Do you believe in the promise of Brown v. Board?
It’s a simple question, but one that several of President Trump’s judicial nominees have struggled to answer. We need your help to make sure that those who don’t believe in civil rights don’t get to guard our justice system.
64 years ago, today, Thurgood Marshall and a team of NAACP attorneys won the landmark Supreme Court decision, Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, which outlawed segregation in public schools and overturned the principle of “separate but equal.”
Brown v. Board was a critical civil rights milestone but its full progressive potential has not been realized. Many children of color remain relegated tounderperforming schools, and, as recent incidents have shown, racial bias remains a daily reality.
Now, we find ourselves faced with judicial nominees who refuse to state their support for Brown v. Board. Six of Trump’s selections for these lifetime appointments to federal courts evaded senators’ questions about their feelings toward the Supreme Court decision.
Such behavior is hardly surprising from nominees with proven track records of disrespecting the rights of Americans of color. These individuals have worked to roll back voting rights, criminal justice, immigrant rights, and LGBTQ rights. Many would join all-white courts in jurisdictions serving millions of people of color.
Our democracy needs your help. With nearly 180 judicial vacancies, the Senate’s action on these nominees could impede progressive issues for decades. Please urge your senators to confirm qualified, honorable candidates.
Protect our courts and the promise of Brown v. Board.
In solidarity,
Derrick JohnsonPresident and CEO
NAACP
Author Archives: Tim Tolson
October 2017 Branch meeting
On Monday, October 9, 2017 at the Jefferson School City Center, 233 4th Street NW, Charlottesville, in the Mary Williams Center on the first floor adjacent to the Vinegar Hill Cafe, the Albemarle-Charlottesville Branch of the NAACP meet. Before the business meeting, we discussed Racial and ethnic disparities in health status, lead by Dr. M. Norman Oliver, researcher, teacher, and clinician.
Branch President’s message at the 2017 Freedom Fund Banquet
Greetings!
On behalf of the Albemarle- Charlottesville NAACP officers and members, we are pleased to have you join us for our annual Freedom Fund Banquet. We hope that your evening is pleasant and enjoyable.
January 2017 saw a changing of the guard for the Albemarle-Charlottesville Branch of the NAACP. After twelve years of dedicated service to the organization, Dr. M. Rick Turner made the decision to resign from his position as president of the local branch. We thank him for his twelve years of service and we will continue to build on the progress made during his tenure – while encouraging a productive vision for the future of the branch.
For over a century the NAACP has been one of the nation’s leading champions of civil rights and social justice; working tirelessly to achieve economic equity, with a commitment to attain equality and justice for all. Dr. King once said,” the arc of the moral universe is long but, it bends towards justice.” Justice, a word that has continued to surface in daily conversations, is being enacted by various vocal means of protests throughout the nation. Just this year members of the Albemarle-Charlottesville Community braced themselves while preparing for visits from members of the Ku Klux Klan and – the organizers of the Unite the Right Rally resulted in a tragic ending involving the loss of life. The Albemarle-Charlottesville NAACP countered the Klan rally with a successful peaceful protest rally based on the theme, “Steadfast and Immovable”. Various other community activities were planned to provide alternative choices in lieu of attending the rallies.
The NAACP stands at a pivotal time in history! We find ourselves in a period of unrest as a nation. We seem to be engaged in a struggle to protect the gains that we as a people have made during the last fifty years, especially the right to vote. The NAACP stands ready to challenge efforts to roll back and eliminate policies and programs intended to extend the social safety net to all. Many people in our community and across America would be affected by this injustice. Therefore, the tireless work of the NAACP remains relevant today. As the oldest civil rights organization in the world, we would want to be a significant part of the solution as we remain dedicated and committed to the mission of the organization: to ensure the Political, Educational, Social and Economic Equality of Rights of All Persons and to Eliminate Racial Hatred and Racial Discrimination. We remain steadfast in our resolve and immovable from our objective.
Yours in the Struggle,
Janette Boyd Martin, President
Albemarle-Charlottesville NAACP
Statewide Candidates Invited to the 82nd Annual Virginia State Conference NAACP Convention, October 28, 2017
CANDIDATES INVITED TO VIRGINIA STATE CONFERENCE NAACP Convention
Saturday, October 28th, 2017 from 2:00pm- 4:00pm
at the Hilton Richmond Hotel & Spa at Short Pump
RICHMOND, Va. — Today, all candidates seeking statewide offices to include: Governor, Lieutenant Governor and Attorney General have been invited to the 82nd Annual Convention Virginia State Conference NAACP being held on Saturday, October 28th, 2017 at the Hilton Richmond Hotel & Spa at Short Pump, from 2:00pm- 4:00pm. “We look forward to having all candidates at our Convention to share some time to discuss their platforms and address concerns of the Virginia State Conference NAACP “ said Linda Thomas, President of the Virginia State Conference NAACP
Affordable Housing Meetings Coming Up – Please Attend!
This Tuesday (9/12) at 10am and 6pm at the Ix Building (955 2nd St SE, Charlottesville, VA 22902)
Show up to show you care! These meetings, also called “charettes” will bring together the community and consultants who are working on part of the plans for the Strategic Investment Area (SIA). They need to see community members and their supporters to understand how important affordable housing is, especially for people making $30,000 or less. For more info. See the Charlottesville Low-Income Housing Coalition website: https://affordablehousingcville.org/.
Please mark your calendar, hope to see you Tuesday!
Emily
Emily Dreyfus | Community Organizer | Legal Aid Justice Center | 1000 Preston Avenue | Charlottesville, Virginia 22903 | 434-529-1809 | emily@justice4all.org
August 2017 Branch meeting: Showing of the movie 13th
Monday, August 14, 2017 In lieu of our regular meeting and in partnership with the Jefferson-Madision Regional Library, the film "13th" will be shown on Monday, August 14, 2017 from 6:30 – 8:30 at the Central Library – 201 E. Market St.
"13th" is a Netflix original documentary. Filmmaker, Ava DuVernay, explores the history of racial inequality in the United States – focusing on the fact that the nations prisons are disproportionately filled with African-Americans.
The documentary was done in 2016 and lasts 100 minutes. This event is free and open to the public.
Pipeline to Prison
Dr. M. Rick Turner, Immediate Past President of the Albemarle-Charlottesville NAACP will speak on Pipeline to Prison at the Democrats Breakfast meeting on August 19 at 9:00 A.M. at the JMRL Central Library at 225 Market Street.
Virginia State Conference NAACP’s 2017 Lobby Team Activities and Update
Summary of Virginia State Conference NAACP’s 2017 Lobby Team Lobbying Activities and Lobby Day Update for Our Community Partners
January 11, 2017 – February 24, 2017
In 2017/2018 You Are Encouraged To Exercise All of Your Rights as Citizens In Virginia
For More Info & Help with Your 2017/2018 Planning Efforts E-mail: VSCNAACPLobbyDay@gmail.com
Call: VSC NAAACP Lobby Team at 1-804-647-7087
Visit: www.VANAACP.org
Commemorate the African American Military Experience
WE WANT YOU
to Commemorate the African American Military Experience
on Friday, November 10, 2017
at Jefferson School African American Heritage Center 233 4th Street, N.W., Charlottesville, Virginia and
Carver Recreation Center 9:30 a.m. until 4:00 p.m.
We want African American Military Exhibitors and Reenactors
Deadline to submit: October 15, 2017
Help us locate African American Female Veterans
Organizers: The Vet Committee
Contact Information: mmaxineholland@gmail.com
NAACP To Counter Virginia KKK Rally with Peace Rally
NAACP To Counter Virginia KKK Rally with Peace Rally
Hate-Group Seeking to Contest Removal of Confederate Statue
Malik Russell
Director of Communications
mrussell@naacpnet.org
410-580-5761 office
Contact: Lynn M. Bod, Secretary
Albemarle-Charlottesville NAACP
naacp1947@gmail.com
Saturday, July 8, 2017, 2- 5: p.m. Jack Jouett Middle School 210 Lambs Road Charlottesville, Virginia 22901
Charlottesville, VA—In response to reports of a Klu Klux Klan rally to contest the removal of Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s statue, the Albemarle-Charlottesville NAACP plans a peaceful counter rally on Saturday, July 8th in Charlottesville. The NAACP has committed to removing and advocating the removal of Confederate symbols, including statues and from flags in cities all around the nation. In Charlottesville, they continue to support the call to remove the statue of Robert E. Lee.
In response to the NAACP’s call to remove symbols of hatred and White Supremacy around the nation, many White Supremacist groups have attempted to force jurisdictions to move backwards to a time when racism was lawful and legal by maintaining the symbols of a culture that could only exist off the backs of millions of enslaved Africans.
The NAACP’s has fought against the KKK for a century and was a staunch protester of the 1915 film, Birth of a Nation — which depicted freed blacks as slovenly, frivolous, lazy brutes who lusted after white women while depicting the KKK as “gallant saviors” – the film is still used today as a recruitment tool for Klan Membership.
“As the nation’s oldest and most revered civil rights organization, 108 years to be exact, the NAACP recognizes, appreciates and supports the 1st amendment rights of all persons whether or not we agree with particular forms of expression,” said Janette B. Martin, President, and Albemarle-Charlottesville NAACP.
“We will remain vigilant and true to our mission: to ensure the political, social, economic and educational equality of rights of all persons, and to eliminate racial hatred and racial discrimination,” she added.
On Saturday, the Charlottesville NAACP will hold its Albemarle- Steadfast and Immovable Rally from 2- 5: p.m. at the Jack Jouett Middle School 210 Lambs Road Charlottesville, Virginia 22901
The Albemarle-Charlottesville NAACP Branch and other branches throughout Virginia are asking others to join them in taking a stand against racism and for justice, equality and civil rights.
Confirmed Rally Speakers include:
- Janette Boyd Martin, President, Albemarle- Charlottesville NAACP
- Rev. Dr. Susan Minasian, Pastor, Sojourners United Church of Christ in Charlottesville
- Joe Szakos, Executive Director, Virginia Organizing
- Shirley Roundtree, Area Chair, Region 11. VSC
- George Mentore, Associate Professor of Anthropology at the University of Virginia
- Walt Heinecke, Associate Professor. Curry School of Education at the University of Virginia
- Claudrena Harold, Associate Professor of History, Carter G. Woodson Institute at the University of Virginia
- Philip Thompson, President, Loudoun County NAACP Branch
- King Salim Khalfani, Director, Americans Resisting Minority & Ethnic Discrimination
- Weston Gobar, President, Black Student Alliance at the University of Virginia
Saturday, July 8, 2017, 2- 5: p.m. Jack Jouett Middle School 210 Lambs Road Charlottesville, Virginia 22901