Chris Maxwell is the best of us. He’s one of the co-founders of WRIR, our beloved local indie radio station and community rallying point for RVA initiatives and movements. About a month ago, Farid Alan Schintzius approached me with an idea of conducting an interview...
Hundreds gathered in Richmond’s Monroe Park for a rally in solidarity for Palestinians. Supporters included both members of the local Muslim community and those without an Islamic background. Rally-goers then took to the streets with Richmond Police assisting in closing down West Broad Street temporally. The rally and march went off without a...
It was fun chatting with Jonathan Mehring, an award-winning photographer and director who has built a stellar reputation in the world of skateboarding. With a unique blend of adventure travel, specialising in action sports, and lifestyle photography, Mehring has explored over 30 countries, capturing skateboarders in awe-inspiring settings such...
This past weekend volunteers, artists, and activists from Richmond gathered for a community mural event led by Woman Life Freedeom RVA to honor the lives lost and struggle for freedom happening in Iran. Photo by Matin Kordnavahsi The people in Iran, from the smallest religious rural town like Qom, to the big modernized cities like Tehran, have...
An Afghan family who left their home country years ago and resettled in Virginia attempt to help family members still stuck in Kabul, and grapple with the unavoidable question: With the US military gone, what happens to those attempting to leave Afghanistan now? Bahar serves paratha and tea in her Richmond, Va. home, as she recalls the first...
Last month, the DC-based World Affairs Councils of America spoke to Libyan political official Mohammed Ali Abdallah about the country's struggle with coronavirus amid a brutal civil war. Residents of Tripoli, Libya’s capital, are living in the middle of a civil war during a global pandemic. The World Affairs Councils of America, a Washington,...
The Dutch city of canals and coffee shops offers plenty of cheese, fries, and other assorted edibles (yeah, you know what we mean). RVA Global correspondent Chloe Fortin brings us an in-depth report. Typically, when you tell people that you’re going to Amsterdam, they smile and give you a wink. Because let’s be honest -- the first two things...
*This article originally appeared in RVA Mag #36, on the streets now at all your favorite spots. The most difficult part about traveling is the people you must leave behind. Other things can also go wrong: missing planes, losing luggage, items stolen, food sickness, uncomfortable weather, fear of strangers, looking like an outsider,...
My grandmother was a Nazi. During the war she worked as a nurse and was betrothed to an SS officer. My mom always added the context that Hitler Youth was compulsory, but she'd also likely admit that her mother-in-law may have been one of the more enthusiastic participants. That’s not to say that I didn’t love her. Her willpower always inspired...
The history of Guatemala's secret abductions reminds us how important the principle of universal equality really is -- and points out how far from that principle the United States has gone. On a recent trip to Guatemala with rabbinic colleagues from around the country, I learned the story of a boy named Marco Antonio Molina Theissen. Marco...
