Healing from the past: Exploring the generational trauma of slavery and Jim Crow
Imagine you’re a young person in Africa. Your community is strong and supportive. You have everything that you need—until one day you’re kidnapped, put in chains, and packed tight into a ship with hundreds of other people who look like you, but whom you don’t know or understand. You see others die on the ship […]
Get out of the zone: Outdated zoning in Rose Hill leaves some lots vacant
Back in 2013, Julie (who asked that we not use her last name) bought a house in Rose Hill, a small, historically African American neighborhood roughly bordered by Preston Avenue, Madison Avenue, and Harris Street. The house had gone into foreclosure during the housing market crash, and had been neglected for a while. After determining […]
Be prepared: Is Charlottesville ready for the coronavirus?
Since last week, when health officials warned that Americans should prepare for the inevitable spread of the coronavirus here in the U.S., at least 12 Americans have died and new cases have been emerging almost daily. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has warned that Americans should be prepared for the spread of the […]
(Don’t) take it down: Removal of Cale black history poster sparks backlash
On February 10, local conservative radio host Rob Schilling posted a photo of a Black History Month poster from Cale Elementary School on his blog, with the headline “Fomenting dissension at Cale Elementary.” Three days later, Albemarle County Public Schools Superintendent Matt Haas left a comment agreeing that the poster was causing dissension among students, […]
Answering the call: PACEM seeks to create a permanent women’s shelter
Last August, Chinikqua Joseph’s Buckingham County home burned down. Thankfully, no one was injured or killed by the fire, but she, along with her mother and godmother, lost everything. They were homeless. While looking for housing, Joseph stayed with friends, and later with a boyfriend. When that relationship became abusive, she had to find a […]
Call for help: Human Rights Commission asks for more city support
Charlottesville’s Office of Human Rights and Human Rights Commission have an intimidatingly broad mission: to reduce discrimination in the city. So perhaps it’s not surprising that the office and its volunteer commission, which are tasked with both investigating individual complaints of discrimination and reviewing city polices for systemic discrimination, have received their fair share of […]
Saying goodbye: Margaret O’Bryant on 30 years at the historical society
For most of her life, Margaret O’Bryant has called the library home. After receiving a master’s degree in library science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, she worked in libraries at Ferrum College, Lenoir-Rhyne College, and UVA, later moving to the reference department at the Jefferson-Madison Regional Library. While at the public […]
Breaking free: Cyntoia Brown-Long shares her story of redemption with UVA students
“Fifteen years ago, at the age of 16, I was told that I’d spend the rest of my life behind bars,” activist Cyntoia Brown-Long told hundreds of UVA students February 6 at Old Cabell Hall. As a teenager, Brown-Long was in an abusive relationship with a man known as Kut, who forced her into prostitution. […]
Fighting for life (without parole): Death penalty abolitionists see change on the horizon
In August 2006, 24-year-old William Charles Morva made national headlines when he sent the Montgomery County Police on a manhunt unlike any the town of Blacksburg had seen before. While awaiting trial for an attempted armed robbery, Morva was taken to Montgomery Regional Hospital for minor injuries. After using the bathroom, he knocked out the […]
Counting up: Pay raise for census takers reflects the importance of getting the numbers right
With a new decade comes a new census. Starting March 12, every household across the country will receive a letter in the mail, explaining how to respond to the 2020 census by phone, mail, or—for the first time ever—online. Census data is used to redraw legislative districts, determining the amount of seats each state is […]
Riding green: JAUNT’s all-electric van gives a peek into the future of regional transit
Braving the frigid weather, nearly two dozen people gathered in front of Regal Stonefield & IMAX last Wednesday to see the newest addition to JAUNT’s fleet: an all-electric transit vehicle. The first of its kind in the region (and the first in operation in Virginia), the Ford Transit 350HD passenger van, which will be used […]
More than a store: Uplift Thrift benefits mental health, addiction services
With the newly expanded Goodwill on 29 North, SPCA Rummage in Seminole Square, and boutique favorites like Darling, Charlottesville has no shortage of spots to score second-hand goods. But the newest arrival, Uplift Thrift, comes with a unique mission: all of its proceeds support the work of On Our Own. Since 1990, On Our Own […]
Rivanna Trails Foundation seeks a new path
Snowy roads didn’t stop about a dozen people from making their way to the Carver Recreation Center last Tuesday for a brainstorming session on something that’s been in the works for nearly 10 years: the Three Notched Trail. The Rivanna Trails Foundation is spearheading the effort to build a 25-mile-long paved pedestrian and bicycle path […]
Price check: UVA raises housing costs, again
My first semester at the University of Virginia was full of surprises. I was surprised to learn just how difficult college classes are, how frustrating roommates can be, and how competitive everything at UVA is—just to name a few things. What I found the most surprising though was that in October—a little over a month […]
(Don’t) take a seat: Downtown Mall still lacks public benches
Last year, the Seattle Department of Transportation installed 18 new bike racks on a stretch of pavement underneath Highway 99. However, the racks were not meant to provide more resources for cyclists—but to prevent the homeless people who had been camping there from coming back. Seattle is just one of many cities known to use […]
Being the change: Local mother starts cafe to employ adults with disabilities
2014 was a life-changing year for Katie Kishore. That April, she and her husband Kris welcomed their second daughter, Kiran, who was diagnosed with Down syndrome. And just two weeks later, Kris passed away from cancer. For the next few years, Kishore, a former teacher at Jackson-Via Elementary, focused on caring for Kiran and her […]
Facing the past: Wedding sites to stop promoting plantation weddings
Back in 2018, the wedding site Zola published an article titled “8 Unique Charlottesville Wedding Venues,” including The Jefferson Theater, Meriwether Springs Vineyard, and James Monroe’s Highland—one of Virginia’s most famous plantations. But now Zola is one of several wedding planning websites that will no longer promote former slave plantations as wedding sites. While Zola […]
Pushing forward: Albemarle writer’s lawsuit goes to trial
After paying nearly $11,000 in taxes to Albemarle County, freelance writer John Hart will have a chance to get a refund. On December 4, Judge Claude Worrell of Albemarle Circuit Court ruled that Hart’s lawsuit against the county will proceed, rejecting the county’s request that it be dismissed. Hart, who filed the lawsuit in July, […]
Changing the game: Esports come to middle school
Amy Brudin has always been a gamer. She grew up playing games like Myst and Doom, back when computers were “way less cool than they are now.” And today, she loves playing games on her phone. So when Brudin, director of educational technology at the Peabody School, first learned about esports—the world of team-based competitive […]
Five years later: What has (or hasn’t) changed at UVA since Rolling Stone?
On November 19, 2014, Rolling Stone magazine dropped a bombshell called “A Rape on Campus: A Brutal Assault and Struggle for Justice at UVA.” Written by Sabrina Rubin Erdely, the article alleged that a UVA student named Jackie was gang raped at a party by members of the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity in 2012, and […]
Speaking out: UVA prof Jalane Schmidt offers thoughts on public engagement, defamation lawsuit
On a chilly Thursday evening last week, several dozen people gathered at the Central Library for a talk on “the risks and rewards of public engagement” by someone who knows them all too well. Jalane Schmidt, a community activist and professor of religious studies at UVA, was recently sued for a comment she made in […]
Tragedy on 29: Pedestrian death highlights need for safer crossings
Before Bradley Shaun Dorman left his Charlottesville home the morning of October 25, he told his mother he was going to look for a job. He would be back in a few hours, in time to bathe their dog Gater. Several hours later, his mother, Annette Simmons, heard a knock at her door. She opened […]
History lesson: Local educators help expand Virginia’s African American history curriculum
Community leaders gathered at the University of Virginia October 28 for the first meeting of the Commission on African American History Education. Charlottesville City Schools Superintendent Dr. Rosa Atkins is among those appointed to the commission, which was established by Governor Ralph Northam. The purpose, says Atkins, is “to recognize that the African American experience […]
Back to the drawing board: Protest over City Council revisions to CRB proposal
Nearly two years after appointing the initial Police Civilian Review Board, Charlottesville City Council inched closer to making a permanent oversight board a reality at their October 21 meeting, with a first reading of the CRB’s ordinance and bylaws. But members of the initial CRB were not pleased, saying councilors had severely weakened the proposal […]
A different perspective: New faces in county school board race share a focus on equity
Editor Judy Le and realtor and former educator Juliana Ko Arsali are vying for the Rivanna District school board seat being vacated by Jason Buyaki. The two women share a passion for equity and accessibility, and both want to expand school resources and support services, as well as tackle the county’s racial achievement gap. “In […]
Reporting back: Tracking hate crimes in Heather Heyer’s name
Nearly two years after plowing his car into a group of counterprotesters at the Unite the Right rally—killing Heather Heyer and injuring 35 others—self-proclaimed neo-Nazi James Alex Fields Jr. was convicted on 29 federal hate crime charges. Yet Heyer’s death was one of the thousands of hate crimes not included in official FBI hate crime […]
Yay or neigh?: Mural stirs controversy
The developers of Six Hundred West Main, a luxury apartment building that opened in September, promised the city a “gift” in the form of a public mural from internationally acclaimed artist Faith XLVII. But some residents may want to give it back. The mural, which was unveiled during the week of September 23, features a […]