abCD Magazine Vol. 3, Issue 1

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abCD Magazine

CONTENTS Activism, art and expressions of Black strength Denise Brookman-Amissah

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Student self-governance through “extraordinary” COVID-19 semesters

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A legacy long in the making

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The unsung agents of change

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Building from the ground up: How five Black business owners navigated a tumultuous year

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Ella Fesler

Booker Johnson

Tasmima Hossain

Vani Agarwal

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Editors: Vani Agarwal Kyndal Harrison Writers: Booker Johnson Denise Brookman-Amissah Ella Fesler Tasmima Hossain Vani Agarwal Photographers: Denise Brookman-Amissah Cyrena Matingou Ava Proehl Sophie Roehse Designer: Morgan Chung Illustrator: Alyce Yang

SPRING 2021 CONTRIBUTORS 4

abCD Magazine

A letter from the editors

After a yearlong hiatus, the abCD Magazine has returned to publish our winter issue written and designed by our dedicated, talented staff. The process of publishing a volume such as this one is a long and difficult one. As a student-run section, we have the beautifully arduous task of balancing our love for journalism and the responsibility of being students during a pandemic. These pieces, first created in June 2020, have been seen by many copywriters, editors and production staffers. The world in which these pieces first entered has changed, but as editors, we want to honor the work of our staff and share these stories regardless. With quite a few updates, rewrites and revisions, our staff was able to stay true to the stories they set out to tell. It is now March 2021 and we are honored to present these articles to the public. To our staff, we thank you for your commitment to working with us.

To our sources and readers, we thank you for trusting us to tell these stories.

- Vani Agarwal & Kyndal Harrison abCD Editors, 132nd Term www.cavalierdaily.com/section/magazine

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abCD Magazine

Activism, art and expressions of Black strength Through film, photo, music and paint, Charlottesville artists are using art as a form of activism and expression Words by Denise Brookman-Amissah

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hroughout the summer, Charlottesville community members and students took to the streets alongside 26 million Americans to protest police brutality and systemic racism in America. Since then, the nation witnessed record-breaking voter turnout in the 2020 elections, the restriction of chokeholds in 62 percent of the country’s biggest police departments and resistance among government leaders to implement major reforms.

In addition, various other art forms were created to honor the victims of police brutality and advocate for change. The Black Lives Matter movement put a spotlight on the lack of diversity and representation in the media and art world. Local artists are combating this absence by documenting their experience as Black artists through their creations.

Documenting summer 2020

Eze Amos, a Charlottesville photojournalist, used his Instagram to showcase his walks during Black Lives Matter protests in summer 2020, documenting protestors in action in Charlottesville and Richmond.

“This revolution will be photographed,” Amos wrote in the caption of an Instagram post.

Amos was one of the many Black photojournalists who used their skills to document the Black Lives Matter protests. Photojournalists stood on the front lines alongside protestors and captured the spectrum of emotions sparked by protests, using their social media platforms to share moments that were not broadcast on national news.

“Folks go out in the street to protest, they write signs, they have sit-ins, they have public disobedience — whatever form of protest they adopt, our job as artists is to help them amplify whatever message they are trying to push,” Amos said.

The infamous Stonewall Jackson statue on Monument Avenue in Richmond — a grassy mall which is home to numerous Confederate statues — was removed by cranes on July 1. As the statue was removed from its pedestal, hundreds of protesters cheered in the pouring rain — Amos was there to document that historic moment. When he drove back to his home in Charlottesville, he recounted his experience witnessing history to The Cavalier Daily.

“It’s a movement that is finally getting people to pay attention and listen to what folks have been saying for all these years about police brutality, ... the injustice of how they treat black people, implicit bias, all those things that everybody has been talking about Trump for as long as we can remember,” Amos said.

Amos stated he believed in order to create lasting change, artists must keep pushing the stories and communicating the messages of protesters that mainstream media doesn’t cover.

The Stonewall Jackson statue was removed July 1.

Photo courtesy Eze Amos.

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Addressing the lack of representation “It’s very important to promote creators from all walks of life,” Amos said. “[When I got to Charlottesville], it took me forever to break into the market and get people to pay attention … Black photographers and Black artists are never given the opportunity to prove themselves because, somehow, there’s just an assumption that we’re not up to par.”

The increase in exposure Amos received due to his documentation of mass protests gave him the opportunity to share his photos with reputable news organizations like the New York Times. On June 21, Instagram featured Amos in their “WHAT NOW, TAKE ACTION” campaign. However, despite Amos’ recent access to a larger platform, Black representation in art and media has historically been low.

In 2019, art historians, statisticians, professors and art curators surveyed art collections of the 18 major museums in the United States. The researchers set out to find the gender, ethnic and racial composition of artists represented in these collections. The results revealed that 85.4 percent of pieces in the collections were created by white artists and Black artists’ work made up 1.2 percent of the art in all major U.S museums. This is despite Black Americans composing 13.4 percent of the U.S. population.

This disparity isn’t just present when it comes to visual art. In the film industry, researchers at the University of Southern California analyzed the top-grossing 100 films of 2015, and their study revealed that only four of the 107 directors were Black or African American and only nine of the movies had a Black lead or co-lead. #OscarsSoWhite began trending in 2016 on Twitter in response to the award show’s lack of minority representation in their nominations.

However, even when Black Americans are represented in media though, their portrayals are often inaccurate and stereotypical. In a literature review on the impact of media representations on the lives of Black men and boys, researchers at The Opportunity Agenda, a social justice communication lab, found that Black males are stereotyped and underrepresented in media. The report’s findings indicated that negative associations such as crimi-

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abCD Magazine

nality, unemployment and poverty are exaggerated while positive associations are limited to physical achievement and musicality. These stereotypes create erroneous portrayals of Black males. The researchers concluded that producers of media must create more accurate portrayals of Black men in the media by incorporating more African Americans in production.

Charlottesville-based photographer Jason Lappa thinks that the BLM movement is broadcasting the unheard stories of minorities to the world, including those of Black artists and creatives.

“What is revolutionary are the eyes and voices behind the photographs we are starting to see in the major media outlets,” Lappa said in an email to The Cavalier Daily. “The eyes of Black and brown photographers such as Ruddy Roye, Sheila Pree Bright, Vanessa Charlot, Courtney Coles, Julio Cortez, Andre Chung and Kris Grave, The stories of Black people told by Black people — that is the revolutionary realization that is just now beginning to take hold in the mainstream.”

Amos believes that art has the power to recondition society’s perceptions of Black Americans and their stories. “[It’s like how we are all] conditioned in a dark alley to picture a shadow of a big person coming towards you [and] nine out of ten times you are picturing a black person,” Amos said. “It’s something we’ve just been conditioned to think over-

Photographers have been essential in documenting the Black Lives Matter protests — some of the largest demonstrations in American history. Photo courtesy Eze Amos

time from the movies and all of the books and it’s wrong. We as artists can rewrite our stories and tell them in a better way.”

The push to promote Black representation and diversity extended into the business world as well.

Black community members and allies participated in an economic boycott on July 7 in what was known as Blackout Day. Participants were told not to spend a dollar at stores, restaurants or businesses unless they were Black-owned in an effort to highlight the 1.3 trillion dollars in buying power that Black Americans have in the U.S. economy.

On last year’s anniversary of the emancipation of enslaved laborers in the United States, also known as Juneteenth, Beyoncé released her single “Black Parade” with the proceeds from her single going to support the singer’s Black Business Impact Fund. The fund awards $10,000 grants to small Black-owned businesses. The song was released along with a directory of over 700 nationwide Black-owned businesses. One business featured was the African inspired art store UzoArt, a business owned by Uzo Njoku, artist and Class of 2019 alumna.

“It was crazy — I was like, Beyoncé!” Njoku said, laughing while reminiscing about the moment she found out she was featured in the campaign.

Njoku was overjoyed to be included among the likes of other talented Black artists and creators.

Even though she expressed that more celebrities should follow suit, Njoku emphasized that strictly supporting Black business owners is not as simple as it may seem.

“We all say we should support Black businesses, but a lot of these processes, payment and shipping processes are giving money to a white man,” she said. “However, I still think support is important for Black business owners.”

Njoku’s business saw an increase in sales as a result of the support redirected to Black-owned businesses. Njoku, in turn, donated extra funds towards organizations involved with the Black Lives Matter movement and fellow artists struggling due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

which was released in August 2018. Unlike most coloring books, Njoku featured powerful women of color from diverse cultures. Since the release, she has amassed 39,000 followers on Instagram, and her business UzoArt expanded to include art prints, phone cases, puzzles and more. Njoku’s unique artistic style consists of powerful portrayals of African women with striking colors and bold West African patterns.

“I paint mostly Black women because it is who I am,” Njoku said. “If you look back in art history, famous paintings have always been from the gaze of a man. In the past, the way they were posed was very minute. Fast forward to now, women in the media are portrayed in a very vulgar sense and we’re hypersexualized.”

It is Njoku’s belief that it is important for women and, in particular, Black women to reclaim their stories through art. In her painting entitled “Working Woman,” Njoku depicts a Black woman smoking at the end of a workday. Njoku put a spotlight on the stressors that Black women face in everyday life. The painting is captioned, “Roll another one. You’ve earned it, even if you haven’t. Stepping out in Ankara is enough. Wrapping your hair is enough. This work bleeds beyond the boardroom — roll as many as you please.” The caption points to the multiple layers of oppression Black women endure in and outside the workplace, and the impact it has on wellbeing.

This concept of intersectionality was developed by Kimberle Crenshaw, a Black civil rights advocate and lawyer. She defines the theoretical framework as the overlapping of social problems such as racism and sexism that incites further discrimation. Crenshaw explained that the failure to address disadvantages for every member of a particular group leads to exclusionary solutions.

Researchers found that Black women endure a heightened experience of emotional taxation from peers in the workplace. In the study, Black women reported experiencing anxiety around certain white co-workers and felt that they must always be prepared to deal with potential discrimination. This additional emotional burden is associated with detrimental effects on their health and Rewriting the narrative well-being, which threatens their ability to do well Njoku’s art business took off with the creation in the workplace.

Njoku’s art highlighted the power Black womof her coloring book, “The Bluestocking Society,”

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en express in the face of adversity.

“I put the woman I draw in very powerful poses and gazes,” Njoku said. “Even if they are naked, they are naked in a powerful way.”

One of Njoku’s portraits was of Oluwatoyin Salau. Salau was a 19-year-old Black woman and community organizer who was sexually assaulted and murdered in June 2020. Njoku gave out 100 free prints of the late Salau on her Instagram, captioning the photo, “Rest in Paradise Toyin. How many more lives will be lost?”

Salau’s death sparked a national outcry and intensified the #SayHerName movement, which aims to “bring awareness to the often invisible names and stories of Black women and girls who have been victimized by racist police violence.” It was created in December 2014 by the African American Policy Forum and Center for Intersectionality and Social Policy Studies. #SayHerName increased in use after the March 2020 death of Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old Black woman who was shot by police while sleeping in her home in Louisville, Ky. In September, Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron ruled that no officers would be directly charged in relation to Taylor’s death — a decision which resulted in a national outcry on social media. The two officers were fired in early January.

Some now argue that Taylor’s death has become commodified and turned into a gimmick, pointing to the mass production of T-shirts sold with her image alongside the phrase “Arrest the cops who killed Breonna Taylor” and posts on social media that said, “Today is a good day to arrest the cops who killed Breonna Taylor.”

Teen Vogue op-ed writer Precious Fonderson argues that the #SayHisName and #SayTheirNames hashtags used in response to the death of George Floyd are in fact co-opting the original phrase aimed to focus on the overlooked deaths of Black women. She explains that Black women do not receive the same level of support from BLM advocates as Black men.

Sahara Clemons, a Charlottesville artist, is also reclaiming the oppressive narratives Black women face. Earlier in 2020, Clemons was invited to create a community mural by the Charlottesville Mural Project. Her mural — entitled “Say Her Name” and located near 10th Street — depicts a

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Black woman lying in a bed of clouds holding a lightning bolt.

Clemson’s mural was inspired by her mother, who is actively involved in the Charlottesville community as the director of programs for the Charlottesville Area Community Foundation.

Clemons’ artwork showcases her love for textile, design and bold colors,and her inspirations resulted in a mural that brings Black women to the forefront. “[Black women] are minorities but also have invisibility within the minority community,” Clemons said. “Taking strides to have our voices known is what I really wanted to project when I was designing the mural.”

Clemons hopes that the Black women of Charlottesville can be able to see themselves in her artwork. The mural is located in Vinegar Hill, a historically Black neighborhood that bulldozed in the name of an urban renewal project in the 1960s and has since been gentrified. Clemons viewed her work as an intersection for the different communities of Charlottesville.

Clemons’ invitation was a part of the Charlottesville Mural Project’s efforts to showcase the art of diverse artists in the Charlottesville community through public art projects. In addition to a mural

by Clemons Library, the project included art pieces entitled “This is What Community Looks Like” by photographers Lisa Draine, Ézé Amos and Kristen Finn and “Together We Grow” by Jake Van Yahres and Christy Baker in the Downtown Mall.

The power of art as activism Clemons loves that art allows her to express the pain, frustrations and beauties she has experienced as a Black person in America — feelings that cannot always be easily expressed verbally. Clemons said that using art as activism is a way of showing one’s emotions to the outside world — its visual bold statements hold the power to be an effective method of peaceful protest.

Art by Clemons has been featured in Vinegar Hill Magazine, a Central Virginia publication striving to promote inclusivity, entrepreneurship, art and politics. Her work appears in articles about the long-term and short-term effects of COVID-19 on the Black community in Charlottesville. Her

painting, “Tired of Healing My Wounds,” depicts a Black woman in agony leaning against an eviction notice on her front door. Another painting, “Feed,” portrays Black children at the lunch table with food trays while across the table, two more children sit with their trays replaced by a damaged vehicle, medicine and housing costs. Through her work, Clemons confronts the challenges of food security, affordable housing and health issues Black community members face in Charlottesville.

“The series helped me confront a lot of the things that are happening right now and put it into a piece,” Clemons said. “In terms of how [COVID-19] and the Black Lives Matter movement are escalating at the same time, how we are trying to combat a harsh disease and a harsh world.”

To facilitate change, artists supported the BLM movement by using their respective talents to produce songs, documentary videos and artwork to empower the movement and educate the public about the history of injustice towards Black people in America.

“The role of documentary photography in the BLM movement is unquestionably invaluable,” Lappa said. “Those who are willing to bear witness to the truth to create a visual record of historical events are indispensable where the education of future generations are concerned. Creative projects like OneForGeorge contribute to a sort of hive mind that drives a collective understanding of what the BLM movement is actually about.”

In June 2020, Lappa was involved in a creative project entitled “One for George.” The three-part creative project consisted of a portrait series, hiphop song and accompanying music video.

It was organized and directed by Damani Harrison, a Charlottesville musician and activist, and Eric Hurt, a director and cinematographer. Lappa took photo portraits of the creators’ friends and family in the Charlottesville area. The three artists created a series that embraced the city’s diversity and highlighted the unification of Charlottesville in support of its Black community.

“Art is not just an expression — it can be revo-

Sahara Clemons’ mural portrays the power of Black women. Photo by Denise Brookman-Amissah.

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by LGBTQ+ people, the massacre of the Lakota people at Wounded Knee and other historic instances of oppression perpetrated by white America. According to Harrison, the heavy tone of the music video illustrates the raw truths of life as a minority in America.

“There is a history of it, not just police brutality today,” Hurt said.

Hurt explained that the black and white picture of the music video is analogous to racial tensions in the country. Hurt and Harrison Creative projects like Lappa’s portrait series help to create an understanding of the believed it was important to Black Lives Matter movement. Photo courtesy Jason Lappa. incorporate the struggles other groups face, including the lutionary,” Hurt said. “You can reach people more LGBTQ+ community. In one scene, the black and easily than just telling them what’s bad and in white theme is contrasted with a rainbow Pride some ways, you can reach them easier than if they bandana worn by Harrison’s transgender son. The were to watch the news or a documentary. [The imagery highlighted how Black transgender people news] is real life, but … the emotions aren’t inface some of the highest levels of discrimination volved there.” compared to transgender people with other racial Hurt has known Harrison for around a decade, and ethnic backgrounds. They also experience unand the two worked with each other on multiple employment and homelessness at higher rates. projects before. After the death of George Floyd, Hurt believed that, in order to sustain momenHarrison emailed Hurt about the song Harrison tum in the Black Lives Matter movement, artists made. The very next day, the two began working should continue to amplify the voices of Black on the “One for George” project. The purpose of Lives Matter activists. On the evening of July 22, their project was to artistically communicate Dam2020, music played along Monument Avenue in ani’s lyrics in an emotional and inspiring approach.

Richmond, Va. Two dozen musicians performed “Generally, art and imagination tend to come “Somewhere over the Rainbow” and “We Shall before the execution of things,” Hurt said. “It bolOvercome” at the base of the Robert E. Lee monsters the vision but also bolsters the emotion of ument. The monument had become the center of people.” the BLM protests and was unofficially renamed According to Hurt, the style of the music vidby protesters as Marcus Davis Peters Circle after eo he and Harrison created is reminiscent of Jaya Richmond Black man who lost his life as a reZ’s “99 Problems” video. At the start of the video, sult of police brutality. The vigil was held in honor Harrison emerges from the darkness delivering his of Elijah McClain, a 23-year-old Black man and first lines. violinist who died after being choked by Aurora, “Woke up this morning to a post / Another black Colo. police. soul getting choked,” Harrison rapped.

The monument area was covered in phrases The lyrics were accompanied by video clips of such as “Black Lives Matter” and “We won’t stop” police brutality, lynchings and hate crimes against as it became a stage for Black Lives Matter activBlack Americans throughout history. The imagery ists to spread their messages. On the night of July also wove in references to the 1969 Stonewall riots

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28, 2020, The George Floyd Foundation unveiled a hologram in Floyd’s honor at the statue. The event featured Black musicians and artists from Richmond before the hologram lit the sky with Floyd’s face and the phrase, “Keep Fighting.” “[The project was to] transform spaces that were formerly occupied by racist symbols of America’s dark Confederate past into a message of hope, solidarity and forward-thinking change,” the organization stated in a press release.

As protests continued in Portland, New York City and other cities across America, artists used their talents to redraw stereotypical narratives while inspiring a future of change. Amos believes that opportunities for Black photographers to work with major media houses have increased since the summer’s protests. Over the past months, he has worked with Getty Images and the New York Times to photograph the elections, COVID-19 and further demonstrations. In November, Amos and other Black Charlottesville photographers were featured in “Bearing Witness,” an exhibition at the Second Street Gallery. The collection displayed the unique perspectives of photographers and protesters fight-

ing against systemic racism and police brutality.

“Being able to show our work at Second Street Gallery, and for it to be a group of Black photographers, that was very significant,” he said. “You know, I felt really, really very happy about that.

And to see some of the young photographers coming up ... being able to showcase their work and stuff was a good thing.”

Since the death of George Floyd, the Minneapolis city council called to disband the police department. The LAPD and NYPD have plans to shift funding to youth and social services. In Louisville, the metro council voted to pass “Breonna’s Law” which banned no-knock search warrants. Protests sparked change, and Hurt believes that artists should not hesitate to go out and share their message with the world.

“It’s okay if it’s not huge and big and doesn’t change everybody’s mind,” Hurt said. “If you can change one mind or reach [one person], that’s pretty good … Art leads the way, even if it doesn’t seem like it does.”

Artists like Amos have played a huge role in narrating the BLM movement. Photo courtesy Eze Amos.

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Student self-governance through “extraordinary” COVID-19 semesters As much emphasis has been placed on student self-governance the past two semesters, it is important to dive deeper into its history and context Words by Ella Fesler

Looking back, looking forward

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s of the first week of March, the University had tracked over 3,000 COVID-19 cases.

Emails from members of the University administration regarding the fall 2020 and spring 2021 semesters emphasized the importance of student self-governance and the Community of Trust. In an email to the student body last summer, Dean of Students Allen Groves called behavior of students at midsummers “selfish and ignorant” while highlighting the concept of community of trust — the idea that all University students are trusted to maintain morally sound ideals.

The University has placed much responsibility on its students this past year, urging individuals to choose to abide by COVID-19 guidelines. There are serious consequences to those who do not uphold the community of trust — including temporary interdisciplinary suspensions from the University for egregious violations and a University Judiciary Committee trial for actions that violate University, state or local COVID-19 restrictions.

Now is a good time to dive deeper into the Community of Trust and the institutions that play a role in its enforcements, to further understand the University’s approach to the fall 2020 and the spring 2021 semesters.

What is student self-governance?

Community trust is meant to foster the idea that every student is a part of something bigger than themselves at the University, and student self-governing bodies are meant to uphold this idea.

“The Honor System, in the end, is just the ad-

judicatory body, while the Community of Trust itself is comprised of every single student, faculty member, administrator and community member who comes into contact with U.Va. students,” said Isabelle Edwards, vice chair for communications on the Honor Committee and fourth-year student in the Curry school, in an email to The Cavalier Daily.

Meanwhile, student self-governance is less straightforward.

“Student self-governance is a more abstract or meta idea of how students self-govern,” said Noah Strike, Director of University Relations for Student Council and third-year College student.

“For example, the Living Wage Campaign for the past two decades has been doing a lot of things that I think traditionally wouldn’t be considered self-governance. Holding a rally outside the Board of Visitors is absolutely an example of self-governance.”

When it comes to self-governance, the University often highlights three main organizations, though student leaders believe the concept extends well beyond that.

“The University points to the University Judiciary Committee, Honor Committee and Student Council [when it comes to self-governance],” said Abel Liu, chair of Student Council’s representative body and third-year College student. “Honestly, though, the area where I personally see students picking up the University’s slack the most has to be in engaging, retaining and welcoming marginalized students. Immediately, I think of undocUVA, Muslim Institute for Leadership and Empowerment, Latinx Leadership Institute and the Black Presidents Council.”

As already mentioned, often the three examples

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of student self-governance on Grounds are Honor Committee, UJC and Student Council. The Honor Committee tries students who break the Honor Code — unlike most universities which hire administrators to handle student violations — while UJC investigates alleged violations of the University’s Standards of Conduct such as physical assault or any other violation of a local, state or federal law. Student Council is meant to protect and improve the opportunities and quality of life for every student through assisting with student activities on Grounds, passing legislation and approving the financial distribution of student activities fees, among other duties.

“The true power of student government is in its ability to formally represent student interests,” Liu said. “Think of StudCo as a medium for student collective bargaining powers. StudCo may be an institution, but do not mistake the body’s formal powers as its only potential … I wish that StudCo would be called the University of Virginia Student Union.”

Student self-governance is often discussed as a

Jeffersonian idea, and its history is extensive. As described on Student Council’s website, in 1954, 11 male students were suspended — and four recommended for expulsion — after assisting in the rape of a 19-year-old woman in an East Lawn room. Protests broke out among students, who said the punishment for the rape was too harsh and called for more power to be given to the student body. Even though Stud Council’s judicial powers were initially revoked, seven months later, UJC was created, giving more power to the students.

Those claiming that punishment for the rape were too harsh had obtained what they desired.

In 2019, Jia Tolentino, Class of 2009 alumna and writer for The New Yorker, published “Trick Mirror: Reflections on Self Delusion,” a collection of essays. In an essay entitled “We Come from Old Virginia,” Tolentino writes that the students “formed a Judiciary Committee that would ‘return the disciplinary power of the president’s office to the student body.’”

Tolentino goes on to write that self-governance, including UJC, is one of the University’s “proud-

The Honor Code states that students cannot lie, cheat or steal, and plaques reinforce it across Grounds.

Photo by Sophie Roehse.

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est practices.” But she also argues that by not admitting to UJC’s problematic origins, and instead only speaking of the uniqueness of an organization like UJC, the University continues to harbor a fake image of itself.

2017, but only comprised 12 percent of the student population. In addition, between 1987 and 1989, Black students comprised 42 percent of sanctioned students while the Black student population was only around 9 percent.

“The true power of student government is in its ability to formally represent student interests.”

“The school’s self-conception will never be In its demands — published in summer 2020 completely true until it can admit the extent to — to the University, Black student activists called which it has always been fake,” she wrote. “upon the Honor and University Judiciary Committees to commit more of their time and resources Diversity and inclusion within self-governance investigating racial biases present in case litigation and increasing the presence of Black, Indigenous “[Community trust] has been a student sourced and people of color in each institution.” and student maintained idea,” Strike said. “If an Edwards said that up until summer 2020, disadministrator told us to not steal things, people cussions regarding race were often sparse. wouldn’t really listen. We all elect officials to Hon“Small discussions were more frequent, often or, we all sign the Honor scrolls at convocation, we bringing up the fact that Honor has struggled with are all committing to this idea of Community Trust diversity, but then quickly dissipating after there’s … Community trust has been built for 200 years. It a mention of how we haven’t figured out how to is ingrained in the student conscious.” handle our lack of diversity,” Edwards said.

In its simplest form, the University’s commuEdwards also said in summer 2020 — after nity of trust allows students to leave their laptop Honor received backlash from the University comin the library and not worry about it being stolen munity after it remained silent following the murwhile they are going to the bathroom or to get cof- ders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor — the fee. committee put forth a set of four actions which However, this idea of Community Trust, Strike will revamp Honor processes and recruitment to said, is surrounded by a lot of “disillusionment better reach students of color. and general disinterest in the concept of self-gov“It’s definitely the biggest change we’ve initiernance.” ated in regard to diversity and inclusion in my time “I think there are a lot of really valid reasons with Honor,” Edwards said. for that, like students of color often talk about how Edward explained that one of the measures was Honor and UJC have very poor histories with the requiring everyone in Honor to read “So You Want percentage of students of color that are expelled to Talk About Race” by Ijeoma Oluo. In addition, versus white students,” Strike said.

Honor began showing live demographics of case In 2019 Honor released its Bicentennial Report data and connecting more closely with other CIOs — the largest internal review of case outcomes ever and continued communication with endorsed orconducted by the Committee, featuring data from a ganizations. The statement also says Honor will century of annual dismissals and three decades of continue to put out more comprehensive measures data on sanctions. The report showed there has his- moving forward. However, as of January 2021, no torically been a disproportionately high sanction other measures have been released. rate for students of color, especially African and “We are beginning to look into our options for Asian American individuals. dealing with potential biases connected to reports For example, Asian American students com- once the case is in our system, but we don’t have prised half of all sanctions between 2012 and any concrete plans to announce just yet,” Edwards

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said.

Meanwhile, in the past semester, “every UJC member was required to be present for mandatory bias training,” said Gabby Cox, Chair of UJC’s Executive Committee and fourth-year Batten student, in an email to The Cavalier Daily.

The bias training was composed of two parts, one presented on “Preventing and Addressing Discrimination, Harassment, and Retaliation,” which was given by the Office of Equal Opportunity and Civil Rights, and the second entitled “A Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion” presentation given by Associate Dean of Students Tabitha Enoch.

Cox also explained how UJC senior support officers also had a differing approach to addressing diversity and inclusion, such as discussing ways UJC can “improve [their] image of inclusivity,” and “what communities [they] have done a less than adequate job recruiting from.”

Meanwhile, Student Council is seeking similar action.

“I think one solution is really straightforward — U.Va. students as a whole need to elect BIPOC students to positions of leadership,” Liu said. “All leaders of U.Va.’s self-governing bodies need to center BIPOC voices and prioritize appointing BIPOCs … I have prioritized engaging and retaining representatives of color as a person of color myself.”

Liu also said the 2020-2021 Representative Body is Student Council’s first “majority minority” body, meaning that more than 50 percent of the body is composed of representatives from historically underrepresented groups.

“A majority minority rep body was possible because we retained several of our BIPOC representatives from 2019-2020, and many of the body’s 2020-2021 vacancies were filled with BIPOC students,” Liu said. “It is my single proudest accomplishment from my time as chair of the representative body, and [it is a strong indication that more] change is coming.”

“A fantastic example of that is the Tuition and Fees Committee, where the Student Council president is responsible for appointing three of four students to the tuition and fees committee,” Strike said. Although the Studco committee reviews the proposal, “by the time the committee is reviewing the proposal, it’s already been submitted to the Board of Visitors, so they are basically letting the committee give input after the fact.”

Liu agrees that self-governance at the University is often understood as an all-powerful entity, yet the students have less power than originally led to believe “No Student Council branch is able to exercise direct and totally unsupervised authority over any area of student life,” Liu said. “We have no magic wand. This is not to say that the powers and tools that we do have have no bite — they do. However, one small part of the problem with Student Council is the government frame we use to describe it. Our language in [regards to] the status quo just creates confusion and disappointment.”

When asked about increasing the power or autonomy of self-governing bodies, Liu pointed out the University should better fund Student Council.

“The University could further empower StudCo’s policy making abilities by funding the organization beyond student activity fees money,” Liu said. “Such increases could be used to expand our resource units like the Community Food Pantry, Student Legal Services, U.Va. Mutual Aid, etc.

These services address real gaps in basic student welfare at U.Va. and are the types of services that the University should fund itself.”

In addition, the University could also include students in more of its decisions.

“The University could increase our body’s autonomy by integrating students into its decision making processes earlier. And then actually listening to them. In my experience, students — besides the Student Member of the Board of Visitors — are generally asked to give feedback on decisions that have already been made,” Liu said.

However, as Liu pointed out, a lack of comThe true power of self-governance plete autonomy can be changed.

“A student institution’s autonomy isn’t just conStrike spoke about times where the University often leads students in circles, pretending to coop- trolled by the U.Va. Administration. That would be erate with self-governance bodies in order to save some weird oxymoronic passive autonomy... Any institution can increase its own autonomy. In the face.

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context of StudCo, to obtain greater autonomy, we really need to focus on gaining more leverage. Increasing StudCo’s leverage could be done through FOIAs, strikes, coalitions, community engagement, bad press, etc,” Liu said.

“Student Council can also increase its own autonomy and impact by building systems of dual power with groups that have the capacity to organize and engage in widespread direct action,” Liu also explained. “For example, we partnered

do” Liu said.

“If all I knew about StudCo came from CavDaily, I wouldn’t want to join either,” he added. “I’ll own a lot of the criticisms of self-governing bodies, but the charge that we do nothing is fictitious.

Our organization needs to crack the code on how to effectively communicate to over 20,000 students, and that’s really hard. My biggest frustration is that people think that Student Council ‘doesn’t do anything.’”

This sense of disillusionment and lack of understanding in the self-governing system can contribute to low turnout and disinterest in self-governance. For example, students voting for Student Council president have steadily decreased since 2017, and in 2019 only 10 percent of the student body participated. In addition, Honor requires only 10 percent of students to vote on amendments for them to be adopted.

Edwards emphasized the lack of student turnout.

“One thing that would increase our productivity would be better knowledge of what the student body wants to see from us — talking to us at education events, voting in student elections in February and giving community input at committee meetings,” Edwards said. “We can’t do what the student body wants if the student body doesn’t tell us what they want.”

For the self-governing systems to work as they were meant to, members of the self-governing groups ask fellow students to take action.

“It is incredibly important that every student actively engages in self-governance in some way, so whether that is lobbying the administration or voting in student elections,” Strike explained.

“A majority of colleges do provide some form of compensation to the student government.” with the First-Generation Low-Income Partnership at U.Va. and YDSA to advocate for a CR/GC/NC grading option for the 2020-2021 Academic Year.”

The partnership proved successful.

“We were far more effective working together than any one group would have been in isolation.

Student Council has a unique ability to facilitate negotiations with administrators, collect data, and offer ‘institutional support’ for policy efforts,” Liu said.

The CR/GC/NC grading option was added to both the fall 2020 and spring 2021 semesters.

“Those tools, combined with direction action and organizing efforts, represent a substantial challenge to the dominant administrative power structures at the University,” he added.

A nebula Strike discussed how there are a lot of misconceptions surrounding exactly how and what self-governance means at the University.

“While the growth does show that student self-governance has been historically successful, along with that growth, it has become more inaccessible,” Strike said. “Honor, UJC and StudCo have become so big and complicated that the average student doesn’t have time to digest what the differences are and what each of them does. It is just so nebulous that it is not accessible anymore.”

As for Student Council, “[it] needs to better articulate and publicize the meaningful work that we

Student labor “A majority of colleges do provide some form of compensation to the student government,” Strike said.

Around 77 percent of student leaders at other colleges around the country are compensated for their work, making the University an outlier.

For example, at Georgia Tech, the Speaker of the House makes $2,450 a year and the president makes

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The University often passes accountability and administrative work to its students. Photo by Ava Proehl.

$8,000 a year. At the University of New Orleans, all student government officers are compensated.

For many low-income students, this free labor at U.Va. can pose a barrier.

“I work 20 to 30 hours a week for Student Council for free,” Liu said. “I am able to do so because of my own privilege … Student self-governance equating to free labor just adds another barrier for [First Generation Low Income] students to participate” Edwards says she never truly thought about receiving compensation before.

“I’ve seen my position as a form of public service — I want to contribute as directly as possible to the morals and ideals that create the Community of Trust and make the system more fair and just,” she said.

Similarly, Cox echoed a similar sentiment when asked about compensation.

“I did not run for this position with the hope of being compensated or even recognized,” Cox said. “My intent was to serve as a fair and effective leader of an organization that is given the respon-

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sibility to adjudicate violations of the standards of conduct.”

However, Cox also pointed out her position became a full-time job with the additional COVID-19 compliance cases. In the fall 2020 semester, of the 23 cases handled by UJC, 9 cases involved COVID-19 policies.

“The toll of being a full time student while simultaneously spending at least 20 hours a week on one organization, working another job, as well as other organizational commitments has taken a toll on my mental, emotional and physical health. This year has been arguably exponentially more taxing for student leaders than the past,” Cox explained.

“Speaking for myself and myself alone, compensation is not what I request but more communication with those in high positions at the University.”

Cox explained that while she doesn’t feel that she is entitled to certain privileges, she does wish the University could make more of an effort to understand the challenges leaders of self-governing organizations face.

Often, at other universities that do not provide

direct compensation, student government is given additional, paid staff to help and manage the work.

For example, at James Madison University, additional staff assists in managing and assisting students in starting up and joining clubs.

However, at the University, Student Council is in charge of those tasks.

For students who need to work in order to support themselves through college, Honor can seem unreachable due to the time commitment.

“I think receiving compensation for serving on Committee or as a Support Officer could go either way — it could attract people who are greedy or power hungry, but it could also attract demographics of students we might not have reached, such as low-income or first-generation students, who can’t afford to join Honor due to the time commitment,” Edwards said.

Liu expressed that the University could do more about compensation.

“If the University truly wanted to preserve student autonomy over student processes and organizations and compensate us for the massive amounts of work we do, they could,” he said.

Moving forward Looking at the over 3,000 cases the University has accumulated, one must ask themselves where blame should be placed, if anywhere at all.

“I do think it would be more effective if the University itself held students accountable and just cut UJC out of COVID-19-related sanctions,” Liu said. “The scale of non-compliance last semester was far too large for any student organization to process, especially a group of students who were not being paid.”

Cox said that handling COVID-19-related compliance issues is “difficult” due to the higher number of cases the body is required to adjudicate, though she was quick to add that UJC has an “extremely strong exec team and general body that foresaw this challenge and has responded by putting in an immense amount of time and effort into making sure that cases are heard in a timely manner without sacrificing student’s rights.”

Cox said she can only ask the University to communicate effectively with the student body about their expectations of behavior. On Feb. 24,

UJC released a statement in regards to the spike of COVID-19 cases seen at the University the week of Feb. 15 when over 700 cases were reported. The statement acknowledges “that inadequate oversight

by University administration … [has] directly negatively impacted our community,” as UJC has been forced to adapt to heightened caseloads as it bears the responsibility for adjudicating COVID-19-related violations.

“I cannot speak for the University itself, but as a leader of a student governance organization, it is my opinion that the University has an obligation to be transparent and clear in its communication to students about what is classified as a COVID violation and possible punishments if you fail to comply with said local, state, federal and University policy,” Cox said.

But ultimately, she believes the responsibility lies on students to be aware of and follow these COVID-19 guidelines.

“The responsibility of students is on an individual level,” Cox said. “I believe that the student themself has the obligation to adhere to policy in order to protect themselves, their peers and the broader Charlottesville community.”

However, others think differently.

“Student self-governance and the Community of Trust are being used as scapegoats for the inevitable spike in COVID-19 cases in Charlottesville due to U.Va.’s reopening,” Liu said. “The sole party accountable for that fact that U.Va. is reopening in the first place is the University itself.”

The University encourages students to hold each other accountable to COVID-19 guidelines.

Photo by Sophie Roehse.

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A legacy long in the making

The Black Student Alliance at the University has a long history extending the course of 52 years, yet many of its demands are unfulfilled to this day Words by Booker Johnson

“T

he Black Student Alliance facilitates community for Black students at an institution that may otherwise feel unwelcome to them,” said Norah Mulinda, a fourth-year College student and former BSA special events chair. “It can be difficult for students to transition into a space that wasn’t built for them, surrounded by people who may not always be looking out for them. BSA provides resources, companionship, and advocacy for Black students at the University who may have otherwise felt siloed from the overwhelmingly white majority.”

The Black Student Alliance was formed in 1969 by a group of Black students who sought to create an organization they could call their own.

It describes its mission as an organization that articulates the voices and concerns of the Black student population at the University.

JaVori Warren, Class of 2020 alumna and former BSA President for the 2019-20 academic year, outlined her desire to continue BSA’s goals of supporting Black students at the University. “[BSA’s] main goal is to empower and uplift the Black community, which we strive to do by hosting numerous programs and opportunities for students to engage in specifically catered towards Black students and the Black student experience,” she said.

The Black Student Alliance has a history of empowering Black students both at the University and within the larger Charlottesville community itself. In October of 1975, the Black Student Alliance released its “Proposal For The Establishment of an Office of Minority Affairs At The University of Virginia,” demanding, among other things, the creation of an office to support Black students at the University by the summer of 1976.

That same month, 300 Black students marched to then-University President Frank L. Hereford’s residence to present the proposal, resulting in his

promise that the University would begin addressing their concerns.

Following the proposal and march, Dr. William M. Harris, Sr. was appointed as the Office of African American Affairs’ first dean and assistant provost in July 1976, and the office formally opened on March 4, 1977.

Over the course of the organization’s 52 year history, BSA has repeatedly made demands for change, many of which the University has failed to meet.

“There have been demands that have been met in the past,” Warren said. “But the overwhelming majority of demands from not just BSA, but Black students [in general] and other Multicultural Student Organizations, just haven’t been.”

In recent years, BSA has released demands in the aftermath of events that have caused harm to Black communities, each time calling upon the University to address these instances of aggression. For example, one month after the violent arrest of Martese Johnson in March 2015, BSA released a report entitled “Towards a Better University,” which it wrote with consultation from the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy and the endorsement of 29 other student groups. The document incorporated requests for increasing the Black faculty and student yield and for the University to implement a “Culture of Truth” to go in hand with its “Community of Trust.”

Then, in the aftermath of the Unite the Right rally of Aug. 11 and 12, 2017 — when self-identified white supremacist groups marched through campus to protest the removal of the Robert E. Lee statue in downtown Charlottesville — BSA organized the March to Reclaim Our Grounds event.

The March To Reclaim Our Grounds was a community-wide event, which invited guest speakers including students, Charlottesville com-

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“It’s definitely disheartening and it can be a little discouraging when you see that you’re asking for the same things that Black students and the Black Student Alliance have been asking for since 1969,” Warren said.

Another demand, made in 2020, called directly for “the University to include students in the decision-making process regarding COVID-19 responses that impact students.”

Deric Childress Jr., current BSA president and third-year College student, also expressed his dissatisfaction with the University’s failure to respond to the demands of Black stuBSA has supported protests to remove the Clark Statue, which celebrates dents.

American brutality towards Native Americans. Photo by Ava Proehl.

“I feel like the University has failed the Black community once again,” Chilmunity resident speakers and Black Voices. The attendees marched throughout campus, taking the dress Jr. said. “Years back and then just recently same path that the white supremacist rally pro- with us restating the demands in our grievances testers traversed, to “reclaim these grounds built after the deaths of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Tayby our ancestors from the taint of white suprema- lor and George Floyd … I think only one or two cy,” the event flyer on Facebook said. Along with of those [demands] have been met.”

BSA however, still plans to work with the the march, BSA organized a list of 10 demands, one of which included a “special emphasis” on University to better outcomes for Black students.

“I feel like going forward BSA will constantly improving relations with the Charlottesville comreiterate these demands for as long as we need munity.

In June of 2020, as a response to the recent to until they’re met, ‘’ Childress said. “[We] …

COVID-19 pandemic and the deaths of George constantly discuss with administration what BSA Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery, BSA needs done and what we need as a community … shared via social media a “Reiteration of Historic, and organization going forward.”

Childress also expressed how it’s important Yet Unmet, Demands.” The list outlines various for the Black Student Alliance to create a space demands that the University has failed to address, citing demands that date back to as early as 1970 of comfort for Black students at the University and that came from various student organizations after they have been admitted.

“BSA [wants] to continue creating space and operating in the University.

One of these demands — originally made in fostering relationships to make the Black experi1970 — called for the University to “publicly ence at U.Va. better,” he said. “We’re constantly commit itself to accepting 20 percent as a goal revitalizing things, so overall we want to become for the enrollment of Black students throughout a better Black Student Alliance for the Black peothe University; and further, that $100,000 be allo- ple at U.Va. [Our goal is] to represent our people well and accomplish what our people need and cated for Black admissions programs.”

The University has failed to meet this demand want.”

To help accomplish this, the Black Student since then. In 1991, Black students comprised 12.1 percent of the University’s student popula- Alliance organizes several events throughout the tion — the highest it has been in the University’s academic year for students to build a communihistory — yet this year, Black students only com- ty and more easily foster relationships with their peers. These events have also addressed importprise 6.8 percent of undergraduates.

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ant issues that Black students face, such as assemblies of students in response to instances of police brutality.

One assembly was held in September of 2016 in participation with the “National Die-In” in which students stood outside of Old Cabell Hall.

Facing the Rotunda, students stood in solidarity with the lives lost to police brutality — a response directly related to the deaths of Terence Crutcher and Keith Lamont Scott in Tulsa, Okla. and Charlotte, N.C., respectively, at the hands of police officers.

Following the act of the “n-word” being written in permanent marker on the Kent-Dabney first-year dorms in 2016, the Black Student Alliance held “Dorm Talks.” These discussions involved BSA members visiting different dorms around campus to share a presentation discussing the dangers of implicit bias and microaggressions and describing the importance of anti-racism.

While some of BSA’s events have been organized in response to racist acts experienced on campus, other events are for the sake of socializing, building relationships and forming new bonds and friendships. These events include Welcome Week, which is hosted in the fall for new students, Black Ball, which is hosted every February during Black History Month, and BLACKOUT, which is an outdoors event that celebrates all of the Black graduates at the University held at the end of the semester, as well as various other activities which encourage social connection.

Even though COVID-19 has restricted BSA’s ability to host the large in-person social gatherings and events that it annually holds, the organization has prepared and taken the necessary steps to make many of its events accessible to students without breaking health guidelines and restrictions for the 2020-2021 academic year. “[We will] always have some sort of virtual or online component to all of our events and meetings,” Warren said.

BSA has not only done the work to transition their typically in-person events to an online for-

mat, but they have also made plans to support students as they return to campus from a summer drastically impacted by COVID-19. “[We want] to try to make sure that we’re being more accessible to other topics that have come up recently — just trying to make sure that we’re addressing the mental and emotional toll that [the summer of 2020 had] on Black students,” Warren said. “[We want to] make sure that we’re supporting students, knowing the coronavirus is disproportionately affecting Black and brown communities.”

Events hosted by the Black Student Alliance have provided different opportunities for those who participate. While these events are usually social and aid students in creating bonds and forming memories with their peers, these events have also served a purpose in igniting and creating opportunities for leadership among students who have an interest in deepening their involvement within the organization.

Through leadership opportunities such as roles on the executive board, joining committees and pioneering group events, students have also been able to pursue some of their own personal interests and create a platform for others to share their stories and experiences as well. This has also allowed students to reach out to Black residents within their community and connect with different people across the country.

Ciara Blackston — Class of 2020 alumna and BSA vice president for 2018-19 and 2019-20 academic years — reminisced on her time in BSA and how attending events eventually led to becoming more active around campus.

“What I loved about being vice president is that I had free rein to do specialty events that I really thought engaged the community,” Blackston said. “[During] my third year, I did a movie screening for ‘Us,’ a Jordan Peele film, and then during my fourth year, I was able to lead the charge in bringing Cyntoia Brown to Grounds.”

It is not uncommon for the Black Student Alliance to bring in nationally recognized guest speakers. Back in February of 2013, BSA held

“I feel like the University has failed the Black community once again.”

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an event for American activist and poet Nikki Giovanni, who spoke on the importance of student activism and held a book signing for those who attended.

Past guest speakers have also included University faculty. In February of 2019, the Black Student Alliance hosted an event with Beverly Adams, assistant dean and associate psychology professor, who spoke on the stigmas and significance of mental health within the Black community — an event that was also co-sponsored by the Eta Sigma Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Inc., a historically African American intercollegiate Greek-letter fraternity.

BSA has also held events throughout the fall semester that have provided students with a space to talk about their frustrations, what’s on their mind and how they are traversing through the semester. One of these events was an Election Processing Community Space, held in conjunction with the National Pan-Hellenic Council in November of 2020.

The event created “an open and safe space for Black students to debrief and share their thoughts regarding the election.” BSA also organized several presidential and vice presidential debate watch parties through their Political Action Committee throughout the 2020 presidential election season.

However, organizers say it is also important that students feel safe and open to actively engage in these events.

“We want to make sure that students know that we support them … [and that] their well-being is our priority,” Warren said. “We’re also talking about those harder-to-have conversations of really challenging our own internal ideals ... [as well as] those ideals that ... we maybe don’t take the time to really analyze.”

In catering to individual interests, the Black Student Alliance has several sub-committees students can apply to.

“We have academic development, professional development [and] social, cultural, political and special events.” Childress said. “Through those committees, we allow people to build relationships and become more familiar with the Black

community at U.Va.” The other committees that the Black Student Alliance offers for students are the communications committee, finance committee and membership committee. Every committee in BSA serves a specific niche, but they also make up part of the larger BSA experience.

“The Black Student Alliance has broadened my scope in many ways,” Mulinda said. “It has molded me into a better university student and overall citizen. It has helped me to see that even as a student, I have the power to challenge systems and demand change. It has also taught me the importance of valuing the community that you’re in and being a support system for the Black Charlottesville community as they continue to be for us.”

While the Black Student Alliance is a University-oriented organization, BSA has also shown

“We want to make sure that students know that we support them … [and that] their well-being is our priority”

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its support of the Black community beyond University walls. In June of 2020, the Black Student Alliance pulled from its own resources to donate directly to Charlottesville organizations that were dedicated to uplifting the Black Charlottesville community. In a previous article by The Cavalier Daily, Warren discussed how she encouraged others to donate to their local community as well, whether it be in Charlottesville or somewhere closer to home.

Even though BSA has done past work supporting the Charlottesville community directly, members have no plans to stop their work at just making donations to organizations that empower the Black community.

“I would love to see BSA do more within the Charlottesville community [and] make sure that as a Black population within Charlottesville — both students and Charlottesville residents — that we can become more united, as I think that is a great way to build a coalition that can work,” Blackston said.

The Black Student Alliance has also opened

its doors to those who come from various back- shared their dissatisfaction with how the Univergrounds and, as an organization, has worked to- sity has failed to recognize and appreciate the wards creating a space where both Black students work that directly went into the creation of the and their allies can learn and grow.

University. They emphasized the goal of BSA to “BSA provides a safe environment where you ensure that Black contributions are formally reccan speak freely without being afraid of judge- ognized just as much as other contributions made ment,” said Holly Battist, third-year Education by their white counterparts. student and BSA executive board member, in an “I think that U.Va. is very content in doing surinterview with the Cavalier Daily. “We host many face level acts that give the appearance of activevents not just for Black students, but for anyone ism,” Blackston said. “I know that U.Va. loves to who is interested.” create a committee, loves to do all [of] the things However, the COVID-19 pandemic has affect- that sound great in media bytes, but in terms of ed the coordination of these events for commu- doing the real work, they often neglect [doing the nity-wide engagement at the University to some real work].” small extent.

As the Black Student Alliance continues in its “Prior to [COVID-19] happening, we had efforts to work with the University and uplift the goals moving forward to try and keep Black stu- voices of its Black students and Black Charlottesdents engaged — to encourage more unity among ville community members, it has guided its memBlack organizations and co-sponsorships with bers towards success by supporting them through other Multicultural Student Organizations,” War- hardships during their time at the University. ren said. “[The Black Student Alliance is] definitely One of the core values of the Black Student something that I’m extremely grateful for,” WarAlliance, alongside creating a place of comfort ren said. “When we do go through situations, [I’m for students, is recognizing and remembering the grateful] that I do have an exec board… and comhistory of Black workers, student alumni and BSA mittee members … it’s a community at the end of itself, all of which have largely contributed to the the day, BSA really is a family for me … [and] success of the University today. it’s motivated me to always advocate for Black “History is so important, especially to me, and students and [for] white people [as well]. I don’t I think to the other members of BSA as well. Just know what my U.Va. experience would look like knowing your history as a student organization without BSA.” can really set the tone for where you guys go when you’re moving forward,” Warren said.

While BSA strives to keep the history of the organization and Black members of the University community alive, part of keeping that history alive also includes pushing the University towards recognizing the Black people that have contributed much of their life to the University’s success. “[Enslaved people] built the University, [and] it took [the University a long time] to put some sort of remembrance for enslaved laborers,” Childress said, referencing the recently completed Memorial to Enslaved Laborers.

Other members of the Black StuThe Memorial for Enslaved Laborers was unveiled in 2020. dent Alliance’s executive board also Photo by Cyrena Mantingou.

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The unsung agents of change

As the University fails to provide enough vital support to sexual assault survivors, student-run organizations take the lead Words by Tasmima Hossian Warning: Story contains mentions of sexual assault and abuse

E

very morning a cool breeze blows between academic buildings, Lawn rooms and various statues scattered around Grounds. One of these statues is of University founder Thomas Jefferson, who stands facing Rugby Road — home to dozens of the University’s fraternity and sorority houses. Today, many students are fighting to stop the violence that often takes place in these establishments and across Grounds.

As Jefferson’s institution, the University cannot be detached from its founder’s past. Not only did Jefferson keep 607 persons in slavery over the course of his lifetime, but he was also responsible for the rape of 14-year-old Sally Hemings, one of the enslaved persons at Monticello. The statute of Jefferson that stands in front of the Rotunda is a jarring reminder of this institution’s history.

In the midst of the quiet and unusual summer of 2020, a Twitter page — @ExposedUVA — was born. This page gave a platform to survivors to speak out about their abusers. @ExposedUVA publicly named alleged abusers at the University by allowing survivors to direct message the account about their experiences while keeping the survivors themselves anonymous. However, for many, this page and the multitude of examples given about sexual assault on Grounds only highlighted and reiterated what students already knew — sexual assault education and prevention does not hold as prominent a position in the University’s agenda as it should be. “[Prevention is important] especially when the majority of people being assaulted are going to be first years as they are the most vulnerable to victimization,” said Sarah Carter, Class of 2020 alumna and co-founder of UVA Survivors.

According to the University’s 2019 Report on the AAU Campus Climate Survey on Sexual Assault and Misconduct, 19.1 percent of first-year

students are victims of sexual assult or misconduct, along with 13.9 percent of second-years, 11 percent of second years, and 9.9 percent of fourth years.

In early April, UVA Survivors — a student activist group that aims to combat the culture of sexual violence at U.Va. — published a list of demands directed at the University administration, the Office of Equal Opportunity and Civil Rights and the University’s Title IX office. The group demanded that structural and holistic changes be made to University culture, focusing on University accountability, comprehensive expansion of education and training on sexual violence and increase of survivor resources provided.

“It is up to people higher up in the administration to start caring about us and recognizing us,” Carter said.

Jefferson’s legacy has impacted Charlottesville and the University for many centuries and with Jefferson still being idolized in University culture today, student groups are working towards a more equitable and safe environment for students and survivors of assault.

As it stands, there are three main groups based around sexual assault education and prevention advocacy at the University — Culture of Respect Educators, Take Back the Night and UVA Survivors.

CORE is the main education platform for sexual assault prevention for all students while Take Back the Night specializes in organizing a series of events where students can share their experiences and UVA Survivors works to implement structural changes at the University to support survivors.

To the student leaders of these organizations, it often feels like students are shouldering the burden of reducing and ending sexual assault on Grounds — and not the University itself.

“At a place that’s like U.Va. … the University likes to center student self-governance without any

www.cavalierdaily.com/section/magazine 29

sort of administrative support, which is frustrating because right now, it’s just us — it’s us and it’s UVA Survivors and it’s Take Back the Night, and that’s it,” said Gabby Ringer, CORE president and fourth-year College student. “Other than that, who else is there? Whose sole purpose is to do this?”

Carter echoes the same sentiments.

“We do want to keep a cordial relationship with the University 100 percent, and we want to work with them,” Carter said. “But that means that they need to hire [more] adults that do these things.”

The history of sexual assault on Grounds

The person who ran this program quit unexpectedly in January of 2020, Goddu said, and her position along with two others in the Office of Health Promotion related to sexual violence prevention were filled in the fall of 2020.

On the response side, changes to Title IX policy were implemented Aug. 14, 2020, which limit the power of Title IX in some ways but also give additional power to universities to pursue cases no longer covered by Title IX. These new powers include the ability to reduce the threshold of evidence to a “preponderance of the evidence” meaning “more likely than not” — a choice that was left up to the school’s discretion — which would, in theory, make it easier to meet the evidentiary standard and hold perpetrators responsible. However, this led to only a marginal increase in the number of suspensions and expulsions from Title IX offenses.

However, student leaders still question whether these programs and steps are enough given the continued prevalence of the issue on Grounds.

Take Back the Archive, a public history project that goes back over a hundred years, details the history of rape and sexual violence at the University. From 1809 to 2016, there has been a record of 506 reports in The Cavalier Daily on reported rape, sexual assault and sexual violence including but not limited to events at the University and in the Charlottesville area.

Furthermore, according to the 2019 Campus Stepping towards sexual assault prevention Climate Survey, 24.5 percent of undergraduate women and 7.4 percent of undergraduate men exCORE was founded in 2019 when two groups, perienced sexual assault while enrolled at the Uni- One in Four and One Less, came together to form versity, and in February of 2020, there was a report one organization. While both focused on sexual asof a brutal gang rape in in an on-Grounds residence sault prevention, the membership of One in Four hall. But even these staggering numbers do not encompass the many instances of sexual violence that go unreported.

The University’s biggest program is Hoos Got Your Back — which recently replaced the Green Dot program — and mainly focused on bystander intervention as a way of preventing sexual harm. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, this program included a large Wahoo Welcome event for first-year students, a bystander intervention training campaign for Corner bars and restaurants during the summer and a small Students are fighting to stop a culture of sexual violence at the Univergroup training that was usually sity and at Rugby Road - home to many of the University’s sorority and given to Greek organizations and fraternity houses. Photo by Ava Proehl. dorm communities.

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It often feels like students are bearing the burden of reducing and ending sexual assault on Grounds — and not the University itself. only consisted of men while One Less consisted of women. While One Less was open to accepting non-binary people, there was little to no gender diversity in the group and consisted mostly of cisgender women. The name One in Four was an acknowledgement of the Association of American Universities sexual assault statisic that states that nearly one in four — 23.1 percent — of female college students will experience sexual violence or misconduct while enrolled in college.

While CORE focuses on sexual assault education, they also do advocacy and activism. Just this calendar year, resident advisors were required to host one of CORE’s programs — Dorm Norms, a presentation for first-year students that covers consent, intimate partner violence, bystander intervention and the basics of survivor support. However, this does not mean first year students are mandated to attend the training. Rather that RAs must simply hold a training so students have the opportunity to attend.

“We’re all happy that Dorm Norms is mandated, but it’s also like the University is requiring and agreeing that this education is necessary and important, but still not giving us institutional support and having it rest entirely on the shoulders of a group of undergraduates,” said Anne Whitney, a Class of 2020 alumna.

According to Ringer, CORE does the primary sexual assault prevention education for first years beyond the sexual assault prevention training modules all students are required to take by the University before the beginning of the fall semester. The modules, that take approximately ninety minutes to complete, are intended to inform students about the conduct that is prohibited by the University’s Policy on Sexual and Gender-Based Harassment and Other Forms of Interpersonal Violence, as well as ways that students can all be active bystanders and community leaders in preventing harassment and violence in our community.

Ringer explained that there are only a small

staff at the University working on sexual assault prevention, often in tandem with other duties. Just this year, the University decided to discontinue the bystander intervention talk that first-year students typically receive at John Paul Jones arena their first week of school. While this may not have been feasible due to gathering limits imposed because of COVID-19, the decision was made before COVID-19 restrictions were put in place in March of 2020.

But even with the programming in place, bystander intervention education is not the end-all, be-all of sexual assault prevention, as it fails to tackle disparities on how comfortable people feel engaging in situations like those presented based on identity or personality. To Ringer, it is critical that the University invest in comprehensive consent education and training on violence prevention.

While CORE struggles with receiving external support from the University, it is also working on internally ensuring that its organization wholly supports survivors. On July 6, 2020, CORE released a statement regarding the history of the organization, revealing that there had been multiple instances when CORE’s parent organizations removed executive board and general body members due to them being perpetrators of sexual assault.

According to the statement, “in the four years before One in Four disbanded, at least one perpetrator per year was removed from the group.”

One way CORE has chosen to tackle this issue is through an anonymous reporting form that is sent out to all members. The reports are reviewed by the executive board to decide whether or not there was a violation of the standards of conduct such as discrimination of any kind or harassment and assault of any kind. Both parties — the person that made the report and the person who violated the standards of conduct — are allowed to submit a written or oral testimony. The executive board then decides on a course of action, which has typically been the removal of the member. Ringer believes

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that this is something all organizations should do.

“It’s that the University isn’t going to protect us, so we have to protect [ourselves],” Ringer said.

“I think it’s just being willing to not put members of your club or members of your community in harm’s way.”

CORE is also working to change the selection process of the organization to make the CIO a place where all voices from the community can be heard.

The new process, which is now virtual because of the pandemic, will be less intensive, partially after an entire round of the previous process was eliminated. Previously, there was a first round written portion where applicants answered questions related to their interest in sexaul assault prevention and in the second round, it was interviews with one applicant and two to three members of the organization facilitating the interview. Now, the first round is a sign-up form to get more information about CORE and what they do, and opting into the second round. The second round is a discussion group where two CORE members and two to three applicants are on Zoom together and discuss questions related to sexual assault prevention.

Ringer explained that when she first joined the CIO, she wondered why a selection process existed at all. In an effort to stop gatekeeping, the new selection process is crafted to bring more people into the conversation.

Beyond its own executive board and members though, CORE has also been grappling with how to move forward in light of the fact that many assailants are students in high ranking positions, such as student government officers, which has been a historic issue.

Student education and advocacy Take Back the Night, whose University chapter was founded in the 1990s, is one of the oldest sexual assault awareness groups on Grounds. This CIO puts on a plethora of educational and advocacy events in April — Sexual Assault Awareness Month — and conducts year-round advocacy for sexual violence prevention.

Its main goals include making University students more aware of the resources available to them such as Hoos Got Your Back and the Survivor Support Network, encouraging students to be

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part of the solution to preventing sexual assault on Grounds and helping to correct the image of sexual assault which usually centers on the cisgender white women’s experiences.

The group creates healing spaces for survivors and advocates through events such as vigils and days of healing where survivors can tell their stories with their name attached or anonymously. TBTN also holds a Healthy Masculinity event where participants do activities that help them unpack social norms around masculinity that may lead men to engage in behaviors that are harmful and how people can start unlearning these norms in themselves. In the past, they’ve also run workshops on strategies for sexual violence prevention in the LGBTQIA+ community, panels on Title IX policy, and facilitated discussion on the intersectional experiences with violence that survivors of color face and how to best support them.

“We know that LGBTQIA+ and women and femmes of color are more likely to be harmed because of the intersecting oppressions that affect their experiences with sexuality,” said Kiera Goddu, Take Back the Night co-chair and fourth-year College student. “We’ve rolled out specific events and programs regarding sexual assault in these communities the past few years in partnership with other organizations such as CORE.” Whether or not this year’s Take Back the Night events will be in-person, virtual or hybrid is not yet known.

Survivor support and advocacy The newest sexual assault education and prevention group founded on Grounds is UVA Survivors, which formed after Carter — one of its founders — experienced an extremely difficult and traumatizing Title IX case.

Carter recalls not knowing any other survivors while going through their case, leading them to feel disheartened and isolated from those around them as others could not fully understand what they had experienced. These feelings caused them to put their energy into something productive and fruitful — creating a sexual assault group for survivors that would be intersectional from the very beginning.

In September 2019, Carter reached out to as

many groups on Grounds as possible and handed es for survivors, there are often not enough conout quarter sheet flyers printed from Alderman Li- fidential therapists properly equipped to provide brary. At the first meeting, seven people came — a the necessary support, according to student sexual feat for Carter. The first attendees and those who assault advocates. While there are other places for joined in the coming weeks became the core of the therapy on Grounds such as the Sheila C. Johnson group.

Center, they are often not confidential, as the inIn the following months, the group spent a lot formation a student shares could be recorded and of time discussing who they were, what their mes- shared with doctoral and graduate students. sage was and what the end goal is.

“There needs to be therapy groups first off, but “So many late nights, we spent imagining what there needs to be more therapists,” Carter said. “If a University would look like free of sexual vio- all of the therapy is booked up by the second week, lence, free of interpersonal violence,” Carter said. sometimes [within] the first couple days of school, These conversations eventually led to the UVA there’s a problem.”

Survivors list of demands, which advocates for According to Counseling and Psychological institutional accountability from the University, a Services, however, additional staffing is not the more robust education and training for a broader only answer to addressing the mental health needs range of people and resources for survivors. of the community. CAPS Director Nicole Ruzek Many students are left feeling dejected after explains that in addition to counselors who can their Title IX case, and in 2018, there was even provide helpful interventions, students also need a case where an assailant was found responsible to be educated on how they can positively impact for the alleged assault yet still received his degree their own mental well-being and inform them of from the University. But according to Carter, this the various prevention programs offered by the is not a one-off occurrence of an individual being University, such as WahooWell, Silver Cloud and found guilty of the assault by the Title IX office Thrive from the Peer Health Educators. yet still not facing little accountability for their Yet, there is an inherent lack of spaces that exactions. Carter explains that Title IX is notorious ist solely to support survivors according to Carter. among survivors members for issuing no or very While CAPS is confidential, it also serves the larglight sanctions for perpetrators, as they unfortu- er University community, and there are not enough nately shared the same experience. therapists to support survivors. All CAPS thera“A few members of UVA Survivors that had pists are generalists who have training in a broad gone through the Title IX process,” Carter said. range of concerns, including working with trauma, “All of us had pretty awful experiences, and we expressed all of them.”

The group also believes that authority figures at the University need to start recognizing and caring about these issues.

“The University does not provide enough support for survivors, especially compared to peer institutions that have confidential advocates, more robust prevention staff and better staffed Title IX offices,” Goddu said. “Title IX cases run months over the 60-day timeline outlined on their website.”

The inefficient staffing and action from the University do not stop there.

While the Maxine Platzer Lynn Women’s Center and Counseling and Psychologi- Advocacy groups want to ensure that all students feel safe at their own cal Services serve as the staple resourcUniversity. Photo by Ava Proehl.

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but the team is only composed of 20 therapists, 5 psychiatric providers, and 3 care managers. This, in turn, leads students to seek out therapy within the Charlottesville community, which can be very expensive and take away resources from Charlottesville residents.

Student advocates feel that these problems are only going to be exacerbated by the pandemic and transition to online learning. While CAPS has hired 4.5 therapists and 1 psychiatric nurse practitioner in the past six months, there will be more people seeking services and students may not be able to talk openly, even with employees held to confidentiality standards, because students often live with roommates, limiting privacy.

Claire Kaplan, who was the Director of the Gender Violence and Social Change program at the University, recently retired, and while her role still remains unfilled, Latoria White is the new program coordinator.

Still, the lack of administrative support from the University leaves a lot of work to be done in the Office of Health Promotion and Wellbeing but this same office also deals with addiction, nutrition services and more, meaning it’s not a place solely to support survivors. Until this school year, there was no one specifically working only on interpersonal violence. Now, there are three new staff members.

“We are glad that there are paid workers doing the work, and we hope that they use our demands as a guide to what survivors and all students need to thrive at U.Va.,” Carter said. “We know they are limited in resources, since even three new staff members isn’t enough to educate and support thousands of students.”

The problems with confidentiality and accessibility have only worsened with the transition to online learning. Many services, including therapy, have moved online which brings up a plethora of problems. Therapists are licensed in Virginia and can only work with students currently residing within the Commonwealth, as licenses do not allow therapists to treat patients across state lines.

This effectively leaves out-of-state and international students who chose to live at home during the pandemic as they are not eligible for treatment outside the state.

“Another concern is the modified virtual train-

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ing for fraternities and sororities, FOAs and for first-year students,” Goddu said. “Because we lack the trained educators to provide sufficient training, it may be more difficult to reach these communities virtually.”

These discrepancies in the services and support for survivors leave students feeling hopeless.

“We deserve support resources and to be heard,” an anonymous member of U.Va. Survivors said in an interview with The Cavalier Daily. “We honestly shouldn’t have to go through a Twitter page. We shouldn’t have to only stick to whisper networks.

The Twitter page exists because our justice system has failed us.”

“The Twitter page exists because our justice system has failed us.”

Carter expressed that this form of sharing can be extremely harmful to both the survivor and other survivors that come across it.

“IP addresses can be easily found, so they could easily hack into the messages,” Carter said. “Twitter, as we know, is not the safest platform to share stories, and their identities could be revealed. A judge could subpoena the person to give over the messages.”

A safer platform to share stories, Carter states, is the Do Better Campaign. It provides an anonymous platform for survivors to share their stories making it a safe space to come forward.

The need for discussion and action from members of the community and the University is long overdue and student organizations can not do all the work by themselves. The University needs to take action and work alongside them, according to these student leaders.

“We [the students] cannot provide therapy for each other,” Carter said. “We cannot protect each other. We cannot be the ones that are educating every single person.”

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Building from the ground up: How five Black business owners navigated a tumultuous year

These entrepreneurs faced unprecedented challenges, forcing them to redefine themselves and their businesses Words by Vani Agarwal

E

very morning, Angelic Jenkins starts her day by preparing batches of mac and cheese, collard greens and fried fish.

Once she opens her food truck, Angelic’s Kitchen, at 11 a.m., she and her husband will sell her famous fried fish, hushpuppies and sides until they close at 7 p.m. Her business is the result of years of work. Jenkins — whose business started as a festival booth — has slowly expanded her cooking from one festival to 20 festivals. She then began to cater before moving to working full-time in her food truck.

Today, she sells her famous chicken, fish and hush puppies from both her food truck and a restaurant location opened in the fall. Jenkins has spent years building her business, and her success is evident by the popularity of her business within the Charlottesville area.

But being an entrepreneur is hard, and any business owner will tell you that they have faced challenges starting and maintaining their business. “[You need] a lot of patience — Rome wasn’t built in a day,” SheaMango owner Cordell Fortune said.

Fortune sells body butter — a product his wife, Christina, has been making and using for years.

Fortune has worked tirelessly to build the skills he needed to sustain his successful business. He took entrepreneurship courses through Charlottesville City — such as the Minority Business program — and the University’s iLab for start-ups.

After participating in workshops, festivals and incubator programs, he was able to establish himself as an entrepreneur and now sells his products online, though he did also sell at vendor shows before the pandemic.

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“If you really believe in what you do, then you’ll get joy out of that alone,” Fortune said.

While Fortune was able to fully dedicate himself to his business, many entrepreneurs can not bare the risk of taking on a new business without working another job at the same time. Take Jenkins for example — when first starting her business, she had to work full time while only operating her food truck on weekends. During festival season in the spring and summer months, she would typically travel to a different festival or fair every weekend.

“It’s tough [because] you’re stuck in the middle,” Jenkins said. “If I quit my job, I can work on my business, but then [if] my business fails … then I won’t have the income that I would normally get every two weeks from my job.”

But 2020 brought entrepreneurs one of their biggest obstacles yet — the pandemic.

Not only was Jenkins furloughed from her fulltime job, but all of the festivals and catering events that she had booked were canceled. She decided to open her food truck full time, but she did not have the employees or the technology to smoothly make the transition to curbside pickup.

“I had a hard time placing my orders at first because I didn’t have the income,” Jenkins said.

In the end, she was able to set up the necessary systems to support online ordering, but not without a steep learning curve. But Jenkins, of course, was not the only entrepreneur affected by the pandemic.

“COVID has hurt us,” said Jason Becton, the owner of MarieBette Cafe and Bakery. The local business sells fresh bread, pastries and brunch items.

MarieBette, located on Preston Ave., is a popular bakery among students and Charlottesville locals alike.

Photo by Ava Proehl.

After selling his childhood home in New Jersey, Becton and his husband opened MarieBette on Preston Avenue in Charlottesville in 2014. In 2018, they opened another location, Petite MarieBette, near the Downtown Mall. They moved to Charlottesville to be close to family and now spend most of their waking hours managing their two restaurants while also caring for their two elementary-aged children after whom the stores are named.

“Our business, year by year, it’s just been doing … better and better,” Becton said. “Before COVID we had a little bit over 60 [employees] … We were able to expand to a downtown location.”

But then, during spring break, some friends of theirs told them that University was probably not going to have students come back or delay them coming back.

University students are an essential consumer base for MarieBette, and while the return of students to Grounds this past fall helped to boost business, the loss of in-person graduation and parents’ weekend meant the cafe lost critical income.

In March of 2020, as it became more apparent how COVID-19 was going to impact the community, Becton and his husband started by prioritizing sanitation, but they still had concerns about safety.

“It still didn’t feel safe, so we decided to close the dining room,” Becton said. “That meant that I didn’t have a job for all my servers and my food runners. Our wholesale clients started to drop off

because they were closing or they were cutting back.”

To offset the loss of dining room business, MarieBette decided to focus on takeout and curbside pickup.

“Things are scary,” Becton said. “Figuring out how to pivot from doing sit down dining to doing only take out was really difficult because it’s not what our business was planned to do … But our number one goal was under no circumstances can we close.”

Virtually every business in Charlottesville was hurt by COVID-19, and their ability to survive relied on many of the same adjustments that MarieBette had to make, regardless of the products or services that they provide.

Before the pandemic hit, Cordell Fortune’s sales had primarily come from vendor shows, but due to the pandemic, all were canceled. For example, a vendor show he founded called the Fortune Shop Pop Up — which allowed Black-owned businesses to set up for free — was canceled. The event, which was established in September of 2019 and intended to occur once a month for the entirety of 2020, sought to showcase entrepreneurial diversity and promote Black-owned businesses.

“We missed out on the physical tasks of being in front of customers,” Fortune said. “But it also gave us a chance to pivot to online driving … and that pivot wasn’t too far off. [Our] website and In-

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stagram page and Facebook page were already set up.”

But it was not just vendor shows that were canceled — even large companies like Whole Foods eliminated product demonstrations where businesses could come in and hand out samples. For Allens Scottish Shortbread owner Anwar Allens, this was a huge market loss.

Allens — a wholesale vendor of shortbread — bakes with a recipe originally developed by his wife’s grandmother. His business started with a small kitchen sharespace that enabled them to sell their product at three different farmer’s markets per week. Over the years, the business’s client base grew to include major retailers such as Whole Foods.

When the pandemic hit, Allens and his wife, Laura, shifted their focus to social media as a new way of engaging customers, and Allens was quick to point out the importance of the Charlottesville community in easing some of the pressure of the pandemic. “[The Charlottesville community goes] out of [its] way to intentionally support local [businesses] when it’s a hard time,” Allens said. “People will go out of their way to pay the extra $2 to see that company flourish.”

Despite the support of Charlottesville residents though, some business owners felt that the city of Charlottesville failed to provide much-needed support to small business owners.

“There were initial grants that [the City] was offering that was supposed to be $1,000, which is not a whole lot, but whatever it takes, so we applied,” Becton said. “They had so many applications that they closed the grant application process [after] less than 24 hours, and they also cut the grant from $1,000 to $500.”

The largest grant provided by the City, called the Small Business Relief Grant, was open for four days in July and offered a maximum of either $5,000 or $10,000 depending on the size of the business. For most business owners though, this is supplemental funding with little long-term value.

As of now, the City has not received the state or federal funding to have offered another grant program.

Not only has the local government struggled to provide vital assistance, but many felt the CARES

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Act — a federal congressional bill originally passed in March which allocated $349 billion to small business relief — also failed to deliver. As the Small Business Administration — the federal agency responsible for allocating the funds — took loan requests, small business owners found that they received significantly less than what they asked for, even after weeks of waiting.

Later, in early August, the SBA’s most utilized program — the paycheck protection program, which offered forgivable loans to small businesses — expired. From August until December, the SBA only offered low-interest disaster loans and debt relief on specific types of loans. In addition, the expiration of the CARES Act on Dec. 26 of 2020, which eliminated extended unemployment benefits, has resulted in decreased business, as fewer people could afford to eat out and support local restaurants and businesses.

This past December, the PPP, unemployment benefits and a variety of other small business protections were renewed after the passage of a second COVID-19 relief package. PPP benefits began being distributed again in early January though with far harsher restrictions — like those which originally included having to prove a minimum 25 percent drop in revenue compared to 2019. While businesses can apply for disaster loans, debt relief and bridge loans late into 2021, the PPP will, once again, expire in March.

Despite the pandemic’s crippling effect on many small businesses, Jenkins pointed out that the Black Lives Matter movement has alleviated some difficulties for small Black-owned businesses.

“People are trying to support Black-owned businesses, and I’ve seen that because my business has tripled,” Jenkins said. “A lot of people are offering support. For example, someone offered to take free photos of my food for me for better marketing. I got some support from the local news stations to help get my name out there. I think people are starting to recognize some of the small Blackowned businesses, which is really important.”

All of the aforementioned Black business owners reported similar upticks in sales during Black Lives Matter protests last summer.

“People have been wanting to do something.”

Allens said. “Not everybody that cares about the

quality of Blacks, the quality of brown-skinned people and disenfranchised people is out there in the streets. If [they] can’t go out there and do that, then what else can [they] do?”

According to Allens, people have turned to minority business owners, who are historically marginalized, to create impact. “[Consumers] have known about this, and [they] haven’t done anything, but now what [they] want to do is say to [themselves], ‘Did I do something in this season of change, reform and justice?’” Allens said. “Did I do something to stand up?”

At MarieBette, Becton and his husband began to use Black Lives Matter stencils on their bread to show their support of the movement.

“We have had a lot of support, but we’ve also had people who’ve been very disappointed that we are supporting a ‘terrorist organization’ on our bread,” Becton said. “It’s kind of funny because most of the time people that complain, they’re not gonna complain to me. They’re gonna complain to somebody who’s white.”

As the Black Lives Matter movement brought into question this nation’s policing and justice systems, it also brought greater attention to the systemic struggles that Black people face in creating wealth and opportunity for themselves and their communities.

Starting a business is one of the few ways to create wealth for oneself and one’s family, and entrepreneurship provides employment opportunities, business to suppliers and products to customers.

Vinegar Hill, renamed East Main Street, was a Black business hub. Photo by Denise Brookman-Amissah.

However, the path to becoming an entrepreneur is littered with obstacles that are often wider and steeper for Black people.

One of the biggest barriers that Black Americans face in creating a business is funding. Many prospective business owners do not have family members or the community connections to support their venture, so they have to turn to banks to receive loans. However, these loans are often inaccessible due to issues of discrimination and insuffience financial knowledge.

“You can look at [the CARES Act] loans that came out,” said Sarad Davenport, the manager and digital strategist for Vinegar Hill Magazine. “They were designed for small business owners, but what it revealed is that there is a poor system around access to capital and that system needs to be revised so that [small business owners] can have more streamlined access to capital.”

Davenport works for Vinegar Hill Magazine, a literary magazine that has focused on highlighting marginalized communities in Charlottesville and surrounding areas for the past 10 years. They have also expanded to include a clothing line. Notably, one of their current clothing lines is a collaboration with Zyahna Bryant, a local community organizer and second-year College student.

The name of the Vinegar Hill Magazine offers a poignant example of the historic barriers Black Charlottesville residents have faced. Vinegar Hill was a thriving Black neighborhood and business hub in the mid-1900s, but it was bulldozed by the City of Charlottesville in the name of “urban renewal,” a term often used to describe municipalities clearing out inner city areas to make room for upper class housing and high-end businesses often at the expense of minority communities. Eddie Harris, the founder of Vinegar Hill Magazine, chose to name the magazine after the area “to lift up and commemorate that community and to also foster that entrepreneurial spirit,” Davenport said.

While explaining the issues small business owners face in securing financial support, Davenport emphasized that loans are just one piece of larger puzzle. Grants from the City are essential as they provide funding that does not need to be paid back. Davenport also identified venture capitalists and investors as other sources of capital to which Black communities often do not have ac-

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cess. These investors, who provide businesses with der-resourced entrepreneurs by providing networkstart-up money and long-term financial support, ing opportunities, start-up investment and training are often implicitly biased against entrepreneurs workshops. Their largest program is a 16-week of color and are unable to see the potential of their entrepreneurship workshop, after which particibusiness. pants get paired with a mentor and can apply for “Venture capitalists are not taking chances on micro-loans.

Black and other minority companies,” Davenport It is groups like CIC that close the gaps besaid. “We need to have more venture capital in this tween capital and mentorship that often prevent space. Not only that, I think more people of color members of marginalized communities from startneed to enter the venture capital space.” ing their own businesses.

However, capital is not useful unless one has “A lot of the loans [CIC provides] are loans that the rudimentary knowledge and mentorship to start a bank or traditional funding source would never a business. come close to,” said Waverly Davis, the director of “My husband worked for this woman, and the communications and engagement at CIC. “We’ve experience of opening up a restaurant with her was done about more than a million dollars in loans, extremely important for our being able to open up and with all that is happening with COVID, our a restaurant,” Becton said. “There aren’t a whole loan portfolio has grown super fast.” lot of Black-owned businesses in Charlottesville, Recently, the CIC secured funding from the and it’s hard to find good mentors.”

City of Charlottesville to provide grants of up to Mentors can provide technical assistance in $4,000 to support small businesses through the terms of taxes, financial accounting and business COVID-19 crisis. These grants seek to target busimanagement, but they also act as role models, nesses that employ a significant number of Chardemonstrating to others within their community lottesville residents or are located in low-income that entrepreneurship is accessible to everyone. areas.

“If you are at least allowed to see somebody Entrepreneurs who have gone through CIC’s have a go at it, then you can say to yourself, maybe 16-week workshop, they are then paired with a one day I can do it,” Anwar Allens said. mentor for six months. However, as Davis emphaStarting a business is a huge risk, and simply sized, these relationships often continue far past being exposed to others who are taking that risk their 6-month commitment. can provide invaluable courage. Each business “Entrepreneurship can be so isolating, and enowner interviewed for this piece recognized their role as a role model and mentor within the Charlottesville community.

“To me, simply participating in [vendor] events and being the first African American in some of these events is breaking down barriers,” Fortune explained.

Nonprofits in Charlottesville are working to bridge these gaps by connecting prospective entrepreneurs to the necessary mentorship and capital. The United Way of Greater Charlottesville is one of those organizations. It provides grants to minority-owned businesses and currently has a partnership with the Virginia 30 Day Fund to provide grants to help sustain small businesses during the pandemic.

Charlottesville’s Historic Downtown Mall is home to Similarly, the Charlottesville Investmany small businesses — most are white-owned. ment Collaborative aims to support unPhoto by Denise Brookman-Amissah.

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trepreneurs often feel alone in their entrepreneurial journey,” Davis said. “We give [them] an opportunity to connect with others who are in the same situation. I think it’s really important for entrepreneurs to have folks they can brainstorm with, that they can troubleshoot challenges with or that they can ask for various types of support.”

CIC is successful in what it’s set out to do — both Jenkins and Fortune went through CIC’s entrepreneurship workshop, and Becton has volunteered as a mentor. According to Davis, this success is because of the connections and support the Collaborative offers to all of its participants.

The technical education that the CIC offers is also valuable. The 16-week workshop helps entrepreneurs with not only large picture items like developing a business plan and customer base, but also minute things like accounting and taxes.

“We help make entrepreneurship and business ownership more attainable from the beginning,” Davis said.

Davis clearly cherished Charlottesville’s abundance of small businesses — which she saw as a key component of the City’s charm and ambiance.

“I think that small businesses are a huge piece of economic vibrancy and economic diversity,” Davis said. “They provide an experience to people living in the community to be able to engage with small businesses of all backgrounds, all colors and all offerings.”

Unfortunately, CIC isn’t able to address all of the challenges that minority and Black business owners face. On top of generational struggles around capital and mentorship, Black business owners are often underestimated and stereotyped.

“Sometimes when I go in to drop off the shortbread, and they say ‘tell the owners that I really love their shortbread,’” Allens said. “Sometimes I don’t even care, but sometimes I tell them that I’m the guy that bakes it….Most of the time, they will just say, ‘I love [your shortbread] so much.’ Because we are in 2020, it’s not too far-fetched for a brother to be making shortbread.”

Black Americans disproportionately experience microaggressions in which they are treated with less respect and less courtesy by others. A recent survey by Gallup reported that 32 percent of Black adults are regularly treated as lesser by another person compared to 21 percent of Latinx adults and 17 percent of Asian adults. While mi-

“There are times where people will come in, and they don’t believe I’m the owner.”

croaggressions are often unconscious actions, their impact is not lessened by their intent.

Like Allens, Becton also described having experienced microaggressions.

“There are times where people will come in, and they don’t believe I’m the owner,” Becton said.

“Or if I have people coming in, I’ll greet them, and they’ll look beyond me and look to speak to one of my white employees. Most of the time, I don’t let it get to me, but they are these little kinds of injuries.”

Allens’ and Becton’s experience is common among Black business owners. Wholesalers and consumers are sometimes surprised or confused to see a Black-business owner, especially when the product or service they are providing isn’t historically supplied by Black people. These microaggressions can be detrimental to mental and physical health.

While Black entrepreneurs, with the help of supporters like the CIC, are working to overcome the barriers they face, it is clear that there is still more progress to be made. In spite of these challenges, the achievements these business owners have seen are all the more impressive. These entrepreneurs have been able to surpass barriers of intergenerational wealth disparities and racism to establish successful and long-lasting businesses.

While their specific experiences are varied and unique, they all share a deep love and passion for their work.

“It’s been hard, it hasn’t been easy,” Jenkins said. “But it’s been fun and this is what I enjoy — it’s what makes me happy. So, I’m in it for the long run, there’s no stopping here. I didn’t realize I would be where I’m at today.”

When asked what they would tell other aspiring entrepreneurs, they emphasized that same passion.

“Don’t be afraid if this is something that you truly believe in,” Fortune said. “Not everybody is ready to be an entrepreneur, but if you feel it, go for it.”

www.cavalierdaily.com/section/magazine 41

THE CAVALIER DAILY Managing Board Editor-In-Chief Jenn Brice

Managing Editor Carolyn Lane Executive Editor Zack Pasciak Operations Manager Ankit Agrawal Chief Financial Officer Malcolm Mashig

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Assistant Managing Editors Isabel Barney Pauline Povitsky (SA) Nicole Freeman (SA) Morgan Kemp (SA) Hanna Preston (SA) Grace Eberhardt (SA) Lana Kweon Magazine Editors Vani Agarwal Kyndal Harrison Photo Editors Ariana Gueranmayeh Khuyen Dinh Graphics Editors Anisha Hossain Martha Wilding Production Editors Ethan Fingerhut Noah Holloway Flora Kim Website Manager Shruthi Nyshadham Social Media Managers Begum Genc Isabel Carino

42 abCD Magazine