Good morning, RVA! It's 29 °F, and today we’ve got more temperatures in the mid 50s on deck. Maybe some cloudy skies out there, too?
Water cooler
Ned Oliver at the Virginia Mercury has the details on the Governor’s plan to delete a bunch of old, racist sections out of the Code of Virginia. The commission tasked with the work stopped short of making recommendations on “legislation addressing Confederate pensions and memorials” and “seeks to be appropriately mindful of the history of this era while also acknowledging the state’s role in funding Confederate memorials, monuments, and public benefits.” That’s quite a bit of doublethink for commission established to “identify laws in Virginia that have the effect or could have the effect of enabling or promoting racial inequity or inequality” (PDF). Seems like a good time to once again link to Brian Palmer’s excellent The Costs of the Confederacy piece, and quote the blurb: “In the last decade alone, American taxpayers have spent at least $40 million on Confederate monuments and groups that perpetuate racist ideology.” Regardless, I’m pretty confident that Virginia’s New Dem Majority will introduce and at least vote on legislation giving authority to localities to take down their Confederate monuments. Whether that legislation will pass and get signed by the governor, who knows.
The new Whole Foods on Broad Street is now hiring. Sounds like they’re gearing up for an early 2020 opening? Also, pay starts at $15 an hour, they’re hiring the full list of full-time and part-time positions, and it’s right next to a Pulse station.
The Richmond Times-Dispatch’s C. Suarez Rojas went to Henrico’s annual state of the county address and came away with this fascinating quote from County Manager John Vithoulkas: “More transit options are good for business. In fact, we have a pending announcement in which transit—not economic incentives—was a primary consideration.” What a tease! I’m going to guess something related to the new development going on over by Regency Mall?
Logistical note: I am off to New Orleans for a couple of days to spend some time learning about transit and telling other transitpeople from around the country about Richmond’s great transit success. For you, that means no Good Morning, RVA until Thursday. For folks who are Patrons, I expect you to keep me in the loop via the GMRVA Slack, OK?
Related: There are about 600 amazing/important things going on in Richmond between now and Thursday, and I wanted to make sure a few of them got on your calendar. These are not sorted chronologically! Beware!
- The VMFA will unveil Rumors of War, the Kehinde Wiley statue on Tuesday, December 10th at 3:30 PM. Expect remarks from a bunch of VIPs, including the artist himself. Richmond Magazine stopped by yesterday and got a couple pics of workers installing the statue’s base. So exciting!
- Leading up to the big unveiling, you can attend two events to meet Najee Wilson, the muse for Rumors of War: Tonight, December 6th, at Candela Gallery (214 W. Broad Street) starting at 5:30 PM; and Tomorrow, December 7th at Black Iris (321 W. Broad Street) starting at 6:00 PM. At the former, expect a short discussion, at the latter, a panel. Both events are free and open to the public.
- Saturday, the Virginia Defenders for Freedom, Justice & Equality will host a public history symposium at the Library of Virginia (800 E. Broad Street) focused on “the history of Africans and people of African descent in Virginia from their earliest days to the present and the vital role that Shockoe Bottom has played in that history.” They’ve got a pretty rad list of speakers and presenters that you should scroll through. The event is free, but please register over on the Eventbrite.
- The City will host two rezoning meetings—like, the land-use kind of rezoning—on Tuesday, December 10th at the Science Museum at 12:00 PM and 5:00 PM. These meetings will focus on “the areas around the Science Museum, Allison Street and the VCU & VUU Pulse Stations.” I don’t what we call this part of town? Certainly, some of it is Carver, but the rest? Scott’s Addition East? Carver West? Anyway, if you’d like to see greater density and less parking adjacent to our best public transit, you should probably attend this meeting to act as a counter to the inevitable parade of anti-everything voices that are sure to show up.
- Tomorrow the Christmas Parade will disrupt Broad Street with Christmas Cheer, rain or shine, from 6:00 AM to 2:00 PM. The actual parade starts at 10:00 AM, though. You can read through the list of bus detours here.
- Finally, the Navy Hill Development Advisory Commission will hold another meeting on Saturday at 9:00 AM in Council Chambers (900 E. Broad Street). As far as I can tell, the agenda, at the moment is, “multiple presentations about the Navy Hill project are scheduled.”
This morning's longread
Running Dysmorphic
Here’s a really thoughtful piece about male body image, which I don’t typically read a ton about.
I won’t introduce myself by telling you that, on days I don’t run, I have to do 200 sit-ups right before dinner if I want to allow myself to eat. That, in the times I’ve had company over or have eaten at someone’s house, I’ve done those sit-ups in other people’s bathrooms. Or that I’ve been known by roommates to, minutes before dinner, rush out the door and run for 15 minutes if I haven’t run at all that day. Or that in college, I bought a scale and a journal and weighed myself three times a day, documenting my weight to the decimal point each time. For a long time I’ve told people that this was about running, that it was about feeling the breeze, beautiful and sun-scorched, for just a little while. But really it was about eating. And permission. And wanting a different body to do all that running in.
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