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Halloween Parade Takes Over The Streets of Richmond Once Again

Noelle Abrahams | November 1, 2019

Topics: All the Saints Theater Company, Halloween Parade, Lily Lamberta, Monroe Park, Oregon Hill, puppetry

All The Saints Theater Company’s annual Halloween Parade returned to Richmond’s streets for its 14th edition last night — presenting a climate change-inspired “Funeral March For Life As We Had Wished It.”

The Oregon Hill Halloween Parade has risen from the ashes after an announcement last year that the 2018 parade would be the last. All the Saints Theater Company and hundreds of participants gathered in Monroe Park on Thursday night and made their return to South Laurel Street for the 14th annual edition of this Richmond tradition.

The parade is a funeral march with a new theme each year, featuring enormous, macabre puppets made by All the Saints Theater Co. It’s the brainchild of leader and organizer Lily Lamberta, who is the founder, producer, and lead puppeteer at All the Saints. It’s become a ritual for the community in the past 14 years, and the overwhelming response Lamberta received after announcing her plans to put the parade on hold is ultimately what revived it this year.

“We make art because it’s our way to tell the story of our times. We make Art because it’s necessary,” said Lamberta. “The community’s support for the parade is why I changed my mind.”

This Halloween was a “Funeral March For Life As We Had Wished It,” inspired by the climate crisis, the burning Amazon Rainforest, and human rights crises affecting immigrants, indigenous peoples, people of color, and the LGBTQ community. Oya, an Orisha Black Elemental Goddess reference, along with Climate activist Greta Thunberg and a personification of the Amazon Rainforest were just some of the many larger-than-life puppets that towered over the marchers.

Lamberta announced before the 13th annual parade in 2018 that she needed to take a break to focus on her family and her art career, wanting to pursue more installation work. “A group of people began to organize the same day of the announcement to figure out how to support me more this year,” said Lamberta. “We call them the All the Saints Inner Council.”

“Between this immediate response to my truthful unknowing whether it was feasible for me to continue the Halloween Parade after 13 years, and the dire world conditions in the past year, I felt it necessary for me to continue to use my work as a political activist, organizer, puppeteer, and storyteller to do what I do,” said Lamberta. “And what I do is bring the magic of ancient pageant-style puppetry into the streets of Oregon Hill, to celebrate community and fight for a better means for our world and the inhabitants of our world.”

Lamberta no longer has a plan for when the final Halloween Parade will be. She’s now going to play it by ear and decide annually if she’ll be able to make it happen or not. Her words of wisdom for the people of Richmond? “Seize the day and take nothing for granted. See you in the streets.”

Here were some of the scenes from the streets last night:

Photos by Noelle Abrahams

Amid Protest, Legislators Announce 5% Pay Raise for Teachers

VCU CNS | January 29, 2019

Topics: General Assembly, higher pay for teachers, Monroe Park, protest, Ralph Northam, teachers protest, Virginia Education Association

As hundreds of teachers and supporters from around the state marched to the Virginia Capitol to call for higher salaries and more funding for public schools, legislative leaders announced Monday that they would include a 5 percent pay raise for teachers in the state budget.

Armed with red coats, scarves and signs, participants of all ages gathered in Monroe Park for a small rally. Then they marched to the Capitol as a girl riding in the back of a small red wagon used a microphone and handheld speaker to lead their chants.

The marchers gathered on the Capitol grounds to hear community leaders protest what they see as inadequate funding for public education.

Rodney Robinson, Virginia’s Teacher of the Year, said Amazon will receive nearly $3.5 billion in public subsidies from New York, Virginia and Tennessee to locate facilities in those states. Virginia’s state government and Arlington County offered more than $570 million in direct subsidies and about $220 million in transportation improvements to entice Amazon to put an East Coast headquarters near Reagan National Airport in Crystal City.

Robinson said the money Amazon will get could “pay for more teachers, counselors and 21st-century school buildings that are not infested with roaches, rats and mold.”

The Virginia Education Association, which represents the state’s teachers, organized the “Red4Ed” rally. The VEA says Virginia ranks 34th among the states in teacher pay. The average annual teacher salary in Virginia is $51,265 — more than $9, 200 below the national average, according to the association.

According to the Richmond School Board, 1 in 5 educators must take a second job to make ends meet.

Liz Holmes, a second-grade teacher at Greenville Elementary School in Warrenton, said she has not had a raise in 11 years. Holmes came to the march to express her frustration over the lack of “fair compensation” in her workplace.

“We are losing qualified teachers every year to surrounding counties that pay higher wages,” Holmes said, holding a picture of her and her students. “Enough is enough.”

A crowd of teachers gathers in Monroe Park before the march (Photo via CNS)

As the teachers held their demonstration, Republican lawmakers who control the House of Delegates announced that they would include a 5 percent raise for teachers in the state budget they plan to release on Sunday. Del. Steve Landes, R-Augusta, made the announcement in a speech on the House floor.

“Virginia has some of the finest teachers in the country and that has led to Virginia students consistently outperforming nationwide peers on standardized tests, college admissions, and graduate rates,” said Landes, vice chairman of the House Appropriations Committee. “To maintain that success we must ensure our teachers are fairly compensated and know the hard work they do each and every day is greatly appreciated.”

The committee’s chairman, Republican Del. Chris Jones of Suffolk, said the proposed budget would increase teachers’ salaries without raising taxes. “Under conservative leadership in the House of Delegates, this will be the fourth teacher pay raise in the last six years,” he said.

“I am proud of Chairman Jones and Vice Chairman Landes for the hard work and dedication they have shown to ensuring our teachers know how much they are appreciated in the Commonwealth,” said House Speaker Kirk Cox, a retired high school government teacher.

“As a public school teacher for 30 years, I know how hard teachers work to educate Virginia’s future leaders. We must make it a priority to keep great teachers in the classroom and that starts with making sure our teachers a fairly compensated.”

Democrats are already on board with the 5 percent pay raise for teachers. In the two-year budget adopted by the General Assembly in 2018, teachers were scheduled to receive a 3 percent salary increase on July 1. In his proposed revision of the budget, Gov. Ralph Northam recommended awarding teachers an additional 2 percent raise.

Northam, a Democrat, reiterated that proposal at a meeting of the Virginia School Board Association last week, calling it “the largest one-time pay raise for teachers in over 15 years.”

But Virginia teachers say that their salaries are more than 10 percent below the national average — and that the planned raise does not close the gap.

“It’s a start,” Holmes said. “But it’s not enough.”

By Corrine Fizer, Capital News Service. Photos via CNS

Richmond’s Homeless Groups Speak on Monroe Park, Its Future, and Their Work

George Copeland, Jr. | October 2, 2018

Topics: CARITAS, Food Not Bombs, Homeless, Homeless Groups, Monroe Park, richmond, Richmond city council, Richmond police department

Monroe Park saw its official reopening ceremony last Thursday following months of renovation. The fairly rainy event was attended by Mayor Levar Stoney and representatives from Virginia Commonwealth University, the Monroe Park Conservancy, Richmond City Council, along with a crowd of dozens — and one lone critic of the entire affair.

“Virginia Beach built a $29 million facility to help house homeless people. The city here does nothing,” said Thomas Alleman, chief facilitator of the Richmond chapter of the international Food Not Bombs collective.

Carrying a protest banner soaked from the rainwater that poured during the ceremony’s speeches and ribbon-cutting, Alleman was very critical of the event, the park redesign, its architects, and how it spoke, in his view, to the continuous changes Richmond has seen over the years.

It’s changing all right — but for what and for who?

Nearly two years after work on the park closed off a well-known hub for Richmond’s homeless and the organizations that aim to aid them, the way homeless outreach has changed in the city and Virginia is a question with a wide gulf of responses for groups that share a common cause and focus on this issue.

For Michael Rogers, a former member of CARITAS and Community Engagement Manager for Homeward, the current state of homeless outreach is a very positive one. Aided by staff tasked to connect with, check in on, inform and build relationships with the homeless, the group’s efforts have continued with little obstacles to hinder them.

This is important for the work they do, especially the annual Point-In-Time count, as Homeward’s ability to document the homeless people of the Commonwealth is critical to ensuring federal funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). As such, the work the group does involves not just networking with similar organizations throughout Virginia, but broad cooperation with local officials and law enforcement agencies to ensure proper support for all of Virginia’s homeless people.

“It’s grown a lot, but we’re getting participation across sectors and across organizations,” Rogers said of Homeward’s recent efforts.

Alleman has a more mixed take, owing in part to the disruption in service and outreach Food Not Bombs experienced following the park’s closing. As a result, after 25 years in the city, the group was faced with the hard work of reestablishing their organizing connections with a homeless population left scattered. Eventually, Food Not Bombs set up in Jackson Ward’s Abner Clay Park, with the help of Richmond’s homeless, though with a noticeable decrease in numbers.

This skeptical view of the situation extends to the renewed presence of law enforcement in the area, including the Richmond and VCU police officers stationed at the Checkers House near the park’s center, in addition to the new camera system. Ultimately, Alleman disputes the notion that Monroe Park is for Richmond’s city residents.

“They put a police station where this gazebo and bathrooms used to be. What does that really say? Instead of helping us and working with us to help these people, they do things like this, I think, to kind of dissuade us,” Alleman said.

In a statement, RPD 4th Precinct Officer Lt. James Roberts explained that the Richmond Police Department will be covering primary patrolling responsibilities in the park, with VCU’s police officers serving as support.

“The objective of the Richmond Police Department is to implement public safety strategies that will allow all park patrons to lawfully utilize the park,” Roberts said. “Enforcement action will be taken when appropriate, however, our overall strategy is to engage the community and our partner organizations in non-enforcement efforts to ensure all lawful activity is protected.”

“Homeless outreach groups will continue to be welcome in Monroe Park as they are in other city parks, as long as their activities are lawful.”

In contrast to Food Not Bombs’ struggles, Homeward was seemingly well prepared when news of Monroe Park’s closing reached them. Though Rogers was still part of CARITAS at the time, the usage of a coordinated communication plans for a network of case managers for emergency shelters, outreach workers, and law enforcement on alternative locations for shelter and aid helped some homeless outreach groups immensely in the time before and during Monroe Park’s closure.

This continued good fortune extends to Homeward’s interactions with HUD. In contrast to general operations and policy initiatives within the Trump administration and even from top HUD officials, Homeward’s work with the staff members of its homeless division is as professional as ever, if not better, according to Rogers. With applications for a $5.4 million federal grant and additional funds for homeless domestic violence survivors still pending, that relationship will be key for how Homeward operates in the future.

“I can’t speak for all of HUD, but in homeless services, it’s remained consistent, and we’ve even seen an increase in support,” Rogers said.

That support seems especially vital in a fall season that’s seen extreme and rare weather occurrences touch down in Richmond, including tornadoes generated in Hurricane Florence’s wake that claimed the lives of two people in Virginia.

Homeward opted to tackle the problem with a system of public communication, online resources and overtime work to bring the public into greater connection with both the city’s homeless and the kind of outreach work necessary when a potential hurricane could reach its streets.

Recalling the large amount of effort taken to ensure the safety of Richmond’s homeless people, Rogers said, “It was just kind of working diligently to make sure that everyone, including the general public, knew what resources were available; so that anyone who was sleeping outdoors, we could connect with them and offer those kind of services.”

On this topic, Alleman strikes a similar, more condensed tone: “Even if there was a tornado, we would still be here. We are dedicated.”

Judging by Alleman’s and Rogers’s statements, both organizations are still undecided on how they’ll utilize Monroe Park as part of their efforts, now that fences have come down.

Rogers and Homeward remain observant, waiting to get the full scope of the new rules and guidelines for the park, which includes a 6 o’clock closing time and new rules for lawn reservations and charitable food distribution. For now, they’re focused on connecting and expanding the capacity to aid.

“We will support and push people towards creating and expanding indoor meal programs, particularly for people who are sleeping outdoors,” Rogers said.

And for Food Not Bombs, who are deep in discussion among themselves and other groups? “We still want our presence in this park,” Alleman said. “It’s not like Food Not Bombs is just this bunch of punk kids making food. It’s the idea that we have to show people that there are other people in this city that need help.”

Despite his misgivings about the park, Alleman remains open to the possibility of greater homeless aid coming from Richmond officials.

“I do hope that we can work out something with the city to get people into some sort of shelters,” Alleman said.

While the gap in Alleman’s and Rogers’s outlook on Monroe Park is clear, equally clear is that both men — and the groups they work with — remain steadfast in their commitment to helping Richmond’s homeless.

Photos by George Copeland Jr.

Black Action Now stages “They Can’t Kill Us All” protest at Monroe Park, Broad Street

Marilyn Drew Necci | January 15, 2015

Topics: Black Action Now, blacklivesmatter, Monroe Park, RVA, vcu

Headed by Black Action Now, VCU students and Richmond residents gathered in Monroe Park Wednesday night for the “They Can’t Kill Us All” protest. The group marched from the park to The Compass, up Harrison Street, and briefly stopped in front of the Siegel Center.
[Read more…] about Black Action Now stages “They Can’t Kill Us All” protest at Monroe Park, Broad Street

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