Racial Justice
Our vision for Rockbridge County is of a community of all races and ethnicities who have equal voice, justice, access to resources, and opportunity. Our community stands together in welcoming, respecting, connecting and promoting friendliness among ALL our residents.
Issue Coordinator:
Tinni Sen
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For information on the next virtual meeting, please email the coordinator.
Resource Links:
From the Washington Post's Eugene Robinson: It’s not complicated: Rayshard Brooks should be alive.
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The New York Public Library's Schomburg Center Black Liberation Reading List has 95 titles, one for every year of the existence of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. It has preserved, protected, and fostered a greater understanding of the black experience through its collections, exhibitions, programs, and scholarship.
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75 Things White People Can Do For Racial Justice
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Concrete items for which to advocate with Virginia General Assembly:
https://www.virginiamercury.com/2020/06/03/the-criminal-justice-reform-agenda-virginia-democrats-put-off-until-2021/
Official Black Wall Street
Black-Owned Business Directory
More than 1,800 black businesses and counting. Leave reviews, get directions, and more.
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Blackout Coalition
An Open Letter to the Rockbridge Community
Racism comes in many forms, and it happens everywhere. Rockbridge County is no exception.
On Tuesday, May 26, a well-respected, lifelong resident of Lexington walked into a local bank to cash a $14 check. Despite having been a customer of the bank for as long as it has had a presence in our community, the resident was asked for identification. The man in front of her, by contrast, was not asked for ID. His transaction was for $500.
Why the disparate treatment? Could it have been because the resident is black and was wearing a
mask? As she left the bank, the resident wondered what would happen if a black man wearing a mask were to enter the bank. Would the teller call the police? How would that encounter end?
It is incumbent on everyone in our community to stand up against such bigotry. Some things we can all do immediately: Join or renew our membership in Rockbridge NAACP, advocate for greater hiring of people of color in our local schools and
businesses, join CARE or the 50 Ways Racial Justice group, urge our city and county governments, law enforcement, schools, and community leaders to examine their practices for bias, speak up against acts of racism in our community, and, vote for candidates who acknowledge the reality of racism and who will work for change.
We, the undersigned, commit ourselves to such actions. Please join us.
Mary Abdoney · Edwina Addison-Vita · Julian Alexander · Jordan Arnold · Jennifer Ashworth • Dennis Ayers • Nadia Ayoub • Mary Beth Baker • Oishani Basuchoudhary • Atin Basuchoudhary • Peggy Bateson • Russ Bateson • Aimee Bell • Melina Constantine Bell • Bonnie Bernstein • Laurent Boetsch • Elizabeth Boetsch • Joseph Borzelleca • Ellie Boylan • Patrick Bradley • TJ Briggs • Malcolm Brownlee • Terri Bsullak • Christine Capito Burch • Sharron Burgess • Catherine Gilliam Burns • Elsa Burrowes • Joseph Cailles • Robert Capito • Lauren Casper • Robert Orland P. Clark • Owen Collins • Virginia Cooke • Ann Courtney • Marcia Crosbie • Malcolm Crosbie • Elle Crossman • Elizabeth Cumming • Sara Cunningham • Ryan D'Ercole • Jenefer Davies • Kristina Day • Laura de Maria • Steve Desjardins • Martha Devening • Clay Devening • Susan Dixon • Hank Dobin • Marquita Dunn • David Dunn • Tamara P. Duvall • Peggy Dyson-Cobb • Reginald A. Early • Jenny Elmes • Daniel K. Evans • Sydney Evans • Susan H. Evans • Phyllis Fevrier • Kathy Fox • Kathy Fravel • Deb Freed • Deborah Funkhouser • Denny Garvis • Chris Gavaler • Mary Stuart Gilliam • Sheila Violett Glaeser • Paul Gregory • Lynne Reilly Griffith • Allan Griffith • Anne Grimmer • Pam Grinder • Mike Grinder • Virginia Hart • Jan Hathorn • Amy Hayslette • Bo Heller • Michele Hentz • Phyllis Hicks • William Hicks • Sarah Horowitz • Mike Hunter • Jody Jaffe • Alicia Jahsmann • Beatrice Johnson • Erik Jones • Carol Karsch • Bridget Kelley-Dearing • Emily King • Sharon Kirk • Bill Klein • Deborah Klein • Julie Knudson • Danielle Kologe • Margo Kyle • Kathryn Lambert • Molly Larkin • Sabrina Laroussi • Robin LeBlanc • Nancy W. Leonhard • Nathaniel Leonhard • Kay Lera • Fio Lewis • Abigail Lynch • Lacey Lynch • Lucy A. Lyons • Devan Malore • James Manley • Rachel Maxwell • Ellen Mayock • Charles Mayock-Bradley • Katie McAllister • Molly McCluer • Maxine McConnell • David E. McConnell • Virginia McGhee • Mirabai McLeod • Katie McNeil • Larry McNeil • Liz Mehler • Lee Merrill • Terry Messerich • Diego Millan • Cindy Miller • Mark Miller • Valerie C. Moliterno • James Moliterno • Monique Moore • John Muncie • Deborah Niles • Ned Norland • Lenna Ojure • Ann Olson • Marjorie Page • John Pancake • Suzanne Pasquini • Emma Patrick • Margaret Ann Paxton • Cristina Pinto-Bailey • Mary L. Price • Jerry Price • Deborah Price • Tim Price • Maria Quillin • Domnica Radulescu • Jennifer Reter • Tracey Riley • Kathryn Rose • Carolina Rubio Regalado • Florinda Ruiz • Cheryl Ryan • Grace Sailer • Stephanie Sandberg • Ellen Satrom • Tinni Sen • Haley Sigler • David Sigler • Linda Slota • Stephanie Smith • C.N. Smith • Rallie Snowden • Beth Staples • Donna L. Steckline • Claire Stieler • Gretchen Sukow • Barbara Thomas • Lisa Tracy • Morri Trimmer • Faith Vosburgh • Dan Walz • Mary Ellena Ward • Louise Ward • Mame Warren • Joan Wendt • Hannah K. West • Lesley Wheeler • John White • Nancy S. Whiteley • Stephanie Wilkinson • Andy Williams • Jeanne Wilson • John Winfrey • Julie Woodzicka • Christian Worth