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Black Lives Matter Street Mural Cancelled

RVA Staff | October 1, 2020

Topics: black lives matter, Election 2020, Mike Dickinson, murals, planned parenthood, Roger Stone, Venture Richmond

In August, Venture Richmond received approval to paint a “Black Lives Matter” street mural on East Grace St. But in September, they chose to withdraw their application. What happened?

Since the nationwide protests in the wake of George Floyd’s death at the hands of the Minneapolis police began back in May, cities around the country have taken visible steps to recognize the movement that has spearheaded these protests. In some of these cities, that recognition has taken the form of a mural spelling out the message “Black Lives Matter” on city streets.

Richmond was supposed to get its own “Black Lives Matter” street mural. On August 17, Venture Richmond obtained permission from Richmond’s Public Arts Commission and City Planning Commission to create just such a mural on East Grace St. But last week, they withdrew their proposal. What happened?

The mural’s initial approval came as the culmination of two months’ work by Venture Richmond, artists Hamilton Glass and Ed Trask, and various community groups. At the time, Venture Richmond deputy executive director Anedra Bourne said in a press release that the group hoped to create a unique mural and not just mimic the solid yellow murals in other communities.

The project received vocal support from business leaders, artists, and other community members in the city, including Councilwoman Ellen Robertson, Reverend Benjamin Campbell, Carmina Drummond of the Martin Agency, Moses Foster of the West Cary Group and the Downtown Neighborhood Association. Bourne said Venture Richmond had plans to involve community members and artists in the creation of the mural.

However, the plan to install the mural changed after conservative City Council candidate Mike Dickinson learned of Venture Richmond’s application. Following their lead, Dickinson applied for permission to place a “Baby Lives Matter” mural in front of the Planned Parenthood offices on North Hamilton Street. 

Dickinson’s application, filed on September 1, led the Richmond Planning Commission to hold a closed session with their attorneys. The result of that meeting was an announcement that the Planning Commission would reconsider their approval of the “Black Lives Matter” mural at an upcoming meeting. With that announcement, Venture Richmond chose to withdraw their application.

As far as Dickinson was concerned, he had made his point.

“I think it’s best if government just stays out of making roadways and other public areas political art displays, because then you pick and choose, and government shouldn’t be doing that,” he told Virginia Public Media. 

City Council candidate Mike Dickinson. Photo via Mike Dickinson/Facebook

Dickinson claimed that his had just been the first of several public campaigns around Richmond to push for murals featuring more conservative messages.

“It wasn’t just me. Some people I talked to wanted ‘Dancer Lives Matter’ on Midlothian in front of Paper Moon, some wanted Blue Lives Matter, and you can’t really stop it,” he told VPM. “I think the City Attorney told [the Planning Commission] basically, ‘If you do this, you are opening a can of worms.’”

Dickinson took credit for stopping the “Black Lives Matter” mural with a post on his campaign Facebook account, one that made clear his position on abortion, Planned Parenthood, and the Black Lives Matter movement. 

“While we will not be able to paint Baby Lives Matter and remember the thousands of innocent babies killed by Planned Parenthood daily, I take great pride in knowing that we stopped the city from painting anything that commemorates a Marxist organization and movement like Black Lives Matter,” he wrote. 

Dickinson’s other social media posts express similar right-wing views. In one post, he said that protesters “are scared of me! Because I will LOCK THEM UP!” In another, he mocked the fact that Governor Ralph Northam and First Lady Pamela Northam have been diagnosed with coronavirus, and derided the wearing of masks to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Dickinson’s advice on COVID-19, as captured in that post: “Live your life. If you get it you get it.”

Dickinson also praises Donald Trump in multiple posts, and touts his having received an endorsement from Roger Stone, the Republican political consultant and lobbyist who was convicted of multiple felonies during the Mueller investigation and only avoided prison when President Trump commuted his sentence.

Dickinson’s celebratory Facebook post made clear that the purpose of his application for the “Baby Lives Matter” mural was, first and foremost, to block the installation of the “Black Lives Matter” mural. 

“We the people 1, BLM 0,” he wrote.

Written by Greta Timmins and Marilyn Drew Necci. Top Image: Rendering of proposed mural by Venture Richmond.

This Year, The Richmond Folk Festival Goes Virtual

Jonah Schuhart | September 14, 2020

Topics: Brown's Island, live streams, Richmond Folk Festival, Venture Richmond, Virginia Public Media

Radio programs, online streams, festival-exclusive foods, and art installations around town are only some of the ways this year’s Richmond Folk Festival will ensure that the show goes on regardless of COVID.

For the past 16 years, the Richmond Folk Festival has been a staple event within Virginia’s capital city. The weekend-long celebration, which starts on Friday, October 9th this year, has been popular amongst Virginians of all stripes looking for a place to enjoy music, arts, and food from the diverse cultures found across America.

Unfortunately, the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic spares nothing, and this year’s Folk Festival was no exception. Thankfully, the festival’s organizers refused to buckle completely, so this year the Richmond Folk Festival will be a predominantly virtual event that celebrates the spirit of the original, in-person occasion while taking advantage of some of the positive opportunities afforded by the internet.

“We’ve got 16 years of great festivals behind us, and with that comes some really strong content that’s been recorded, audio-wise, and videotaped as well,” said Stephen Lecky, the Director of Events at Venture Richmond, the company in charge of organizing the Folk Festival. “But we felt like that frankly wasn’t enough for our amazing fanbase and attendees, and we also want to be able to present new content.” 

Image via Richmond Folk Festival/Facebook

Lecky says that locals have come to expect and look forward to the festival every year, but the current state of the COVID-19 pandemic has made a traditional live festival impossible. So Venture Richmond has redesigned this year’s event from the ground up with a mixture of both old and new acts, so as not to disappoint their audience. People who still want to get their fill of classic Folk Festival content have three main avenues to find what they’re looking for: the radio, television, and online livestreaming. 

The content you’ll find spread across these three avenues will cover the same subjects people have come to appreciate at past Richmond Folk Festivals. So, whether someone is looking for good music, food, or culture in general, the virtual festival will have something for everyone. While radio broadcasts will be exclusively music-focused, with past festival performances being broadcast on Virginia Public Media stations 107.3 FM and 93.1 FM, if folks are looking for something new, or if music isn’t their thing, then they should look to the festival’s online and television avenues. 

Of the three, the online avenue is the most robust, with 16 new performances that are going to be live-streamed on the festival’s website and social media specifically for this event. In addition, an online marketplace will be present, along with content catered specifically to kids. Meanwhile, the television programs, broadcast on VPM PBS Plus (channel 57.1 over the air), will act as a middle ground between the classic-celebrating radio and the all-new online features by showcasing a bit of both old and new. But, this is not to say that every aspect of the Richmond Folk Festival will be virtual this year.

“Us using the word virtual is somewhat misleading, because we’re certainly going to be more than that,” said Lecky. “We’re doing an art installation on Brown’s Island at the festival grounds.”

Brown’s Island will feature an exclusive scavenger hunt, and festival-goers are also able to order festival-exclusive foods and buy a festival-exclusive IPAs, which will be available at most grocery and convenience stores around Richmond.

“I feel like, between all those elements, we’re giving folks a great opportunity to take in the festival how they’d like to take it in,” said Lecky.

A scavenger hunt-related object. Photo via Richmond Folk Festival/Facebook

Accounting for all these different avenues, it seems the organizers for the Richmond Folk Festival have really tried to utilize virtual tools to their fullest. Lecky says that even when things go back to normal, and the festival can go live again, that they’d still like to retain some virtual aspects to the event.

“I think it’s really important,” said Lecky. “Because all the work and effort that’s been put into producing this weekend would all be for naught if we didn’t have some legacy pieces that are like, ‘Heck yeah — we should do that every year.’”

So perhaps the effects of COVID have their own silver lining. While Lecky admits that the festival feels incomplete without the in-person elements, and says that if he had to do another virtual event he would try and integrate more IRL activities, it seems as though the experience he and other organizers gained from this year’s Richmond Folk Festival could legitimately improve later iterations. After all, there’s not exactly a disadvantage to enjoying some good old Americana in the comfort of one’s home.

Top Photo: Brown’s Island, via Richmond Region Tourism

Painting The Streets Of Jackson Ward

Brooke Nicholson | August 18, 2020

Topics: art, Art 180, arts district richmond va, big secret, bloomberg art initiative, city of richmond art, community, Gallery5, jackson ward mural, jackson ward richmond va, maggie walker memorial plaza, maggie walker richmond va, richmond va art, richmond va murals, Venture Richmond

Where West Marshall meets Brook Road, a new pedestrian plaza is coming — and with local organizations like Gallery5, Venture Richmond, Big Secret, and more behind it, it’s set to brighten up the intersection through art. 

The already-colorful City of Richmond is about to get another rainbow upgrade, thanks to a grant from the Bloomberg Philanthropies Asphalt Art Initiative. After 200 cities applied for the grant, one of the sixteen $25,000 grants was jointly awarded to both Venture Richmond and City of Richmond Public Art Commission. The grant supports cities that use art to improve community safety, and creates further public engagement.

PHOTO: Site plan for the upcoming project funded by Bloomberg’s Asphalt Art Initiative in Richmond, via Venture Richmond.

Richmond’s newest project will include the intersection of West Marshall Street and Brook Road in the Arts District/Jackson Ward neighborhood. The grant will help fund a new pedestrian plaza, a parklet, and an intersection mural. The list of partners on the project is still growing, but so far includes the City of Richmond, Gallery5, Venture Richmond, Big Secret, ART 180, Vanderbilt Properties, and Walter Parks Architects. ART 180 is in charge of coordinating the public art components of the project, and Walter Parks Architects is responsible for providing in-kind design services.

“Collectively, these elements build upon the momentum of the neighborhood as the nexus of the Arts District, and enhance the route into Jackson Ward anchored by the Maggie Lena Walker Memorial Plaza a block away,” said Susan Glasser, Public Art Coordinator for the City of Richmond. “On a practical level, the project aspires to increase pedestrian traffic by enhancing safety and street life, to create a revitalized and beautified environment in an underutilized public space, and to promote civic engagement in the neighborhood.”

Venture Richmond is also donating $5,000 to the project that will come from the organization’s event Park(ing) Day design/build competition, hosted last September. Venture Richmond’s overall mission is to ensure that the City of Richmond focuses on enhanced vitality of Richmond, the downtown area, and Riverfront, along with enhancing property management services. Together with the city’s Public Art Commission, which invests in local artists to improve economic and cultural identity growth, the organization hopes to create a new destination from an existing intersection. It will not only brighten the busy section, but enhance its functionality.

PHOTO: Butterfly mural in Asheville, NC, by Sound Mind Creative. Photo by Justin Mitchell.

“It’s really exciting to see a lot of hard work by the community rewarded by a grant from Bloomberg Philanthropies, to make changes to that intersection that make it safer and more attractive to the residents and businesses in the area,” said Max Hepp-Buchanan, Director of Riverfront and Downtown Placemaking for Venture Richmond. “In the age of Covid-19, it’s more important than ever that we design public spaces like this for people to safely gather and make social connections.”

Bloomberg Philanthropies’ main initiative is to invest in cities around the world, ensuring that there is a good focus on the arts, education, public health, and government innovation among other areas. In 2019, Michael R. Bloomberg’s Bloomberg Philanthropies — which includes all of his giving along with personal philanthropy, foundation, and Bloomberg Associates — donated $3.3 billion.

The City of Richmond is eager to hear what the public and Richmond locals want out of this project, and have made a survey for volunteers to record their opinions. The City hopes to start off its public engagement process with a bang, ensuring that the voices of locals are heard, and that the project will not impinge too much on the lives of those living around the intersection. Community members are highly encouraged to take the survey, if possible, so city officials can gather as much information as possible for a swift, smooth project timeline.

PHOTO: Underground at Ink Block in Boston, MA. Mural by Silvia López Chavez. Photo by @Rediovision.

Richmond’s newest project of the three conceptual elements hopes to further engage the community in local art, and will create a more functional intersection within the popular public intersection. 

To learn more about the initiative and follow updates, visit Venture Richmond’s website and take the community survey.

COVID-19 Disrupts Virginia Tourism Ahead Of Peak Season

VCU CNS | April 15, 2020

Topics: American Shakespeare Center, Appalachian Trail, coronavirus, covid 19, Dominion Riverrock, friday cheers, Monticello Wine Trail, nonessential business, Shenandoah National Park, Top Shelf Transportation, unemployment, Venture Richmond, Virginia Department of Health, Virginia Tourism, Virginia Tourism Corp

With the threat of coronavirus keeping everyone at home this spring, Virginia’s tourism industry — a significant piece of the state’s overall economy — is taking a major hit. Can it weather the storm?

Michael Moore has always enjoyed his job as wine trail guide with Top Shelf Transportation. He said the job is about more than wine.

“I get people anything they need,” Moore said. “I’m like a rolling concierge.” 

Moore, 71, works in the Monticello Wine Trail region, which ecompasses parts of Albermarle and Nelson counties and contains about 35 wineries. It is widely considered to be one of Virginia’s top wine regions. Moore has worked in the industry for the past seven years, after he retired as a graphic designer. But, in mid-March, his tours were cancelled due to Gov. Ralph Northam’s order to close non-essential businesses and ban gatherings of 10 or more to combat the spread of COVID-19.

“I guess I’m out of a job,” Moore said. “The whole industry has come to a screeching halt.”

Moore is not alone, and COVID-19 has not just impacted jobs in the state’s tourism industry. Since Northam’s order, there has been a sharp spike in unemployment rates, with 306,143 Virginians filing for unemployment insurance in the past three weeks.

Overlooking the Blue Ridge Mountains at Grayson Highlands State Park. Photo credit: Department of Conservation and Recreation

Moore is not worried about his finances, but many people in the tourism industry are not as lucky. 

“It’s tough,” he said. “Some of the bigger wineries, they’ve got a cushion, but their workers are out of work. And it’s all part-time workers.”

Travel spending in Virginia plummeted after stay-at-home orders were announced around the country, according to the U.S. Travel Association. Spending was $521 million in Virginia the first week of March, but dipped to $119 million by the end of the month. Compared to last year’s numbers, travel spending in the state was down 78 percent the last week in March. Tourism is a major source of revenue for Virginia, pulling in $26 billion in 2018, according to the Virginia Tourism Corp. The industry accounted for 234,000 jobs that year. 

Andrew Cothern, communications manager for VTC, said Virginia attracts so many tourists because it has something for everyone.

“Virginia has a lot of different travel opportunities, whether the traveler’s interested in history or outdoor recreation or dining,” Cothern said. “There’s a lot of different reasons why people want to come to Virginia.”

Cothern said that COVID-19 has changed everything. 

“With the COVID-19 crisis going on, a lot of people are not traveling, obviously, and it’s closed down a lot of business,” Cothern said. 

The businesses hardest hit will be the ones that usually attract large crowds, he said. This might include museums, theaters, parks, restaurants, and wineries. VTC and others in the tourism industryare working to make some of these experiences virtual and earn a little revenue. For example, the American Shakespeare Center in Staunton is streaming recorded versions of the troupe’s 2020 performances. Tickets start at $10. 

Moore, however, cannot work from home. He said companies like the one he works for may be in jeopardy. 

“There will be some wine tour companies that will go out of business,” he said. “They’ve all got leases and cars and insurance they still have to pay for, even when they’re not touring.” 

Dominion Riverrock. Photo by CNS

Large scale events have been affected, like the ones produced by Venture Richmond, a nonprofit that organizes events in downtown Richmond. Venture Richmond canceled Dominion Riverock, one of its largest festivals held on Brown’s Island. Stephen Lecky, director of events for the organization, said losing the festival was a disappointment to everyone, including vendors. Lecky said the festival draws 100,000 to 150,000 people annually and they contract with hundreds of musicians, athletes and other vendors. 

“All these folks, food vendors and traveling vendors included, will not have this event and it will impact them financially,” Lecky said. 

Lecky said that once a festival is cancelled potential revenue is gone.

“That’s $2 to $3 million that we won’t be seeing,” he said, meaning the city, musicians and vendors.

Lecky also is concerned about Friday Cheers, a weekly concert series that Venture Richmond organizes. The event typically draws 3,000 to 5,000 people to Belle Isle between May and June, Lecky said. Venture Richmond has cancelled events through May and hopes to reschedule those musicians for later in the summer, but Lecky is worried people will be wary of large crowds. 

“If a vaccine is not available to people by September, October — will people truly feel safe and comfortable in large crowds and events like this?” Lecky said. 

Lecky said in the future, event coordinators will have to be more careful. 

“Events are going to have to be more proactive on ways they are doing things,” he said. “Do events go cashless? Are employees wearing gloves? Are you sanitizing more frequently? I think attendees are going to want to see these kinds of changes now.”

 Though more people are turning to outdoor recreation during the coronavirus outbreak, Virginia state and national parks are closing. The Rappahannock Rapidan Health District of the Virginia Department of Health recommended on April 8 the full closure of Shenandoah National Park, which has over 500 miles of hiking trails. The Appalachian Trail Conservancy on April 3 formally requested permission to close the 2,193-mile trail through the end of the month. A long stretch of it winds through the state. 

Virginia State Parks have also taken a hit from COVID-19. The 38 parks attract 11 million visitors annually, with 45 percent of park spending coming from out-of-state visitors, according to Dave Neudeck, communications and marketing director for the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation. Neudeck said the parks have canceled campground and cabin reservations through June 10. They have also closed visitor centers. 

“It’s definitely going to hit our budget because the revenues generated from our overnight facilities and our merchandise sales in our visitor centers are significant,” Neudeck said. 

Waterfall along the cabin creek trail at Grayson Highlands State Park. Photo credit: Department of Conservation and Recreation

Neudeck is optimistic about the future of the parks and said this crisis might make people more appreciative of nature. 

“What we are seeing right now is that more people are looking to parks and state parks to get outside and get that fresh air and get some exercise when they can,” he said. “Therefore, we are seeing a lot of first time visitors to our parks. The hope is that we’ll continue beyond when everything turns back to normal.” 

For now, many are making the best of the crisis. Moore is making masks for health care professionals. Lecky is attempting to rebook vendors for later festivals. Cothern said VTC will increase promotional materials once people are allowed to travel freely. All agreed that the tourism industry is resilient and people will come back to Virginia.

Written by Macy Pressley, Capital News Service. Top Photo: A stop sign in the Blue Ridge mountains. Photo by CNS

On Park(ing) Day, Celebrating Art Is a Walk In the Park(ing Space)

Owen FitzGerald | September 25, 2019

Topics: Art 180, community, mini parks, park, parking, parking day, parks, recreation, Transit, transportation, Venture Richmond

If you noticed something different about your usual parking space last weekend, you weren’t alone.

Last Friday, your favorite parking spot in the city might have been occupied — not by another driver who found it quicker than you did, but by public art spaces created by Richmond-area design, architecture, and creative firms as well as artists.

Photo by Owen FitzGerald

Park(ing) Day began in San Francisco in 2005 and has evolved into a global event. It is an annual celebration of public space, in which designers and artists turn public parking spaces into temporary public parks, art installations, or other creative artistic spaces.

This year’s event was coordinated by community partner organization Venture Richmond. 20 pop-up parks were created downtown, around Carytown, the Fan, and Scott’s Addition, and on the campus of Virginia Commonwealth University. The organization jumped at the opportunity to head up this year’s celebration.

“For us, the opportunity to activate our downtown streets with mini-parks for the day while simultaneously raising awareness of, and promoting, the City of Richmond’s parklet program was something we just couldn’t pass up,” said Max Hepp-Buchanan, Venture Richmond’s director of riverfront and downtown placemaking.

Photo by Owen FitzGerald

For Venture Richmond, hosting this year’s event also created an opportunity to keep some of the contest-winning parklets around for the long haul.

“We look forward to working with the City of Richmond and some of our participants in the near future to install permanent parklets, adding more public space to our increasingly vibrant downtown streets,” Hepp-Buchanan said.

Park spaces opened to the public Friday morning at 9 a.m. and remained open until 4 p.m. that afternoon. The winners of the contest were announced at a happy hour at Bar Solita downtown’s arts district that evening. This year’s winners were: 

  • Most Transformative: Carl Patow & Leila Ehtseham with Mactavish Beach
  • Best Vibe: ART 180
  • Most Artistic: HKS Architects & DPR
  • Grand Prize: Walter Parks Architects & KBS, Inc.
Photo by Owen FitzGerald

ART 180 has been in Richmond for 21 years, working with underprivileged and underrepresented youth, giving them a safe space to express their creativity.  They offer a number of after-school programs for kids in the city’s public schools and community centers, as well as classes for incarcerated teens. 

ART 180’s Community Program Manager, Dr. Vaughn Garland, said his organization was approached about creating a park in front of their building in Jackson Ward. 

“We love the idea,” Garland said.  “So we built a creative space. This is a space for creatives to come in and express their own interest.” 

Top Photo by Owen FitzGerald

Accusations Of Gentrification Surround Salvation Army Boys & Girls Club Renovation

George Copeland, Jr. | December 6, 2018

Topics: Captain Donald Dohmann, church hill, gentrification, Richmond city council, Sa'ad El-Amin, Salvation Army Boys and Girls Club, Venture Richmond

Deep in the heart of Church Hill, where cobblestone boulevards give way to single-letter street names, the local Salvation Army Boys and Girls Club is in the midst of extensive renovation and expansion, a process that critics say comes at the expense of the area’s black community.

“This is textbook gentrification at it’s best. Anyone that disagrees has a motive that does not consider the impacted community members and legacy of Church Hill and the club,” said Lorraine Wright. Wright used to serve on the advisory board for the club, spearheading youth development workshops and a debate team within the organization, which she says suffered from poor conditions and unusable areas long before 2018. Most recently, the club’s services have moved into a single open space at the Franklin Military Academy while the club’s facility undergoes a year-long, $6.1 million renovation that will herald a shift in the club’s focus toward education, health, and fitness.

Wright brought increased attention to the club’s changes in a Facebook video condemning the firing of longtime club employees Dorothy J. Crenshaw and LaWanda Rowe, formerly the club’s program director (26 years) and administrative assistant to the director (38 years) respectively. The firing occurred with no notification given to the advisory board, and led to two separate work complaints being filed with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, with help from former Richmond City Council member Sa’ad El-Amin.

Those complaints were eventually denied, however, and Crenshaw and Rowe have both shifted their focus on to other pressing matters in their lives, according to Wright. This marks the latest development in a still-contentious issue, one that Wright sees as a deliberate effort to draw wealthier new residents into the area, at the expense of long-term residents and underrepresented citizens and without the purview or input of the community or those meant to give guidance on the club’s direction.

“I would really propose that this is strategic,” Wright said. “Every single step and everything that’s happened is absolutely intentional. And that’s our concern.”

Despite the club’s name, the Boys and Girls Club of America are involved very little in its operation, leaving the Salvation Army, and local leader Captain Donald Dohmann, to determine its future. For Dohmann, that means leaving any legal challenges to the organization’s lawyers, after what he says have been repeated attempts to reach a compromise with Crenshaw, Rowe and Wright, with no success.

“The only thing I can share with you at this point is that everything has been turned over to our legal department,” Dohmann said. “We feel that we have made good resolve on meeting the individuals and unfortunately, there are some individuals that have not accepted that offer. But we’re moving forward.”

Wright disputes Dohmann’s interpretation of the events leading up to the complaint filings, which she and Rowe have described as being much more dismissive of the former employees’ contributions. They also disagree on a proposed raise of pool fees from $15 annually to $20 monthly, which Wright says was only removed after community pushback, and Dohmann contends was never part of the renovation plans.

Regardless of the complaints’ dismissal, the conflict over the club’s future could have a potentially wider effect on Richmond society, as El-Amin and Wright have discussed introducing ordinances to the City Council that would put “a moratorium on increases in taxes” and restrict how much properties in areas undergoing gentrification can be improved, as a way of mitigating or stopping the impact that rising property values can have on long-time residents with lower incomes.

“We have to be diligent, we have to vigilant and we have to be proactive,” said El-Amin, who recently criticized Venture Richmond’s new ownership of the 2nd Street Festival as part of a conscious effort “to put Jackson Ward on the path of gentrification” in an October opinion piece in the Richmond Free Press. This along with the club’s renovation contributes, in El-Amin’s estimation, to “the complete annihilation of the African-American community as we know it.”

“It already happened in Church Hill,” El-Amin said. “It’s happening in Jackson Ward, it’s happening in Barton Heights, it’s happening everywhere. It is lethal to the black community, and we have to stop it by whatever means are necessary — legislation and whatever else comes up.”

Wright, for her part, expressed her intent to reach out to Councilman Parker Agelasto, formerly of the 5th District, “to discuss his potential support of the ordinance proposals, prior to his term expiration.” She also affirmed her commitment to establishing a community board for the club, made up of and controlled by indigenous or long-term Church Hill area residents. This proposed board would potentially allow Crenshaw and Rowe to continue serving Union Hill’s community, in a space distanced from the organization through which they did that same work for decades.

“For Ms. Rowe and Ms. Crenshaw, they don’t want to go back to the club, they feel so disrespected,” Wright said. “But it’s those kids, and you can even tell every single time I speak to them.”

“They’re talking about the kids. They’re not even talking about themselves, they’re talking about the kids.”

Photo by George Copeland

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