Several campaign signs for Democratic congressional candidate Salaam Bhatti were vandalized over the weekend with professionally printed flyers telling him to "return to your homeland" in multiple languages. The flyers also featured the hashtag #Remigration, a term...
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...
If English is your first language and you own at least 100 books, I’d lay even odds that one of them is the Complete Works of William Shakespeare. Even if you’ve never read it. Shakespeare’s kung fu grip on the GOAT trophy is impressive for its 400-year title retention and his distant-as-all-hell competition in the rearview. When someone gets to...
Music is the lifeblood of our city. The late-night sets, the sweat-soaked venues, the dusty record bins filled with sonic treasures and hidden frequencies. Richmond gets this— more than any other city in Virginia. So here’s Weekend Frequency—a weekly, reader-curated playlist built for the city, by the city. Part revival, part continuation of...
A longtime recreational and cultural landmark in Henrico County, Hadad’s Lake is set to be auctioned next month, signaling the possible end of its nearly 60-year legacy. Established in 1965 by Ronald Hadad Sr. and his father, the lake became a beloved local destination, offering a natural-bottom swimming pool, fishing...
Merenda Cecelia, a Richmond-based artist and instructor, was recently dismissed from her teaching position at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VMFA) after reading a statement aloud in class. She describes the statement as a personal expression of artistic and academic freedom, which led to the termination of her contract just three days later....
Richmond has long been home to a thriving arts scene, with well-established membership-driven spaces like Artspace and the long-running 1708 Gallery providing vital platforms for artists. However, as the city continues to change, younger creatives are seeking new ways to carve out their own space within the arts...
Music has always been a mirror. It tells us who we are, what we value, and, sometimes, what we’re too afraid to face. But if music is supposed to reflect the world around us, then what does it say that so much of today’s mainstream music says… nothing at all? Richmond once had something to say. It made music that rattled cages, music that took a...
There are few people who can expose the playbooks of power quite like NYT bestselling author Cory Doctorow—unraveling how tech monopolies, political elites, and radicalization can converge at a singular point. As a science fiction writer, activist, and former European Director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, he’s always been at the...
