Food Day is Coming

Kids at Richmond Public Schools will have a chance to see if they like kale chips as part of the community’s second annual celebration of Food Day on Wednesday (Oct. 24).

     “Richmond Public Schools have put together a menu of options that different schools can select from, says Stacy Luks, a member of Slow Food RVa’s leadership board and the coordinator of Richmond Food Day 2012. “They are going to be doing kale-chip tasting on Food Day, if not the whole week.”

The Second Presidential Debate

Last week I was given the opportunity to attend an Obama watch party and tweet for NBC 12's Decision Va. blog. Check out the reactions from the crowd via my tweets:
http://blogs.nbc12.com/decisionvirginia/2012/10/nbc12-liveblog-give-us-your-reaction-to-the-2nd-presidential-debate.html

A Red Flag on Dating Violence

New bus system causes delays at VCU

Richmond Action Dialogues: conflict within the group

     Last week’s dialogue left nearly everyone with a heavy heart, wondering what could be done to mend some of the rifts within the group. At the previous Richmond Action Dialogue the students were asked to anonymously write their inner conflicts as well any group conflicts. When the conflicts within the group were revealed, the tension in the room was palpable. Some were feeling hurt because they felt judged by people they just met, while others felt there was a lack of concern for other people within the group.


IYLEP visited Peter Paul Development Center
and taught the Children about Iraqi Culture



Just the Beginning

By: Alix Hines

“Don’t look at people with one eye,” is a common phrase in Iraq that reminds us all to not judge someone on a mere first impression, but rather to look much deeper to see what’s on their hearts.
     It’s amazing to see how a group of 24 Iraqi students and five American mentors bonded and have already formed friendships in less than a week. Before our group had even spent 24 hours together we were dancing to salsa music on the boardwalk in Virginia Beach, bonding over pizza and even singing some long lost Eminem songs.

Richmond: a city still in the midst of segregation

Latrease Gregory moved to Creighton Court after her home in the Blackwell community was demolished for revitalization. Now she said her home is once again being threatened by the promise of a healthier community, but she says the redevelopment in the Blackwell community left some people homeless.

Driving along I-64, a newcomer to Richmond may not be fully aware of what is directly in their line of vision as they enter the city. Creighton Court, one of Richmond’s public housing communities, is one of the first public housing projects that can be seen from the interstate. On a short, 10-minute drive through Church Hill in Richmond’s East End a newcomer may unknowingly drive past five of the public housing sites all within a two mile radius of one another.

John Moeser, professor emeritus of urban studies at Virginia Commonwealth University, said that this concentration of poverty in the East End wasn’t an accident, but rather a means of maintaining the social construct of poverty. Moeser explained that the high density poverty that is concentrated in the East End is a result of segregation and ultimately the lingering effects of the Civil War.