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National Lawyers Guild chapter formed in New River Valley, keen on protecting rights

By Matt Dhillon Special to The Roanoke Times 13 hrs ago

Alan Graf said he reached a point where he felt like he had to do something. ... In 2011, when the 61-year-old arrived in Floyd with his wife, he had been a lawyer, a farmer, a computer salesman, an activist, had marched in demonstrations, and helped build homes in Guatemala. But in Floyd, he was looking forward to picking a banjo and to retirement. ... “That has now gone by the wayside,” Graf said, laughing.

Instead, in August, at the age of 70, he founded and was elected president of the Southwest Virginia chapter of the National Lawyers Guild, an organization dedicated to defending civil rights. ... That same week, on Aug. 7, the new chapter issued a press release condemning the Confederate monument at the Floyd County Courthouse, calling it a symbol of prejudice that raises “concerns about whether people of color will receive equal treatment under the law.”

Following the news closely, Graf said, he saw the fight against the Mountain Valley Pipeline and similar pipelines around the country, saw the raids on immigrant families by ICE, deportations and detention centers, and was incredulous at the partisanship at the highest levels of government.

Then there was the killing of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police precipitating an eruption of demonstrations against police brutality.

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