Charlottesville Soundboard

This week we’re catching up on the Charlottesville Comprehensive planning process with Erin O’Hare. We’ll talk about what the current draft would mean for affordable housing and life in the city and the region. Then we’re going to hear from an Albemarle family about their efforts to support anti-racism work in the county schools. Stay tuned in the second half of the episode for a conversation with Sam Gleaves. He’s a musician, educator, and activist from Wytheville, Virginia who uses his talents in bluegrass and old time music to tell the unsung histories of Appalachia’s LGBTQ+ community.

The June 8th primary elections are only eleven days away, so I sat down with Charlotte Rene Woods and Ali Sullivan at Charlottesville Tomorrow for a run-down on all the races, the candidates and what you need to know about how to vote this cycle. 

Bold Dominion episodes with Gubernatorial Candidates: https://bolddominion.org/episodes/whos-running-for-governor-and-what-do-they-stand-for 

Check your voter registration: https://www.elections.virginia.gov

Teachers in the Movement Podcast: https://virginiaaudio.org/#/teachers-in-the-movement/

This week we’re talking with the people behind two local women-centered organizations. First up we’re going to hear from Sri Kodakalla and Meesha Goldberg. They’re two artists at the Feminist Union of Charlottesville Creatives who just edited a new issue of their zine, Mala Leche. This edition of Mala Leche is called “Fever Dreams of Mother Earth” and it features all kinds of art about our planet and climate change. And in the second half of the show, we talk to Andrea Mayfield and Elizabeth Irvin of the  Women’s Initiative, about mental health in Charlottesville and their mission to radically increase people’s access to it. 

MALA LECHE #2: Fever Dreams of Mother Earth https://www.heyfucc.com/mala-leche-2 

The Women’s Initiative Virtual Groups and Social Support: https://thewomensinitiative.org/groups-social-support/

You may have heard that a bunch of local affordable housing non-profits recently came together to buy the Red Carpet Inn on 29. Today we’re going to talk about that project and how it plans to reduce area homelessness and create 140 new low-income housing units. Plus, the residents at Crescent Halls affordable housing complex in downtown Charlottesville have been protesting substandard building conditions for over 20 years and last week the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority began extensive renovations to respond to those concerns. We’ll talk about both these projects and what it means in the broader conversation about inequality, racism, and housing here in Charlottesville. In the second half of the show, we’ll hear about a new oral history project in Louisa County. 

Erin’s Premier Circle project article: https://www.cvilletomorrow.org/articles/area-nonprofits-resort-to-buying-a-hotel-to-address-local-housing-and-homelessness-crisis/

Louisa County Historical Society: https://louisahistory.org

Enslaved people have been part of the story of the University of Virginia and Charlottesville since their very beginnings. And this week, on Saturday, UVA will dedicate a major physical marker and memorial to the enslaved people who built the University and were an integral part of its founding and early years. So we sat down with Kirt von Daacke, he’s a UVA professor and served as Co-Chair of the President’s Commission on Slavery and the University, to ask him about the design and hsitory of the memorial and the people it honors.  In the second segment, we share an interview with Delegate Sally Hudson about some of the new laws they passed in the Virginia General Assembly this year. 

It’s been a turbulent year in Charlottesville City government and we are now in the midst of an election season. Mayor Nikuyah Walker and councilor Heather Hill were both elected to City Council in November of 2017, just a few months after the violent white supremacist rally. Their four year terms are nearly up and there are five candidates running in the Democratic primary to take those seats. We’ll talk about that election as well as a recent expansion of voting rights. In the second half of the show, we hear about a new play by Kelley Van Dilla that grapples with gender identity, family and mental health. 

Charlottesville Tomorrow 2021 Voter Guide: https://www.cvilletomorrow.org/articles/2021-voter-guide/ 

https://www.restore.virginia.gov 

Let Go of Me: http://livearts.org/let-go/ 

Still We Rise: https://www.reflectionsoralhistory.com

March 13th, marks the one year anniversary of a day that changed a lot of our lives. On March 13th, 2020 Governor Ralph Northam announced that all public schools in virginia would close for at least two weeks. You’ll hear about that day from Albemarle High School student, Mary Govan. Then we’ll talk about the racial inequities that the pandemic has exposed and exacerbated with Samantha Willis, who recently published a series with the Charlottesville Inclusive Media Project. We’re also going to talk to a student artist about her exhibit for this year’s mostly virtual Liberation and Freedom Days. 

Ten days ago on February 16th, UVA reported 229 new cases of COVID-19 in one day. Those 229 cases were 15% of all the new cases that day in the whole state. And as of this morning, UVA is reporting nine hundred and twelve active cases of COVID 19 among its students, faculty, and staff. So it’s safe to say that we are experiencing an outbreak here in Charlottesville. Today on Soundboard we talk about what’s driving that outbreak and what the University is doing about it. And in the second half of the show we sit down with a local organization that’s tackling food justice in Charlottesville and Albemarle. 

Most local students have not been to school in-person in almost a year. We talk to Billy Jean Louis about the mental health impact of virtual learning. Stay tuned for the second half of the show, when we talk to Caetano de Campos Lopes from the Community Climate Collaborative about a few issues at the intersection of equity and climate in our community. 

https://www.cvilletomorrow.org/articles/the-pandemic-has-taken-a-toll-on-children-and-teens-what-can-be-done/

https://theclimatecollaborative.org

This week we take a look at the COVID data in our health district and get an update on the local vaccine distribution process. And in the second half of the show we share a riveting interview with highly acclaimed poet Nikki Giovanni from the podcast and talk show In My Humble Opinion.

Charlottesville Tomorrow Vaccine Dashboard: https://www.cvilletomorrow.org/articles/local-covid-19-vaccination-updates/

Express your intent to get a vaccine with the Blue Ridge Health District: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfpPkf1nbLplRn9hdqHDLglEl3M6OCCIVpXee86I2vASQUFJA/viewform

In My Humble Opinion Podcast: https://virginiaaudio.org/#/in-my-humble-opinion/