​Open Letter supporting Swords into Plowshares

We, the undersigned, declare our enthusiastic support for the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center’s “Swords Into Plowshares” project that aims to melt down and use the bronze from the Robert E. Lee statue to make a new art work. We think the most important aspect of this project is the engagement process where residents of Charlottesville and beyond can jointly imagine how our public spaces and public art can be more welcoming and representative of our community. 
 
Despite the frivolous lawsuit by two plaintiffs challenging the Jefferson School’s rightful and legal ownership of the Lee statue, we are not deterred by attempts to thwart progress with dishonest history and misleading rhetoric. As of this writing, we have corresponded and met with almost seventy local organizations, non-profits, businesses, and churches to invite their input.  

We, the undersigned, will continue to listen, learn, and channel the will of the people participating in this engagement process. We envision an ongoing, unfolding conversation to inform, reform, and inspire this new art work. 

We invite you to visit https://sipcville.com/survey/ to make your voice heard! Join us as together we heal, hope, and march steadily into that brighter day when we will all join hands and sing with open hearts and clear eyes: “Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!”

Signed, 

John Alexander, HoosBrave
Michael Cheuk, Beloved Community Cville, Charlottesville Clerry Collective
Alan Goffinski, The Bridge Progressive Arts Initiative, Charlottesville Mural Project
Alex Joyner, First United Methodist Church, Charlottesville
Apostle Sarah A. Kelley Fairh, Hope and Love Int’l Healing and Deliverance Center, Inc. 
Bekah Saxon
Ben Doherty
Cass Bailey, Trinity Episcopal church 
Corinne Cayce, Joe Calhoun, Patrick Jackson, Nancy Kliewer, Kat Maybury, Caroline Melton, and David Singerman, Indivisible Charlottesville
Cynthia Power, Charlottesville Friends Meeting
David K. Garth, PhD  Charlottesville Clergy Collective
Derrick Stone
DeTeasa Brown Gathers, Descendants of Enslaved Communities at UVA
Diane Brown Townes
Dr. Alvin Edwards, Senior Pastor, Mt. Zion First African Baptist Church
Elizabeth Shillue, Beloved Community Cville 
Gail Hyder Wiley, Charlottesville Gathers
Gayle Jessup White
Helice Henderson Jones, DEC-UVA
Jakia Maupin
Jessica Harris, SIP Community Ambassador
Kendall King & Morgan Ashcom, Visible Records
Kristen Chiacchia, Second Street Gallery 
Kristin Szakos, former City Council member
Matthew Tennant, University Baptist Church
Pastor Brenda Brown-Grooms, New Beginnings Christian Community 
Rabbi Tom Gutherz
Rev. Dorothy Piatt-Esguerra, Westminster Presbyterian Church, Charlottesville
Rev. Dr. Eugene T Locke, Westminster Presbyterian 
Rev. Dr. Linda Olson Peebles, Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Charlottesville
Rev. Ellen Longmoore, retired Chaplain, UVA
Rev. Jim Hassmer, retired United Methodist clergy 
Rev. Robert Lewis
Rev. Sandra Wisco, ELCA, retired 
Rev. Susan Steinberg, PCUSA Minister-at-Large
Richard Lord, Activists Guide
Ronald D. Wiley, Jr., Charlottesville resident
Sam Heath, Charlottesville resident
Sharon Beckman Brindley , insight Meditation Community of Charlottesville 
Sri Kodakalla, Second Street Gallery
Susan Kaufman, Insight Meditation Community of Charlottesville
Jana Surdi
Reverend Lynne Taylor Clements, Westminster Presbyterian Church
Rosemary Beard Heflin, Westminster Presbyterian Church

It is with broken hearts that we mourn over the senseless deaths of nineteen elementary school students and two adults at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas.

We mourn that we are still experiencing gun violence in our schools four years after Stoneman Douglas High School, ten years after Sandy Hook Elementary School, and twenty-three years after Columbine High School.

We mourn that this is the 27th school shooting this year.

We mourn that this shooting came just twelve days after a shooting at a Tops supermarket in a Black neighborhood in Buffalo, NY, and eleven days after a shooting at a Taiwanese church in Laguna Woods, CA. 

The evil and madness of the past weeks, together with all the mass shootings this year and too many years before, are hard to bear. The countless other deaths caused by easy access to guns is an indelible, odious stain on our country.

We pray for the students, families, staff, and members of Uvalde, Buffalo, Laguna Woods, and elsewhere who lost loved ones.

We pray as well as for all who have been retraumatized.

Even as we mourn and pray, we acknowledge that our "thoughts and prayers" are not enough.

We commit ourselves to advocate for fire arms reduction, for mental healthcare, for addressing the challenges in our communities with courage, love, and compassion, and not with hate and violence.

We will seek ways to support the victims of these recent shootings, one of which is through donations to these organizations:
https://www.buffalotogetherfund.org/
https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-dr-chengs-family
https://www.gofundme.com/c/act/donate-to-texas-elementary-school-shooting-relief

We invite you to attend a virtual memorial service on Monday, May 30, 6 to 7 pm, for all communities that are hurting due to recent incidents of violence. RSVP by emailing whitefeatherproject@yahoo.com.

May the Divine have mercy upon us all.

Signed,
Rev. Dorothy Piatt-Esguerra, Westminster Presbyterian Church, Charlottesville
Rev. Alex Joyner, First United Methodist, Charlottesville
Sharon Beckman-Brindley Insight Meditation Community of Charlottesville 
Susan Kaufman, Insight Meditation Community of Charlottesville 
Adam Slate, Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Charlottesville
Rev. Harry Kennon, Retired United Methodist Pastor
Rev. Mildred Best. Mount Zion Baptist Church
Rev. Susan Steinberg, PCUSA Minister-at-Large
Rev. Matthew Tennant, University Baptist Church
Rev. Liz Hulme Adam, Tabor Presbyterian Church
Pastor Devin Coles, Amazing Changes Ministries 
Rev. Will Brown, University Baptist Church
Pastor Brenda Brown-Grooms, New Beginnings Christian Community 
Rev. Ellen Longmoore, retired Chaplain, UVA
Rev. Jim Hassmer, retired United Methodist clergy
Rev. Dr. Linda Olson Peebles Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Charlottesville 
Dr. Alvin Edwards, Senior Pastor, Mt. Zion First African Baptist Church
​Pastor Sarah A. Kelley Faith, Hope and Love Int’l Healing and Deliverance Center, Inc.
Dr. Michael Cheuk, Charlottesville Clergy Collective

​

Dr. Anthea Butler is 

• Associate Professor of Religious Studies and Africana Studies, University of Pennsylvania
• Author of White Evangelical Racism: The Politics of Morality in America and Women in the Church of God in Christ
• Commentator on and consultant to BBC, PBS, CNN, MSNBC, History Channel, Religion News Service, and The Washington Post

Dr. Butler was joined by two panelists:
Gayle Jessup White

• Public Relations & Community Engagement Officer, Monticello / Thomas Jefferson Foundation
• Author of Reclamation: Sally Hemings, Thomas Jefferson, and a Descendant's Search for Her Family's Lasting Legacy, available November 2021
• Descendant of Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings’ family
• Board member, Albemarle Charlottesville Historical Society 

Tricia Johnson

• Director, Fluvanna County Historical Society

The discussion was moderated by  Devin Coles, Founding Pastor of Amazing Changes Ministries.

You can download a 6-Part Discussion Guide that you and your congregation can use to facilitate important and difficult conversations about religion and race. 

Please donate to our work so that we can continue to bring these kinds of educational opportunities to the public!

Click here to download a PDF of this study and discussion guide.

Written by Michael K. Cheuk
Copyright 2020 by the Charlottesville Clergy Collective

This guide provides suggested readings and discussion questions to complement our Interfaith Worship Service, “RE-IMAGINE: A More Truthful History and Memorials to Justice,” that premiered on August 12, 2020 on YouTube.

This guide is not meant to be completed in one session or even in a couple of sessions. Just as there are no shortcuts to spiritual growth, there are no shortcuts to racial awakening. We hope small groups will agree to engage in this study and conversation over an extended period of time.

Feel free to divide this guide into as many sessions as needed for your context. Add additional readings and resources from your own faith traditions. Include additional questions that may resonate better in your community. In other words, do not slavishly follow this guide!

OPENING QUESTION:

What were/are some responses that you’ve heard regarding the taking down of Confederate statues in Charlottesville and elsewhere?

GRAPPLING WITH QUESTIONS:

What is the meaning of a public statue?

Read:

“What Does It Mean to Tear Down a Statue? We asked an art historian who studies the destruction of cultural heritage.” By Jonah Engel Bromwich, published 6/11/2020 in the New York Times.

Questions: What are your responses to art historian Erin Thompson’s thoughts about … 

• statues as a way of solidifying an idea and making it present to other people?
• people rebel against the ideas represented by statues by taking them down?
• her comparisons between what anti-Confederate monument protestors are doing in the US and what the Islamic State did in destroying monuments in Palmyra?

What version of history is not represented in these Confederate monuments? 

Read:

Was Robert E. Lee Opposed to Confederate Monuments? By David Emrey, published 8/23/2017 in Snopes.com.

• Question: What are your responses to Robert E. Lee’s opposition to proposals to erect Civil War monuments and memorials, including some devoted specifically to the Confederacy?

How Charlottesville Got that Robert E. Lee Statue. By Bruce W. Dearstyne, published 9/3/2017 in the History News Network.

• Question: What are your thoughts about the inauguration of the Lee Monument in Lee Park on May 21, 1924? It was held “during a gala Confederate reunion in which the monument was draped in a large Confederate flag that was pulled away by the three-year-old great-granddaughter of General Lee, Mary Walker Lee, to great cheers.”

How the US Got So Many Confederate Monuments. These commemorations tell a national story. By Becky Little, published 8/17/2017, updated 6/12/2020 in History.com.

There are hundreds of Confederate monuments across the US — here's when they were built. By Leanna Garfield and Anaele Pelisson, published 8/18/2017 in BusinessInsider.com.

This map reveals 1,747 monuments and other Confederate symbols of America’s racist past. By Michael Grothause, published 6/11/2020 in FastCompany.com

• Question: What are your thoughts about the inauguration of the Lee Monument in Lee Park on May 21, 1924? It was held “during a gala Confederate reunion in which the monument was draped in a large Confederate flag that was pulled away by the three-year-old great-granddaughter of General Lee, Mary Walker Lee, to great cheers.”

 

• Question: What history and whose history are neglected in these Confederate monuments?

How did these Confederate monuments affect African Americans?

Read:

Charlottesville’s Robert E. Lee Sculpture and our Heritage of Hate. Published 8/17/2017 in Blaservations.

• Question: Paul Goodloe McIntire donated land for five city parks: Lee (in honor of Robert E. Lee), Jackson (in honor of Thomas “Stonewall Jackson), Belmont, Booker T. Washington, and McIntire (named by the city in his honor). Were you aware that African Americans were NOT allowed in any of the parks other than Booker T. Washington Park?

 

• Question: How well do you think African Americans in Charlottesville were represented in the city government that decided to establish these parks?  

PERSONAL REFLECTIONS

Question: What are your thoughts and responses to hearing these testimonies?

• Reverend Carol Carruthers Sims recalls growing up white and freely roaming all over  Charlottesville and the University.

• Apostle Sarah Kelley recalls the places she was not allowed to go as a child, and being mocked and taunted by white gatherings at Lee Park as she walked along Market Street to go to the Paramount Theater.

• Deacon Don Gathers recalls the traumatic experience of counter protesting the Unite the Right rally on August 11-12, 2017.

• Rabbi Tom Gutherz recalls the shocking experience of the same Jew hatred that killed members of his family during the Third Reich violently proclaimed here in Charlottesville on August 12, 2017. 

“SOMETIMES I FEEL LIKE A MOTHERLESS CHILD”

The photos interspersed within the dance show the progression of . . .

• The arrival of the first enslaved Africans at Point Comfort, Virginia in 1619

• The Richmond Slave Trail, led by the Elegba Folklore Society

• The selling of enslaved Africans here in Charlottesville, as marked by the “Slave Auction Block” sidewalk plaque in Court Square.
  • Read “Humans Were Sold Here.” By Jalane Schmidt in Medium.com.

• The brutal history of enslavement and lynching documented at National Memorial for Peace and Justice (“The Lynching Museum”) and The Legacy Museum: From Enslavement to Mass Incarceration (where one sample of the soil from the site of the lynching of John Henry James in Charlottesville/Albemarle County is stored). Both the memorial and the museum are part of the work of the Equal Justice Initiative.

• Finally, a sample of pictures and names of black victims killed at the hands of law enforcement. 
  • Read “Say Their Names: Black Lives Matter, Their Lives Mattered.” By Sandra Barrett in Medium.com. This article lists the names of black victims who are now famous because they were killed at the hands of law enforcement. This is not an exhaustive list of every black victim killed by police.

Question for white people: Imagine where you would be now if your white ancestors were enslaved, raped, robbed of their property and their labor, denied housing and employment, and incarcerated and murdered with impunity for the last 400 years? 

Question for white people: How would you respond if white people were then labeled -- as a people -- “lazy,” “thugs,” and “dangerous”?

THE PAST AND PRESENT

“We don’t need monuments of steel and stone to remind us of our country’s heritage of slavery, because that heritage is present in the bodies of American descendants of slavery. WE are the living memorials to this history.” 

Question: What do you think about this claim? 

Read:

Writer and poet Caroline Randall Williams’ 6/26/2020 editorial in the New York Times: “You Want a Confederate Monument? My Body Is a Confederate Monument.”

Watch NBC News’ interview of Caroline Randall Williams, published 7/2/2020.

Question: Given the generational trauma and pain experienced by American descendants of slavery, what does it say about their strength and resiliency that empowers them to survive and even thrive in American society today?

A MORE JUST FUTURE

Removing these symbols of white supremacy is a necessary step toward a more just and equitable society. But it is NOT sufficient in and of itself. If we do not also work on dismantling the unjust systemic and structural inequities that continue to negatively impact black communities today, the dismantling of all Confederate statues and monuments will be for naught. 

The worship video names some of the ways systemic racism is still present today in our health, employment, community, housing, criminal justice, law enforcement, financial, education, and governmental systems.

Read:

“What is systemic racism? Here's what it means and how you can help dismantle it.” By N’dea Yancey-Bragg, published 6/15/2020 in USAToday.com.

“The Case for Reparations” by Ta-Nehisi Coates, published 6/2014 in The Atlantic.com.

Question for white people: What is the next step that you and your congregation can make to dismantle systemic racism?

“Dear White People, Please Stop Pretending Reverse Racism Is Real” by Manisha Krishnan, published 10/2/2016 in Vice.com.

“Sure, black people can be racist, too.” By John Blake, published 9/22/2019 on CNN.com interviewing Ibram X. Kendi about his book How to Be An Antiracist.

Questions: How do Krishnan and Kendi understand “being a racist” differently? Which group of people is the intended audience of each article? What can all groups of people take away from both of these articles?

Listen:

“In Conversation: Robin DiAngelo and Resmaa Menakem” in On Being podcast with Krista Tippett

Question for white people: Discomfort is a portal to new awareness, but many people don’t want to be uncomfortable. What are ways discomfort can help you identify and work to dismantle systemic racism? 

Question for white people: The onus is not on those affected by racism to teach white people what to learn. The onus is on white people to do the hard work themselves of identifying their learning edges and blind spots. How can white people take responsibility for their learning?

• Take the initiative to Google questions you have about race . . . and note the various responses of individual authors.
• Visit this archive of 163 years of The Atlantic’s writing on race and racism in America, by Gillian B. White, published 6/16/2020.
• The Charlottesville Clergy Collective has a webpage of resources.

Question for white people: Black organizations (like the NAACP), movements (like Black Lives Matter), and local congregations have and are providing leadership in anti-racist work. How can you join in what they are already doing instead of reinventing the wheel?

RELIGIOUS READINGS AND PRAYERS

Betül Toprak, a member of the Muslim Community, read a verse from the Qur’an — the sacred text of Islam. It is from the Surah Al-Nisa (the 4th Surah), and it is the 135th verse. It is a verse emphasizing that every individual must not only be just, but they must stand out for justice, even if it is against their own interests. …  This statement is a reminder to myself of how I should position myself in conflictual situations. It tells me that no matter who is involved, no matter what interests may be involved, I should take the side of justice and advocate it. It also tells me that I should not be a bystander, and only act when I am affected by a particular injustice, but to always stand out for justice and be its advocate. We should stand out for justice no matter what, and Allah will be the one protecting us, our kin, our interests when we objectively stand for justice.

• Question: Why do you think the verse is telling us to disregard whether the situation in question is related to yourself, your parents, your kin, or whether it involves the rich or the poor?

 
Sharon Beckman-Brindley of the Insight Meditation Community of Charlottesville states that Kuan Yin (Avalalokiteshvara) is the representation of the Buddha qualities of enlightened compassion for the struggles and sufferings of all beings. She hears all and, when called upon, she responds with wise and whole hearted guidance to bring all beings everywhere to full healing and freedom.

• Question: As we cultivate our responses to centuries of violence and injustice, how do we find room in our hearts, our relationships and our communities to respond to separation in ways that do not just burden ourselves and others with more division and hatred?

 
Rabia Povich of the Inayati Universal Sufi Order read a Sufi poem, After the Darkness There are Many Suns, which was written by Mevlana Jellalludin Rumi, a 13th century Persian poet, Islamic Scholar, and Sufi mystic. He wrote a six-volume masterwork, the Masnavi, that opens with the eighteen line verse: “Listen to the reed and the tale it tells, How it sings of separation...” After the Darkness is from book 3, lines 2922-2925 of the Masnavi.

• Question: How/where do we find hope even as we are aware of 400+ years of discrimination and oppression toward Africans, African Americans, indigenous people and people of color that continues today?

 
Manouchehr (Mike) Mohajeri, a member of the Baha’i Faith, shared a prayer for humanity, given by Abdu’l-Baha in the early twentieth century. Abdu’l-Baha was the son and successor of the Prophet-Founder of the Baha’i Faith, Baha’u’llah. Abdu’l-Baha’s given name was Abbas, but he chose to be called Abdu’l-Baha which means the servant of Baha’ or Glory. He, together with his father and the rest of his family, suffered banishment and exile from his homeland of Persia to Baghdad first and eventually to the Holy Land (Palestine, then and Israel, today). All of that suffering was brought upon them through the intrigues of Muslim clergy (religious supremacists!) when he was between the very sensitive ages of 9 and 24. Later in his life, after he was freed from prison, he traveled to the West and spent about 8 months in 1912, in the US and Canada for a visit with the western Baha’is and on a speaking tour. It was in this country where he very deeply felt the long-sufferings of the black people and prayed fervently for the unity of the human race as a whole. … This prayer is a daily reminder for me to further develop an understanding and loving heart, cleansed from any trace of prejudice and supremacist feeling.

• Question:  What is it going to take for the members of the human race to get rid of the spiritual disease of supremacy (be it racial, gender, national, religious, etc.) and become united as members of one family?

 
Linda Olson Peebles, Interim Lead Minister of Thomas Jefferson Memorial Church - Unitarian Universalist, offered a prayer that she wrote. She was inspired by the interfaith clergy on the streets Aug 12, 2017, who faced the militia and Nazi hate groups. 

• Question: “If it is in our power to shine light into the world, how can we do that in real ways in our everyday lives (in the face of hatred, injustice, bias, pressure to be complicit, etc.)?

 
Cynthia Power of the Charlottesville Friends Meeting paraphrased a passage from the Journal of George Fox. Fox was the founder of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in the mid-17th century. The actual quote is:  “Be patterns, be examples in all countries, places...then you will come to walk cheerfully over the world, answering that of God in everyone…”  Friends have neither creed nor scripture. When asked what they believe, they frequently mention “that of God in everyone.” … The idea of “that of God in everyone” clearly says to me that we are all equal, deserving of the same rights and benefits. This is the basis of my most strongly held values.

• Question: As we work together for racial justice, how can we incorporate the Quaker notion of answering that of God? Is it compatible with other faith stances?

Jess Kerman of Congregation Beth Israel brought a teaching from: 
Talmud Bavli Shabbat 55A: 
And Reish Lakish said: The letter tav is the last letter of the seal of the Holy One, Blessed be God, as Rabbi Ḥanina said: The seal of the Holy One, Blessed be God, is truth [emet], which ends with the letter tav. Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥmani said: The letter tav teaches that these are people who observed the entire Torah from alef through tav. 
and Pirkei Avot 1:18:
Rabban Shimon ben Gamaliel used to say: on three things does the world stand: On justice, on truth and on peace, as it is said: “execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates” (Zechariah 8:16).

• Question: What does an imbalance of justice, truth, or peace look like? How do we seek balance between justice, truth, and peace?

LIVING INTO OUR CALLING

The photos interspersed in the dance show:

• Memorial and statues at Kelly Ingram Park in Birmingham, AL, located across the street from 16th St. Baptist Church, the target of white supremacist terrorism when it was bombed by the KKK in 1963, killing four young girls. The park served as an assembly spot for activities of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and other groups in the Civil Rights movement. Today, this public park contains emotionally powerful sculptures depicting the civil rights struggle in Birmingham. This park is an example of how Market Street Park in Charlottesville might be re-imagined to include statues and memorials to commemorate the contributions of Black Americans and to solidify the idea of a more just and equitable future.
• The response of the Charlottesville faith community in response to the KKK gathering in July 2017.
• Pictures of the Black Lives Matter marches in San Francisco, CA, Miami, FL, and Newcastle, PA, after the George Floyd killing. 

Our worship service ends with an empowering song and dance, because the history of Black Americans cannot be reduced to words like “trauma” and “pain.” The themes that run throughout this history are resiliency, resistance, persistence, faith, and most of all, joy!

Read:

“American culture sees Blackness as the damage it did to us, not the joy we take in ourselves.
One cannot fully understand Blackness in America without understanding the joy that we derive from being Black — and why.”  By Donald Earl Collins, published August 9, 2020 in NBCnews.com.

Collins writes: “Quite simply, there is no American joy, no American culture, without Black joy, and no Black joy without Black pain from and resistance to American racism and exploitation.”

Questions: 

• How can we have the eyes to see and celebrate Black joy? 
• How can we contribute to Black joy by our resistance to American racism and exploitation?
• What is the next step for YOU to live joyfully into your calling toward justice and beloved community?

NEXT STEPS

One next step beyond reading, studying, and discussions is to join organizations to take action toward systemic racial justice. Below is a short, non-comprehensive list of racial justice organizations to check out. Many of these organizations have local chapters for you to get involved in whatever ways you can.

Black-led racial justice organizations

• Poor People’s Campaign - Rev. William Barber
  
• National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)
  
• Black Lives Matter
  
• Showing Up for Racial Justice has a more comprehensive list compiled by leadership from the Movement for Black Lives.
  
• A Partial Map of Black-led Black Liberation Organizing
  

Other organizations are committed to supporting black-led organizing and anti-racist activism

• Congregate Cville
  
• Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ)
  
• Beloved Community Cville
  
• Check out the Racial Equity Resource Guide to find organizations are working within the field of racial equity and on a variety of issues and topics.
  

On Tuesday, June 9, approximately one hundred people gathered at the Free Speech Wall in Charlottesville's downtown mall for a peaceful prayer vigil organized by Don Gathers and the Charlotttesville Clergy Collective. Below are pictures courtesy of Mike Kropf and Richard Lord. (Photo credit above: Eze Amos)

Credit for above photos: Mike Kropf

Credit for above photos: Richard Lord

Read our Statement on the murders of Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd and Breonna Taylor

Last Week Tonight (June 7, 2020)- As nationwide protests over the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor are met with police brutality, John Oliver discusses how the histories of policing and white supremacy are intertwined, the roadblocks to fixing things, and some potential paths forward.

TAKE ACTION

The following links are taken from Claire Lampen’s article “How to Support the Struggle Against Police Brutality.”

​Direct aid for victims’ families:

• George Floyd’s family has started a GoFundMe to cover funeral and burial costs; counseling services; legal fees; and continued care for his children. There’s also a GoFundMe to provide for his 6-year-old daughter, Gianna Floyd, and a GoFundMe to support “peace and healing” for Darnella Frazier, the woman who filmed Floyd’s death.
• Another GoFundMe is raising money for Ahmaud Arbery’s mother, donations to which will similarly fund the family’s legal battle.
• There’s a GoFundMe for Breonna Taylor’s family, to help with legal fees and offer extra support.
• There’s a GoFundMe for David McAtee’s mother and family: McAtee was fatally shot just after midnight on June 1, after police officers and National Guard members fired into a crowd of people who were not taking part in the evening’s protests.

Bail funds: ActBlue has a page that will let you split your donation between 38 community bail funds, or if you’d like to focus your donation directly, here are some options.

• The Bail Project, a nonprofit that aims to mitigate incarceration rates through bail reform.
• The National Bail Fund Network also has a directory of community bail funds to which you can donate, along with a COVID-19 rapid response fund.
• Another list of bail funds is available here, and another list of bail funds by city.

Support for protesters:

• A Gas Mask Fund for black youth activists in Minneapolis is raising money to buy gas masks for demonstrators who’ve faced tear gas during protests.
• The Black Trans Protestors Emergency Fund is raising money for physical resources, bail, and medical care for black, transgender protesters, which will be redistributed to black, trans-led organizations “in the event these funds don’t need to be used.”
• The NAACP Legal Defense Fund, which supports racial justice through advocacy, litigation, and education.
• The Legal Rights Center is a non-profit law firm based in Minneapolis, offering legal defense, educational, and advocacy services.
• Black Visions Collective, a black, trans, and queer-led social justice organization and legal fund based in Minneapolis-St. Paul.
• The Know Your Rights Camp, an organization founded by Colin Kaepernick that provides education and training in black and brown communities, set up a legal fund for Minneapolis protestors.
• Organizations working against mass-incarceration and police abuse:
• Communities United for Police Reform is an initiative to end discriminatory policing in New York, helping to educate people on their rights and document police abuse.
• Showing Up for Racial Justice works to educate white people about anti-racism and organizes actions to support the fight for racial justice and undermine white supremacy.
• Communities United Against Police Brutality, which operates a crisis hotline where people can report abuse; offers legal, medical, and psychological resource referrals; and engages in political action against police brutality.
• No New Jails NYC aims to keep the city from constructing new jails, and to instead divert funds that currently go toward the police and incarceration toward housing, ending homelessness, mental health, and other community support systems.

Tangible Ways to Support Black Lives

• Black Lives Matter
• Showing Up for Racial Justice
• CongregateCville
• NAACP
• Minnesota Freedom Fund to help protesters set bail and bond, etc.
• Support Black-owned restaurants in Charlottesville

 

• Online application for Absentee Voting in Virginia (for June 23 Primaries. June 16 deadline to request absentee ballot).

Ways to Engage Right Now – Each One Counts

Note: Below is an excerpt of an email from Collective Impact Forum.

If you’re wondering what steps to take, here are some things that can help.
Listen. Learn. Give. Center.

Listen:

Listen to communities of color. Understanding what Black, Brown, or Indigenous people need to thrive is crucial right now.
Please don’t assume.

• Ask. Ask them right now what they need from you.
• Listen. Listen to what your community members say.
• Trust. Trust what they say is what they need right now.

Learn:

If you are struggling with what is said above or what is going on right now in our world, a good step is to visit some resources to support your own learning. Everyone is learning at their own pace. Remember to not expect or task your Black colleagues and community members to teach you right now. They do not have the time or energy to lay things out again. If you are feeling challenged and wondering where to start, seek out resources like the ones listed below.

Books: These books are available in print, ebook, and audio.

• How To Be An Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi
• So You Want to Talk about Race by Ijeoma Oluo
• Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson

Resources:

• Anti-Racism Resources
• 75 Things White People Can Do for Racial Justice

Follow: There are many excellent organizations leading the field on supporting racial equity. Here are just a few to follow that can support your learning.

• PolicyLink
• Philanthropic Initiative for Racial Equity (PRE)
• Equity in the Center
• Race Forward

Give:

It’s become a pandemic cliché to say “Now more than ever,” but it’s still true. Now, more than ever, giving is essential. Whether it’s giving money, time, or compassion.

• If you are an institutional funder: please give. Please don’t wait for the perfect time or strategy. Please give to organizations that are led by and for people of color. Give to organizations that are advocating and organizing against anti-Black racism. Fund movement-building infrastructure to advance racial justice
• If you are an individual donor and are able to give: even a small donation can support anti-racist work in your community right now
• Showing up to support local Black-run businesses and organizations is also a form of giving
• Donating time (even virtually as many of us still shelter in place) can also be helpful.

See “Listen” above. If your communities are asking for something to be given, if you can, please give.

Give compassion.

“Now more than ever” is the time to spread your compassion and empathy. So many are feeling pain, exhaustion, fear, and grief. Your compassion and love can be a real gift.

Center:

It’s very necessary to center the stories and experiences of Black lives and other people of color, and what they are going through. Center their narratives and what they are experiencing. Use those experiences as a light to guide your actions.

Be wary of “easy” narratives that pin blame on communities of color. Like using a stereotype to quickly code someone, narratives are also tools to quickly divide and understand.

Parse your media intake - who is being centered? Whose experiences are “the protagonist”? At this time of heightened racial violence and inequity, if the story “protagonist” is not Black or Brown, use that as an indicator to reassess that media source and what narrative they are trying to give you.

Our own media literacy (including social media) is a key learning area right now. Following media outlets and sources that are authored by and for Black, Brown, and Indigenous communities is a crucial step to improve one's own media literacy, especially if you want to unlearn harmful narratives that you may be unknowingly carrying with you.

#BlackLivesMatter

For people of color in the Collective Impact Forum community, we see you. We see your pain and grief. We see the injustices you have and are experiencing. You do not deserve to feel this way. No one should. This burden should not be yours. It should not be anyone’s.

For our Forum community - Let us all do what we can to overcome anti-blackness and racism in our systems and communities.

Listen. Learn. Give. Center. And Support each other.

Robert Albright, Director, Collective Impact Forum
Sheri Brady, Associate Director, Aspen Institute Forum for Community Solutions
Jennifer Splansky Juster, Executive Director, Collective Impact Forum
Tracy Timmons-Gray, Associate Director, Collective Impact Forum


LEARN - Articles

• A reading list to understand police brutality in America - Vox.com
• The anger behind the protests, explained in 4 charts - Vox.com
• 'A riot is the language of the unheard,' Martin Luther King Jr. explained 53 years ago - TheWeek.com
• George Floyd video adds to trauma: 'When is the last time you saw a white person killed online?' - USAToday.com

TAKE ACTION
 
SupportCville.com
SupportCville.com has the most comprehensive list of support (financial, supplies, housing, food, etc.) in our community.

Below are a few organizations where you can donate to support our community:

• Charlottesville Area Community Foundation’s Emergency Response Fund 
• Give to a specific local organization established at the Community Foundation.
• SupportCville.com has more organizations you can donate to. 
• Public Housing Association of Residents (PHAR) Cville
• The Monacan Nation
• SURJ is promoting a stimulus check donation drive to help especially those who are undocumented, incarcerated, do not have social security numbers, or home addresses . Click here for more information and to pledge. Here’s a report on how SURJ Charlottesville has contributed to Covid-19 Mutual Aid. 
• #50forFood - Cville Community Cares is partnering with Sin Barreras to raise $50,000 for immediate distribution to Charlottesville-area residents who are experiencing food insecurity. Commit your stimulus check for this aid by donating at https://congregatecville.com/. 

LEARN

“Shepherding Through a Pandemic” Informational Session on COVID-19 for Faith Leaders

On May 27, Dr. Jeanita Richardson (Professor of Public Health Sciences at UVa's School of Medicine) gave a presentation on “Shepherding Through a Pandemic,” focusing on what faith leaders need to know about the COVID-19 pandemic and how to prepare for the reopening of their congregations.

Below you will find supporting information from the presentation.

• Zoom link to the Video of the Presentation. Password: 4M.@2nyl
• Slide Deck of the Presentation
• Rough Notes of the Presentation
• “We’re Going to be OK” - Tips and advice book for children

PDF Handouts mentioned by Dr. Richardson

• Cleaning and Disinfecting Your Facility - CDC
• COVID-19 Symptoms
• COVID-19 “Staying Alive” Poster
• COVID-19 Info Flyer
• How to Protect Yourself and Others
• Stop the Spread of Germs
• Virginia Forward - Phase One for Religious Services

Links:

• Center for Disease Control’s COVID-19 webpage
• Center for Disease Control’s COVID-19 print resources (offered in different languages)
• Virginia Department of Health’s COVID-19 webpage (includes statistics shown during presentation)
• Thomas Jefferson Health District’s COVID-19 data portal (stats broken down by race, ethnicity, gender, age, etc.)
• Virginia’s PHASE ONE Guidelines webpage
• Thomas Jefferson Health District’s COVID-19 Data Portal

ARTICLES: COVID-19 and Race

• PolicyLink.org recently published an article advocating for a “Common-Sense, Street-Smart Recovery” to build an inclusive economy and equitable nation that works for all. It includes these principles: 1. Center Racial Equity, 2. Put People First, 3. Invest in Community Infrastructure, 4. Build an Equitable Economy, and 5. Protect and Expand Community Voice and Power. Read the article here. 
• Black Americans dying of Covid-19 at three times the rate of white people - TheGuardian.com
• COVID-19 Killing African Americans at Shocking Rates - MedPageToday.com
• What Do Coronavirus Racial Disparities Look Like State By State? - NPR.org
• Why “essential” workers are treated as disposable - Vox.com
• How the coronavirus exposed health disparities in communities of color - WashingtonPost.com
• Racism, Not Genetics, Explains Why Black Americans Are Dying Of COVID-19 - ScientificAmerican.com