The COVID-19 pandemic has shed new light on Richmond’s housing crisis even as it has exacerbated it. Despite both the continuing spread of the virus and the persistence of housing issues, temporary protections meant to alleviate the pandemic’s effects are coming to an end. When they do, the consequences will not be evenly distributed.
UNITED BLACK BIRTH COLLECTIVE GROWING ‘SLOWLY AND WITH INTENTION’
In January 2020, Weluna Finley and a group of like-minded Black mothers, birth workers, mental health professionals and healers founded the United Black Birth Collective.
THE HOUSING CRISIS AND RICHMOND’S DECLINING BLACK POPULATION
Black and poor Richmonders are being priced out of the city limits, which has major implications for the city’s political balance of power. 2020 ended a 50-year period in which Richmond had been a majority-Black city.
PRINCESS BLANDING’S THIRD-PARTY RUN FOR VIRGINIA GOVERNOR: A DEFENDER ANALYSIS
A Defenders analysis on the campaign of progressive third-party candidate Princess Blanding.
Dec. 11 2020 Media Release on: Gov. Northam’s announcement of $9 million for Shockoe Bottom historical memorialization
Statement by the Virginia Defenders on Gov. Northam’s announcement of $9 million for Shockoe Bottom historical memorialization: There’s something missing.
CANDIDATE RESPONSES TO DEFENDER QUESTIONNAIRE
This newspaper sent the list of questions below to all candidates for Richmond mayor and city council, asking for simple yes or no answers. We received 12 responses. The results appear below.
COLLECTIVE ACTION CHALLENGES EVICTION ON RICHMOND’S NORTH SIDE
On the morning of Friday, Oct. 23, a multiracial crowd of some 75 people gathered outside the rental home of Katrina Pitt. The 56-year-old woman, who has a disability and survives on Social Security, was facing an eviction which would have put herself and five others on the street in the middle of the pandemic.
The Virginia Defender 