Danielle's activism

Danielle wrote: "How do you tell a man serving life in prison that everything is okay? When you know that you both know damn well nothing is okay, or will ever be okay. And that is made as certain as death. He has all the time in the world, the same amount of time that you and I have, but our times are binary stars. Even with all this time in front of us and in between us, neither of us can wrap our heads around the fact the rest of it will be filled by him being in there and me being out here. I read Brothers and Keepers and it reminded me of my favorite book, The Stranger. Except one is real and the other is made up, but both end the same way. With an absurd and arbitrary, man-made decision of fate to a death sentence. Neither book ended in such a way that would leave room for catharsis. And that’s real life. There are people locked away for their whole damned lives, and there is no room for catharsis. No relief of emotion, no room to brush it off and walk away, thankful for the expected happy ending that never will come out of this kind of story."

Danielle wrote: "I first became passionate about fighting mass incarceration during the summer in 2016 when I was exposed to the unjust ways in which white privilege works. I was with two friends of mine, both African American males. I was the only one who had a car and a license, but I was intoxicated, so I asked one of my friends to drive us. We got pulled over for making a U-turn, although we did not see any signs saying it was illegal. Once we pulled over, the police asked the driver to get out of the car and walk in a straight line, which he did successfully. When they asked to breathalyze him, he refused, which he had the right to do. Immediately, the police put him in handcuffs and took him to jail. While they were arresting him, the officers laughed at him and mocked him. On the other hand, when they breathalyzed me, a white woman, the officers allowed me to drive home despite the fact I blew over the legal limit and was under 21.

Experiences like this occur all too often because racism continues to be a critical issue in this country. This is why I’m interning with Virginia Organizing as a way to work towards combating racism. It is crucial that we recognize our own implicit biases in order to imagine what a just society looks like."

Below are photos of Danielle volunteering with Humanities Behind Bars, "A grassroots abolitionist collective of teachers, students, activists, and artists committed to creating networks of care in the larger movement to end systems of punishment."

Virginia Organizing is a non-partisan statewide grassroots organization dedicated to challenging injustice by empowering people in local communities to address issues that affect the quality of their lives. In 2019, the organization created a focused summer internship in Charlottesville. Out of dozens of applicants, Danielle was one of those selected to participate. She was thrilled to be involved in their efforts and get hands on experience in large-scale community organizing. 

During her internship, Danielle learned "how to do a power analysis of a community, how to develop a campaign strategy, how leadership development fits into the daily work of an organizer, building relationships through intentional one-to-one conversations, and different models of change." She also she worked hard "doorknocking, phone banking, flyering for events, researching for a campaign, and helping with local fundraising events."

The Executive Director of Virginia Organizing shared that, "She was really good at relating to people and really driven to making the world better.  I, and Virginia Organizing, are better off for having had time with Danielle."

During her time with Virginia Organizing, Danielle worked hard to organize and support her community. She canvassed in the hot sun to make sure people's voices were heard. 

As Brian Johns of Virginia Organizing shared, "My memory of Danielle was when all of the interns came to knock on doors in Portsmouth for a week. I think it was like 20 people were all put up in people's houses. They knocked on doors in pairs for 4 days during a very hot week of the year. The exercise culminated in a community meeting at the Sattvic Space, and Danielle helped to organize the event and got practice facilitating. In our spare time, the interns had a lot of fun going to the beach, and hanging out with Tyran and I. I really enjoyed hanging out with all of them. Danielle was really close with some of the interns, and it was so much fun to see them working hard, and then spending time together and having fun. It was a really great experience, to get to work with Danielle and teach her what I know about organizing."

Nick Belanger of Virginia Organizing added, "Danielle went door to door in miserably hot weather, asking people what they cared about and what they wanted to see change. She recruited community members to a big meeting to talk about environmental justice and how our local utilities should take better care of their customers. Danielle got the big picture: she wasn't just having individual conversations with random people—she was giving people an opportunity to get involved in a way that they'd never been involved before. And she seemed to have a genuinely good time doing it!"

The photos below are of Danielle at a community organizing event.

Danielle believed that all workers are entitled to the security and dignity of a proper living wage.  She participated in protests to further this goal and stood in solidarity with workers who are vulnerable to exploitation. Danielle also participated in protests to preserve and increase access to healthcare and insurance coverage for low income communities. 

Danielle went on to start a campaign to boycott a large corporation that held an exclusive contract with her college. She wrote the following while organizing the campaign: 

"The mission of our campaign is ultimately we want the university to use an alternative food provider that doesn't engage in the unjust and unethical practices of private corporations like [the company] who are incentivized to take shortcuts that often harm the lives of currently and formerly incarcerated folks. Also, students do not realize their only dining options are limited and controlled by a single corporation who unjustly profits off of them. 

I remember you saying how UVA students did an action around [the company]  in the past revolving around the living wage campaign. Although the scope of our campaign is quite different, I was wondering if you know some folks I could get in contact with who were involved in that campaign, or anyone who could help guide us in the right direction? 

The summer internship program taught me to think strategically when working on a campaign and to build power with people in the process. My thinking tends to be overly ambitious, so I'm trying to be practical in making sure I take strategic steps. Any information or insights you can share with me would be profoundly appreciated!!"

Below is a picture of Danielle protesting with workers and community members at a Chik-fil-A. This event in particular was very special to her. Also, pictures of Danielle at a protest in support of the Affordable Care Act ("ACA"). Her sign reads "Tell us your healthcare stories."