Cville Dems

The Charlottesville Democratic Committee

Events

Dahlia Lithwick 9/22 recap (and link to event recording)

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LegaDahlia Lithwick portrait, wearing a blue blouse against a black backgroundl commentator Dahlia Lithwick knocked it out of the park when she returned to town 9/22 to speak to us (and the general public) about her great new book (now officially a NY Times bestseller!!) Lady Justice: Women, the Law, and the Battle to Save America. Her conversation with Amy Woolard was informative and inspiring… at times heartwarming and very personal… we all went for a ride.

If you missed the event, or want to share with friends, or just enjoyed it so much that you want to listen/watch it again, the recording is online at https://nowcomment.com/documents/328151 (with annotations showing what questions were asked when).

Our next speaker event: Tuesday October 11, 6:45pm: Prof. Danielle Citron on Privacy, Surveillance, and Love in the Digital Age; in conversation with Prof. William Hitchcock, she’ll talk about her brand new book The Fight for Privacy. Full information at https://cvilledems.org/event/prof-danielle-citron/

Cville Dems Host Legal Superstar Dahlia Lithwick for September 22nd Event

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Image of Dahlia Lithwick (right pane of two) as a guest on Brian Stelter's CNN show. The topic being discussed is "Are Trump's Offenses Getting a Free Pass?"Legal journalist/podcaster Dahlia Lithwick, one of Charlottesville’s very favorite ex-residents, returns “home” Thursday evening, September 22 at 6:45pm to PVCC’s beautiful Dickinson Auditorium to talk about her new book, Lady Justice: Women, the Law, and the Battle to Save America. She’ll be in conversation with Amy Woolard, Chief Program Officer for the ACLU of Virginia, with audience Q&A to follow. This special Cville Dems-organized event is free and open to all, no reservations required.

You’ve very likely seen her on MSNBC and CNN, listened to her influential “Amicus” podcast, read her columns in Slate and New York Times… now come out and see her in person!

Lady Justice profiles the women lawyers who worked tirelessly to hold the line against the most chaotic and malign presidency in living memory. There was Roberta Kaplan, the famed commercial litigator, who sued the neo-Nazis for their 2017 “Unite the Right” violence here. And Sally Yates, the acting attorney general of the United States, who refused to sign off on the Muslim travel ban. And Becca Heller, the founder of a refugee assistance program who brought the fight over the travel ban to the airports. And, of course, Stacey Abrams, whose efforts to protect the voting rights of millions of Georgians may well have been what won the Senate for the Democrats in 2020.

We’ll have copies of her book available for sale at the event: please buy a copy to support Dahlia. It will make a great holiday gift for anyone, but especially for that idealistic daughter, granddaughter, or niece of yours!

We’ll also be giving a shout-out at the event to the local nonprofits who are doing the good work locally in some of the areas covered by her book: Protection of Immigrants and Refugees (IRC and International Neighbors and Sin Barreras), Sexual Assault and Harassment (S.A.R.A.), Women’s Rights (Charlottesville ​​NOW), Abortion and Reproductive Rights (Blue Ridge Abortion Fund and Planned Parenthood), and Racial Justice and Voting Rights (NAACP, Jefferson School African American Heritage Center, League of Women Voters, and Virginia Organizing). [Note: these groups are neither affiliated with the Democratic Party nor necessarily endorse our policy positions.]

Dahlia will be “in conversation” with Amy Woolard, a writer and attorney who’s lived and worked in Charlottesville for over 30 years, much of that time working on civil rights policy and legislation. Amy is now Chief Program Officer for the ACLU of Virginia and previously was Director of Policy for the Legal Aid Justice Center. Her poems and nonfiction have appeared in such publications as The New Yorker, The Paris Review, The Guardian, and Virginia Quarterly Review.

Dahlia Lithwick portrait, wearing a blue blouse against a black background

Bio: Dahlia Lithwick is the senior legal correspondent at Slate and host of Amicus, Slate’s award-winning biweekly podcast about the law.  Her work has also appeared in The New York Times, Harper’s, The New Yorker, The Washington Post, The New Republic, and Commentary, among other places. Lithwick won a 2013 National Magazine Award for her columns on the Affordable Care Act. She was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in October, 2018.

REPORT: Ézé Amos A12 “The Story of Us” Photo Exhibition Events

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Ézé Amos giving guided tour of The Story of Us 20220813 guided tour_BoOur 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.

Cville Dems A12 Commemoration: Ézé Amos Community Events Wednesday 8/10 and Saturday 8/13

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LPortrait of Ézé Amos (B&W)ocal photojournalist and artist Ézé Amos is the creator of the exhibit “The Story of Us: Reclaiming the Narrative of #Charlottesville through Portraits of Community Resilience”, 36 larger-than-life 10′ x 8′ photos mounted front and back on trees all along the Downtown Mall. Each photo will have a QR code linking to a 3-minute recording of the person highlighted in the photo describing that moment in their own words and voice. Eze donated the photos to the City, which will install them August 9-10 (this exhibit is the City’s only anniversary commemoration event).

Ézé is collaborating with us to offer the community two free events meant to help Charlottesville deeply engage with our collective experiences of A12 through the exhibit:

  • Wednesday August 10, 6:30pm — Meeting in the Downtown Library’s Swanson Case Room, Ézé will facilitate a town hall-style presentation in which he will both explain the genesis and intentionality behind “The Story of Us” and also offer attendees a chance to share their emotions and memories of their experiences of that weekend. Come in person or use this Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85683422230
  • Saturday August 13, 11am — Ézé will lead a roughly hour long guided walking tour of the exhibit,  photos. The meetup spot will be the Downtown Mall water fountain at the intersection with 2nd Street NE.

You won’t want to miss these powerful presentations and the chance to engage with Ézé about his very compelling exhibit (two samples below). Please spread the word, please bring family and friends!

Black woman hugging a crying white womanmultiracial crowd stands in street and forms a human chain across street by holding hands

99 Days until Election Day — Join in Thursday Nights of Action!

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Josh Throneburg = Cville Dems Thursday Nights of Action at IX Park
If you want to help the Josh Throneburg Campaign #FlipThe5th and unseat Bob (No)Good, here are some options:

1. Join us this Thursday, August 4th, from 5-7pm at IX Park for our Weekly Thursday Night of Action (a bit of socializing, a good bit of strategizing)!

This week we’ll be focussing on phone banking and canvassing. There’ll be a printed phone list for folks to choose from to call into. If you wish to canvas please download “MiniVan” (download the app from these Apple or Android links if you don’t already have it) and you can even create an ActionID before Thursday to save time.

If you plan to attend, please sign up using this link:
https://www.mobilize.us/joshforvirginia/event/475179/

There will be training on MiniVan for those who need a refresher of haven’t ever used it (don’t worry, it’s not hard!).

2. If you can’t attend this Thursday, here’s the weekly schedule of other opportunities you can sign up:

  • Wednesday Nights Virtual Phone Bank / 6:30pm – 8:30pm
  • Thursday Nights J4VA & Generation Ratify Virginia Virtual Phone Bank / 6:30pm-8:30pm
  • Sunday Evenings Virtual Phone Bank / 1pm – 4pm
  • Sunday Evenings Virtual Text Bank / 4pm – 6pm
  • Saturday Canvassing in Charlottesville (meet at The Dairy Market) / 10am – Noon & 1pm – 3pm

Sign up for any of these events here: https://www.mobilize.us/joshforvirginia/

Thanks for your support!

Zoom Event with Oscar-nominated Director of “Gabby Giffords Won’t Back Down” (8/3)

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graphic showing Gabby Giffords standing behind a podium gesturing, with the red and white stripes of the American flag behind her. The words "Gabby Giffords Won't Back Down" are give in three lines, all capital letters.

Oscar-nominated documentary director Julie Cohen (past works include the acclaimed “RBG” about Ruth Bader Ginsburg) will give a special Zoom talk + Q&A to Charlottesville on August 3rd at 6:30pm for her just-released film “Gabby Giffords Won’t Back Down” (see trailer here). The new movie tells the extraordinary story of former Arizona Democratic Congresswoman Gabby Giffords’ relentless and ultimately successful fight to recover from a 2011 assassination attemp, and her new life as one of the most effective activists in the battle against gun violence. More details on the Event Page.

We’ve organized the event, which is co-sponsored by Moms Demand Action Charlottesville, The B.U.C.K Squad, and Students Demand Action at UVA (the latter three groups are not affiliated with the Democratic Party) to continue bringing attention to the curse of gun violence and spotlight the work citizen activists are doing locally and nationwide.