Systems of Strength and Silence: How Local Communities Work Towards Rights Recognition

Presentation Location

David Student Union: Washington Room

Document Type

Event

Start Date

14-3-2024 4:00 PM

End Date

14-3-2024 6:00 PM

Description

(Julia Ashworth, Session Chair)

    • Julia Ashworth (The College of William & Mary). Shining Light on the Brown Grove Community: Social Media as a Mode of Promoting Solidarity in Protest
      As a result of a long history riddled with colonial narratives and anti-Black racism, corporate and state powers have continually silenced many of the marginalized communities that they serve. This research interrogates how solidarities are formed within communities as these external pressures more greatly emphasize internal division based on generational differences. My research centers on the small, historic Black community of Brown Grove located north of Richmond, Virginia, whose members had recently lost their battle to stop the construction of a large Wegmans distribution center. Drawing on theorists who study the spread of information online and the role it can play in promoting activism, this research juxtaposes the national stage with current events in Brown Grove. Some social scientific literature theorizes that successful protest is drawn from the teachings of the older generation. However, an anthropological lens emphasizes the role of younger generations in creating and maintaining successful protest as a result of social media use, in efforts to promote solidarities and change common community narratives. I conclude that despite the complexities present within online activism, Brown Grove’s protest movement has illustrated the power of social media in bringing people together and can set an example for grassroots activism worldwide.
    • Victoria Gum (The College of William & Mary). Community-Driven Archaeology at the First Baptist Church: Confronting the Past While Working Towards the Future
      Recent excavations at the First Baptist Church site in Williamsburg, Virginia, have illuminated significant information about the site, most notably the presence of over 60 burials. However, the First Baptist site also provides an opportunity to literally excavate the history of our own discipline. I examine the history of archaeological research at the First Baptist site from 1956 to present and its contrasting deployments: first to erase the First Baptist community from the museum landscape and, seventy years later, to uncover and memorialize that same history. I discuss the creation of physical and symbolic landscapes within the museum and the ways in which Black history was displaced during the creation of Colonial Williamsburg. I then examine the ongoing, community-driven archaeological project which is resituating the site within the visible historical landscape. In the past five years, the project has garnered national and international attention as an example of ethical, community-engaged research. However, there is still much work to be done in the pursuit of a truly ethical, reconciliatory archaeology – and the key is listening to and working with descendants.
    • Ginny Helmandollar (The College of William & Mary). “Act as a strong advocate…”: An Anthropological Analysis of United States Human Rights Commissions
      Although Human Rights Commissions across the United States carry the 17 same labels, their exact roles within their communities is largely inconsistent. Existing literature focuses on the development of Commissions, but not the personal experience of individuals associated with these bodies, especially newer Commissions in smaller localities. An anthropological lens helps explore the variation of these institutions’ purposes and conceptions surrounding human rights on a local level. I use ethnographic fieldwork, discourse analysis of human rights documents, and interviews with Human Rights Commission-affiliated participants to examine this subject while anchoring my research in my own work with the Charlottesville Office of Human Rights and Human Rights Commission. This paper will address the causes of burnout observable in many Commissions, factors that contribute to successful Commissions, and how human rights bodies define human rights on a local level. Through this analysis, I seek to offer context and solutions to the issues of impact that some U.S. local-level human rights bodies experience.
    • Atanya and Zaki Lewis (Brown Grove descendent community members) Ms. Atanya Lewis and her son Zaki Lewis are members of the Brown Grove Preservation Group, a grassroots activist movement designed to promote environmental justice and historic preservation within their rural, historic Black community called Brown Grove.
    • Connie Harshaw (First Baptist Church descendent community member) Ms. Connie Harshaw is the president of the Let Freedom Ring foundation, which serves as an avenue to preserve the history and legacy of the First Baptist Church as a part of understanding Williamsburg’s greater history.

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Mar 14th, 4:00 PM Mar 14th, 6:00 PM

Systems of Strength and Silence: How Local Communities Work Towards Rights Recognition

David Student Union: Washington Room

(Julia Ashworth, Session Chair)

    • Julia Ashworth (The College of William & Mary). Shining Light on the Brown Grove Community: Social Media as a Mode of Promoting Solidarity in Protest
      As a result of a long history riddled with colonial narratives and anti-Black racism, corporate and state powers have continually silenced many of the marginalized communities that they serve. This research interrogates how solidarities are formed within communities as these external pressures more greatly emphasize internal division based on generational differences. My research centers on the small, historic Black community of Brown Grove located north of Richmond, Virginia, whose members had recently lost their battle to stop the construction of a large Wegmans distribution center. Drawing on theorists who study the spread of information online and the role it can play in promoting activism, this research juxtaposes the national stage with current events in Brown Grove. Some social scientific literature theorizes that successful protest is drawn from the teachings of the older generation. However, an anthropological lens emphasizes the role of younger generations in creating and maintaining successful protest as a result of social media use, in efforts to promote solidarities and change common community narratives. I conclude that despite the complexities present within online activism, Brown Grove’s protest movement has illustrated the power of social media in bringing people together and can set an example for grassroots activism worldwide.
    • Victoria Gum (The College of William & Mary). Community-Driven Archaeology at the First Baptist Church: Confronting the Past While Working Towards the Future
      Recent excavations at the First Baptist Church site in Williamsburg, Virginia, have illuminated significant information about the site, most notably the presence of over 60 burials. However, the First Baptist site also provides an opportunity to literally excavate the history of our own discipline. I examine the history of archaeological research at the First Baptist site from 1956 to present and its contrasting deployments: first to erase the First Baptist community from the museum landscape and, seventy years later, to uncover and memorialize that same history. I discuss the creation of physical and symbolic landscapes within the museum and the ways in which Black history was displaced during the creation of Colonial Williamsburg. I then examine the ongoing, community-driven archaeological project which is resituating the site within the visible historical landscape. In the past five years, the project has garnered national and international attention as an example of ethical, community-engaged research. However, there is still much work to be done in the pursuit of a truly ethical, reconciliatory archaeology – and the key is listening to and working with descendants.
    • Ginny Helmandollar (The College of William & Mary). “Act as a strong advocate…”: An Anthropological Analysis of United States Human Rights Commissions
      Although Human Rights Commissions across the United States carry the 17 same labels, their exact roles within their communities is largely inconsistent. Existing literature focuses on the development of Commissions, but not the personal experience of individuals associated with these bodies, especially newer Commissions in smaller localities. An anthropological lens helps explore the variation of these institutions’ purposes and conceptions surrounding human rights on a local level. I use ethnographic fieldwork, discourse analysis of human rights documents, and interviews with Human Rights Commission-affiliated participants to examine this subject while anchoring my research in my own work with the Charlottesville Office of Human Rights and Human Rights Commission. This paper will address the causes of burnout observable in many Commissions, factors that contribute to successful Commissions, and how human rights bodies define human rights on a local level. Through this analysis, I seek to offer context and solutions to the issues of impact that some U.S. local-level human rights bodies experience.
    • Atanya and Zaki Lewis (Brown Grove descendent community members) Ms. Atanya Lewis and her son Zaki Lewis are members of the Brown Grove Preservation Group, a grassroots activist movement designed to promote environmental justice and historic preservation within their rural, historic Black community called Brown Grove.
    • Connie Harshaw (First Baptist Church descendent community member) Ms. Connie Harshaw is the president of the Let Freedom Ring foundation, which serves as an avenue to preserve the history and legacy of the First Baptist Church as a part of understanding Williamsburg’s greater history.