Events

Filmmaker Lorenzo Dickerson and writer Jordy Yager, local creators of the very well-received May 2022 movie Raised/Razed about the life and destruction of Vinegar Hill, will speak at 6:30pm on July 28th at the Central Library. You can attend this event either in person (Swanson Case Room 125, formerly named the McIntire Room) or via this Zoom link.

Lorenzo and Jordy will share hard truths about the federal Urban Renewal program and its impact on scores of American cities (Durham, NC is also profiled) through a deep dive into the history and demolition of Vinegar Hill, Charlottesville’s oldest African American neighborhood. They chart the lives of its residents as they faced racially discriminatory policies and a city government that saw them as obstacles to “progress”, and they identify some of the most important take-aways from this history.

Many of us watched Raised/Razed at its PBS premiere; if you haven’t seen it yet it’s only an hour long and is available at no charge on the VPM website <https://vpm.org/raisedrazed>. Please watch (or re-watch!) the film before their talk and come with questions about (1) their journalistic & cinematic storytelling and (2) what they learned in the process of making the film.

Notes:

• This is, at the filmmakers’ request, a Dems-only event… just for this one, don’t spread the word but do come yourself!
• This will be the first event with an in-person option as well as Zoom in our co-sponsored series with Albemarle Dems since Covid began!

Last Friday’s Fish Fry Fundraiser at the Jefferson School was a big success in every way:

• Attendance was great —200+ people signed up, 59 of them at the sponsor levels. Thank you all!
• Actually, attendance was even greater — another 100 people were a block away at the Federal Building protesting the Supreme Court decision to strike down Roe v. Wade, and when they heard Sen Lucas was speaking they came over to hear her… so in the end, we had a crowd of 300!
• Financial success — we think this will put us in a good financial position to work hard on all the political issues facing us.

We’re  holding a rally at this morning (Saturday 6/25) at 11am at the Free Speech Wall to protest the outrageous (Republican-engineered) Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, throwing out decades of legal precedent and going against the will of the American people.

If you’re still feeling this outrage, please join us for an hour to share your feelings with other community members and show your commitment to reversing this injustice.

We’re still lining up speakers for this last-minute event, but confirmed speakers included:

• our State Sen. Creigh Deeds
• Charlottesville City Council member Michael Payne
• a representative from Blue Ridge Abortion Fund
• a representative from the UVA Dems
• a recent high school graduate

In addition to these and other in-person speakers, we will be reading excerpts from the statements of some key local leaders and groups.