protests Archives

We Need To Talk: The Poe Museum And Mending Walls RVA Start The Conversation

Carley Welch | July 9, 2020

Topics: Aaron-Paula Thompson, black lives matter, George Floyd, Hamilton Glass, Mending Walls RVA, Poe Museum, protests, We Need To Talk

When the Poe Museum boarded up its windows and doors last month, they used it as an opportunity to collaborate with Mending Walls RVA and create messages in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.

When riots and protests started crowding the streets and attracting national attention about a month ago here in Richmond, the Edgar Allan Poe Museum, located in Shockoe Bottom, were concerned about potential damage during riots, and decided to board up their windows and doors.

However, after some reflecting on how to support the Black Lives Matter movement, Aaron-Paula Thompson, executive director at the Poe Museum, and Hamilton Glass, the creator of Mending Walls RVA — a new local public art project that brings artists of varying backgrounds together to address current situations in society — decided that having Glass’ artists paint meaningful messages on the boards that would express the Black Lives Matter movement was a much better idea than simply leaving bare boards over their windows.

“We thought that this was a great opportunity to make lemonade out of lemons,” Thompson said. “[We wanted to] use this as the palette to share that we’re part of the Black Lives Matter movement, that we care about what goes on in our community, and that we’re engaged, and we’re aware.”

The theme of the artwork was “We need to talk,” a slogan conveying how tough conversations on topics like race relations and social injustices need to be brought to light in society.

“A lot of people are opening their eyes and seeing things for the first time, or seeing things in a different way for the first time,” Glass said. “And we need to like start embarking on those hard conversations that lead that to situations like [the] George Floyd [protests] and Black Lives Matter movement.”

Thompson said that, while Poe lived in many towns and many towns “claim” him, Richmond is the place he actually claimed and called home. Given this, it’s extremely important, Thompson said, that the Poe Museum step up and represent what artists like Poe would’ve thought or said in today’s day in age about social issues.

From idea to fruition, the project took less than a week. Thompson contacted Glass on Friday June 12th. Artists were working on the project the next Tuesday, and were finished with it on Wednesday the 17th.

Thompson described connecting with Glass and his artists as a moment of “synchronicity.” “There was an incredible amount of momentum with this project,” she said. “It was really positive; artists were painting in the rain. That’s how excited people were to be a part of this.”

Jowarnise Caston, an artist who worked on the boards, said painting the boards was an amazing experience, even with the rain.

“I knew that I wanted to be part of something that uses art for healing, especially where we are today,” Caston said. “It was an amazing time to be able to come together and collaborate, meaning we were forced to have the conversation that we’re pushing others to have.”

Caston also said that pairing artists of different races and backgrounds together despite the differencdes they may have, especially when working on something unifying like this, makes her proud to lead by example.

Bringing people from different backgrounds together is something Glass also prides himself on. In fact, in an upcoming project he’s starting in July, Glass will be commissioning 16 murals about connection and empathy by 16 different pairs of artists.

“The purpose of it is for those collaborations to inspire connection and continue the conversation that we’re starting to have,” Glass said.

After the plywood boards are taken down from the Poe Museum, Glass and Thompson said they’ll be auctioned off to benefit a nonprofit organization, though they don’t know which one yet.

Thompson said Glass and his team of artists should get all the credit for the work on the museum. She’s just pleased the Poe Museum gets to showcase the work in some way.

“Hamilton and his group of artists should get a tremendous amount of credit for this work,” Thompson said. “We’re just like the gallery that gets to show it, and we’re very excited.”

Photos via Poe Museum/Facebook

Responding To Crisis With Art

Zoe Hall | June 26, 2020

Topics: black lives matter, Malik Radford, Nicole Pernell, protests, richmond artists, Theodore Taylor

Richmond’s Black Art: RVA Magazine is highlighting more local artistic voices responding to the BLM protest movement. Let’s take a closer look.

It’s a long road to justice for the Black Lives Matter movement, and for many, art is a handy tool for expression. On Instagram, speckled between quotes and photos, we continue to find drawings and paintings made in response to the recent Black Lives Matter protests, police brutality crisis, and everyday racism in America. In continuation of our previous article, we wanted to spotlight some Black artists from the Richmond area who are participating in this online renaissance. We spoke to several local artists about their process and what inspired them to create this work. Today, we present: Nicole Pernell, Malik Radford, and Theodore Taylor.

Nicole Pernell

Nicole Pernell is an RVA native, born and raised. “I actually live a few blocks away from the Capitol! So I’m in the heart of all the action,” she said in an email. To make her illustrations, she uses Procreate 5 on her iPad Pro, and sometimes augments it with After Effects for animation.

On Instagram, Pernell has taken a slight diversion from her psychedelic, occasionally galactic portraits to focus on current events surrounding the Black Lives Matter movement and COVID-19. “These are topics that I’m constantly thinking about and feel that others should be informed,” she said.

“Sometimes, people truly do need a reminder to wash their hands or to stay inside to protect others. People also need to be aware of the injustice of black and brown people in America and stop ignoring the problem,” she continued. Her recent illustrations, which mirror her previous ones in creamy color palette and robin’s egg speckle, do not lack playfulness or charm. Pernell’s message is just more obvious.

What keeps her going? “Anything and all things black motivate me! Especially black women!” she said. “We are such a resilient, inspirational and affectionate group of human beings. I truly do wish the world would see us like how I and other black women see each other. There’s so much creativity that we have, so much passion in everything we do. It‘s hard not to be inspired by us!”

In addition to her illustrations, Pernell is a graphic designer and creator of the Meloinin brand, “an on-going passion project of screen-printed materials and illustrations geared towards black women representation.” She plans to continue screen printing, but has bigger dreams.

“One day, I would really like to open an art studio where black women and women of color can collaborate and make art with each other, whatever that may be. I feel like we don’t have a space like that right now. A safe space where we can just create, discuss and be ourselves publicly,” she said.

Malik Radford

Malik Radford has a dual degree in Kinetic Imaging and Communication Arts from Virginia Commonwealth University. He works for the VCU Activity Programming Board as their Communications Coordinator / Graphic Designer, but he also makes illustrations and cartoons.

“I’m always thinking of ideas I want to bring to life,” he wrote to us. “It usually just depends on my mood or what’s going in the world at the time.” His recent work, which ranges from album cover designs to cartoons about social justice, is just as spontaneous as it is intentional. The Instagram caption for the above cartoon reads, “How do we properly go about social justice in a country where peace is deemed as equal of a threat as violence?”

Radford isn’t afraid to be honest, which is part of the reason why his work is so funny. That, and his ability to see the big picture. “I’m really fascinated with the universe and space, and the idea of life being insignificant on a universal scale, yet so important on a human level,” he said.

On his website, Radford lists Earl Mack and Hebru Brantley as some of his influences, artists whose brightly-colored, pop culture-sensitive qualities can be seen in Radford’s work. It’s the sort of stuff that would be right at home on Adult Swim, and Radford would love to get involved with the network. He’s on their radar; Adult Swim commented on a cartoon Radford made about a Michael Jordan docu-series a few weeks ago. “It’s just a matter of continuing to make dope stuff,” he said.

In the meantime, Radford plans on making more album covers. He’s designed for RDFRD, Svn Svn Three, Kamakazi Kei, and many more. “I’m also going to be releasing either an art book or another coloring book,” he said. “I have a lot of goals, but those are the ones that first come to mind.”

Theodore Taylor

Theodore Taylor, also a VCUarts alum, is a Richmond-based children’s illustrator, casual beatmaker, and front-end web developer at the Brick Factory. The above cartoon is from a zine Taylor made in 2017 called “Some Dumb Comics,” which is described on his website as “a small collection of comics about coping with modern America.”

Taylor, who is often busy taking care of his son, prefers working in Procreate on his iPad for practicality. Before he can finalize his designs, Taylor said in an email, “I try to capture as many ideas as I can in my sketchbook. If something interesting pops into my head I write it down. Then I take the best of those ideas and bring them to a completed state elsewhere.”

Music is a running theme in Taylor’s work. “A lot of my work is centered around it,” he said. “My father was a jazz guitarist and I’ve always wanted to follow in his footsteps. But I ended up taking a different path towards visual art. So whenever I have a chance to fit music into my work, I take it. That’s where my desire to make beat tapes alongside comics and zines came from.”

Most recently, Taylor illustrated “Woke,” a collection of poems focused on social justice. On Instagram, he wrote, “I’m very happy with how this book turned out. I think it features some of my best book work to date. I tried to approach it like a zine, representing each poem as best as I could. I hope you all enjoy it!”

His illustrations in “Woke” are luminous and textured, like sunlight spilling onto fabric, with outlines like woodblock prints. “My style comes from years of mimicking comics, animation, video games and street art,” he said. “I still don’t feel like I have one consistent style, but I can spot elements that tie everything together. My style changes depending on what I’m working on.”

Taylor’s main focus at the moment is continuing his career as a children’s book illustrator. “Not just for money,” he said, “but the surreal feeling of seeing my work on store shelves in a real, tangible book.” Look out for his next book! “I really wish I could say what it is, but it’s a secret!” he said.

Urgent Progressive Change: Speaking With Richmond Mayoral Candidate Alexsis Rodgers

Carley Welch | June 25, 2020

Topics: alexsis rodgers, black lives matter, BLM, care in action, coronavirus, education, eviction, gentrification, healthcare, housing, housing crisis, Levar Stoney, local politics, local schools, mayor, mayor candidates, mayor race, monument ave, monuments, Navy Hill, new monuments, Pandemic, planned parenthood, politics, protests, richmond apartments, richmond coliseum, richmond healthcare, richmond housing, richmond mayor, richmond public schools, richmond rentals, RPS, stoney, vcu, Virginia politics, virginia young democrats

RVA Magazine sits down with Alexsis Rodgers, a community activist and mayoral candidate for the City of Richmond, to learn more about her policies.

On June 6, Alexsis Rodgers formally announced her candidacy for Richmond mayor. Rodgers, a VCU graduate, is currently the Virginia state director for Care in Action: the policy and advocacy home for two million women domestic workers. Rodgers is also the former president of the Virginia Young Democrats. Rodgers’ campaign is running on the slogan “Policies Not Apologies.”

Among the policies and reform she’s passionate about are voting rights, economic security, college affordability, and quality health care. Some of her accomplishments include playing a key role in achieving Medicaid expansion, and growing birth control access during her time at Planned Parenthood here in Richmond.

We sat down with Rodgers to learn more about her policies ahead of the election.

RVA Magazine: I’ve seen and read that you’ve been in leadership positions such as the president of Virginia Young Democrats, and now you’re the Virginia State Director for Care in Action. Why do you want to run for mayor? Why now?

Alexsis Rodgers: Over the last couple of weeks, we’ve seen more clearly than ever that the community wants urgent, progressive change. A lot of the demands that we’re hearing from the community are policy demands that they’ve been setting forward for years — whether that be police accountability, a civilian review board with authority to subpoena, or the Marcus Alert. What I’ve seen from our Mayor’s Office is a resistance to listen and be responsive to calls from the community, and this isn’t the first time we’ve seen this dismissal… When you look back at the Navy Hill fight, the Education Compact, and development projects all throughout the city, we’ve seen the Mayor center the interests of corporate elites and special interests more so than people. I think now more than ever, we need someone who’s in touch; who has worked with community activism leaders to fight for progressive change, but who also understands policy and its process. I think I’m that candidate.

RVA Mag: What do you think is the best solution for the city’s ongoing problems with education, especially for students who are economically disadvantaged and/or from marginalized backgrounds?

AR: Number one: right now, in the middle of this public health crisis, we’re seeing the importance of education and the importance of child care. For too many of Richmond’s families, access to affordable child care, early childhood education, and the right to go to a good quality school has not been a reality. I think we have to start by centering the right values, and the right people, in the process. We’re never going to get the results we want when it comes to educational equity if we don’t start centering the folks that are the most impacted. If we don’t start by engaging and listening to our teachers, faculty, and support staff. If we’re not truly listening to parents. We haven’t seen any true community engagement through this Mayor’s Administration. That’s something we’re going to need to address if we want to fully fund RPS, if we want to get police out of our school systems, and make sure that schools are a safe place for our kids to learn and grow.

RVA Mag: How do you feel about the issues that have come up in the past year or two regarding de facto segregation of school districts within the city?

AR: There’s a systemic issue when it comes to racial and educational inequity here in Richmond, and right now we’re having a very public conversation about monuments and what they mean to black and brown folks. But we’re not [paying] enough attention right now to the systemic issues of racial injustice and education inequity. I think it has to start by, again, making sure we’re centering the right folks in these conversations. We haven’t always done that. We can’t ignore do-gooders in our community that want to support because they have access to corporate funds for our schools. They’re great community partners who have been helping to support our teachers and staff, but we need to make sure that we’re always putting students first. We know that Navy Hill was not a project that was going to put working-class folks first, and we’ve got to stop putting those corporate elites first when it comes to our policymaking.

RVA Mag: The process of figuring out what to do with the Richmond Coliseum and its surrounding area, Navy Hill, has been a huge issue in the city over the past few years. How do you think you can most effectively move this discussion forward, and find a solution for the area that works for all Richmonders?

AR: I think the project was doomed from the start, because it seemed to me that the process was rigged. It started with corporate special interest, and the plan was created, but it was rolled out under the guidelines of “wanting community feedback and input” — when really, they knew what they wanted the plan to be. It was not real engagement and real incorporation of community feedback. As Mayor, my commitment is that I’m not going to start with those special interests in mind first. I want to put the people first, and make sure there is real input from Richmond residents — that their voices are actually heard as we’re developing the city. It’s really important that we’re able to build and grow Richmond — make sure we open up new revenues for the city, so we can fully fund our schools and address housing and healthcare issues. But if we don’t center the right values as we work to secure economic development, we’re never going to do right by Richmond residents.

RVA Mag: What are your views on what should be done on Monument Ave?

AR: I think it’s really clear that Richmonders want these monuments down. I told a story when I first launched my campaign about when I was at school at Hanover High School: at track practice while we were practicing, a truck pulled up with a huge confederate flag in the back and started circling the parking lot. My coach went out and told that driver to go home. He knew the message that truck was trying to send to our team, he knew it was wrong, and he went out and called for that person to go.

Right now, what we’re seeing over the last several years, folks have asked for these monuments to be removed. They’ve asked for them to be put in museums, but for them to be put out of our public spaces. For too long, the Mayor has said, “Well we can’t,” or “I’m not sure,” or “We need to have a process.” We had a commission that made recommendations that didn’t go anywhere, and it’s only when this very visible unrest is happening in our city that he’s coming around to the right decision. It shouldn’t require us to put our literal bodies on the line, out here protesting for our rights in the middle of a pandemic, to be heard by our elected officials. We should be able to be valued and seen whether we’re protesting, speaking at a city council meeting, or writing a letter to a City Council member or our Mayor. All of those tactics should be heard and valued. We shouldn’t have to put our lives on the line as part of it. I sit out there marching with everybody else, asking for justice, asking for policy solutions… but also to say these racist symbols should be out of our public spaces, and it’s past time for that to happen.

RVA Mag: What would you like to see done with the street once they’re removed?

AR: When we’re talking about public spaces and putting up monuments to individuals, that should take real community input. That should also honor folks whose history has been forgotten or erased. You know, Richmond is a creative city. We have a lot of artists. We have a lot of historians and researchers. Given the authority and the resources, we can have some real community engagement around [questions like], “What should we name our streets that are formally named after confederate generals?” “What should we put in place of these historically confederate monuments?” I don’t think the city residents haven’t been given that agency. I would love to see us move in that direction — where we’re having thoughtful conversations about race, using this moment where folks are becoming politically aware to move the city forward, and what should be in these public spaces that honor the right values and right cause.

RVA Mag: Richmond’s eviction numbers saw somewhat of a decline after the city’s high rate of evictions became national news a couple of years ago, but the city has a long way to go before we’re completely past this issue. How do you foresee the city moving forward in a manner that is helpful to those struggling financially, both where evictions are concerned and in the changing face of public housing in Richmond?

AR: For too many people, especially during this public health crisis, they’ve been juggling whether they can put their health at risk and go to work, or put their job and livelihood at risk by staying home. There have been a lot of great activists out there calling for canceling rent, calling for freezing evictions, and [they’ve been] met with a lot of silence from our elected leadership. That’s not okay. It, again, shows how out-of-touch and out-of-alignment the current administration is from the real needs of the community. There were [homeless] folks at the beginning of the pandemic who were sheltering in place at Camp Cathy, and the city came and removed those folks’ homes. Now, I appreciate any effort to help make sure these folks are in a safe and supportive environment — especially during a public health crisis, where they can maintain social distancing and good hygiene — but the city came in and cleared out those folks’ properties. It was just garbage in the streets. I think that shows a lack of understanding of both dignity and their agency as human beings, and that’s not something I want to see our city do ever again.

When we talk about affordable housing and making sure that folks are able to make ends meet, there’s a lot of layers to that. There’s making sure people have access to a good job, there’s a lot of emphasis on having transit options that connect people to jobs and work, healthcare access to make sure that where you’re going to work, you’re safe, and childcare so you can go to work and not worry about your family. There are a lot of efforts, a lot of smart folks working on housing policies. But it always has to start with centering people’s dignity, and their humanity, the value that every person should be able to live safely, and giving respect to folks. Maybe they are renters, and there are candidates in the race that don’t think renters should have as much of a say when it comes to their government, and that’s not right. Regardless of where you live or who you are, I want to be your Mayor, and I want to represent you in our government.

RVA Mag: You’ve had a longtime involvement with Virginia League For Planned Parenthood, so are you at all concerned that abortion will become a wedge issue in your campaign?

AR: I have always been fighting for healthcare access. In this race, I’m going to be a vocal champion for abortion rights. For me, I know that people that are pregnant need access to the full range of reproductive healthcare services — and that means access to good maternal care, birth control. That means access to abortion. Not every person wants to be pregnant, and not every person is able to carry their pregnancy to term. It’s important to me that we continue to champion those rights for those in Richmond. I was really excited to help Planned Parenthood begin their efforts to expand and open up new health centers in Church Hill. That’s going to be huge for this community, which has been historically underserved when it comes to healthcare access. I think that Planned Parenthood and access to reproductive healthcare here in the city is really important, and is actually going to be a way that we unite the city around certain issues — and certainly around expanding access to healthcare.

RVA Mag: Finally, regarding gentrification in Richmond, what is your stance on this issue?

AR: When I moved to the city, I moved to an apartment right near Lamplighter on Addison. My next-door neighbor was an older black woman who had lived there for, you know, forever. In the last couple years, she passed away, and her son wanted to tend to the house. He was really struggling. He had grown up in that house, and he didn’t want to leave the house “speechless” and give it over to renters, because this is the community he grew up in. He also didn’t feel like he had the resources to properly take care of it. Long story short, that house was flipped and sold for half a million dollars, and younger, white folks moved into it. It was a picture right in my eyes, here in Randolph, that is a historically-black community. There are a lot of roots there for black folks, and over and over we’re seeing black residents getting pushed out because of gentrification here in the city. I think it’s important for us to look at how we can make sure that families — specifically black families — can build and maintain wealth in their families. We can proceed to support black ownership when it comes to homes, but also black businesses, and generally making sure that our community of color is made strong. As you probably know, Hull Street used to be basically the Black Wall Street, and making sure that we’re continuing to support communities of color is going to be really important for me.

Interview by Carley Welch; top photo via Alexsis Rodgers/Facebook

The First To Go: Who Was Williams Carter Wickham Anyway?

Zoe Hall | June 22, 2020

Topics: black lives matter, Confederate monuments, Monroe Park Conservancy, protests, statues falling, Williams Carter Wickham

Williams Carter Wickham isn’t in a lot of history textbooks. When his statue was the first to fall in Richmond last week, it left many of us wondering, “Who was that guy?”

If you look at the order in which monuments are being pulled down in Richmond, they seem to be falling in order of accessibility. Robert E Lee, one of the most beloved heroes of the Confederacy, towers above the reach of protesters looking to chip away at Confederate glorification in Richmond. By contrast, the statue of Williams Carter Wickham, located in Monroe Park, was pretty low to the ground, symbolically and literally. Not a bad place to start.

You don’t need to know much about Wickham to understand why protesters removed the Monroe Park statue. Just read the plaque: “Presented to the city of Richmond by comrades in the Confederate army.” As a Confederate Civil War general, Wickham goes against everything those in the Black Lives Matter movement are fighting for.

On the evening of Saturday June 6, a group of protesters pulled the statue down with rope, making national news and inspiring similar acts. “Richmond has had decades to address this issue and it hasn’t, so now the people have,” Gallery 5 curator Prabir Mehta told ABC News.

As it turns out, it’s not incredibly difficult to topple statues. For those curious about how it’s done, you can read this article published by Popular Mechanics.

As Mehta pointed out to ABC News, most passersby would be unaware of the dialogue surrounding Confederate statues in Richmond, especially those not on Monument Avenue. The most recent push for change began in 2017 after the events surrounding the infamous Unite The Right rally in Charlottesville, but has been slow to manifest.

After Unite The Right, Wickham’s great-great-grandsons, Clayton and Will Wickham, requested the statue in Monroe Park be removed, reaching out to the Monroe Park Conservancy as well as Mayor Stoney. The Richmond Times-Dispatch quoted their letter to Stoney, which said, “We want to be sure you know that, as a plantation owner, Confederate general, and industrialist, General Wickham unapologetically accrued power and wealth through the exploitation of enslaved people.”

Members of the Monroe Park Conservancy voted to remove the statue, and Stoney’s Monument Avenue Commission considered it, but neither were able to legally complete the task. If Richmonders hadn’t taken the matter into their own hands, they would have had to wait until after July 1st of this year, when a law will be passed that gives local governments in Virginia authority over monuments.

Among Richmond’s handful of lesser-known Confederate monuments — a list that also includes Matthew Fontaine Maury, AP Hill, and the now-also-deposed Richmond Howitzers Battalion tribute statue — Wickham is particularly elusive. It’s tough to find much about him on the web, but his Wikipedia page (or, if you happen to go to Virginia Tech, this collection of letters) offers some interesting information.

Wickham grew up about half an hour north of Richmond on the Hickory Hill plantation, a large estate compared to most in Virginia and an appendage of the Shirley Plantation owned by Robert E Lee’s mother, Anne Hill Carter Lee.

His ancestors include one of Virginia’s wealthiest landowners of the 1700s, Robert “King” Carter, named for his “autocratic business methods,” as well as Robert E. Lee, who was Wickham’s first cousin, once removed.

After graduating from UVA, Wickham worked as a lawyer and was later elected to the Virginia House of Delegates, all while continuing to manage Hickory Hill with his wife. He voted against secession in 1861, but agreed to it and saw a good deal of combat in the Civil War, eventually promoted to brigadier general in the Confederate Army.

He became a railroad developer in Virginia after the Civil War, to varying degrees of success, often hampered by financial problems. A Republican and supporter of Ulysses S. Grant, he returned to the General Assembly in the 1880s before dying (while in office) of heart failure in 1888.

*Picture postcard featuring the Wickham statue in Monroe Park, early 20th century. Via Visual & Vintage Virginia/Facebook*

Wickham was many things; a farmer, a slave owner, a high-ranking Confederate general, and an active politician. But he was not all that distinguished, and certainly not anyone you’d remember from history class. There’s not a great argument for having him memorialized, unless your main goal is valorizing the Confederacy. Based on what Gen. Fitzhugh Lee said at the time the statue was put in place in 1891, that it was a “glorious spectacle to see monuments rising in honor of such men,” it seems that was exactly the goal.

Since Wickham was toppled, three more statues have hit the pavement (or pond). Protesters sank the Christopher Columbus statue in Byrd Park and pulled the Jefferson Davis statue on Monument Avenue earlier this month. Just a few days ago, the Howitzers Battalion monument near VCU’s Monroe Park campus was torn down. Stoney plans to remove the rest after July 1st. Until then, the Richmond Protest Press is tracking the progress using bingo cards.

Top Photo by Chelsea Burke, via Facebook

Opinion: Why is the RPD at War with Richmond?

RVA Staff | June 19, 2020

Topics: Confederate monuments, police barricades, police violence, protests, Richmond police department, Robert E. Lee Monument

At a time when Confederate monuments around the city are coming down, VCU Anthropology professor Amy Rector and Landon Shroder ask why the Richmond Police Department are behaving like an occupying army.

Monuments glorifying colonizers and treasonous men who fought for slavery are coming down all over Richmond — the former Capital of the Confederacy. The Governor promised he would take down Robert E. Lee, while the Mayor promised he would take down the rest. The actual removal process has also received a little help from those on the street.

Yet over the past few days the Richmond Police Department (RPD) HQ on Grace St. has erected new monuments — ones that are uniquely befitting an organization which believes they are at war. The new interim Chief, William “Jody” Blackwell, confirmed this at his presser yesterday when he said the RPD is going to “take our city back… and we’re going to get the city back.”

The huge concrete barriers filled with gravel and dirt earthworks provides an impenetrable wall which cuts Grace Street in half, effectively shutting down a major thoroughfare in the city. Looked at another way: it is a militarized position, organized to provide space for the RPD to defend their area of responsibility since they clearly believe they are under siege. The barriers are not just physically imposing however, they are also intended to send a message to the same community they are sworn to protect.

*This photo was taken by Landon Shroder*

Humans have been putting up monuments for 8,000 years for this very reason, to psychologically oppress their foes and to remind the lowest status individuals of their place in society.

With the fortification of the RPD, the police aren’t just waging warfare with protestors who arrive unarmed seeking to voice a desperate need for change in our system, they are also waging psychological warfare against an entire city. They are signaling that they are bigger, stronger, and can impose their will upon a city that is demanding reform, accountability, and oversight of a police culture that has seemingly gone rogue.

Far from making them look strong, the fortifications at the RPD have instead made them look weak and ineffectual — incapable of exercising authority from a place other than violence.

It is the same idea that raised the statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee six stories high in 1890, when Monument Avenue was only a tobacco field. The Lee Monument Association wanted their Lost Cause fiction to be bigger and stronger, using the same tactics of psychological warfare the RPD is using today in Richmond. Nothing has really changed in the past 130 years.

Three weeks ago, after the murder of George Floyd, the racist vein that runs so deeply in all facets of American society was laid murderously bare. So much so it could no longer be ignored, and inch by inch Americans have brought to the surface a reckoning that has been simmering for 400 years. Nowhere is this more relevant than the conversation surrounding the culture of policing, which is outdated at best and villainous at worst.

*This photo was taken by* *Nils Westergard*

Recovering our safety from a “law and order” mindset that disproportionately kills our Black community members, while also reclaiming public space from narratives of oppression, is part of a drive towards truth and, perhaps one day, reconciliation — something that is centuries overdue in America.

Unfortunately, our city’s institutions have been silent to this reality. The resignation of Chief Will Smith — who proved to be entirely unequipped to lead a city seeking meaningful reforms, account for his officers, or engage positively with peaceful protestors — has done nothing to confront the underlying reality that the lives of our Black community members are disproportionately at risk from interactions with the police.

When those fighting for justice and a more equitable future are chanting “Whose streets? Our streets” and are met with only platitudes from the Mayor and concrete barriers from the RPD, then there can be no “community engagement,” as Mayor Levar Stoney called for at his presser on Tuesday.

This is now evident from the monuments the RPD has erected in their own image. Juxtapose this against the backdrop of a truly transformational moment of trust-building, healing, and reconciliation happening only a few blocks away at the monument to Robert E. Lee.

For three weeks this Confederate statue and monument to white supremacy has become a living piece of art, a place of pilgrimage, and a reclaimed space for all those in Richmond who were excluded from public life. Black citizens who have lived in Virginia their entire lives are now visiting the statue for the first time, standing on its steps, and taking photos with their fists in the air to commemorate this moment in our shared history.

And for the first time in this statue’s history, it truly means something to everyone. There is a deeper meaning in this than there ever was for a six-story tall racist statue dominating the city’s skyline.

Yet across town, the RPD has put up its own monument to militarization, just like this city’s forebears, who were looking to signal, intimidate, and suppress a portion of their population. When the interim chief uses the phrase “take this city back” how else are we supposed to interpret this? Especially when egregious police violence has been the default setting of the RPD these last few weeks.

But there is another way: the RPD could take note of what is happening at Robert E. Lee and work towards meaningful de-escalation, starting with removing their fortifications and not treating the city like they are an invading army and its citizens the enemy.

The path is clear. It is time for the RPD, like other police forces nationally, to accept that reforms are coming one way or another. Taking down monuments and barriers will not arrest the killers of Breonna Taylor or ease the fears of Black mothers when their children leave the house. But it might lead us in a new direction: towards the reality that our city really does belong to all people. There is no place in Richmond for police barricades or shrines to white supremacy — especially since the distance between those two is one of the shortest distances in American history.

This piece was co-authored by Amy Rector, Associate Professor of Anthropology at VCU and Landon Shroder, a communications and foreign policy professional specializing in the Middle East.

Stepping Back From The Spotlight

Carley Welch | June 18, 2020

Topics: black lives matter, James Millner, LGBTQ Pride Month, protests, va pride

June is Pride Month, but at a time of widespread unrest and protests, Virginia Pride is putting aside celebration in favor of focusing its efforts on supporting Virginia’s black community.

Virginia Pride, a local non-profit organization dedicated to bringing support to the LGBTQ community through education and events, is finding ways to support the black community in a time where systemic racism is finally being brought to light.

“We as a board are looking very carefully at what role we as an organization, an LGBTQ organization, can play in that,” said James Millner, president of Virginia Pride. “There are no real easy answers.”

With June being Pride Month, Virginia Pride had planned a busy month of events celebrating the LGBTQ community. However, between the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and the struggles the black community continues to face, the organization decided to cancel said events.

“The things that we had planned just felt out of place in this moment,” Millner said. “We as an LGBTQ organization did not feel it was appropriate for us to be taking up any space that could and should be occupied by black people and black voices.”

Millner said in the coming weeks, his organization will continue to brainstorm how to ensure that black voices are heard, but it’s been a little bit tricky because he wants to make sure they are “helping, not hurting” the situation.

Millner said they’ve reached out to their supporting black-led and black-centered organizations to offer their support and to let them know that Virginia Pride is there to listen. They’ve also used their social media platforms to help lift and amplify black voices.

Stopping to listen instead of trying to lead in a time like this is something Millner said is essential. Though he said listening is not nearly enough because “inaction is no longer acceptable,” he urged that listening to the oppressed instead of trying to take charge immediately is the best thing white people can do right now.

“The first thing we need to do, to be honest with you, is to listen to black people,” Millner said. “I think it’s very easy for particularly white LGBTQ people and well-meaning white people to want to jump in and lead in this instance. I think that this is a situation in which we need to make sure that we listen first… That we leverage the privileges that we have, [and] use those resources that we have, to support, to amplify black voices.”

Photo by Lauren Serpa