Queen Charlotte Day Celebration

Sunday, May 19 | 2:00-4:00pm | The Bridge PAI 209 Monticello Road

What is Queen Charlotte Day?
Queen Sophia Charlotte, Born May 19, 1744, was the wife of King George III of the United Kingdom. She is the City of Charlottesville’s namesake. 

Queen Charlotte was a patron of The Arts, an amateur botanist, and a patron of orphanages and hospitals. Perhaps most relevant, she is widely believed to have African ancestry, leading many to claim Queen Charlotte as the first Black Queen of Great Britain. 

Queen Charlotte Day provides an opportunity for us to celebrate Black women throughout our community and throughout history who shape our world. It’s a chance to honor a once-forgotten aspect of our city’s rich history. It’s an opportunity to celebrate the “queen” in all of us.

Food, Music, Art, Poetry and Costumes.  Put on YOUR Crown or decorate your natural crown and come and join the celebration!

Sponsors: Queen Charlotte Society, The BRIDGE and the University of Virginia FRALIN Museum of Art

“Conversations Toward Reconciliation” - Second Gathering

Thursday, May 23 | 6 to 8 pm | Carver Recreation Center

The Charlottesville Clergy Collective is holding its 2nd "Conversation Toward Reconciliation" dinner gathering. The purpose of these gatherings is to bring together faith communities in Charlottesville in a fellowship setting to get to know one another better through intentional conversations.

It is the hope of the CCC that members of these faith communities will begin (or continue) to: engage with their own congregations in conversations about race; learn and record stories of the role their congregations played in the history of race in Charlottesville; build relationships with members of other faith communities to support, encourage, and learn from one another as we all do this work.

To participate in this 2nd Dinner on May 23 - please RSVP to Rev. Woodson (philwoodson.fumc@gmail.com)

We the community members of Charlottesville come together this summer in a spirit of healing and unity for a variety of events that educate, inspire, and honor people in our community in order to move towards economic and racial justice.

Charlottesville City Council has designated the second weekend of August (and August 12 when it falls during the week) for the annual Unity Days. In this inaugural year, events will take place from May through August with each month having a specific theme:

May: Our community’s history of race relations
June: Breaking down institutions of oppression
July: Honoring community and neighborhood leaders making change
August: Four days of activities focusing on education, honor, inspirations, and solemn remembrance

These events will take place at venues throughout the community including Market Street Park, Court Square Park, the Downtown Mall and Fourth Street.

The city-sponsored, community-driven events focus on the theme of unity, and include musical performances, speakers, conversations, children’s activities, films, exhibits, festivals, faith-based gatherings, and more.

Dear Friends,

Yesterday morning, we received a troubling report from the Islamic Society of Central Virginia (ISCV) saying that they had a near hit and run incident right outside their mosque after prayers Thursday night. 

“As brothers and sisters were leaving the masjid, a car sped down Pine St. and grazed a brother on his arm and appeared to swerve in an attempt to hit another brother. Then the car took a left turn on 9th St. and disappeared. ISCV filed a report with Charlottesville Police Department and reviewed video on the cameras.”

While they are not sure that it was just a reckless act of drunk driving or an act of terrorism, this incident has heightened concerns for safety at the Mosque, especially during the month of Ramadan, when they have anywhere from 100-200 people attending on a nightly basis. It has also highlighted the need for general security upgrades at the Mosque for other regular and special events throughout the entire year.

These increase security measures come with increased costs. The ISCV has started a gofundme donation page in hopes of alleviating some of the financial burden. 

I want to raise awareness of this incident, and also encourage you to consider financially supporting their security efforts by donating via their gofundme page.

The link to their gofundme page: https://www.gofundme.com/9wtqn-a-cause-i-care-about-needs-help

This is one way that we can show our support for the Muslim community here.

Thank you for your consideration and support! 

Michael Cheuk
Secretary, Charlottesville Clergy Collective

Do you have a student who loves history?  Is interested in learning more about local African American history and teaching others about it?  Would be excited to be in front of a crowd? 

Let them know about the Trailblazers program at the Jefferson School African American American Heritage Center!  The JSAAHC seeks African American students 16 to 21 years old to train as community tour guides this summer from June 17 to August 9.  Students will become knowledgeable about local and national African American history, art history, museum education, and public speaking techniques.  Trailblazers will also lead activity sessions for participants (fourth through sixth graders) in a Charlottesville’s Parks and Recreation summer camp and complete a research project that will influence how two JSAAHC exhibits opening in September 2019 will be presented to the public.

This is a paid position and a great opportunity for motivated students to gain experience with public history institutions and research methods.  Please direct any questions to education@jeffschoolheritagecenter.org or 434-260-8723.

One Shared Story is a new non-profit organization working in the central Virginia area to reveal hidden histories. We are seeking part-time, temporary student workers to help us establish our technology systems. We are developing a digital archive using the Omeka S platform and are looking for someone who can help us configure sites for our cooperators and to develop guidance documents for users of the sites that will be uploading and tagging items. We also maintain an ArcGIS Online organizational site and are looking for help curating existing datasets, georeferencing historic maps, and assistance with implementation of a Hub site.

These internships are supported through Heal Charlottesville grant funds at a rate of $10 per hour. This work will be primarily independent and accomplished through remote access. Periodic meetings with the project director will be held in Charlottesville.

Interested students do not have to demonstrate experience specific to the tasks required but should be interested in digital archive and/or spatial data platforms and show proficiency in researching and applying technology to solve problems. This internship offers the potential to develop new skills while advancing the work of a local non-profit.

Mistaken Ruling over Lee and Jackson Statues Extends Charlottesville Harm

A key portion of this case depends on whether these statues qualify as war monuments or memorials and are thus protected by state law. In a ruling on April 25, the judge trying this case not only declared the statuesto be war monuments but stated thathisconclusion was “inescapable” and“undisputed.” The defense had requested a jury trial; he ruled that this conclusion isso clear that any jury that ruled otherwise would be “unreasonable,” and their decision overturned.

Setting aside other questions that remain in this case — including whether the statute protecting war memorials applies to those erected before the law took effect — the judge’s decision about war monuments or memorials is certainly disputed. It is harmful. And, in my and many others’ opinion, it is wrong...."

Each weekday in February we are releasing a new episode of "Race and Place in Charlottesville," which follows UVA Professor Louis Nelson as he gives a tour of the history of race and racism in Charlottesville, starting with Jefferson's era on Grounds and leading toward the Downtown Mall, site of the August 11-12 rallies. The research-based tour is motivated by Jesus' command to love our neighbors.

Please feel free to share the tour with your community! You can use this link: https://www.studycenter.net/race-place-cville