Editor's Note: RVA Magazine is partnering with the Virginia Museum of History & Culture on coverage related to America's 250th anniversary, including Richmond SailFest and the upcoming IllumiNation. Also, filmmaker Justin Black of Headwaters Down is sailing aboard...
Editor's Note: This is a companion piece to our preview of Songs of Truth, the new musical inspired by the life of Sojourner Truth. This essay from Christian Detres takes a closer look at the woman behind the legend and the enduring relevance of her story. Sojourner Truth is an integral personality to the concept of “American spirit.” She is more...
Christmas Eve, 1928. Richmond is cold and the city is dressed for the holiday. On West Cary Street, a crowd gathers outside a building that wasn't there six months ago; a French Empire facade rising up in the middle of a neighborhood that had no idea it was about to become something. The first film that night was Waterfront, a First National...
Walking into this exhibit, it’s hard not to think about the moment it’s opening into. Immigration isn’t some abstract issue right now. It’s at the center of national conversation again, shaping policy, headlines, and how people talk about who belongs and who doesn’t. It’s one of those topics that gets reduced quickly, turned into something...
A political mailer referencing Jim Crow and the Ku Klux Klan is circulating in Virginia ahead of the April 21 redistricting referendum, prompting criticism from state lawmakers and members of the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus. The mailer urges voters to oppose the referendum and return their ballots immediately. One side reads, “Our ancestors...
A mural in Richmond’s Northside has sparked a complex debate about public art, race, and neighborhood change, with artists, community leaders, and residents weighing in on how public art intersects with neighborhood history. The mural, painted by artist Lauren YS, depicts a woman holding a slice of watermelon with seeds spelling out “Free...
Editor’s Note: This piece was written by a student at Randolph-Macon College as part of a feature writing course. Thank you to the students and to Professor Seth Clabough, Ph.D., for organizing the project. From the low rumble of the locomotive to the hustling footsteps of the passengers, whether this is their first stop or their...
Renee Nicole Good, a graduate of Old Dominion University, was fatally shot by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer during a federal enforcement operation in Minneapolis on Wednesday. The shooting has drawn national attention as questions continue to emerge about the circumstances surrounding the use of lethal force by federal...
On Sunday afternoon, the last baseball game will be held at The Diamond after 40 years of service to a city and region and two baseball teams in what was, when it opened, “a major league park in a minor league town.” Between opening night in 1985 and the last game on Sunday is a span of 14,761 days. Through all the debates over the decades about...
It’s early afternoon at Kuba Kuba, and the place is buzzing. Coffee cups clatter, plates hit the counter, and over it all, Melissa Vaughn is already in motion. Before we’ve even ordered our food, she’s out of her chair, greeting someone at the table next to us like a long-lost friend, leaning in to compliment another patron on their work. ...
