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2023 Juneteenth Celebration Events

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1. At the Jefferson School (Saturday June 17)

2023 Juneteenth poster                 2-panel graphic: the white left side lists the concert musicians and Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, the right side in dark red gives date, times, and location of the 9am parade, 11am libation, and 12pm concert. in the middle is a rectangular black graphic showing the back of male slave, shirtless and chained arms outstretch, with the words "Emancipation and Celebration" underneath.

The Jefferson School African American Heritage Center (JSAAHC) is celebrating Juneteenth this year on Saturday June 17th with a full day of events:

  • 9am Parade
  • 11am Libation ceremony
  • 12pm-3pm Concert (3 bands!)
  • 7:30pm CPG’s presentation of Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom

For more information and to sign up (to walk in the parade, to get tickets for the evening play) click here.

2. Other Community Events

• 6/18 7:30pm Concert: Rock & Reel: Monticello’s Folk Traditions Sunday, June 18 | 7:30 pm | UVA Rotunda (register for limited in-person tickets or stream it live)
• 6/19 11am & 4:30pm historic River View Farm Juneteenth Tours (Ivy Creek Natural Area, 1780 Earlysville Rd.)
• 6/22 6:30pm Northside Library screening of The Lives Between the Lines documentary (Reclaim, Honor, Repair: Descendants of Enslaved Communities at the University of Virginia)

Primary Time = Voter Registration Time

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picture of a red white and blue colored button with a big red checkmark in the middle and the words "Voting Registration"

  • Early voting for the Democratic Primary (which in Charlottesville more or less determines the winners of the November General Elections!) continues through June 17 (Mondays-Fridays, and there will be Saturday voting on 6/10 and 6/17).
  • Do same-day registration when you early vote now through 6/17 at your Registrar’s Office.
  • Vote on Election Day 6/20 any time from 6am-7pm at your local precinct (when you use same-day registration at your precinct, you vote with a provisional ballot, which will be counted unless there’s some other problem).

Related Notes

  • As of Thursday morning, only 2 candidates had turned in paperwork to run for School Board (non-partisan seats)… and no others appear to be in the pipeline per the City Registrar. Anyone who might be interested in running can visit the State Board of Elections website, or call 434-970-3250, or email vote@charlottesville.org.
  • As of last week, Charlottesville led the state in early voting!!
  • City Council approved some changes to precinct boundaries and polling locations that took effect on April 7, in time for the June primaries. Around May 1 the Registrar’s Office sent postcards to all registered Charlottesville voters; if you didn’t get one, or if have any questions about voting or your voting status, call the City of Charlottesville Registrar at 434-970-3250 (Albemarle readers should call the County Registrar at 434-972-4173).
  • Whenever you cast your ballot, bring an ID that meets Virginia’s criteria (see lists of acceptable IDs in English, Spanish, Korean, andVietnamese). If you don’t have an ID, or forget to bring one, you can sign a form affirming your identity and you’ll still be able to vote a regular ballot.

Voter Registration Time = VR Team Time!

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Graphic showing 5 fingers, index finger pointing at the viewer, with 4 blocks of rectangles reading "We" "need" (both white letters on blue background) "You" (white letters on red background) "To Register Voters" (black letters on white background)Our wonderful voter registration team, led by Suzanne Michels and Barbara Shenefield, registered voters for the Democratic Primary up to the last minute; now registration moves to the Registrar’s Office (see above for times). The VR team will be at the Ix Market the next two Saturdays to educate folks about where to vote and who’s on the ballot.
There are few things more satisfying than signing up a new voter! You can visit this online signup form to see what dates we need people. We’d love to have more folks pitch in, and if you’re even a little bit of an extrovert, you’ll enjoy it! Or email suzemichels@gmail.com if you might be interested.
On a related front… we’re looking for volunteers for the June 20 primary so we can staff a table at each polling location (and the two discontinued ones, Tonsler and Alumni Hall), to thank voters for coming out and hand out information about upcoming events, newsletter, volunteer opportunities, etc.

Bon Voyage Bekah Saxon!

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photo of Bekah Saxon holding her VEA namebadgeBekah Saxon has moved from Charlottesville to take a job with the Connecticut Education Association, after many many years of great work here:
  • Her “day job” was organizing teachers with the Virginia Education Association, where she earned a major victory in March when the Charlottesville School Board became only the fourth division in Virginia to give its employees collective bargaining rights.
  • She served for years as Secretary (a stalwart on the Executive Committee, providing context and history whenever she could), as party co-chair 2020-2021 with Sharon Cannon Webb, and a fierce Voter Protection advocate who helped organize our local efforts in recent years (and our ace logistics person on Election Days, spearheading the gathering of materials to give to arriving voters and water bottles and other supplies for our volunteers).
We wish her and her very civically engaged wife Charlene Green (leaving later this year) and their amazing son Max the very best in this new phase of their lives… but both will be terribly missed locally!
Anyone who might be willing to help cover Bekah’s Voter Protection duties (even very short term!) should contact John McLaren at cvilledemschair@gmail.com .

2nd Annual Summer Bash Fundraiser is just Days Away!

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The 2023 Summer Bash, our annual fundraiser, will be an outdoor event with Lynlee Thorne, Political Director of Rural GroundGame, as our guest speaker. Last year we had a great time, and having the event right before the June 20 primary also gives us the perfect chance to chat with our City Council, House of Delegates, and State Senate candidates.

1-panel Cartoon showing a young white boy and young black boy standing behind a table labeled "Fundraiser". The black child is holding up a sign reading "HELP"

Date: Friday, June 2
Time: 6-8pm
Cost (includes dinner!): $25 per person (only $15 if this is your very first Bash!)
Location: on the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center (JSAAHC) lawn, 233 4th St. NW
Food: fried chicken or vegetarian dinner options.
Event sponsorships by our members are our main source of funding for everything we do: supporting campaigns, writing to newly registered voters, providing scholarships, and generally encouraging people to exercise their rights as citizens.
There’s still time to be a sponsor, at a level of your choice:
  • $100 or $250 (both include 2 dinner tickets)
  • $500 (includes 4 dinner tickets)
You can also buy two tickets and bring a friend…or bring your whole precinct! And you can always donate purchased tickets so some newcomers can afford to come (e.g. if you’ll be out of town or just want to treat it as a donation).
Our speaker, Lynlee Thorne, lives in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley on a small farm with her 2 young children and a menagerie of livestock. She has served as Chair of her local Democratic Committee and as campaign staff for multiple local and statewide campaigns over the past 5 years, including multiple statewide coordinated campaigns and local races. Both farming and being a rural Democrat require a long-term commitment to hard work, perseverance, and cultivation of resilient communities, which Lynlee brings to her work with Rural GroundGame.

Images of two pieces of fried chickenGraphic showing the word VEGEGARIAN surrounded by a dozen or so colorful vegetables

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