February

Sunday, February 6: 2:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. A Faith Dialogue on Peace with Hajjah Amr Rasheed of the Islamic Study Center in Charlottesville Co-sponsored by The Interfaith Cooperation Circle of Central Virginia Sojourners Peace Social Justice Group at Sojourners UCC, 1017 Elliot Ave, Charlottesville, VA.

During her 10 years in Charlottesville, Amr has been active in the local mosque and helped create the Islamic Study Center where she teaches the Koran, oversees mentoring and after-school tutoring for refugees, and organizes outreach and social justice activities. She has participated in the Charlottesville Center for Peace and Justice and is one of the co-founders of Interfaith Pray for Peace. For more information see: www.interfaithcooperation.org

Friday & Saturday, Feb. 18 & 19 Jefferson-Jackson Weekend! The big event of the year, culminating in the Jefferson-Jackson Dinner at the Richmond Convention Center. This year's speaker will be Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley. Tom Perriello will attend--perhaps he's not out of politics after all.

The dinner is a rousing opportunity to meet fellow Democrats and politicians from all over Virginia. Individual tickets to the dinner are $160; if purchased through the Albemarle Democratic Committee, they are $150, and you can sit at a table with other Albemarle Democrats. Learn more about the dinner and the weekend's events: http://www.vademocrats.org/2011-jefferson-jackson-weekend

Saturday, Feb. 19: 9:30 a.m. Regular monthly Charlottesville / Albemarle Democratic Breakfast at the Jefferson Madison Library in downtown Charlottesville. The Registrar of Voters for Albemarle County, Jake Washburne, will speak on Redistricting.

Come see what's at stake for our communities as the Commonwealth redraws the district lines for U.S. Congress, State Senate, State House and County Magisterial races. For anyone that's been watching the census numbers or checking out the maps of how those numbers will affect redistricting, you'll want to hear Jake talk about the maps, the process, the timelines and what it could all mean. The Registrar's office is where this all gets pulled together and Jake's non-partisan view of it all is one you won't want to miss.

You may view some maps on VPAP

March

April

Thursday, April 8: 7:00 p.m. Sarah Chayes, former NPR reporter during the Afghan war, will kickoff Virginia Common- wealth University's "Crossing Boundaries" lecture series -- a year-long series of speakers, performances and events that will explore the ways in which social, personal, religious and political boundaries are transcended. The lecture is free and open to the public.

At VCU's Grace St. Theatre, 934 W. Grace Street, Richmond. Chayes joined NPR as a foreign correspondent in 1997, and reported from Paris, Algeria, Lebanon, Israel-Palestine, Serbia and Bosnia. Her work also brought her to Afghanistan, where she covered the fall of the Taliban. Afterwards, Chayes left NPR and journalism to focus on Afghans for Civil Society, a non-governmental, non-profit aid organization in Kandahar.