Events are typically updated at the beginning of each month. See also Local News, WVU News, Regional News, and Calendar
Our monthly meetings are held via Zoom at present and generally occur every third Tuesday of the month at 7:30 p.m.
Our next CCSJ meeting will be on Zoom on Tuesday, July 16th, at 7:30 p.m. All are welcome.
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“Celebrating the 60th Anniversary of the Civil Rights Act of 1964” exhibit opened on July 2nd with a gathering from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. on the second floor of the Morgantown Public Library.
Eve Faulkes designed the exhibit and the accompanying graphic novel. It tells the story of this seminal act that was signed into law on July 2, 1964, and that banned discrimination based on race, color, sex, religion, and national origin in places of public accommodation, like theatres and restaurants. It also highlights activists and trailblazers advancing human rights and civil rights in the arts, athletics, politics, etc. Learn about local activists like Charlene Marshall, Al Anderson, Duane Nichols, and Don Spencer, as well as West Virginians like Freedom Rider Joan Browning and musician Bill Withers.
After an initial social gathering from 6:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. we had 50 minutes of presentations and music. Eve first talked about the exhibit and then introduced various people featured in the graphic novel. The first was Al Anderson, who sang a song. He is featured in Chapter 1 of the novel. Second was John Gaddis, who talked about this father, John Watson, a Tuskagee Airman, and who is in Chapter 2. Third was Dayna Pratt, the president of the WVU NAACP, and who is in Chapter 3, And lastly, Reita Marks, whose father's life was saved by a Black coal miner, and who housed over 40 students attending WVU at no cost, inspired by her White New Jersey friends who housed African delegates from the United Nations during segregation. This was a topic for Chapter 4 of the novel. Finally, Al Anderson, Aristotle Jones, and their gospel group gave us some songs. There was plenty of snack food. Over 50 people came. Below are three pictures from the event, including the displays, the singers, and the graphic novel. There is a video of the gathering on YouTube. Also, Eve Faulkes was interviewed on WDTV. The video is here.
Don Spencer and Susan Brown did background research for the exhibit. Joan Browning and Barb Howe were editors. The City of Morgantown and First Presbyterian Church have contributed funds for the exhibit. FirstEnergy Foundation provided funds to make copies of the graphic novel. We appreciate the support of the staff of the Morgantown Public Library, the Morgantown Human Rights Commission, and the City of Morgantown/Kingwood Branch of the NAACP.
The exhibit will be available on the second floor of the library throughout July during regular library hours: 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday to Thursday and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday and Saturday. It will then move to MultiFest in Charleston from August 1 to 4 and to the Charleston YWCA.
Eve Faulkes is organizing related activities at the Farmers Market Pavilion on Spruce Street for Saturday, July 13, from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. The flyer for that event is attached to this Update. The goal is to encourage conversations. The format will be having groups of four people participate in an active listening experience “where each hears the other’s truth in reaction to a prompt on the table” based on the posters of exhibit panels or the graphic novel. You can write your thoughts on the tablecloth and then rotate to other tables. Your anonymous thoughts may become part of the exhibit. Sign up for a seat at the table by texting or emailing Eve at faulkeseve@gmail.com or 304-692-1116 for more details.
We then plan to make the graphic novel available on our website.
All are welcome. Details will be forthcoming, but save the date now. This will be our annual meeting so will include a very short business meeting, but our main purpose is a chance to get together in person and socialize.
CCSJ signed on to a press release June 26 from West Virginia Housing Justice and other organizations anticipating grants pass decision. Morgantown Pride and Project Rainbow also signed on to celebrate the Obergefell v. Hodges anniversary that legalized same sex marriages and caution about the consequences of City of Grants Pass v. Johnson , a case before the US Supreme Court that dealt with punishing homeless people for sleeping in public places.
The release said, “Celebrating marriage equality under a landmark Supreme Court ruling, we now confront a critical threat to those protected by Obergefell. LGBTQI+ individuals, who are disproportionately at risk of homelessness, face potential criminalization of homelessness in Grants Pass, Oregon, in a US Supreme Court decision.” On Friday, June 28, the Court ruled in favor of Grants Pass.
The CCSJ hosted a Social and Environmental Justice gathering on Sunday, April 21st, 2024, from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. at the First Presbyterian Church at 456 Spruce Street in Morgantown. It was a gathering of local social and environmental justice groups, including a pot-luck dinner, followed by a group discussions of various social and environmental justice issues. Groups were invited to bring and display their publicity materials. At the end representatives of the various groups reported on what their group had concluded. We were pleased to welcome two graduate students from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism who were in West Virginia to look at why West Virginia has the lowest percentage of young people who vote.
Thank you to Eve Faulkes and Reverend Zac Morton for facilitating our use of the church rooms and to everyone who contributed to this event, including all who brought food, who attended, and the members of the CCSJ who worked hard to arrange everything.
Below are three pictures of the event, showing the CCSJ table, the discussion groups, and the food.
We will be a bronze-level sponsor of the Block Party
although we will not be attending in person. Details about the Block Party are below.
Don Spencer, a CCSJ member, gave a presentation at the February 20th, 2024 CCSJ monthly meeting on Zoom. He talked about his social action and civil rights work over the years. An audio recording is available here, and a pdf transcript is here. We sincerely thank Don for all his efforts to make Morgantown a better place!
Duane Nichols', then a CCSJ member, gave a presentation at the January 16th, 2024 CCSJ monthly meeting on Zoom. He talked about his efforts in his youth to promote and fight for civil rights. This was done in Delaware, and included picketing in Wilmington, organizing boycotts, testing restaurants for discrimination, and more. During that time he was arrrested three times. We thank Duane for all of his efforts. Sadly, he recently passed. We shall miss him. A video of his presentation is available on YouTube.
Susan Brown, a long-term member of our group, wrote a letter on behalf of the group that was published in the Dominion Post newspaper on January 14, 2024. It reminded us of the good things that Dr. King had done, including his efforts towards getting the Civil Rights Act published in 1964. The letter can be viewed here.
Please send your web site suggestions to Mike Attfield at mdattfieldo@gmail.com. Please contact any of the steering committee members to volunteer to help and to share your suggestions for our work or e-mail us at ccsjwv@gmail.com. Please send items to share with our membership to Barb Howe at barbara.howe@mail.wvu.edu.
Please also remember to send your dues - $10 for individuals and $25 for organizations – to CCSJ, PO Box 160, Morgantown, WV 26507-0160. You can join or donate by credit card via PayPal on this web site. Go to Join Us.
Please note that CCSJ is a 501 (c) (3) organization and therefore is non-partisan. While we encourage everyone to vote and participate in the political process, we do not endorse candidates, provide a forum for candidates to campaign, or publicize partisan political statements.
FIND US ON FACEBOOK! Just look for “Community Coalition for Social Justice” under “Groups” and become our friend. Thanks to Mike Sharley for being our group “leader.”