The following information concerning state-wide and area news, events, and activities is updated at the beginning of each calendar month. Please check with the originating organization to check on possible cancellations or changes that might have occurred since they were originally posted here. See Local News for non-CCSJ events and activities organized and/or occurring in the Morgantown area. See WVU News for Social and Environmental Justice related activties and events organized or occurring at West Virginia University.
NOW is focusing on encouraging people to register and vote this year and also supporting the equal rights amendment and abortion. For more information, go to their Facebook page or email Amanda Ray, the state NOW president, at amandajray@yahoo.com. There is a new NOW chapter starting in Huntington. The kickoff will be an “Unhappy Hour” with Barbara Evans Fleischauer on Tuesday, September 24th.
Morgantown 1st Roper Romp Bar Crawl: This is on Friday, September 27, 2024, 5:00 p.m. in Downtown Morgantown. Enjoy food and drink through the Morgantown Mile Private Outdoor Designated Area (PODA). Dress in your favorite caftan or as Helen called it, your 'house dress.' Stanleys, Furleys, Chrissys, Janets, Larrys and, of course, Jack Trippers are welcome! After crawling through downtown (and stopping for a picture with the Don Knotts statue), enjoy music at the Brew Pub and giveaways with Spike Nesmith of the Breakfast Show with Colin and Spike at 8 p.m. All ticket sales benefit the West Virginia Chapter of the National Organization for Women. More information may be forthcoming here.
See more about ACLU West Virginia here or Facebook. Email them at mail@acluwv.org.
The ACLU opposes Amendment 1 that will be on the West Virginia ballot this fall. According to their website, “Amendment 1 would change the West Virginia Constitution to prohibit ‘the practice of medically assisted suicide, euthanasia, or mercy killing of a person.’ Cynically, the proposed amendment concludes by stating that this does not prohibit the practice of capital punishment.” For more information, please go tohttps://www.acluwv.org/en/news/life-and-death-ballot-vote-no-amendment-1-november.
Executive Director Search Still Open: The ACLU of West Virginia is searching for a new executive director through Axis Talent Partners. The position description and application are available here. The website says applicants are encouraged to submit their applications by August 9. There is an open rolling application, but candidates who submit before August 9th are likely to be in the first round of reviews by the search committee.
Fairness West Virginia is a civil rights advocacy organtization dedicated to the fair and equal treatment of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender West Virginians.
“ Our Annual Gala is Quickly Approaching! A Night in Monte Carlo, September 21, 2024, Charleston, WV: “Fairness West Virginia Institute is dedicated to education and advocacy on behalf of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer West Virginians and their allies. Fairness presents an annual fundraiser gala each year in the fall to recognize and celebrate the progress toward full equality in the Mountain State.
“Join us for an unforgettable evening where diversity and inclusivity take center stage. Roll the dice, spin the wheel, and revel in the thrill of A Night in Monte Carlo, all in support of a noble cause. Every chip you play, every dance you share, fuels our mission to foster love, acceptance, and equality for the entire LGBTQ+ community. Indulge in an elegant atmosphere, savor delectable cuisine, and dance the night away to celebrate love in all its forms. Together, let’s raise the stakes for a brighter, more inclusive tomorrow. Your presence makes a difference; your joy makes it unforgettable.
“So we’re excited to invite you to this year’s A Night in Monte Carlo! Join us on Sept. 21, 2024 at Embassy Suites in Charleston as we dance the night away. This black tie-optional party will help us celebrate our efforts to make the Mountain State a better place for LGBTQ+ people to live, work and raise a family. We’ll have food, music, dancing, and a silent auction. See you at the Gala where everyone’s a winner!”
You can buy tickets here. Sponsor information is available here.
Supporters can book discounted rooms ($139/night) at Embassy Suites. To get the discount, book your room by September 5. Book Online: Visit Embassy Suite's website and book your room like normal. Set the date of your stay, select "special rates," and enter the code "929." Book by Phone: Call 304-347-8700 and select “reservations" from the menu. Give the reservationist the code "929."
Fairness has also announced that “As summer break comes to a close and students head back to the classroom, our team is proud to be in the third year of our Safe & Healthy Schools Initiative. With this program, we're working all year round to make sure LGBTQ+ youth can learn and grow in the kind of supportive classrooms all students deserve.
“We got the idea to start the Safe & Healthy Schools Initiative during the COVID-19 pandemic. As schools closed that year, dozens and dozens of parents, teachers and volunteers reached out to us with concerns about a young person in their life who is a member of the LGBTQ+ community. They were managing feelings of isolation, feeling burdened by a national campaign of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation, or struggling at home. We realized that West Virginia had a crisis on its hands, and we wanted to help.
“Research from GLSEN showed that, in 2021, 70 percent of LGBTQ+ students in our state experienced at least one form of anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination at school. Most teachers in our state want all students to feel safe and supported at school, but they don't always have the resources or skills to make that happen. That's where we come in.
“In 2022, Paula Kerner, a longtime Kanawha County educator and veteran GSA sponsor, joined our team to officially launch the Safe & Healthy Schools Initiative. She spends her time traveling across the state training educators on how to make their classrooms more inclusive, how to address bullying and harassment, and how to encourage a vibrant student life that encourages everyone to be their best.
“Our annual gala is one crucial way that you can help fund Paula's work to make our schools more safe and supportive for LGBTQ+ students.”
Fairness West Virginia has a calendar of state-wide PRIDE events here.
Follow Fairness West Virginia on Facebook.
The WVTC is a grassroots organization that works to ensure the wellbeing, safety and lived equity of all trans, nonbinary, and gender expansive community members within the state of West Virginia.”
The 2024 West Virginia Black Heritage Festival will be held September 6th, 7th and 8th, 2024
For more information, please go their Facebook page.
Power of One, Legends of PRIDE. Save the Date, November 16, 2024
This group organized in December 2021 in Charleston “to illuminate the experiences of LGBTQ+ people of color in West Virginia and provide them with a safe space of fellowship,” according to a story in the Juneteenth edition of Black By God: The West Virginian. For more information, email WVBPfoundation@outlook.com or Kasha@wvpfoundation.com.
According to its website, “We are an emerging news and storytelling organization centering Black voices from the Mountain State. We provide a more nuanced portrayal of the Black experience in the Appalachian region.” Crystal Good is the editor/publisher/founder of Black By God.
There is a weekly online edition and a quarterly print edition.
To contact Black by God, email Info@Blackbygod.org or call 304-207-0352. The mailing address is 2156 University Ave. Suite 400, Morgantown, WV, 26505. To make a tax-deductible donation, go to blackbygod.org/donate.
The 2024 West Virginia Black Heritage Festival will be held September 6th, 7th and 8th, at Clarksburg, WV
Friday September 6, 2024
Annual Kelly Miller / West Virginia Black Heritage Festival Golf Tournament: 8:00am Registration at the Bel Meadow Golf Club
Saturday September 7, 2024
Opening Ceremonies 12:00 PM
Byron Cooper MC All Day
West Side Rhythm and Blues 1:15 PM
Lady D (West Virginia's First Lady of Soul) 2:45 PM
Balafon West African Dancers 3:30 PM
Forever Yours - O'Jays Tribute 4:15 PM
The Franchise Band 5:30 PM
Invincible: A Glorious Tribute to Michael Jackson 7:30 PM
Flight 66 Featuring Byron Cooper 9:30 PM
For more information and to register for the golf tournament on Friday, September 6, go here.
Justice & Jubilee is a movement for liberation, rooted in progressive Christianity and born in WV. They are a founding partner of the WV Collective, and they’ve got an incredible thing coming your way. A new series airing next month. Black women make up 1.5% - 2.5 % of the State’s population. A small but vibrant group, they are often overlooked and unheard. We believe that the least heard people have the most important things to say.
Spilling The Black Girl Tea: “Spilling The Black Girl Tea: Unfiltered Stories from the heart of Appalachia” is a multi-media, anti-racism project uplifting the experiences and work of Black women who call West Virginia home. The storytellers in the project are 17 Black girls and women raging in age from 16 to 80, candidly sharing their experiences in candid conversations. The participants are students, community leaders, educators, advocates, activists, and entrepreneurs who are talking about what matters to them most. Some of these women are long-time friends. Some have just met for the first time. All of them are telling their stories their way. This limited, four-episode series is set to launch on Monday, September 9, and each of the following Mondays throughout September. You can watch the episodes on, Justice and Jubilee You Tube Channeland listen on The Accidental Tomatoes Podcast. Subscribers to the Justice & Jubilee email list will gain exclusive, early access to the weekly episodes. Watch you inboxes throughout the month of September, as Justice & Jubilee will deliver each weekly episode at the top of the week to its subscribers. If you are not subscribed to their email list, update your email preferences with us. Follow Justice & Jubilee on social media to see who’s involved in the conversations and what they’re talking about. Follow Justice & Jubilee on Facebook, Instagram, and X/Twitter. Visit the Black Girl Tea website. Funding for this project is provided by Justice & Jubilee, the ACLU of West Virginia, the United Methodist Foundation of West Virginia , and the Groundwork Project.