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Blacksburg Vigil for Charlottesville

The Coalition for Justice in Blacksburg held a vigil against hate yesterday in solidarity with counter protesters in Charlottesville. 

Some 250 people showed up for a peaceful march in this Virginia College town, 2 hours south of Charlottesville. Many said they were there because they’re worried about the rise of racial hatred in the United States. Ryan Wesdock is student leader of the Green Party at Virginia Tech. He’s called a community meeting for Monday night to discuss how to be proactive in bringing about change.

“There are policies in VA and all over the country that these protesters are happy to see and we need to actively challenge that through the ballot box.”

Meanwhile, Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe spent Sunday continuing his condemnations of white supremacists’ protestors.

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After Saturday’s tragedy in Charlottesville, where violence broke out and people were killed in connection with a protest by white supremacists, Margaret Breslau of the Blacksburg Coalition for Justice put out the word there’d be a vigil in solidarity with the victims.

Some 250 people showed up in Blacksburg yesterday for a peaceful protest. They carried handmade signs calling out the attackers and those who preach racial hatred.

Breslau says, now it’s time to move beyond protest marches to the hard work of making real change.

“Protest is one component. The other component is, you act.  Look at your communities. What can we do in our community to do movement building so that we can move forward?”  

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A community meeting is set for 6pm Monday in the Blacksburg Community Room for people to talk about what kind of plan should be put in place to keep something like what happened in Charlottesville, from happening there.

Robbie Harris is based in Blacksburg, covering the New River Valley and southwestern Virginia.