer, former correctional center student featured in film
  • Valerie BoykinDirector of Virginia's Department of Juvenile Justice and UVA alumna
  • Andrew KaufmanCreator of Books Behind Bars and Assistant Director of Community-Engaged Learning Initiatives at the Center for Teaching Excellence

This event is free and open to the public, but registration is required. Please register by March 18, 2020.

Connecting Lives, Opening Hearts: Community-Engaged Teaching will serve as the kickoff event to Public Service Week, organized by the Office of the Executive Vice President and Provost.

Learn More >
Man speaking
Groundwater Equity Training Presented by the Racial Equity Institute
Wednesday, April 15 | The Jefferson Theater
Hosted by Piedmont Housing Alliance
Tickets are Free — Reserve your seat now!

How do we begin to dismantle structural racism? We start by examining the systems and institutions that support a racial hierarchy: the “groundwater.”

Developed by the Greensboro, North Carolina-based Racial Equity Institute, the Groundwater Approach is designed to help practitioners deepen their understanding of the root causes of structural racism in order to unlock tools that will lead to systematic change.

Join us for a conversation that will challenge patterns of power and help create racially equitable organizations and systems in our communities.

This Community Event is free thanks to the Piedmont Housing Alliance.
 
More Information & Schedule >
Harambee Family Events
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 countless events from January 2020 - December 2020, will be available on Wednesday, December 18, 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 relationships and nurture culture awareness, particularly among 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, Carter Myers Automotive, University of Virginia Division for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion & Van Yahres Tree Company.

To view the Harambee Family Event Calendar...Visit Alex-Zan.com

OPPORTUNITIES

Youth Ambassadors Program
ARGENTINA/CHILE, March 19-30, 2020
CARIBBEAN, July 31-August 12, 2020

Will you host a Youth Ambassador? The UVA Center for Politics is in search of host households for the Youth Ambassadors Program for Argentina and Chile March 19-30, 2020, and the Caribbean region July 31- August 12. The Argentina/Chile group will include 13 high school students and two adult mentors and the Caribbean group 18 high school students and two adult mentors. Program participants will be selected from thousands of applicants and while in Charlottesville will focus on enhancing their leadership and civic engagement skills.

Singles, senior citizens, recent graduates, households with children, couples without children…all may serve as a host! Would you host a Youth Ambassador?

Hosts are expected to: • Provide a room with a bed (may share room with host sibling of same gender/age) • Share in each other’s cultures • Include the student in family activities and events • Provide most breakfasts and dinners on weekdays and all meals on the weekends • Provide transportation to UVA at beginning and pick-up at end of each day If you would like to be a host or learn more about this opportunity, please contact Daman Irby at irby@virginia.edu or 434.243.8475.
To Learn More >
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 >

FEATURED ARTICLE

An advertisement that appeared in The Charlottesville Central Gazette on Jan. 15, 1827, for the sale of Thomas Jefferson’s enslaved workers. One hundred people were sold that day.Credit...From the American Antiquarian Society
By Adeel Hassan | Original Publication: The New York Times | Published February 2020 
An advertisement that appeared in The Charlottesville Central Gazette on Jan. 15, 1827, for the sale of Thomas Jefferson’s enslaved workers. One hundred people were sold that day.Credit...From the American Antiquarian Society

'For hundreds of years, enslaved people were bought and sold in America. Today most of the sites of this trade are forgotten. As part of The 1619 Project, Anne C. Bailey, a professor of history at Binghamton University, wrote about her research into slave auctions for a New York Times Magazine article titled 'They Sold Human Beings Here.'

She told me that the auction block represented the end to life as enslaved people knew it. Family life was one bright spot in the long ordeal of slavery, she said, but auctions ripped families apart.

Yet Dr. Bailey and her researchers found fewer than 50 marked auction sites, while by some estimates there were 1.2 million slave sales between 1760 and 1860. Sites of African-American focus represent 2 percent of those registered on the National Register of Historic Places, she told me, and only a small portion of these are devoted to slavery. Here’s more from our conversation, which has been edited and condensed.."

Keep Reading >

IN THE NEWS

Exhibit Celebrates Black Sisterhood Through the Centuries

Exhibit Celebrates Black Sisterhood Through the Centuries

Anne E. Bromley | Photos: Dan Addison | Original Publication: UVA Today | Published February 2020

"From family photos to soul groups’ album covers, a new exhibit in the University of Virginia’s Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library pays tribute to the powerful stories of African American women – from their daily lives, alone and together, to groundbreaking successes, locally and on the national stage.

Combing through the library’s manuscript collections and University Archives, staff members Ervin Jordan, Regina Rush and Sony Prosper brought together 70 photos, documents and artifacts in honor of Black History Month and last year’s 400th anniversary of the arrival of the first Africans to what would become Virginia.

The exhibit, located in the two long cases on the walls outside the Rare Book Room in the Harrison/Small building, will be on display until June 13..."

Keep Reading >

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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