<h1>On Monday evening, a group calling themselves the Huddle met at Old Stone Church to discuss upcoming social action events on the local, state and national level. Huddle is the local group that came out of the Women’s March in Washington in January last year, just before the inauguration. Its members are dedicated to staying active on social issues.</h1> The first issue under discussion was racial tolerance. Loretta Young, chairperson of Women of Color for Change, gave a preview of “Race Matters,” a program of speakers that will be held at the Sciences building at the New River Community and Technical College this weekend, starting on Friday evening, Feb. 23, and continuing throughout Saturday, Feb. 24. The program lineup will feature top tier speakers, workshops, as well as storytelling, poetry readings and drumming. Music will be provided by Lady D and her band on Saturday night at the Lewis Theater. On the topic of racial tolerance, one member reported on a poorly handled racially charged incident at Greenbrier East Middle School. The members decided to support an effort to foster greater tolerance among students and faculty. The Feb. 14 school shooting of 17 students in Parkland, FL, prompted a Huddle discussion on the groundswell among students demanding action by Congress on gun control. The Youth Empower arm of the Women’s March is calling for students, teachers, administrators, and parents to take part in the National School Walkout for 17 minutes at 10 a.m. on Mar. 14 in every time zone to protest Congress’ inaction to do more than tweet “thoughts and prayers” in response to school shootings. The local group wants to poll local students to see if there is support for this action. The group also agreed to participate in the “Enough! Rally for Women’s Lives” at the State Capitol in Charleston on Mar. 3. The Huddle is encouraging persons wanting to be part of this action to meet at the Northeast comer of the Walmart parking lot at 12:15 p.m. on Saturday, Mar. 3, for car pooling and a caravan to Charleston for the rally at 3 p.m. Huddle is a positive, inclusive, and action-oriented group that hosts local meetings where marchers and allies can gather together to define their next steps as a movement, and envision how to transform the energy they experienced at Women’s Marches into local and national action. For more information on the Huddle or upcoming events, contact Hanna Kirk at 304-646-0493.
