As Shockoe Bottom has continued to be ground zero for unmanaged nightlife, armed youth, and disappearing oversight business owners and community leaders warn that Richmond’s failure to act isn’t just bad policy, it’s a dangerous gamble with the city’s future....
My vision of a racially equitable Richmond is one in which resourced institutions, such as higher education, invest in reparative and equitable practices that respect lived expertise and are built on partnerships. As a society, we value expertise. Expertise is the skill or knowledge that emerges from experience, training or study, and it is...
A gift has tremendous power. Not only is the power of a gift conveyed in its value, but also through the sentiment with which it was given. A gift can evoke emotions of compassion and gratitude shared by the giver and the recipient. A gift is given without an expectation of reciprocity, compensation, or commendation. The giver is compelled to...
A conversation between a Black woman and a white woman on Shifting Power and the need for Radical Imagination in the nonprofit sector. An equitable Richmond would be a place where leaders of color have access to the resources we need to protect the people we love and build thriving communities according to our own vision -- without...
Our nation is experiencing a movement. Another awakening like other times in our checkered history. As Americans, we have not lived up to our ideals that all men and women are created equal and would by design enjoy equitable opportunities. The ideal or vision for a nation built on the ideals of freedom and liberty are honorable ideals. However,...
“Cash rules everything around me C.R.E.A.M., get the money Dollar dollar bill, y'all” -Wu Tang Clan The hook to the popular song "C.R.E.A.M" by hip-hop group Wu-Tang has been widely referenced in American culture and music since its release in 1994. You don’t have to be a Wu-Tang Clan fan to identify how these lyrics may illuminate some of our...
After asking a school-district leader in Richmond Public Schools if there was a way to address the habit of white families sending their children to county and private schools, I was told the best way to change the pattern was to make public schools “better.” It was also suggested that I reframe the question to include affluent families of color...
We both bring a nuanced perspective to education. Taikein is a native of Prince Edward County. Growing up three blocks from the historic R.R. Moton High School, he learned the impacts that flawed policy and selfish adults have on students. His passion is to guarantee that all families have the opportunity to design an education that piques the...
My involvement with public education represents a lifetime of experience. I was seven when my mom ran for the Arlington school board. I attended the Arlington public schools. Then my dad enlisted as an attorney in the Norfolk 17 case to defeat Massive Resistance. A decade later, I arrived in Richmond the month that the Richmond Public...
I grew up in the old Harlem, New York. Where the hot summers would bring the kids outside to run through the fire hydrants that we turned into sprinklers, stoops and railings became the porches that we didn’t have, and the corner store was our very own Walmart of snacks. 125th street, home of the famous Apollo Theater, was the place to get...