Kenny Boddye, Prince William County Board of Supervisors (moderator);
Jeff Thomas, The Virginia Way: Democracy and Power After 2016 (7:42);
Sean Perryman, Fairfax NAACP (29:22);
Liz White, OneVirginia2021 (38:40);
Michelle Woolley, Coalition to Repeal Right to Work (47:47);
Josh Stanfield, Activate Virginia (56:20).
On January 4th, 2020 — 4 days before the start of the 2020 VA State General Assembly session with Democratic majority in the House and Senate for the first time in a generation — Virginia Justice Democrats hosted a moderated panel discussion to explore “The VA Way” and how it has and is still influencing VA’s society, economics, and politics to this day. The event was inspired in part by the book by Jeff Thomas, “The VA Way: Democracy & Power after 2016“. It’s important we understand how it works if we are to be able to forge a path to a more just & equitable society for VA.
See transcript of Jeff’s presentation here.
“For 400 years, Virginia’s politicians have preached a “Virginia Way” of honor, gentility and democracy. In reality, this ideology bred a corrupt political class, a runaway electricity company, a university that reflected the values of donors and a school system that suffered from cronyism. This Virginia Way prevented rather than promoted the success of its stated democratic ideals. Readers from the right, left and middle will learn much about how their government operates and understand Virginia in a whole new way. Author Jeff Thomas explodes the myth of the Virginia Way with an insightful portrait of the people, politics and power that run the Commonwealth.”