Richmond’s Response: $10k raised to counter WBC

by | Mar 3, 2010 | COMMUNITY

GayRVA reports that Pennies in Protest raised nearly ten thousand dollars from those wishing to donate to causes targeted by the Westboro Baptist Church.

This is exactly how the WBC’s hateful actions can be turned to good. Gay RVA alerted. Locals rallied. The anti-hate people got motivated, a debate regarding the essence of counter-protest raged on (with, of course, plenty of derailings), the counter-protest facebook spree started, and the results are in. We won, and the WBC’s ass-hattery generated a pile of cash for those they hate. From GayRVA:

Yesterday, outside the Virginia Holocaust Museum, four picketers from Kansas-based Westboro Baptists Church marched to a street corner at Shockoe Bottom. They were greeted by almost 400 Richmonders united against their message of hate.

GayRVA reports that Pennies in Protest raised nearly ten thousand dollars from those wishing to donate to causes targeted by the Westboro Baptist Church.

This is exactly how the WBC’s hateful actions can be turned to good. Gay RVA alerted. Locals rallied. The anti-hate people got motivated, a debate regarding the essence of counter-protest raged on (with, of course, plenty of derailings), the counter-protest facebook spree started, and the results are in. We won, and the WBC’s ass-hattery generated a pile of cash for those they hate. From GayRVA:

Yesterday, outside the Virginia Holocaust Museum, four picketers from Kansas-based Westboro Baptists Church marched to a street corner at Shockoe Bottom. They were greeted by almost 400 Richmonders united against their message of hate.

Thank you, RVA. There have been many discussions regarding the effectiveness, reason, and even base morality behind counter-protesting hate groups such as the WBC, and there is still no clear answer to any of the questions raised. However, a showing of literally a hundred times more people surely resonates; and the money raised for the organizations cannot be dismissed, and we are deeply thankful for Patience Salgado, who organizes Pennies in Protest. Under her direction, these funds were made possible with the help of hate-mongers in one of the best real-world examples of turning lemons into lemonade that we’ve ever seen.

RVA Staff

RVA Staff

Since 2005, the dedicated team at RVA Magazine, known as RVA Staff, has been delivering the cultural news that matters in Richmond, VA. This talented group of professionals is committed to keeping you informed about the events and happenings in the city.




more in community

Seeing Richmond Through Their Eyes

Editor's Note: Writers Block is an occasional series featuring personal essays, reflections, and creative nonfiction from Richmond-area writers. In Seeing Richmond Through Their Eyes, Gabriella Ryan shares how a month spent showing her Italian cousins around Richmond...

Can Firehouse Put Richmond on the National Theatre Map?

In the electric and perpetually sincere terrain of Richmond’s theatre culture, there are institutions that do more than merely reside, they lead. They serve as a measure of our city's potential beyond its natural aspirations. I've witnessed Firehouse Theatre inhabit...

Photos | Warriors in Bloom at Agecroft Hall

For one weekend, Agecroft Hall stopped being a museum and became a kingdom.  What began as a fundraiser to help launch Richmond's first Renaissance Faire has grown into a destination of its own. Warriors in Bloom, created by the folks at Virago Alley, returned with...

Dispatch from the Lewis Ginter Picket Line

An on-the-ground account of the strike that prompted Jesse Welles and Graham Nash to cancel their Richmond performances. Tensions escalated as Jesse Welles called off his performance at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden yesterday amid an ongoing union fight for higher...

Far-Right “Remigration” Propaganda Targets Bhatti Campaign

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...

In Plan 9 We Trust

This weekend, Plan 9 Music marks 45 years in Richmond with a party at Hardywood Park Craft Brewery. Over the past four and a half decades, the Richmond institution weathered some of the most turbulent periods in music history. It closed stores, sold its warehouse and...

RVA Pro Wrestling is on a Tear Right Now

Last year, Dogwood Dell was packed out. The hillside was full, the crowd was loud and RVA Pro Wrestling put on one hell of a show. It wasn't just wrestling. It was entertainment built for a Richmond audience, mixing big personalities, over-the-top antics and...

Topics: