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Beginning in November, 2018 and continuing through June, 2019 (W)HERE TO STAY?! sponsored a season of exhibitions and events across Charlottesville exploring the theme of displacement and belonging. Through photographs, such as Magnus Wennman's "Where the Children Sleep," other artwork, readings and discussions, participants examined questions such as: "What are the stories of our friends and neighbors, of ourselves, that brought our families here, to the homes we live in, to the neighborhoods we share, to the community where we work, where we worship, where we play? What makes this place home, and what can we do to make it more welcoming for our entire community?"
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FEATURED EVENTS:
"Where the Children Sleep." Click here for a map of locations which exhibited Magnus Wennman's award winning documentary photo essay. (Photo-"Fatima") |
Displacement FACTS: |
past EVENTS: |
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  Virginia Film Festival: October 23 - 27th, 2019 Short Films: Refugees |
Saturday, October 25, 2019: The Virginia Film Festival presents a showcase of short films on "Refugees." The shocase takes place at the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center, beginning at 11:00 am. Five films will be presented, including Azadi, a 2019 film from Greece and the US profiling a "group of young refugee women building a new life in Athens," Esta Es Tu Cuba, a 2018 film from Puerto Rico telling the story of "Anton, a young boy living in Cuba during the 1960's, when his life begins to spiral out of control as he realizes his beloved country is changing." and three others. Tickets are available online, and are $11.00. See: tickets.
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Photo: Rip Payne, C'ville/Albemarle Historical Society
a Century Plus of displacement of african american neighborhoods in charlottesville"What indeed should have been done about Vinegar Hill with its historical vestiges that included living standards ranging from virtual shacks to well-constructed stately buildings?....(cont.) |
Photo: Magnus Wennman, "Where the Children Sleep"
"where the children sleep"
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Illustration: Thi Bui from "The Best We Could Do"
ESSAYS, NOVELS, NONFICTION BOOKS & ARTICLES, WEBSITES, FILMS AND OTHER RESOURCES ON DISPLACEMENTTo learn more about the history of displacement in our community, nationally and internationally, the partners to "(W)HERE TO STAY?! have begun to compile a reading and ...(cont.) |
COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONs we can support
Charlottesville is home to many worthy organizations that seek to enrich our community and enhance our well-being. Organizations provide critical services to us and our neighbors when in need, often in partnership with local government, the Commonwealth's and our nation's government. Others serve the spiritual needs of our community, while still others advocate for our environment, work to enhance our understanding of our history, offer a dizzying array of cultural programming and festivals, and so much more. A subset of our communities nonprofits directly seek to address the impact of displacement on our lives and those of our fellow citizens, and work to enhance a collective sense of belonging to and engagement with our community. We will be profiling some of these organizations in the weeks and month's ahead, and hope you will join with us in volunteering and supporting these profoundly important civic institutions. Thank you!
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Community Profiles:
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The International Rescue Committee began its work in Charlottesville in 1998. One of our nation's most respected global humanitarian aid, relief and development organizations, IRC was founded in 1933 at the request of Albert Einstein, with the support of many prominent clergy, intellectuals, civic and political leaders. Today the IRC responds to the world's worst humanitarian crises and helps people whose lives and livelihoods are shattered by conflict and disaster to survive, recover and gain control of their future. To learn more about the IRC, please visit their website here.
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Enhancing Equality, Connecting Cultures
International Neighbors was founded in 2015 by Kari Anderson Miller, a local educator for 17 years. It’s mission is to serve our refugee and SIV (special immigrant visa holders, who worked alongside U.S. Armed Forces in Iraq or Afghanistan) neighbors by offering a network of support services, people, and opportunities that promotes progress along their path to self-sufficiency and productive citizenship. Since that time International Neighbors has served over 800 of our nearly 4,000 refugee and SIV neighbors living in Charlottesville City and Albemarle County. These families have escaped violence and persecution to live in the safety and security of our small, friendly community. Learn more at their website here.
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City of Promise is a data-driven, neighborhood-based, community-supported initiative to increase academic achievement and empowerment in Charlottesville’s 10th & Page/Westhaven and Starr Hill neighborhoods. City of Promise uses data to find out where the needs are, to develop responses to those needs, to improve what they do, and to show the impact of their work. learn more at City of Promises' website here.
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For 15 years the Festival of Cultures has been a gathering place where all can meet, share in, and learn about each other’s cultures. It describes itself as an event where you can take a passport and “travel the world in a day.” The Festival of Cultures has a fourfold mission, to: 1) celebrate the cultural and linguistic diversity in our community, 2) increase awareness of that diversity in a respectful environment, 3) provide an opportunity for building a bridge of communication between newcomers and established residents in the area, and 4) showcase the contributions of newcomers to our community. The Festival if organized by the Thomas Jefferson Adult and Career Education (TJACE) Program at Piedmont Virginia Community College with the involvement and support of many other individuals and organizations. To learn more about the Festival, visit its website here.
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STAY IN TOUCH Sign-up for our month long "Daily Facts and Readings" email. |
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QUESTIONS TO EXPLORE
Since the 17th century, American history is has been interwoven with the theme of displacement. It was a fundamental part of many of the earliest colonists experience, as it was to the native people's who lost their land to those colonists, to immigrants in the 19th and 20th centuries who fled wars, famine, oppression in search of a better life, to those in the 20th century who lost their homes and whole neighborhoods to redevelopment in US cities, and most recently to those who have lost homes to climate disasters, like Hurricane Michael, Florence, Katrina and more. Still most Americans haven't had a direct experience with displacement. For those looking to learn more, an exploration might begin with a few questions:
If you were forced to leave your home, where would you go? What would you do?
How would you find a place to stay?
How would you know if "here" is a place you can stay permanently?
If you were forced to leave your home, where would you go? What would you do?
How would you find a place to stay?
How would you know if "here" is a place you can stay permanently?
