Governor Northam's State of the Commonwealth mentions the African Burial Ground
This evening, Governor Ralph Northam gave the 2021 state of the commonwealth address and at minute 48:01, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Z0FnoyXK8U&feature=youtu.be, he declared his commitment to working with Mayor Stoney to ensure preservation of the Devil's Half Acre and the African Burial Ground. This is a reference to the his announcement of $9 million dollars to the capital city which the Washington Post story reported was for the Devil's Half Acre (interpretive center/museum), Monument Avenue (new concepts, monuments?), and Brown's Island (Emancipation monument).
On Monday, Richmond city council passed Ord. 2020-262 authorizing the Economic Development department to negotiate with two Loving family corporations for the purchase of the parcels in Shockoe Bottom to complete the Memorial Park footprint, but also the expanded "heritage campus" footprint to include construction of a parking deck. That parking will replace the surface lots in the area but also serve the requirements of Main Street Station for high speed rail service.
At the Shockoe Alliance meeting this afternoon, the membership discussed revisions to the Goals and Objectives section of the small area master plan. The Alliance will review a draft version of the plan next month and then a plan for public review to follow - so, probably... sometime in March.
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Defenders members work with the Virginia Prison Justice Network which, from 12 PM EST – 3 PM EST on Sat., Jan. 16, 2021, will hold its 4th Annual Virginia Prison Justice Rally & Car Caravan to the Science Museum of Virginia (where the Senate is meeting). Highlighting the vulnerability of incarcerated people to the risk of COVID-19, details can be found at the Facebook event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/3234557349983033.