Patricia Bracknell, President of Hamptons Roads Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Patricia has advocated for local families and communities, helping them fight discriminatory practices and injustices in Hampton Roads. She will discuss what her members are experiencing in the face of increased ICE activities and potential deportations.
Website: https://www.hispanicprogress.org

Finale Norton - Black History Spotlight
Theme: ‘African Americans and Labor’ The theme was developed by the Association for the Study of African American Life and History. Finale Norton will take it to its viral moment during the 2024 election, which she calls the evolution of “The Black Job.” The story of African Americans' “Black Job” done without pay or humanity to the “Black Job” of leading the free world.

Guests:
Steve Phillips, founder of Democracy in Color, is a New York Times bestselling author. He is the host of "Democracy in Color with Steve Phillips," a color-conscious political podcast, and founder of Democracy in Color, a multimedia platform on race and politics. Steve Phillips is a national political leader, bestselling author, and columnist. He is the author of The New York Times bestseller Brown Is the New White: How the Demographic Revolution Has Created a New American Majority and the newly released national bestselling book How We Win the Civil War: Securing a Multiracial Democracy and Ending White Supremacy for Good.

Kirsten Miller - author & founder of Substack Watch Your Back focusing on looking out for women and girls. Because our media is broken, and the threats against women are real in America, Kirsten founded Watch Your Back to “help us gather reliable information, focus our attention, and know when to act” to protect our rights. Since her first book “Kiki”about a band of six delinquent girl scouts who discover a secret city beneath Manhattan and end up saving the world, Kirsten has written over 15 books. “Lula Dean’s Little Library of Banned Books” published in June, 2024 tackled the serious issue of book banning through humor and delicious satire. Her latest book, “The Women of Wild Hill” is a witty, spectacular, and timely tale of modern-day witches waging war on the patriarchy.

Tom Bonier,CEO of The TARA Group and Senior Advisor at TargetSmart Brian Rolling, Founder and Chief Video Officer, MurMur Impact at MurMurs Substack Jennifer Boysko, VA Senator Jennifer Boysko who will update us on the Virginia Constitutional Amendment (had a floor vote, could not attend) Spotlight ERA Kati Hornung, Executive Director of Vote Equality US

*Tom Bonier, CEO of The TARA Group and Senior Advisor at TargetSmart Website: https://targetsmart.com Tom on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/tbonier.bsky... Substack: https://tombonier.substack.com/about

*Brian Rolling, Founder and Chief Video Officer, MurMur Impact at MurMurs Substack: https://murmurimpact.substack.com Website: https://www.murmurimpact.com

*Kati Hornung, Executive Director of Vote Equality US Website: https://voteequality.us Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/voteequalityus.bsky.social

GUESTS:
Rev. Cozy Bailey, President VA NAACP, and President of the Prince William County Chapter, NAACP. Rev. Bailey will discuss the VA NAACP's legislative priorities for the 2025 legislative session. As a civil rights leader, he will discuss the NAACP's historic role in standing up for Black communities and our most vulnerable. People are anxious and terrified of what will come after, so Rev. Bailey will prepare us by leaning into the history of our civil rights leaders.
Website: https://naacpva.org/

Lisa Gilbert, co-president Public Citizen. Public Citizen has been charging forward to activate and build impactful plans that will limit the damage Trump and his cronies can inflict upon millions of Americans, our democracy, our planet, and everyone on it. Lisa will discuss the three key areas of their plan. You don’t want to miss the organization that punches way above their weight.
Website: https://www.citizen.org/

Sophia Leticia Gregg, Senior Immigrants’ Rights Attorney, ACLU VA, will update us on what the ACLU VA is doing to address bad bills like the Larken Riley Act, the Save Act, and other policies and actions proposed by the new Administration. We will learn how the ACLU is preparing to counter any unconstitutional actions like mass detention and deportation.
Website:https://www.acluva.org/

The VGC is an active hub for grassroots activists working together on electoral and legislative advocacy and actions. The VGC has an active Legislative Working Group centered on supporting and advocating for the policy of their interest area.

The Press Conference is an opportunity to hear from the working group leaders and the legislators championing the bills.

Moderated by Dr. Luisa Boyarski, leader of VGC & Director, Center for Public and Nonprofit Leadership and Faculty Professor at Georgetown University.

Virginia Grassroots Coalition Working Group Leaders:

Elected participating to date by video or live:

Jess Piper - Rural Badass As we roll into 2025, we know that it will be challenging. That is why we invited rural badass Jess Piper, Executive Director at Blue Missouri and Substack author of "The View from Rural Missouri," to join us on January 3, 2025, at noon ET. Jess has reminded us that she and others in red states have been under the rule of right-wing fascism for some time now. We can learn from Jess the best ways to keep moving forward and to punch back to win. Check out Jess Piper's articles here.

Luisa Boyarski - Virginia Grassroots Coalition Leader for the Grassroots Update The Virginia Grassroots Coalition is the hub of action for activists in Virginia. This New Year, Luisa will update us on Virginia’s elections including the special election on January 7, 2025; the Virginia General Assembly first day of Session, lobby days and what to expect. She will also cover the importance of Constitutional Amendments and the Budget.

New Year’s Resolutions from Rural Badesses with Lynlee Thorne and Jess Piper Our final segment called New Year’s Resolutions from Rural Badasses, we will welcome Lynlee Thorne in the conversation along with Jess Piper, Finale Norton and Katherine White. Typically, resolutions focus on getting healthy or setting aspirational goals. We will take on the New Year with some badass resolutions and common sense resolute ideas from a rural activist point of view.