virginia
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Man Pleads Guilty to Threatening to Burn Down a Black Church in Virginia
A North Carolina man has pleaded guilty to threatening to burn down a Black church in Virginia. On June 7, 63-year-old John Malcolm Bareswill, a resident of Catawba, N.C., made a threatening phone call to a church located in Virginia Beach, Va., according to NBC News. Only several days earlier, one of the church leaders…
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Hologram of George Floyd Displayed Over Robert E. Lee Monument in Virginia
On Tuesday night in Richmond, Va., a group of organizers projected a hologram of George Floyd over a monument to Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee as part of an effort to confront America’s long history of systemic racism. CBS News reports that this was the inaugural event for the George Floyd Hologram Memorial Project, a…
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A Weekend of Unrest as Violence Erupts at Protests Across the Country
At this point, it’s common knowledge that protests against police brutality and systemic racism are ongoing across the country, with no sign that they’ll be slowing down anytime soon. Over the past weekend across multiple states, peaceful protests turned violent, with one resulting in a person’s death. In recent weeks, Portland, Ore., has become one…
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A High School in Virginia Named After Robert E. Lee Will Be Renamed After John Lewis
A school district in Virginia has voted that a high school named after Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee will be renamed for Georgia Rep. John Lewis, who died on July 17. CNN reports that the Fairfax County School Board allowed people to submit suggestions for a month, and held a virtual town hall and a…
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‘Watch the Show, Folks’: Virginia Trooper Being Investigated After Footage of Violent 2019 Arrest Posted to Social Media
Virginia State Police are conducting an investigation of a traffic stop on I-495 in April 2019 after the motorist’s attorney posted video of the violent arrest on social media on Monday. During the video, Virginia State Trooper Charles Hewitt appears to take delight in the violent arrest of Derrick Thompson, a Black man. Thompson’s lawyer,…
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Virginia Police Launch Investigation Into KKK Flyers Found in Mailboxes Across Multiple Counties
Residents across the state of Virginia found flyers in or around their mailboxes sent by a chapter of the Ku Klux Klan. The message on the flyers calls for “100% Americanism” and decries the number of white people who support the Black Lives Matter movement. Now, Virginia police are investigating the matter which stretches across…
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Pharrell to Executive Produce Netflix Docuseries Centered Around Gospel Music
As if it were possible, it appears that Pharrell is in an even more creative space than usual. The music and entertainment mogul confirmed on Sunday at the virtual Essence Festival program “Get Lifted” that he will be teaming up with Netflix to present Voices of Fire. The show is billed as a docuseries centered…
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Richmond Judge Won’t Let Virginia be Great, Extends Injunction Preventing the Removal of Robert E. Lee Monument
For people who want so badly for black people to just forget about slavery, conservative white people sure seem bound and determined to hold on to the very monuments that immediately remind black folk of what our ancestors endured. Many of us were beside ourselves with joy after we learned that the 130-year-old statue of…
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‘It’s Time We Elevate This’: Gov. Northam Declares Juneteenth a Paid Holiday in the State of Virginia
Well, good people, it’s finally happening: Virginia, the state that was once home to the capital of the Confederacy, is set to make Juneteenth a paid holiday. Gov. Ralph Northam announced his proposal to make the holiday that commemorates the end of slavery in the U.S. an official state holiday Tuesday. “Every year we celebrate…
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A Black Pastor in Virginia Got Beat Up By a Mob of White People and Then Local Sheriffs Arrested Him
Another day, another piece of evidence that policing in America is about maintaining this country’s foundation of white supremacy, rather than protecting and serving black citizens. A pastor from Virginia has gotten a belated apology from the Shenandoah County Sherriff’s office after he publicly revealed that when a mob of white people attacked him on…