Ibby Han

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Photo taken by Eze Amos, Inside Out Cville: This Is What Community Looks Like[1]

Ibby Han is the director of the Virginia Student Power Network,[2] which advocates for more just and equitable access to education. Ibby is a street medic and coordinated the community medical response to July 8 and August 12, 2017. [3][4]

Activism

In March 2020, Han worked to coordinate efforts for Cville Community Cares, a local grassroots mutual aid response to the COVID-19 pandemic working in partnership with local clergy group Congregate Cville. It consists of community members rooted in a philosophy of abundance; its organizing centers solidarity with its neighbors rather than charity. Its work is built on, and inspired by, mutual aid efforts such as Charlottesville Immigrant Transit Assistance (CHITA), Hands Off Maria, and the Charlottesville Community Resilience Fund. It is a partner in the Community Emergency Response Fund with the City of Charlottesville, Albemarle County, the Charlottesville Area Community Foundation (CACF) and the United Way of Greater Charlottesville.[5] “The goal of mutual aid is to not wait around for governments, to not wait around for traditional nonprofits, and to take the lead and model what a supportive social system looks like,” said Han.[6]

Han would then work to coordinate a partnership with Cville Community Cares, the United Way of Greater Charlottesville, Albemarle County and the city of Charlottesville that was able to raise and disburse more than $5 million for COVID-19 relief in the area.[6]

In March 2019, Han returned to her hometown to protest the Arlington County Board's $23 million incentive package to build an Amazon headquarters facility in the county. “You’re just repeating Virginia’s history of prioritizing elites over working people," Han told the Board that would go on to approve the package.[7]

As an alumna of the University of Virginia, Han participated in the counter-protest efforts during the 2017 Unite the Right rally that took place in Charlottesville, VA. Han was among a small group of counter-protesters who held space at the statue of the University of Virginia lawn as hundreds of torch-wielding neo-nazis marched. Han was there in a capacity as a street medic and treated counter-protesters who were assaulted August 11, 2017.[8]

After the events of August 2017 in Charlottesville, Han actively participated in efforts to make demands of the University of Virginia and the City of Charlottesville.

“On August 11th last year, I watched hundreds of torch-wielding Nazis invade the very same Lawn that I had walked down for graduation, just a few months prior. The white supremacists engulfed the few of us who had shown up to say no to fascism. The University of Virginia administration’s inaction that night emboldened white supremacists to be even more violent the next day, on August 12. No number of 'healing vigils' or 'unity concerts' can ever rectify what happened that night on UVA’s campus. We need real action from the administration: they must ban ALL identified white supremacists from the torch rally, they must pay for ALL the medical bills of survivors of the attack, and they must strongly condemn and vow to combat white supremacy in all its forms.” — Ibby Han, Director of Virginia Student Power Network[9]

Han encouraged fellow Unite the Right counter-protesters who had been subpoenaed to appear before a federal grand jury to not comply with the summons.[10]

“The survivors of a terror attack should not be subjected to 18 months in jail simply for refusing to participate in the unjust process of a grand jury,” Han said, adding that people who are called to testify aren’t allowed to have their attorney present in the room. “The prosecutor may ask any and all questions they deem relevant, and they are not obligated to reveal the subject of their investigation.”[11]

After August 11 and 12, 2017, Charlottesville saw a rise in local activism. In the week leading up to the first anniversary Han participated as a representative of Solidarity Cville in a five person panel held at the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center titled, "Why We Protest." “The arc of justice doesn’t bend naturally,” Han said, “it bends when people push on it.”[12]

While attending the University of Virginia, Han was a dynamic activist, including participating in the New York City People's Climate March,[13] working to change the culture of sexual Assault at the University,[14] protesting the University Board of Visitors meetings' lack of public comment,[15] and protesting tuition increases.[16] Han often organized these efforts. As a member of UVA Students United, Han hosted a "teach-in" when the University of Virginia transitioned to the Affordable Excellence tuition plan. She also participated in General Assembly lobbying efforts to quash the plan.[17]

In 2007, Han was one of four H-B Woodlawn Secondary Program sixth grade students who started Arlington, VA's first curbside recycling program, We'll Bring it To You. The students were awarded the mid-Atlantic region’s 2007 President’s Environmental Youth Award from the Environmental Protective Agency for their efforts.[18]

Virginia Student Power Network

As the Director of the Virginia Student Power Network, Han is participant in the ongoing lawsuit filed on behalf of protesters and the youth activists of the Virginia Student Power Network (VSPN) against the City of Richmond, the Richmond Police Department (RPD) and the Virginia State Police (VSP) for violating their constitutional rights to free speech, assembly and protest.[19] “Black students and youth have been leading the movement for racial justice in Richmond. It’s imperative that the police’s excessive use of force and military-grade crowd control weapons are immediately curbed," Han said.[20]

In January 2020, Virginia Student Power Network had planned to participate in an annual lobby day on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, as they had since 2015. Students had planned to march for the rights of immigrants, criminal justice reform, affordable education, and more, coordinated by New Virginia Majority, an advocacy group for working-class black and brown Virginians. The march was cancelled due to concerns over the pro-gun rally that gathered an estimated 22,000 pro-gun activists from around the country. Han stated the event had expected around 1,000 attendees, many of whom were undocumented. The advocacy event was centered around drivers’ licenses for undocumented immigrants and criminal justice reform. “We are enraged,” the organization wrote, “that we cannot use our voices today at the General Assembly.”[21]

Han participated in and led a workshop at the 2018 RootsCamp, a progressive conference centered on the theme, "Building Local Power with Inclusive Politics."[22] "As a part of the Student Power Networks crew, we came with a unique perspective. Not only were we some of the youngest people there, we also shared our experimental model of youth-led year-round organizing that integrates electoral work, issue-based grassroots organizing, and policy work, all on a statewide level," Han wrote.[23]

Writing

Han is listed as a contributor in The Impact of Racism on Affordable Housing in Charlottesville, a 2020 report by the Charlottesville Low-Income Housing Coalition.[24]

Han is listed as a co-author in a chapter of Civic Engagement and Community Service at Research Universities.[25]

The purpose of this chapter is to analyze the ethos of civic engagement in the context of student activists organizing for social change in response to crises within a national and campus culture. This study links citizenship, civic engagement, and student activism by examining the context of higher education’s cultural paradigms in general and the University of Virginia’s institutional culture specifically. This chapter reveals potential barriers to civic engagement, especially in institutions with deep historical traditions and rhetorical commitments to civic education that may originate from adherence to enlightenment forms of citizenship in an increasingly multicultural world. Those barriers include conflicting definitions of democracy and citizenship as well as disruptions associated with neoliberal conditions. Calls for civic renewal in research universities emphasize the need for deep introspection and self-study especially with regard to campus culture. The results of this study support those recommendations.[25]

Dominion's Dirty Money, Ibby Han, 2016 Datapalooza[26]

Han participated in the 2016 Datapalooza at the University of Virginia. Her project, Dominion's Dirty Money, tracked Dominion Energy spending in the General Assembly as it related to policy change.[26]

References

  1. Web. INSIDE OUT CHARLOTTESVILLE: THIS IS WHAT COMMUNITY LOOKS LIKE!, Inside Out, August 2019
  2. Web. Virginia Student Power Network, New Virginia Majority Education Fund
  3. Web. Community Matters Virtual Dinner Series, UVA PUBLIC SERVICE
  4. Web. Anti-racists instruct, C-VILLE Writers, News Article, C-Ville Weekly, August 22, 2018, retrieved July 12, 2020.
  5. Web. Cville Community Cares, Charlottesville Tomorrow
  6. 6.0 6.1 Web. Determined to Thrive, Charlottesville Tomorrow, June 5, 2020
  7. Web. Arlington County Board approves $23 million incentives package for Amazon, The Washington Post, March 16, 2019
  8. Web. WHY CHARLOTTESVILLE, LIBERAL COLLEGE TOWN, BECAME GROUND ZERO FOR WHITE SUPREMACY, Vanity Fair, August 15, 2017
  9. Web. Charlottesville Anti-Racist Activists on the Fight Against White Supremacy One Year After Deadly Attacks, The Sparrow Project
  10. Web. Protesters encourage grand jury boycott, Chris Suarez, Daily Progress, Lee Enterprises, December 14, 2017, retrieved July 12, 2020.
  11. Web. Activist group encourages resistance—to grand juries, C-VILLE Weekly, December 14, 2017
  12. Web. Anti-Racists Instruct, C-VILLE Weekly, August 22, 2018
  13. Web. We Asked NYC's Climate Marchers Why They Were There - Here's What They Said, Business Insider
  14. Web. Working groups seek solutions for safety at UVa, Derek Quizon, Daily Progress, Lee Enterprises, March 2, 2015, retrieved July 12, 2020.
  15. Web. UVa student group protests outside Board of Visitors meeting, Derek Quizon, Daily Progress, Lee Enterprises, November 14, 2014, retrieved July 12, 2020.
  16. Web. Students Protest Tuition Increases, Cavalier Daily, March 26, 2015
  17. Web. Student Groups Host Teach-In, discuss tuition hikes, Cavalier Daily, April 16, 2015
  18. Web. Sixth-graders earn award from EPA, Washington Examiner, February 19, 2008
  19. Web. POLICE AND CITY OF RICHMOND SUED FOR VIOLATING CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS OF PROTESTERS, ACLU, June 26, 2020
  20. Web. Protesters Sue Police and City of Richmond, CBS News 6 Richmond, June 26, 2020
  21. Web. That Pro-Gun Rally in Virginia Wasn’t Exactly “Peaceful”, GQ, January 22, 2020
  22. Web. What is Roots Camp, Roots Camp, 2018
  23. Web. Reflecting on Roots Camp: Activism in Motion, Network, January 7, 2019
  24. Web. The Impact of Racism on Affordable Housing in Charlottesville, Legal Aid Justice Center, February 2020
  25. 25.0 25.1 Heinecke, Walter & Cole, Rose & Han, Ibby & Mthethwa, Nqobile. (2016). Student Activism as Civic Engagement: Challenging Institutional Conditions for Civic Leadership at University of Virginia. 10.1057/978-1-137-55312-6_12.
  26. 26.0 26.1 Web. Dominion's Dirty Money, University of Virginia School of Architecture, September 15, 2016

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