We had a great time celebrating our 20th anniversary at the 2015 Grassroots Gathering in Blackstone, Virginia this past weekend! Thank you to everyone who helped make this great event successful.
Over the weekend, we heard from our local Chapters on their accomplishments this past year, celebrated to reggae music performed by Mighty Joshua, watched a video sent to us from U.S. Senator Mark Warner, attended a wide range of powerful workshops, and discussed important issues to Virginians with keynote speaker Attorney General Mark Herring!
As a result of our mass meeting with Attorney General Herring, we learned that he is willing to meet with police chiefs in Virginia about data collection and racial profiling, he is “committed to (working against predatory lending) as much as you are,” he is concerned about the school-to-prison pipeline, and he will continue to work with Virginia Organizing leaders and Chapters to find solutions on important issues in our communities!
We have posted videos of Senator Warner’s speech here and our photo slide show here. We’ve also posted photos of this past weekend here.
Virginia Organizing wants to give a special thanks to all the businesses, organizations, and individuals who supported us this year with an advertisement!Take a look at these local businesses in our Grassroots Gathering Program Book by clicking here. Be sure to stop in and thank the businesses in your area for their support!
Finally, our history book, Building Power, Changing Lives: The Story of Virginia Organizing is available for order. Visit http://bit.ly/vaorgbook to place your order. As soon as payment is received, your book will be mailed first class to you!
It’s been a great 20 years! I’m excited to keep celebrating with you for the remainder of 2015.
Sincerely,
Sandra A. Cook
Chairperson
