Danville remembers Bloody Monday, 63 years later
On June 10, 1963, civil rights protesters were met with violence by police officers and deputized municipal workers in an effort to tamp down local demonstrations. Now called Bloody Monday, it was the first clash of the summer, during which peaceful protests would continue to be met with violence.
On that evening 63 years ago, protesters gathered for a prayer vigil outside the city jail to support those who had been arrested earlier that day, when the police turned nightsticks and fire hoses on them, washing them down the streets and under cars.
At the end of the night, at least 47 people had been injured and 60 arrested, according to a historical marker that now stands outside the courthouse on Patton Street. Most were Black.
For decades afterward, the summer of 1963’s brutal and pivotal struggle for civil rights in Danville went unacknowledged by the city, passed over by institutional historians and seldom discussed even by former protesters, who were mostly teenagers at the time.
In 2007, a historical marker was erected in front of the courthouse by the Virginia Department of Historic Resources.
Last week, on the anniversary of Bloody Monday, local ministers and members of the Southern Christian Leadership Alliance, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s organization, remembered the event.
They stood under the marker, just steps from city hall, where protesters called for local integration and fair hiring practices.
The Rev. William Avon Keen, president of the Danville-Pittsylvania SCLC chapter, spoke about the movement and connected it to current events, encouraging Black citizens to vote and emphasizing the importance of educating younger generations about Danville’s civil rights history.
“Students marched up those steps into the city council,” Keen said. “They used love, they used nonviolence. … We get to sit in a restaurant today and relax because of these unsung heroes.”
Keen encouraged locals to take their children to the marker and to visit the civil rights exhibit at the Danville Museum of Fine Arts and History to educate them about the Danville movement that was underreported for decades.
Danville City Council to approve budget, changes in tax rates
At its regular 7 p.m. Tuesday meeting, the Danville City Council is expected to approve a budget for the upcoming fiscal year, as well as several changes to tax rates and local fees.
The budget will include the following, if council votes to approve each of these items: an increase in data center-related taxes, a decrease in personal property taxes and an elimination of the city’s vehicle license fee.
City Manager Ken Larking presented his proposed $395.2 million budget to the council in March. Council members and city staff made modifications to the proposed budget in April, and public hearings were held in May and June.
An overview of the budget can be found in the council’s meeting agenda here.
The increase in data center taxes, if approved, would raise rates from 25 cents to $1.20 per $100 of assessed value.
The personal property tax would decrease in 2027 by 10 cents, from $3.45 to $3.35 per $100 of assessed value, if approved.
And the $25 annual local vehicle license fee would be eliminated in 2027, if approved by council on Tuesday. This fee was introduced after the city did away with a requirement for vehicle decals — which indicated that a vehicle was registered within city limits — in 2006.
Council is also expected to approve an updated capital and special projects plan for fiscal year 2027. This plan is meant to assist the city in planning and prioritizing special projects, including the acquisition, construction and improvement of public facilities and utility systems.
City staff recommends that council approve all of the above items, according to the meeting’s agenda packet, which can be found here.
County holds joint meeting and public hearing on comprehensive plan
The Pittsylvania County Board of Supervisors and its planning commission will convene in a joint meeting Tuesday at 1:30 p.m. to discuss the ongoing comprehensive plan update.
The plan was last overhauled in 2010, and though it’s been revisited every five years, as mandated by the state, it hasn’t had a major update since then.
The county has seen a lot of change and growth in the past 16 years, and local officials are working with consultants to make sure that the plan reflects Pittsylvania’s future.
A comprehensive plan lays out a locality’s vision for the next 20 years, encompassing all pieces of its operations, including infrastructure, parks and recreation, housing, transportation and economic development.
Last week, the county held its second community feedback meeting to gather input from residents about what they’d like to see in the updated plan. The first outreach event was in April.
The consultant for the update, Charlottesville-based civil engineering firm Line and Grade, is now in phase two of four phases of the process, said Kelly Smith, senior planner for Pittsylvania. The first phase focused on gathering data and survey responses from residents.
There will be a presentation at the joint meeting to share resident survey responses and the next steps in the update process.
