Women, Trans, Femme Wednesday Night Ride

RVA Women Trans Femme Wednesday, a Richmond bicycling club which organizing social rides for women, transgender, and femme people on Wednesday nights, is resuming their regular schedule.

Their next ride will be this coming Wednesday, October 5th 2016, at 9pm, starting out from the VCU Compass (901 Park Avenue, Richmond VA). The ride begins at 9:15pm. Bring lights. Free.

Showing of "Gen Silent": Diversity Richmond

Tomorrow, Friday September 30th 2016, from 6:30-8:30pm, at Diversity Richmond (1407 Sherwood Avenue, Richmond VA), Diversity Richmond and CommonHealth Partners are holding a screening of the documentary film “Gen Silent,” followed by a panel discussion on the needs of LGBT elders and how our communities can support them.

“Gen Silent” (www.gensilent.com) is a documentary that follows the lives of six LGBT seniors living in the Boston area who must choose if they will hide their sexual orientation or gender identity in order to survive in the long-term health care system.

Free, open to the public. The venue is handicap accessible. For more information and to RSVP, see the link. 

RVA Mayoral Recovery Listening Forum at the McShin Foundation

Monday, September 19th 2016, from 5:30-8pm, at 2300 Dumbarton Road, Richmond VA, the McShin Foundation is hosting a forum for people to talk to Richmond’s mayoral candidates about mental illness and substance abuse disorders affecting the community. All eight candidates will be present, and Carol McDaid (co-founder of the McShin Foundation) will moderate. From the event description:

“We will be opening up our audience to anyone in our community who is interested in changing the way mental health and addiction services are handled in Richmond. The audience will have the opportunity to share with the candidates what they are looking for in our next mayor on this topic. For one hour, audience members will be commenting and asking questions while mayoral candidates listen and prepare a response.”

The second hour will go to the candidates – each will have an equal amount of time to respond to what they heard. At the end of our forum, we are asking each audience member to make a campaign contribution to the candidate of their choice, based on who they believe will best improve existing recovery systems available in Richmond to treat substance use disorder and mental health disorders.”

Free (except for the requested candidate donation at the end). Light refreshments will be served. To RSVP as an audience member or to request a press pass, contact Taryn Kelly at  tarynk@mcshin.org or 804-310-4831. See this link for the Facebook event page. 

Premiere of "Facing The Surge," Old Dominion University

NOTE: This event is taking place in Norfolk, but because of its subject matter, I am listing it here despite the distance. 

Wednesday, September 28th 2016, from 7-8:45pm, at the University Theatre at Old Dominion University (47th Street & Hampton Boulevard, Norfolk VA), the Chesapeake Climate Action Network and Chesapeake Bay Group Sierra Club are holding a screening of the documentary film “Facing the Surge.” After the film, there will be a panel discussion with ODU professors on the science of climate change, a talk with featured storytellers from the film, and a panel discussion with local leaders on policy initiatives to combat climate change and sea level rise. From the event description:

“Facing the Surge documents the tangible costs of sea level rise for the people of Norfolk, VA. Norfolk is home to the largest naval base in the country and to thousands of hard-working Americans struggling to adapt to the rising tides and an uncertain future. The town has registered 16 inches of sea level rise since 1930. But Facing the Surge is not a film about loss and inaction. It tells the stories of citizens from across the United States as they step forward to raise awareness and push their government to solve climate change.” 

The event is free and open to the public, but you must reserve a ticket by following the instructions through the link. For more information, see the link. 

Hampton Roads Regional Jail inmate denied request for medical help two days before he died

Sarah Kleiner and K. Burnell Evans of the Richmond Times-Dispatch report: Another innate has died at the Hampton Roads Regional Jail after being denied medical help. Henry C. Stewart, 60, had requested emergency medical help several times before his death last month, but was told that corrections officers had determined his situation was not an emergency. He died two days later.

Stewart’s family has retained the same lawyer representing the family of Jamycheal Mitchell, a young schizophrenic man who was starved to death at the facility in August of 2015. Though the jail and its employees have been cleared of any wrongdoing by a state investigation, whisteblower employees have alleged that investigators never visited the jail itself, and evidence like video of guards abusing Mitchell have been destroyed by jail staff.

Henry Stewart’s death is the fourth to take place at the Hampton Roads Regional Jail this year.

You can read the entire article here. 

The Pan-African Unity Movement of Richmond presents: “The Attack on Africa & How it Affects the Black Community in the USA”

Tomorrow, Friday, July 29th, 2016, at 6pm, at Wesley Memorial United Methodist Church (1720 Mechanicsville Turnpike, Richmond VA), the Pan-African Unity Movement of Richmond is holding an event titled “The Attack on Africa & How it Affects the Black Community in the USA”. From the organizers:

“We will be discussing the attack on Africa and how it affects the black community in the United States. Our featured guests are Maurice Carney (Executive Director of "Friends of the Congo”), Dr. Nguaka Lagoka (Director of “Revival of Pan-African Forum”) and Nefta Freeman (Organizer of "Pan-African Community Action”).

Free, open to the public. Light snacks and refreshments will be provided. The venue is wheelchair accessible.

For more information, contact Dr. W. Neal Holmes, Political Scientist, Pan-African Revolutionary Socialist Party, at prspvirginia@yahoo.com

A note to Millennial leftists in America

Political consciousness tends to kind of “skip” generations sometimes, for a variety of reasons. For those of you out there who are young, and just coming into revolutionary/leftist politics, you probably feel like all of the political infrastructure constructed by the partisans and movements that came before you have been broken down or defeated or are otherwise lost to you. 

They aren’t- but they’re being carried on by people who are now in their sixties. Like, I’m twenty-five, and the movement spaces I frequent are dominated by people around my age, and people a generation above my parents’. Gen X just got skipped. 

This is important, because it means that a lot of the organizations you’re looking for, the ones that are run by the older segment of the American left, likely do not have a developed web presence. Often, what they do have is an old listserv or a Yahoo group. This can make them hard to find, but it doesn’t mean they’re not out there anymore, and if you get familiar enough with your area’s political landscape, you will eventually find them. 

Black Lives Matter Youth Forum and Open Mic

Tomorrow, Friday July 22nd 2016, from 4-8pm, at Atlas (114 West Marshall Street, Richmond VA), ART 180 is hosting two events for teens to discuss police brutality, racism, violence, and recent events. The first event is a poetry workshop, and the second is the Black Lives Matter Youth Forum and Open Mic.

4-6pm, Poetry Workshop with John Blake: Teens will write poems to express their hopes, fears, dreams and frustrations surrounding issues of police brutality, institutional racism, and social justice. John Blake, an experienced poetry teacher and National Poetry Slam finalist, will lead the session.

6-8pm, Black Lives Matter Youth Forum and Open Mic: This month’s open mic at Atlas will include a forum for teens in the community to openly discuss their concerns and feelings behind the recent events around the country. There are are a number of events around the community for adults to express themselves, but this one is just for teens. ART 180 teen leader Sydney Vick and community leader and ART 180 friend Robert Dortch will facilitate the conversation, which will include a chance for teens to perform poetry, music and stories in an open mic format.

For more information or to RSVP, see the link. This event is for teens.

Support Striking McDonald's Workers in Richmond, VA- EMERGENCY Call to Action

Tomorrow, Thursday July 21st 2016, from 12-2pm, at the Chamberlayne Avenue McDonald’s (2011 Chamberlayne Avenue, Richmond VA), the employees of this McDonald’s location are going on strike, and are calling for public support. Since coming under new management, workers at this location have been disrespected, had their pay withheld, been denied basic safety equipment like oven mitts, had their hours drastically cut, and been subjected to changes in the pay schedule without warning.

Several workers at this location have already been evicted from their homes due to wage theft and pay schedule changes by management. Employees are suffering daily burns and constant disrespect. This is intolerable.

For more information, contact Anna Scholl at anna@prosgressva.org or 540-460-1269. To RSVP, see the link.

McDonald's can afford to pay a living wage; they just don't want to!

From the Fight for $15: “We NEED living wages and they CAN afford it.”

McDonald’s workers generate that $20 billion in profit; how is it fair that they don’t even make enough to eat while some shareholder, who didn’t lift a finger, gets to reap the reward?