Faith Walker helps her 2-year-old niece, Legacy, and daughter, Phoenix, 6, sanitize their hands at the Richmond Folk Festival on brown’s Island last weekend. thousands of people attended the three-day cultural extravaganza, where people were asked to wear masks, use hand sanitizer and keep socially distanced to help curb the spread of COVID-19. Free COVID-19 vaccines and hand sanitizer stations were available at the site for festival goers during the weekend.
Music and dance came alive last weekend at the annual Richmond Folk Festival. Thousands of people, including Candace Ross and her children, Kiana Ross, Khalil Williams and Kasia Carrington, headed to the riverfront in Downtown and Brown’s Island for the three-day event showcasing the talent and culture of more than 30 artists from around the nation and the globe on multiple stages.
Tap dancer and chanteuse Brinae Ali dances to the music of Baltimore jazz group Dizzy Spellz Saturday afternoon on the Altria Stage.
Thomas Woodson grooves as he records Rare Essence, a go-go band from Washington that has been popular since the mid-1970s, during a performance on the Dominion Stage Saturday evening.
Rodolfo Zanetti plays the bandoneon, an instrument in the concertina family, with the Pedro Giraudo Tango Ensemble.
Leonardo Sardella and Mariana Parma dance an Argentine tango to an appreciative crowd at the Community Foundation Stage.
This display of four panels tells the story of African-Americans whose bodies were stolen from graves, used as teaching tools for Richmond medical students before the Civil War and then discarded in a nearby well. Location of panels: Outside the auditorium of the Hermes A. Kontos Medical Sciences Building, 1217 E. Marshall St., on the medical campus of Virginia Commonwealth University. The bones of the unidentified people were found in a long-capped well in 1994 during the construction of the building. The university and two community committees set up by VCU have considered how to properly honor the remains that are now in custody of the state Department of Historic Resources. Dr. Peter Buckley, dean of the VCU School of Medicine, called the display the latest effort by the school to recognize the humanity of those involved and “to honor and demonstrate our respect for the lives of these ancestors.” The panels, from left to right, present a timeline of events involving the remains from 1844 to 2019.
It’s official: J.E. Lincoln Saunders is now the chief administrative officer or No. 2 official at City Hall after Mayor Levar M. Stoney. Mr. Saunders, holding his year-old daughter, Story Hall-Saunders, and accompanied by his wife, Ashley Hall, is sworn in Tuesday by City Clerk Candice D. Reid, after City Council unanimously consented to the appointment by Mayor Stoney, holding the microphone. Mr. Saunders had been the acting CAO for nearly 11 months after his predecessor, Lenora Reid, suffered a stroke last year. In late August, Mayor Stoney announced Mr. Saunders as his choice to permanently fill the role after Ms. Reid formally retired. Mr. Saunders is to be paid nearly $200,000 a year. He has received mostly high marks since taking on the top administrative post that is essentially equivalent to city manager. He is the mayor’s most trusted confidante, having served as the mayor’s chief of staff during Mayor Stoney’s first four-year term.
Raindrops in North Side
Rain couldn’t dampen the enthusiasm of the students, alumni and supporters attending Virginia Union University’s homecoming last Saturday at Willie Lanier Field at Hovey Stadium on the Lombardy Street campus. Mr. and Miss VUU 2021-22 Kirk Jones and Eboné Giles wave to the crowd during their introduction at halftime.
Mr. Lanier, a pro football hall of famer who grew up playing on Hovey Field when he was a student at Maggie L. Walker High School, was recognized for leading the effort to refurbish the field and stadium.
Members of VUU Divine Elegance perform to the sounds of the VUU Ambassadors of Sound Marching Band.