Community Forums
LWV of Lexington Community Forum
Economic Justice: How State Income Tax Cuts Hurt Us All
Thursday, May 18, 2023 from 7-8PM ET
Natalie Cunningham from the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy will be discussed the on-going fight to preserve Kentucky’s income tax. For years, Kentucky’s leaders have attacked the state income tax allowing the wealthiest of Kentuckians to pay less and less of what they owe. Without it, Kentucky will lose 40% of its budget, starving out essential common services Kentuckians depend on. In this presentation, Natalie Cunningham examines the unjust road Kentucky is walking, policy solutions, and how you can help fight to save our state's largest single source of income.
LWV of Lexington Community Forum
Traces and Fragments: Piecing Together the Story of People Enslaved at Ashland
We'll hear from Paul Bartels, Eric Brooks, and Dr. M. Jay Stottman from Ashland, The Henry Clay Estate. The speakers will share more about their ongoing research and interpretive efforts related to the people enslaved at Ashland. There will also be time for your questions at the end of the presentation.
LWV of Lexington Community Forum: 2023 Legislative Preview
During The League of Women Voters of Lexington 2023 Legislative Preview Community Forum, Cindy Heine and Mary Jo Rodgers, Legislative Liaisons for the League of Women Voters Kentucky, discuss issues that the Kentucky state legislature might take up when they convene in January.
LWV of Lexington Community Forum: What Voting Means to me— A Panel Discussion
The League of Women Voters of Lexington, KY community forum, "What Voting Means to Me" recorded on Thursday, 10/27, at 7pm via Zoom. In our time together, we recapped the history of voting rights in our country, heard from a diverse group of voters about their experiences, and answered questions about voting in 2022!
LWV of Lexington Community Forum: KY Amendment 2: no Right to Abortion in KY Constitution
Join the League of Women Voters of Lexington to learn more about Amendment 2, the second of two amendments we will see on our ballots this November. In our community forum on the ‘No Right to Abortion in Constitution Amendment,’ we will discuss the language of this amendment, how it fits with the existing “trigger ban” on abortion, and what the passing of this amendment could mean for other rights guaranteed to Kentuckians by the constitutional rights to privacy, self-determination, religious freedom, and more.
LWV of Lexington Community Forum: Learning from History with John Rosenberg on Kristallnacht
In Nazi Germany, Kristallnacht, or the "Night of Broken Glass" refers to the night of Nov 9-10, 1938, when Nazi soldiers stormed through towns destroying Jewish synagogues, businesses, schools, hospitals and homes injuring and killing Jewish civilians.
Mr. Rosenberg witnessed this night. He is a Holocaust survivor, narrowly escaping on one of the last ships to leave Holland with refugees. He arrived in the United States with his family on February 22, 1940. His story is featured in the book “This Is Home Now”, a compilation of experiences of Holocaust survivors in Kentucky, authored by Kentuckian Arwen Donahue.
LWV of Lexington Annual Meeting Guest Speaker: Fayette County Public Schools Superintendent Demetrus Liggins, Ph.D.
FCPS Superintendent Demetrus Liggins, Ph.D. shares about his first year in his role, along with heartwarming stories of how people rose to the challenges presented by the Coronavirus pandemic to provide a safe learning environment and services to nuture & support children.
LWV of Lexington Community Forum: Voting in the 2022 Primary: Fayette County Clerk Don Blevins, Jr.
The League of Women Voters of Lexington hosted a Community Forum on Voting in the 2022 Primary Election with Fayette County Clerk, Don Blevins, Jr. on Thursday, April 21 from 7-8 PM. Even if you have been voting for years, there are changes to the voting rules that affect this year's elections. Blevins discussed all the details voters need including deadlines, ways to vote, when to vote, what you need to bring with you to the polls and more!
LWV Lexington Community Forum: Fair Housing (VIRTUAL event)
The League of Women Voters of Lexington hosted a virtual Community Forum "The Fundamentals of Fair Housing" on Tuesday, April 5, 2022 from 6-7 PM ET.
During this session, Dayzaughn Graves and Ty'Shalia (Shay) Woods explain what you need to know about fair housing. They hope the audience gains a deeper understanding of the ways discrimination appears in the housing arena and what the Lexington Fair Housing Council's role is in preventing discrimination.
The Life of Dr. Mary Britton | Karen Cotton McDaniel, Ph.D.
Karen Cotton McDaniel Ph.D. shares her knowledge of the life of Dr. Mary Britton, during the League of Women Voters of Lexington’s virtual Community Forum on March 10, 2022 at 7 PM. Dr. Mary E. Britton (1855-1925) was a physician, educator, suffragist, journalist and civil rights activist from Lexington, Kentucky. In 1902, Mary Britton became the first woman licensed to practice medicine in Lexington. But her accomplishments went far beyond the bounds of medicine. Dr. Britton, a Berea College alumna, taught school, advocated women's suffrage, and wrote frequently against Reconstructionist segregation. One particularly noteworthy accomplishment was her involvement in founding the Colored Orphan's Industrial Home. Mary Britton is buried in Lexington's Cove Haven Cemetery.
Dr. McDaniel received both a Ph.D. in history and a Master’s degree in Library Science from the University of Kentucky. She completed her undergraduate degree at Berea College
The Innovative Life of Garrett Morgan
Sandra Morgan
The League of Women Voters was honored to have Sandra Morgan speak at our Community Forum celebrating Black History Month. This forum was recorded on Thursday, Feb. 24, 2022, 7:00-8:00 PM via Zoom with Sandra Morgan. Ms.Morgan will relate the life of her grandfather, Garrett Morgan, African-American inventor, businessman and civic leader. Garrett Morgan was born in Paris, Kentucky and lived most of his exceptional life in Ohio. Among his notable inventions were a three position traffic signal and a smoke hood which was used in a 1916 tunnel construction disaster rescue. Learn more about his adventurous, productive life in this fascinating program.
The People Who Knew Too Little About Too Much: Stephen Voss, Ph. D.
Voss discussed the various ways voters can become more engaged citizens and how to remove the barriers that keep citizens from political information.
A native New Orleanian, Stephen Voss worked for a few years as a Louisiana statehouse reporter with Gannett News Service before entering academia. He came to the University of Kentucky in 1998, immediately after earning his Ph.D. in Government from Harvard University, and as a specialist in elections and voting behavior he eventually emerged as one of the handful of political scientists who study Kentucky Politics. Voss appears regularly in local, state, national, and on occasion even international news coverage of Kentucky and American politics, including serving for years as political analyst for Lexington's ABC-36.
ONE Lexington: Devine Carama
Devine Carama, director of ONE Lexington shares about ONE Lexington’s activities designed to engage teenagers and young adults in Lexington. The program is working to increase activities, work opportunities and a whole range of services targeted at teenagers and young adults in an effort to decrease violence in our community. Mr. Carama is a hip-hop artist and adjunct professor at the University of Kentucky and a long-time Lexington activist. This program is a follow-up to some of the needs identified in the Mayor’s Commission for Racial Justice and Equality.
LWVKY/LWV Lexington Fair Maps Community Forum
The League of Women Voters of Kentucky is hosting a series of forums & webinars to share draft legislative and Congressional district maps and solicit feedback from the public. Now that the 2020 Census data has been released, the legislature will start to draw district boundaries that will determine representation in Frankfort and Washington for the next 10 years. These events are free and open to the public. Registration is required. Events provide the basics of redistricting along with draft maps for public consideration and feedback. This forum was streamed live on October 21, 2021.
Learn more about redistricting and provide feedback on Draft maps at LWVKY.org.
Rank the Vote KY: Ranked Choice Voting
Mathew Ruberg
Have you ever made a decision to not vote for your favorite candidate because you feared you would be "splitting the vote" or "throwing your vote away"? Ranked Choice voting can help avoid this conundrum while at the same time resulting in a candidate that a true majority (>50%) of all voters have voted for. Mathew Ruberg of Rank the Vote Kentucky will help you understand the mechanics of Ranked Choice Voting. Additionally, learn how having voters express their preferences for candidates on a ballot improves elections.
Rank The Vote Kentucky is a scrappy bunch of Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) enthusiasts dedicated to educating Kentucky citizens & elected officials about the benefits of RCV. They are a social startup excited about the opportunity to improve the way we vote with this simple change. Formed in early 2021, they are non-partisan, all-volunteer & solely funded by grassroots donations :)
Substance Abuse Prevention: Iceland’s Community Model
Dr. BIll Dake
Dr. William Dake, Lexington Family Medicine Specialist shares his knowledge of the Icelandic Model for Preventing Adolescent Substance Abuse. Dr. Dake is a family physician with HealthFirst of the Bluegrass. He has been a Community Health Center doctor for almost 30 years, and he helped start the medical treatment of opioid addiction in his own clinic. As a health care provider at the community level, Dr. Dake is now advocating for substance abuse prevention at that same level – the community. He will explain the implementation and outcomes of a program developed in Iceland that depends on community members engaging with, and mentoring, the youth of those same communities as a means of preventing adolescent substance abuse. The Lexington League hopes to learn how a community-based approach can be adopted in our own city to address addiction and youth disengagement.
Further Reading:
The State of kentucky Women Today- Action Plans for the Future
The League of Women Voters of Lexington and partners - Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.; Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.; Lexington Chapter of Hadassah; Frankfort/Lexington (KY) Chapter of The Links, Incorporated; NAACP; Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority and Zeta Phi Beta Sorority present a panel discussion featuring three women representing the areas of business, education, and health advocacy. Our guest panelists are: Dr. Marlene Helm, Education; Beth Davisson, Business; and Dr. Rochelle Brown, Health Advocacy. These women give us the latest state of Kentucky women in each panelist’s area of expertise and present 1 or 2 action plans for the future! This panel is moderated by Renee Shaw of KET.
Oral History Training: Sarah Schmitt, Kentucky Oral History Commission
In our continued celebration of the 100th anniversary of the League of Women Voters, as well as Women’s History Month, we are embarking on a project to preserve the rich history of the LWV of Lexington by capturing the oral histories of members and volunteers. In this 90-minute introduction to conducting oral histories, participants will learn the life cycle of an oral history interview, from project planning to archiving. Focusing specifically on conducting interviews with women active in government and politics, you’ll learn tips and tools for finding interviewees, choosing equipment, formulating questions, caring for recordings, and more. You don't have to have been a League member to get involved! If you are interested in history preservation or learning about the fascinating history of voting advocacy in Lexington, this training will equip you with the tools to participate in this project. Sarah Schmitt, oral history administrator for the Oral History Commission at the Kentucky Historical Society, will lead the training. The Kentucky Oral History Commission is a program dedicated to reaching across the state to record and preserve the diverse stories that are a part of Kentucky’s rich and colorful history.
Women’s History Month: Melanie Beals Goan Discusses Kentucky Suffragists
For Women’s History Month, Melanie Beals Goan, PhD discusses her new book, A Simple Justice: Kentucky Women Fight for the Vote (The University of Kentucky Press, 2020), detailing the role of Kentucky suffragists including Laura Clay, Madeleine McDowell Breckinridge, Josephine Henry, Mary Ellen Britton, and others.
Dr. Goan is Associate Professor of History at the University of Kentucky. Her first book was Mary Breckinridge: The Frontier Nursing Service and Rural Health in Appalachia (Chapel Hill: UNC Press, 2008).
Black History Month: Frank X Walker, Poet/ Writer
Listen to speaker Professor Frank X Walker, co-founder of the Affrilachian Poets and coiner of the word "Affrilachia", to describe the historical and current cultural contributions of African American artists, writers and creatives to the Appalachian region. He focuses on social justice issues as well as multiple themes of family, identity and place. He currently serves as Professor in the Department of English and Director of the MFA Program at the University of Kentucky.
He will be reading from two separate collections: Turn Me Loose: the Unghosting of Medgar Evers and Masked Man, Black: Pandemic & Protest Poems.
Mayor’s Commission For Racial justice and Equality
During this community forum the LWV of Lexington explores issues of racial justice and equality in Lexington. This timely program, moderated by Renee Shaw of KET, featured Mayor Linda Gorton and Co- Chairs of the Mayor’s Commission on Racial Justice and Equality Roszalyn Akins and Dr. Gerald L. Smith. Mayor Gorton and panelists discussed details from the commission, which met for several months during 2020. The details included recommendations and action plans to dismantle systematic racism in Fayette County.
Redistricting in Kentucky:Let’s Build Fair districts by a Fair Process
A community forum about Building Fair Maps with a Fair Process, a national and state effort to ensure community voice in legislative redistricting, presented by, LWV member and LWVKY Legislative Liaison, Cindy Heine. In 2021, every state will redraw its legislative maps based on the 2020 census data. A Fair Maps Act creates a non-partisan advisory redistricting commission to propose legislative maps to legislators, and allows our voices to be heard before the district boundaries are finalized. Let’s choose our legislators instead of their choosing us! Building Fair Maps could prevent the court challenges, delays in representation, and special legislative session that were caused by Kentucky’s redistricting process after the 2010 census.
Women IN Action!
Dot Ridings, former President of the LWVUS and the LWV of Louisville will talks about several important issues that occurred during her tenures. Joining her will be Marsha Weinstein, President of the National Women’s Collaborative for Women’s History Sites, talks about about Kentucky suffragists.
Voting During the 2020 Pandemic
The League of Women Voters of Lexington Community Program on Sept 9, 2020, that discusses how to vote in the general election, considering the new voting options and rules due to the pandemic. Also discusses the new Voter Photo ID law that went into effect July 15, 2020. Guest speakers include: Fayette County Clerk Don Blevins, UK Law Professor Josh Douglas and Selene Gomez from VoteRiders, a national non-profit that helps voters get the appropriate identification to be able to vote.
Journalist Panel Discussion on “Fake News”, Thursday, Nov. 15 2018 at 7 p.m.
Unitarian Universalist Church of Lexington, 3564 Clays Mill Road.
There is a lot of talk about “fake news”. But what is it, really? How is it affecting political discourse? How can you tell reliable news from disinformation and propaganda? Journalists Elizabeth Hansen, Tom Eblen, and Ryan Craig provide their perspectives on this topic at the League of Women Voters’ general meeting.
The journalists provided three handouts to help news consumers better evaluate news sources and understand journalistic integrity.
Fact Checking Resources
Code of Ethics
Media Bias chart by Ad Fontes Media, Inc.
