Saturday, Aug. 24, community members are invited to attend “Buy Back The Block,” a conversation about food justice and the Black community in Fifeville, as well as the possibility of a grocery store on Cherry Avenue.
The event is part of the “Can I Talk To You C-Ville?” series, hosted by Vinegar Hill Magazine, In My Humble Opinion Talk Show, and the Fifeville Neighborhood Association. It will take place at the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center at 233 4th Street NW from noon to 2 p.m., and lunch will be served. It is free and open to the public.
The panelists will be:
- Dorenda Johnson, lifelong Fifeville resident;
- Jalane Schmidt, a local activist who is also a religious studies professor at the University of Virginia and director of the Memory Project at UVA’s Karsh Institute for Democracy;
- and Aleen Carey, executive director of Cultivate Charlottesville. (Full disclosure, Carey is Charlottesville Tomorrow’s board chair, but has no say in our editorial decisions. Here is our editorial independence policy.)
Together, they will talk about the history of the Black community in Fifeville, including its role in food justice in Charlottesville.
Woodard Properties and Piedmont Housing Alliance, the developers of the 501 Cherry Avenue project in Fifeville, say they will try to include a grocery store as part of the development, which will also include affordable housing and office space for nonprofit organizations including the Music Resource Center and Twice is Nice.
Read more about that project, and the Fifeville neighborhood’s involvement in it, here.
In addition to the panel discussion, there will be a Q&A and a feedback session for community members to say what they want and need from a grocery store on Cherry Avenue.
Take Action
The Can I Talk To You C-Ville? Buy Back The Block event, featuring a Q&A with Fifeville residents and activists about food justice and a grocery store at 501 Cherry Avenue will take place at the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center at 233 4th Street NW from noon to 2 p.m., and lunch will be served. It is free and open to the public. Register for the event here.
The first two events in the Can I Talk To You C-Ville? series, one about housing and development in Charlottesville and the other about mental health, drew dozens of attendees. Missed them? Listen to the discussions on Vinegar Hill Magazine’s YouTube channel.
While we can’t cover every story that’s important to you, we do our best to be responsive to your needs. We use tips from readers to choose which stories to cover, to incorporate information into broader reports or to help us decide how to grow Charlottesville Tomorrow. Here’s where you can tell us what you think we should be covering.
More about the Fifeville neighborhood
One of the oldest and most dense neighborhoods of Charlottesville, Fifeville has been changed by the expansion of UVA
Especially in recent years, people with higher incomes have moved in.
Fifeville residents got a say in a private developer’s plans by making an unusual agreement
The resulting project is designed to give low income residents jobs, services and affordable housing. And the developer will earn “much less” profit because of it.
Fifeville residents restore a long forgotten trail system that enables pedestrians to safely bypass 5th Street
The short trail was already a well-used shortcut for Prospect Avenue residents.
Commentary/Opinion: Charlottesville’s proposed Land Use Map is first step toward remedying the past
I am a lifelong resident of Charlottesville who grew up in the Vinegar Hill neighborhood before it was destroyed. I have been disappointed in recent weeks by reactions from Charlottesville residents to the proposed land use map.
In My Humble Opinion hosts conversations about big changes on the horizon for Fifeville
Charlottesville Tomorrow reporter Erin O’Hare will be on air this Sunday to get the series about a changing neighborhood going.
More local News
Get central Virginia news texts, straight to your phone
Sign up for our new, free messaging service by texting GETLOCAL to (434) 622-8062.
‘Can I Talk to you Cville’ wants to hear from Charlottesville’s young people
A Nov. 14 event encourages residents in grades 6-12 to have discussions about their future and topics that matter most to them.
Most central Virginia counties voted down a local sales tax for new school construction
“We’re not done trying to get this to pass,” said Kelly Greer, member of the Greene County School Board. “We’re allowed to have it on a future ballot and so that’s what we’re going to do.”
Albemarle County School Board to host two more town halls in early November
The meetings follow the arrests of two ACPS administrators and a former principal for failure to report child abuse.
Judge dismisses most claims in UVA Health lawsuit, allows others alleging workplace retaliation to proceed
The ruling comes a year after the lawsuit was filed and nearly two years after UVA Health faculty raised concerns about patient safety, workplace retaliation and leadership practices.
