Good Morning, RVA: Where do we go from here?

I honestly don’t know.

June 19, 2015; 7:09 AM • by Ross Catrow

Photo by: Stacy Abbot

Good morning, RVA! It’s 73 °F, and today’s high of 93 °F seems like a reprieve from the recent several-day inferno. Expect more of the same over the weekend–so if you’re heading to the pool, the river, or one of the billion festivals, make sure you stay hydrated and wear sunscreen.

Water cooler

Here are two things worth your time as you work through the murders of nine black people by one racist white man in Charleston, SC. First, this piece in the Atlantic by Ta-Nehisi Coates about our embarrassing and offensive need to cling to the Confederate flag. Second, watch John Stewart’s monologue on last night’s Daily Show. Richmond is not Charleston, but these things–the Confederate flag, massive monuments, the very names of our streets and buildings–these are ways we, RVA, choose to celebrate the unnacceptable parts of our past. It’s a past that forms the building blocks, literally, of our town. I…do not know what to do about this, but would like to help change things for the better.

Keep all of that in mind as you celebrate this year’s Juneteenth (today!)–the 150th anniversary of the abolition of slavery. The Elegba Folklore Society will host a Juneteenth Freedom celebration this weekend. It starts with a symposium featuring Bobby Seale, cofounder of the Black Panther Party, which is followed by a reflection at the Manchester Dock on Saturday.

Phineas and Ferb has taught me that there’s 104 days of summer vacation and that finding good ways to spend it can be a challenge. Luckily for all of us, Style Weekly has put together a giant list of how to spend 77 of those days. I suggest you spend the 27 remaining days complaining about the heat.

RVA Streets Alive is also this weekend, and its chosen neighborhood is Byrd Park. On Saturday from 10:00 AM – 2:00 PM the streets in Byrd Park will shut down, pedestrians will reign supreme, and the sounds of folks doing fitness will fill the air.

Sports!

• Squirrels lost a close one to Harrisburg, 6-7. Bleh. They’re back in the Diamond tonight at 7:05 PM against New Britain. Get your tickets!
• Kickers host the Wilmington Hammerheads FC tomorrow at 7:00 PM. It’s the last home game until July 19th, so get those tickets, too.
• Nats lost 3-5 to the Rays. Bleh. They’ll host the Pirates tonight at 7:05 PM in a series that lasts through the weekend.
• DC United vs. NE Revolution this Sunday at home in RFK. You can watch on ESPN2 at 5:00 PM, if you’re so inclined.

What to expect

Beer, vegetables, families, and festivals–just another day at the office.

This morning’s longread

Church Shooting in Charleston, South Carolina

At the same time, what happened at Emanuel A.M.E. belongs in another terrible lineage–the modern mass shooting. We have, quite likely, found at 110 Calhoun Street, in Charleston, South Carolina, the place where Columbine, Aurora, and Newtown cross with Baltimore, Ferguson, and Sanford. We periodically mourn the deaths of a group of Americans who die at the hands of another armed American. We periodically witness racial injustices that inspire anger in the streets. And sometimes we witness both. This is, quite simply, how we now live.

This morning’s Instagram

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June 19, 2015 7:09 AM 1