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THIS WEEK'S EVENT & NEWS SUMMARY

IN THE COMMUNITY

Mtamanika Youngblood and Donell Woodson

Exploring Sweet Auburn’s Historic District Development Corporation: A Discussion with Mtamanika Youngblood and Donell Woodson

Wednesday, January 9 | 7pm | Jefferson School African American Heritage Center
What can Charlottesville learn from one of the most successful African American owned and operated HDDC’s in the country? 100 people from our community had the opportunity to learn about this important organization while on the Charlottesville Civil Rights Pilgrimage. We invite you to continue this engagement at home with a  conversation with Sweet Auburn’s former executive director Mtamanika Youngblood and board member Donell Woodson. After their presentation, Ms. Youngblood and Mr. Woodson will be joined on stage by City Councilor Dr. Wes Bellamy to consider how an HDDC works within the context of his incentive package.

The Sweet Auburn Historic District Development Corporation (HDDC) is Atlanta’s oldest surviving community development corporation and has spearheaded nearly four decades of pioneering urban revitalization work in Atlanta’s Sweet Auburn neighborhood.

Co-founded by Coretta Scott King, Christine King Farris, and John Cox in 1980 as an all-volunteer neighborhood-based organization, the HDDC was formed to protect the residential assets surrounding Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birth site on Auburn Avenue. The organization’s leaders have dedicated themselves to restoring this once prestigious district to the proud, economically diverse and viable neighborhood it once was, while maintaining the community’s character, celebrating its history and preventing the displacement of long-term residents.

Mtamanika Youngblood was named the first Executive Director of the HDDC in 1992. Currently, she serves as the organization’s Board Chair, and is the President of Sweet Auburn Works, a nonprofit organization committed to the revitalization of the Sweet Auburn commercial corridor.

Ms. Youngblood is a nationally recognized community development practitioner, and a strong proponent of addressing both the human and physical development needs of revitalizing communities through equitable development and sustainability.

Donell Woodson is an urban community developer in the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic District. Through his work as a planner in Sweet Auburn, Mr. Woodson seeks to preserve, restore and develop the district, with Dr. King’s philosophy of the “Beloved Community” as a guiding principle. He is currently a Community Development Trainer with Focused Community Strategies and serves on the Board of the HDDC.

Learn More >

CALL TO ACTION

newgen peacebuilders
Volunteer with NewGen Peacebuilders!!
NewGen Peacebuilders is an innovative global youth peace education program that emphasizes the role, value and impact of young people in achieving a peaceful world.  As the first host of the NewGen Peacebuilders program in Virginia, the success of the initial Charlottesville program has been replicated in Virginia through other Rotary clubs during 2018.  Here in Charlottesville, we are ready to build upon our success, and repeat the program for 2019. See NGP intro video here.
 
NGP is a unique opportunity to learn with high school students how to engage in tangible efforts to create peace.  As a combined program for the Rotary clubs in Area 1 of District 7610, this is also an opportunity for the Piedmont Council to unite for a strong shared program among all Rotarians and community members in the Charlottesville/Albemarle area.  Volunteers are needed to assist with the program as discussion facilitators and mentors. Full role descriptions and a program overview are attached for your reference. Volunteer training and orientation will be provided on Saturday, January 5, 2019 (this date/timing is tentative, but very likely), at PVCC, from 10:00am to 4:00pm. This session will include lunch, and will also step volunteers through the peace education learning model used in the program – both theoretical and practical. Contact Celia Lankford at celia.lankford@gmail.com or (434) 996-8901 (texts welcome) to register for the volunteer training / orientation session – with December 28th as a deadline to register for this engaging introductory session so we can try to hold a seat for you. Feel free to also forward this message if you have friends or colleagues for whom this program could likely resonate.
 
The NGP student application is still open, with just a few remaining seats for the cohort (Please forward asap to any local HS students if they may be interested, we anticipate closing the app in the next week or two). Student immersion workshops will be January 11-12, February 1-2 and February 23.  Learning continues after the immersion workshops through multiple virtual sessions with international leaders in peacebuilding efforts, culminating in the student peace projects that are revealed on April 28, 2019 (mark your calendar for this closing event!).  Volunteers will assist throughout the process.  Volunteers will be needed for the immersion workshops, as well as the mentoring process for the team projects (working closely in advising a small group of HS students to scope and deliver their peace projects) from February through April.  More information regarding the specific volunteer needs will be provided at the training and orientation session on January 5. 
 
More on Last Year's Work >
Bushman Dreyfus Architects Announces 2nd Annual Design & Ideas Competition
INVISIBLE C'VILLE
Prizes totaling $8,000 for winning entries
CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA – The 2019 BDA Prize calls for entries to a design and ideas competition called INVISIBLE C'VILLE. Entrants are asked to create a map, drawing, or other image on paper in any media, that will reveal a generally overlooked but essential quality, system, spatial practice, experience, or story that characterizes Charlottesville. Competitors may deliver their entries in person or by mail through February 11, 2019.

All entries will be exhibited next March at the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center in Charlottesville. On Wednesday evening, April 10, 2019, the winners will be announced during a panel discussion open to the public. Eight unranked prizes of $1000 will be awarded. Jeff Bushman, a partner at BDA, said about the competition: “Individually we are looking for imaginative, beautiful, and provocative entries expressing individual truths about our community. The exhibit as a whole will show us where and how those individual truths intersect and overlap, and also where they don’t, creating a kaleidoscopic view of our community. The show will contribute to dialogue about Charlottesville’s present, as well as discussions about possible futures.”

About the BDA Prize:
The BDA Prize is a juried competition focusing on issues and opportunities in design, education, and community engagement, established in 2017 to better the Charlottesville/Albemarle community through increased awareness of, and dialogue about, design.

About Bushman Dreyfus Architects:
Bushman Dreyfus Architects is a leader in the design of civic buildings for Charlottesville such as The City Center for Contemporary Arts (Live Arts Theater and Second Street Gallery), The Paramount Theater, The Jefferson School City Center, and the new Center at Belvedere.

For more information about the 2019 competition, detailed schedule and rules for entry, please visit BDAPrize.BDArchitects.com
More Here >

FOR UVA STUDENTS

Class Offering Spring 2019 
UNST 1400 Introduction to Community Engagement
 
Instructor: Louis Nelson
1 credit / Grading = Credit/No Credit
Lecture: Monday 7:00pm-7:50pm
Discussion Section (required): Wednesday 2:00pm-2:50pm OR Wednesday 6:30pm-7:20pm
 
This course surveys theories and models of community engagement. Contemporary communities are diverse and interconnected; in order to impact positive social change, members in these communities must understand theories of community engagement. This course will introduce students to theories and models of community engagement including, but not limited to, theories of equity, citizenship, human rights, advocacy, activism, and civil discourse
More Here >
EDLF 3250 Intro to Citizenship & Activism: Critical Exam of Jefferson's University

Instructor: Walter Heinecke
3 Credit / Graded
Lecture: TuTh 12:30PM - 1:45PM
Ruffner Hall 127

This course examines ideas about citizenship, engagement, student activism, and social justice within the context of the University. It will examine, through lecture, discussion, readings, and an applied action research project, the various definitions of political engagement, activism, and social change as they are relate to current issues at the University.
Details >

FEATURED ORGANIZATION

The Legal Aid Justice Center

The Legal Aid Justice Center battles poverty and injustice by solving critical legal problems for individuals and communities.  Then we use what we learn from those efforts to identify, investigate, and attack systemic injustices. The Legal Aid Justice Center is committed to providing a full range of services to our clients, including services our federal and state governments choose not to fund.  We utilize a mix of zealous individual representation, group and class litigation, community organizing, policy advocacy, and media relations.

Legal Aid Justice Center’s staff of 40 work from offices in Charlottesville, Falls Church, Petersburg and Richmond.

Learn More >

MONUMENT NEWS

Thanks to Linda Guinee for identifying these articles...

Statue of Former Governor Returning to University of Texas After Being Taken Down Last Year

By: Owen Daugherty | Original Publication: The Hill
 
"A statue of a segregationist politician is returning to the University of Texas campus in Austin less than two years after it was removed.

The statue of James Hogg, the son of a Confederate general, will be relocated to another part of campus later this month, University of Texas president Gregory Fenves announced in a letter to the community Thursday.

James Hogg was governor of Texas from 1891 to 1895; while serving in that role signed the state’s first Jim Crow bill into law, according to the Dallas News.

When the statue was first removed from the south mall on campus in August of 2017, along with three statues of confederate generals, Fenves wrote that “events make it clear, now more than ever, that Confederate monuments have become symbols of modern white supremacy and neo-Nazism...”

Read More >
Statue of George Dennison Prentice

Controversial Prentice Statue Removed from Louisville Library Property

By:  | Original Publication: Louisville Courier Journal

"A controversial statue of an anti-immigrant and anti-Catholic figure was removed Tuesday from the grounds of the downtown Louisville library. 

Workers used a crane to pull the statue of George Dennison Prentice, the founder and editor of the Louisville Journal in the mid-1800s, from its spot behind the Louisville Free Public Library, 301 York St. 

Prentice was known for writing anti-immigration and anti-Catholic editorials. He was seen as an instrumental figure in the 1855 Bloody Monday riots, where more than 20 people were killed after Irish and German immigrants were attacked by members of the American Know-Nothing Party..." 

 
Keep Reading >
Withheld Grades and Monument

UNC Students, Faculty Rally Against Confederate Monument

By: Scott Jaschik | Original Publication: Inside Higher Ed
"Several dozen teaching assistants at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill started a grade strike Friday, saying that they will withhold student grades as long as the university moves ahead with the idea of constructing a building to house the Confederate monument known as Silent Sam. The strike comes after classes have finished for the semester and students are preparing for final exams and normally would be soon receiving final grades. Many students and faculty members are also speaking out against the university's plan for the monument, which they see as a reflection of white supremacy...."
Read More Here >
Lee Statue

N. Texas Lawmaker Files Bill to Safeguard Confederate Memorial After Lee Statue Removed in Dallas

By: Lauren McGaughy | Original Publication: Dallas News

"AUSTIN — A North Texas lawmaker wants cities to find another way to foot the bill for removing their Confederate monuments.

Pat Fallon, a Prosper Republican who will be sworn into the Texas Senate in January, filed Senate Bill 226 on Friday. The legislation would prohibit the use of taxpayer money to remove, relocate or alter any statue, portrait, plaque, seal or symbol or to rename any building, bridge, park, area or street "that honors an event or person of historical significance." 

While the bill would apply to nearly any historical marker, Fallon said he was spurred to file it after the city of Dallas removed a statue of Robert E. Lee from a park in Oak Lawn last year. The city also renamed Lee Park with its pre-1936 moniker: Oak Lawn Park..."

Keep Reading >
Health Sciences Park

Memphis Among Cities Where Future of Confederate Statues Remains Unclear

By:  | Original Publication: Commercial Appeal

"After decades of being prominently displayed in Memphis parks, years of being fiercely debated and then a whirlwind overnight removal from their public perches a year ago, three Confederate monuments remain stashed away, their future unclear and their exact location unknown to most.

Memphis is one of a number of cities that saw Confederate monuments come down from public spaces as cries for their removal reached a fever pitch in 2017. Some, like Baltimore, brought statues down in the days after deadly protests in Charlottesville, Virginia, in what officials described as public safety-motivated government action..."

Read More >
Silent Sam statue toppled over

"This semester more than any other, the University of North Carolina’s flagship campus has been riven over a statue some see as a hateful symbol of racism and others defend as a historical monument.

Faculty have formally opposed plans to return the divisive Confederate monument to the Chapel Hill campus. More than 1,000 scholars have urged administrators not to punish teaching assistants threatening to withhold final grades in protest. More than 2,000 alumni vowed not to donate money until the monument, known as “Silent Sam,” is gone for good. And two students are walking around campus with nooses hanging from their necks..."

Keep Reading >

FEATURED VIDEOS

Mini-documentary of the Cville2Jtown Pilgrimage

"In response to the events of August 11 and 12, 2017, the Charlottesville to Jamestown pilgrimage, sponsored by the Charlottesville Clergy Collective, provided a constructive opportunity for us to take the next step in addressing racism in America and its attending systemic injustices. During our journey, over four hundred pilgrims heard stories and untold histories, we built relationships, and we identified common concerns that need to be transformed in order to bring about racial equity..."
Visit the Blog >
Virginia Organizing
"The University of Virginia refuses to pay all of its workers a living wage, so Santa paid a visit to Vice Rector Jim Murray’s office to drop off a lump of coal!"
Read More >

PUT ON YOUR CALENDAR

Data for Black Lives II

On January 11-13, 2019, over 400 scientists, activists, and organizers will convene at the MIT Media Lab in Cambridge, MA for Data for Black Lives II. Over the course of a weekend, we will work together to realize the true power of data to build movements, shift power, and hold institutions accountable. We are happy to announce that early registration is now officially open to members of the Data for Black Lives network!

TO REGISTER, VISIT: https://dataforblacklives.regfox.com/data-for-black-lives


Join us for panels and workshops ranging from: climate change and emergency response to reparations and workers rights to data visualization. Click here for the full agenda. Registration will be opened to the public in just a few days, so register now to make sure you have a spot at what is sure to be an historic conference. Please note: this early invitation is non-transferable.
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Charlottesville Human Rights Commission Regular Monthly Meeting

NOTE: The December meeting has been cancelled due to conflicts with holidays. The next meeting will be in January 2019.

When: Thursday, January 17, 2019 from 7pm-9pm

Where: City Space - located at 100 5th St. NE.

Members of the public are welcome and encouraged to attend

Two hour parking validation for the Market Street Parking Garage is available

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Save the Date for the 9th Annual Lemon Project Symposium, "Celebrating Legacies, Constructing Futures: Four Hundred Years of Black Community and Culture"


When: March 15-16, 2019 
Where: William and Mary

The Universities Studying Slavery (USS) Consortium Meeting will be held at William & Mary on March 14th, 2019, followed by the 9th Annual Lemon Project Spring Symposium, "Celebrating Legacies, Constructing Futures:  Four Hundred Years of Black Community and Culture," on March 15-16, 2019.

Click here for the Call for Proposals for the Lemon Project Symposium.  Please share the CFP far and wide! Submissions are due by January 11, 2019.

More Info> 

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Notes on the State 
Podcast Series 


Notes on the State is a six-part podcast series produced at UVA’s Carter G. Woodson Institute for African-American and African Studies. The podcast engages with the state of our nation today through the history of one of its most complicated figures: Thomas Jefferson.

In addition to featuring conversations about Jefferson’s legacy, the series also engages with the future of UVa as an institution. Among others, it poses the following questions:

How does an institution like UVa update its narratives while preserving its traditions?

Can the University reach its highest ideals despite its greatest contradictions?

What responsibility, if any, does UVa as an institution have to the very people that have historically been excluded?

Notes on the State launches in February 2019. For updates, promotional materials, and extras, follow the series on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.

Carter G. Woodson for African-American and African Studies

Website: woodson.as.virginia.edu

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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