NAACP Culpeper #7058

Also Serving Madison and Rappahannock Counties

Banned in Madison

1) For failure to promote a love of our country, citizenship, military service, or present an unbiased approach to these topics:
2) For failure to promote respect for marriage/family/parents:
3) For disrespect of religious faith:

School Board / Board Members

Madison County School Board Priorities for 2022 Promote excellence both in the classroom and in extracurricular activities to inspire student achievement and lifelong learning, success, and American citizenship. Ensure every student has access to the resources and educational rigor they need at the right moment in their education, regardless of race, gender, ethnicity, language, ability, family background or family income.

Youngkin requires people convicted of felonies to apply for voting rights on a case-by-case basis

RICHMOND — Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) has changed state policy for restoring civil rights to people who serve time for a felony conviction, greatly reducing the number of former inmates who regain the right to vote.

Youngkin canceled a practice begun by a Republican predecessor, Gov. Robert F. McDonnell, of automatically restoring rights for at least some former inmates once their sentence is complete. Instead, each person must file an application and will be considered on a case-by-case basis, Secretary of the Commonwealth Kay Coles James said Wednesday in a letter to a key senator.

Virginia and Kentucky are the only states that permanently disenfranchise anyone convicted of a felony, according to the American Civil Liberties Union. A handful of other states limit voting access for those convicted of certain felonies.

If you live in our service area of Culpeper, Madison, or Rappahannock and need help applying for the restoration of your rights, please reach out to us here https://naacpculpeper.org/resources/restoration-of-rights/

 

Youngkin requires people convicted of felonies to apply for voting rights

RICHMOND – Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) has changed state policy for restoring civil rights to people who serve time for a felony conviction, greatly reducing the number of former inmates who regain the right to vote. Fast, informative and written just for locals. Get The 7 DMV newsletter in your inbox every weekday morning.

2023 Essay Contest Winners Announced

(click a photo to enlarge)

Recently, students in Culpeper, Madison, and Rappahannock were challenged to write an original essay of 500 words or less telling us about a Black American (famous or not) who has had a positive impact on their life. Incredibly, we received SIXTY-FIVE passionate, well-written submissions. It was incredibly difficult to choose, but these are the ones that moved us the most (click a link to read the essay):

 

Elementary School:
  • E9: Kyle Peterson Tapia, Jr; Grade 4, Emerald Hill Elementary School
  • E30: Alexander Bradshaw, Grade 4, Homeschooled in Culpeper County
Middle School:
  • M8: Yasmin Morton, Grade 7, Culpeper Middle School
  • M13: Amira Bradshaw; Grade 7; Homeschooled in Culpeper County
High School:
  • H7: Maris Teodoro, Eastern View High School, Class of 2023
  • H8: Gabrielle A. Williams, 12th Grade, Homeschooled in Culpeper County
  • H9: Josey Ribeiro-Mills, 17 Years Old, Eastern View High School
Judges’ Awards:
  • M14: Malaysia Ravenel, Floyd T Binns
  • H4: Hunter Lutz, Eastern View High School Class of 2023

 

Why U.S. maternal mortality is more than ten times the estimated rates of some other high income countries

The U.S. rate for 2021 was 32.9 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births, which is more than ten times the estimated rates of some other high-income countries, including Australia, Austria, Israel, Japan, and Spain which all hovered between 2 and 3 deaths per 100,000 in 2020. OB-GYN Dr. Linda Burke explained the health policy choices that she sees at the root of this disparity, which rose sharply in 2021, and which in all years has been especially deadly for Black women.

Maternal deaths in the U.S. spiked in 2021, CDC reports

In 2021, the U.S. had one of the worst rates of maternal mortality in the country’s history, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The report found that 1,205 people died of maternal causes in the U.S. in 2021. That represents a 40% increase from the previous year.

The sudden push to rename a historic school that educated scores of Black students reeks of revenge

It took years of community outcry, the urging of a governor, being sued by the NAACP, and national media scrutiny for the Hanover County School Board to finally be shamed into voting to remove the names of Confederate treasonists from two schools’ monikers in 2020. Now, this same board is proposing that the one school in the district with a name representative of Black history and Black excellence be renamed, in a move that smells like spite and looks like a regression.

Last Tuesday, a packed School Board meeting saw over a dozen members of the public speak up about John M. Gandy Elementary School, an institution that was once one of the only schools for Black students in Hanover County. A new school building under construction on the current Gandy site that will replace Gandy and consolidate it with Henry Clay Elementary was slated to retain the school name at the project’s inception in 2018.

Back then, board members assured community members that they had no intention of removing Gandy’s name from the replacement school. What has changed since then?

In Hanover, a name is more than a name – Virginia Mercury

Back then, board members assured community members that they had no intention of removing Gandy’s name from the replacement school. What has changed since then? Well, the board became embroiled in a firestorm over its refusal to change the Confederate school names starting in 2019.

Reckoning With Honest History Through Ongoing Education

The classroom isn’t the only place for learning honest history. In various community spaces—including virtual ones—many people are reckoning with our nation’s history of anti-Blackness and white supremacy. They are making connections between the past and present, as well as searching for liberatory ways forward.

“If white people must be self-taught about racism, they can too easily opt out of engagement beyond the text. The deepest, most impactful learning is interactive, and for white people to really understand what Black people often experience, they must be in the same space with Black people—engaging in difficult conversations, listening, asking, learning, and, perhaps most importantly, feeling. Feeling is where empathy begins.”

 

“Safe Saturday” Conversations About Race

On March 13, 2020, Breonna Taylor was shot and killed by police in her apartment in Louisville, Kentucky. Days later, my workplace, the University of Louisville, transitioned to remote operation in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Action Alert – Public Review of Virginia History and Social Science Standards of Learning

Before March 21, 2023, provide written, public comment on the History and Social Studies Standards on the VDOE website found here.

Click to read our statement about the proposed standards

 

Chapter President Dr. Uzziah Harris addresses the Virginia Department of Education at Wednesday's public hearing in Charlottesville.

Chapter President Dr. Uzziah Harris addresses the Virginia Department of Education at Wednesday’s public hearing at PVCC in Charlottesville.

The Virginia NAACP demands the Virginia Board of Education reject the January 2023 version of the Standards presented by former Superintendent of Education Jillian Balow, who resigned on March 1st, and re-consider the August 2022 version of the standards that is far more equitable. The Virginia Board of Education accepted the January 2023 SOL revision after the Virginia Social Studies Leaders Consortium (VSSLC), the Virginia Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (VASCD), and the American Historical Association (AHA) released the “Proposed Combined History and Social Studies Standards” that combines the August 2022 and November 2022 iterations, and that the Virginia NAACP supports. Additionally, we implore Governor Youngkin to appoint a new Superintendent who adopts History and Social Studies Standards that reflect and include the expertise of Virginia educators, scholars, and citizens who value historical accuracy, have a sound understanding of to combine scholarship with pedagogy effectively, and will not be used as pawns to propel a political agenda committed to reifying the myth of American exceptionalism and eliminating Black history from the school curriculum. We appreciate the opportunity for concerned citizens to participate in statewide hearings and we encourage our members to have their voices heard.

Please Review the summary published by the American Historical Association, an organization also dedicated to pushing back against ahistorical presentations and interpretations in K-12 education, and Kimberlee Crenshaw on The Reid Out and Democracy Now. This discussion helps to contextualize current efforts to erase Black history.

 

Public Review of Virginia History and Social Science Standards of Learning

The American Historical Association (AHA) has continued to monitor with concern the revisions process for proposed History and Social Science Standards of Learning for Virginia Public Schools. Now, the Virginia Board of Education (VBOE) wants to hear from members of the public in preparation for final review.

How Did Black History Month Start? Origins, Who Founded It, and How to Celebrate

Black History Month

Formal historical records and textbooks had largely excluded African American contributions to the nation’s history. Other pieces of media, like the famous film The Birth of a Nation (1915), had misrepresented Black history by relying on stereotypes or perpetuating a “Lost Cause” retelling of the Civil War, which sought to remember the Confederacy in a positive light. Among other things, the Lost Cause narrative argued that the war had little to do with enslavement.

Each form of popularized history had one thing in common: they told Black history without including Black people in the writing process.

Carter G. Woodson, the father of Black History Month, changed all that…

How Black History Month Got Started

With research support from the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History & Culture and the Chicago History Museum In the early 20th century, Black Americans were fighting to tell their own story. Formal historical records and textbooks had largely excluded African American contributions to the nation’s history.

Open House and Raffle

NAACP Raffle

The Culpeper Branch of the NAACP, also serving Madison and Rappahannock counties, invites the public to join them for their Ribbon Cutting and Open House event to announce the official opening of their new headquarters located in the Culpeper Business Center located at 14115 Lovers Lane Culpeper, VA 22701.

The ceremony will be held on March 16th at 4 pm, immediately followed by an Open House event until 6:30 pm to include tours of their suite, a fundraising raffle, and light refreshments. The branch’s general meeting which is also open to the public will begin at 7 pm.

Raffle tickets can be purchased online beginning February 16th and in person on the day of the event. Raffle Prizes will include gift cards from Bowles Southern Fried, Shawn’s BBQ, and a two-book prize that includes “The 1619 Project” and “Born On The Water”. Ticket holders are not required to be present in order to win.

Visit  https://secure.actblue.com/donate/2023openhouse to purchase your tickets or make a donation.

Open House, Ribbon Cutting March 16

NAACP RafflePlease join the NAACP Culpeper Branch for a ribbon-cutting ceremony and open house event to celebrate the opening of our new branch headquarters. We will be offering tours of our suite, a fundraising raffle, and light refreshments. All are welcome to also attend our general monthly meeting which will immediately follow the open house. Masks are encouraged.

Buy as many $5 raffle tickets as you like! All proceeds will go toward the work of the local branch whose goal is to achieve economic, social, and political justice.

Click Here to Buy Raffle Tickets

Culpeper Business Center 14115 Lovers Lane Culpeper VA 22701 Please join the NAACP Culpeper Branch for a ribbon-cutting ceremony and open house event to celebrate the opening of our new branch headquarters. We will be offering tours of our suite, a fundraising raffle, and light refreshments.

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