“Protect Our Democracy” Community Forum (10/22 event at UVA’s Newcomb Hall)
For more information: https://cvilledems.org/event/protecting-our-democracy-community-forum-10-22-event-at-uva/
Community
The Charlottesville Area Young Democrats (CAYD) are up-and-running!
The newest Virginia Young Democrats chapter will serve Charlottesville and Albemarle, Buckingham, Fluvanna, and Greene Counties. If you’re between 13-35 and would like to register voters, canvass, and take campaign actions with other young people, sign up at bit.ly/cvilleyds, or get more info from their Facebook page (or email cvilleyds@gmail.com). The group’s initial officers are:- President: Kara Kline (southside_region@vayd.org)
- VP: Trent Fisher
- Treasurer: Dashad Cooper
- Secretary: Hailey Yowell
- Outreach Director: Amanda Snead
- Communications Director: Samantha Litchford
REPORT: Ézé Amos A12 “The Story of Us” Photo Exhibition Events
Our two A12 events around Ézé Amos’ photo exhibition The Story of Us: Reclaiming the Narrative of #Charlottesville through Portraits of Community Resilience were very successful.• Presentation (8/10) — 50 people, in-person and online, attended Ézé’s overview of the exhibition (partially given “in conversation with” Andrea Douglas, Executive Director of the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center). If you missed it, here’s a recording of Ézé’s presentation; the first 24 minutes, mostly Ézé and Andrea discussing how Eze’s became a photojournalist, why he chose the Downtown Mall and racial justice struggles as his main subject areas, and how he chose the 36 photos for this exhibition. The first 24 minutes are audio-only, but the video kicks in when he starts showing the photos.
• Walking Tour (8/13) — What was planned as a one-hour tour lasted two hours as Ézé led us to each installation and explained (much abridged) what was going on in each photo and a bit about each person featured. 100 or more people joined the tour at various points to listen and ask questions.
Thank you Ézé and Andrea and everyone who turned out for this very meaningful A12 commemoration.
If you’ve not seen the photos yet on the Downtown Mall, don’t wait much longer; the photos will be taken down after September 29th, though you’ll be able to visit Eze’s website.
The Fight for Abortion and Reproductive Rights Continues!
The Cville Dems had a very busy week on this front.Last Thursday night, 6/24, we partnered with Blue Ridge Abortion Fund to present a free webinar about how an overturning of Roe would impact the Charlottesville region. BRAF Development Director Deborah Arenstein and our Bekah Saxon gave welcoming and closing remarks, and the panelists (clearly already tired and frustrated preparing for the ban) gave a great presentation.
Friday morning 6/25 the overturning of Roe was announced. By Friday afternoon, we had coordinated with NOW and Bans Off Our Bodies for a 5pm rally at the Federal Building, arranged for the media to interview Sen. Lucas for comments at 6pm (see Fish Fry coverage above), and organized a well-attended Cville Dems 11am Saturday 6/26 rally (here’s CBS19’s coverage, photos below).
As Sen. Lucas said, we are most definitely not giving up the fight (Pres. Biden came out Thursday in favor of a Senate filibuster exception for abortion rights)… but Virginia is on the edge of losing the next and deciding round of this fight. Gov. Youngkin has promised to push for an abortion ban, and if the Republicans gain seats in this November’s midterms then Dems won’t be able to stop Youngkin and his allies from outlawing abortion in Virginia too.
As we’re seeing, elections have very profound consequences.
Help the Dems organize and mobilize for November… join this fight!
Support Local Abortion Access with a Donation
Here are some of the leading organizations who have been and are continuing to do the very hard work of ensuring abortion access in our area:
Blue Ridge Abortion Fund: The regional fund is part of a national network of abortion funds that provides assistance to people seeking abortions — from money to help cover the procedure to transportation costs. Last month the Blue Ridge Abortion Fund was already recieving calls for assistance from people out-of-state. The fund provides financial assistance on a first come, first serve basis. They estimate that abortion providers and assisting funds in Virginia will face a continued uptick.
Planned Parenthood Advocates of Virginia (PPAV): The state chapter of the national organization provides health services like birth control, pregnancy-related care, general health care, and transgender hormone therapy, as well as abortions. [Note– this is a 501(c)4 political organization.
Whole Women’s Health of Charlottesville: This is a local clinic and abortion provider that is part of a national organization. The organization also provides counseling, pap smears, STD testing and birth control. It can also mail abortion pills to clients.
[Above excerpted from Charlottesville Tomorrow, another good organization to support]
Planned Parenthood South Atlantic (PPSAT): This is the nonprofit health care provider that operates theCharlottesville Health Center (and 13 other locations in North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia).
