Virginia’s effort to revisit outdated cannabis convictions is moving forward again, though in a revised form that shifts how people access relief. Governor Abigail Spanberger’s amendments to SB 62 / HB 26 replace the bill’s original automatic resentencing framework...
“I never would have thought that I would be the minority in my neighborhood,” said Sandra Bowman, a Black resident of Richmond’s East End. She told an interviewer last year that the recent arrival of white neighbors has led to changes. That shift has also brought frustration. “If a brick comes up in their sidewalk,” she said of...
Richmond has seen a series of large-scale demonstrations in recent weeks, addressing issues such as President Donald Trump’s executive actions, federal spending cuts, and various other policies. These protests are set to continue, with the next major event, “Freedom Rising,” scheduled for Saturday, April 19th, at 12pm in Capitol Square. ...
Richmond’s own Black VA Theatre Alliance brings this month’s second outing of a Dominique Morrisseau play to a local stage, following Firehouse Theatre’s excellent production of Detroit 67. Like Detroit 67, Sunset Baby explores the living room dramas that persist against the backdrop of social unrest, activism, and disenfranchisement. We are...
Last week, President Trump signed a sweeping executive order titled “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History,” calling for the review—and potential restoration—of monuments removed from public land since 2020. While the order doesn’t name specific cities, its intent is clear: to challenge the widespread removal of Confederate symbols, many...
Last weekend in Church Hill, Richmond did something that only Richmond can do — it let history walk and talk right in front of us. Inside St. John’s Church, the scene was familiar. A reenactor delivered Patrick Henry’s “Give me liberty or give me death” speech to an attentive audience, a ritual that’s been part of the city’s cultural calendar for...
I flew in under the wire to catch 5th Wall Theatre’s final performance of Martyna Majok’s Sanctuary City at Richmond Triangle Players' impressive stage in Scott’s Addition. This play is a curious hybrid, a bifurcated cryptid if you will, as its first and second acts are paced in startling opposition to each other. The play begins in time-lapse...
A protest has been organized for Sunday, March 23rd, at Patrick Henry Park in Richmond, coinciding with the annual reenactment of Patrick Henry’s famous “Liberty or Death” speech at St. John’s Church. The demonstration, themed “250 Years of No Kings in America,” draws on the Revolutionary War-era spirit to oppose President Donald Trump. The...
Sixty-five years ago, a group of brave young Black Richmonders walked into a department store, sat down at a lunch counter, and refused to leave. That’s what they did. That’s what got them arrested. They just sat in a segregated space where their presence alone was considered a crime. https://vimeo.com/9827740?share=copy That moment—the...
I’ve given up on trying to write reviews of plays I see at the Firehouse Theatre immediately after leaving the show. Maybe I’m slow, but there is always so much to process that “sleeping on it” is the only way I’m going to unpack the turmoil they’ve left me with as I walk out the door.Detroit '67, currently showing, is no exception. The Firehouse...
