Red State No More – 11.4.08
Richmond, VA is a great town, but a very segregated one. I spent the last few years I lived there on basically the corner of Broad and Belvedere streets. This is a pretty important cross section in Richmond because it firmly separates four of the neighborhoods in Richmond. The northeast corner is Jackson Ward, a black area that at one time was known as the Harlem of the South. Across the street on the northwest side is Carver, another primarily black area. To the southeast is the beginning of the down town area and to the southwest is the fan, home to thousands of VCU college students. Richmond is a pretty dangerous town, and while this area is certainly not the worst in the city, there were three shootings at this intersection with in the first month that I moved into my apartment. They had to cancel a national Step contest because every time they held it someone would get shot. On many nights this area becomes a drag for tricked out cars with huge rims and booming stereos right next to hipster bars, art galleries and coffee shops, however these worlds rarely interact. At least that is the way it was until Tuesday night.
After Barack Obama gave his victory speech I began my drive back to NYC so I could work the next morning. All the hard work was over and I needed to go home. I tried to drive through the Broad and Belvedere intersection on my way to I-95. I saw that all the streets were blocked off. I was afraid something horrible had happened. Richmond can be a very racist town, on both sides. I used to hear storied of black families getting their houses burned if they tried to move into the Oregon Hill neighborhood just a few blocks south. I tried to drive around the police blockade but everything seemed to be stopped. That’s when I heard the drums. I parked my car and got out and walked into a huge swarm of thousands of people running around screaming and chanting. They were climbing on construction vehicles, dancing on cars and shimming up light posts. People were breakdancing in the street. Everyone was jubilant. You had thug black dudes hugging tattooed hipster kids. It was amazing. The Obama win hadn’t really hit me until then. I walked around taking photos with the biggest smile on my face. Everyone was jumping in front of my camera and wanting to be part of the record of this amazing moment. I have seen nothing like it in my life. I was almost in tears the whole time. I saw three muslim women celebrating with a man draped in the Indian flag. I saw gay kids posing with some of the hardest looking dudes I have seen in my life. There were hip hop heads drumming with hippies. It was phenomenal. These were mostly kids in the parade, but every so often I would see an older African American shaking their head in disbelief. They just couldn’t believe what was happening. They never thought something like this could happen in their life times. There were 65 year old men were crying, and that brought tears to my eyes.
I honestly spent more time celebrating than paying attention to the photos I was taking. These shots are not as great as they should be, and I kept missing the really touching moments of people hugging and crying, but fuck, I couldn’t be bothered. I knew I should be shooting, but I really just wanted to be climbing up light posts and throwing fire works too. It was a really amazing thing to be a part of and I think if nothing else, these pictures capture some of that. White and black, in the capitol of the south, living in a blue state for the first time in their lives, celebrating a hope for the world. This might be the cheesiest thing I have ever written in my life, but I mean every bit of it. We were part of history.
Click for pictures. God bless America.
as someone that has grown up in Richmond and knows exactly what you’re speaking of and can relate to every point you mentioned these photos are touching. I couldn’t make it down to Broad but could hear the commotion from my house in the Fan, so it’s nice to at least see it in pictures.
I was there and it was inspiring. I can tell my unborn child he can be anything he wants to be in America.
Tony
Holy shit. It looks like you had TONS more fun than I did! The pictures you took are amazing! The Obama support group I participated in was pretty mellow in broad daylight! I upload the pics in my blog if you want to see how boring it looked…compared to this!
Before they announced Barack’s presidency, I already predicted that he will win, but with slight doubts about it. It was kind of emotional a little…like the stresses prior to election is FINALLY over now!
Hardly anything can put me in a bad mood now that there’s a democrat in office…especially since it’s Barack Obama!
I was pretty sure we were going to win when Indiana couldn’t be called by seven. Then the PA win pretty much sealed it, but it wasn’t over until he won Ohio. So when they called it, I was pretty sure of the out come, but VA was really the state that put us over (since the west cost numbers were a given). When they called VA I was ecstatic, and just had to count down until the west coast polls closed.
hey igor, you think with Obama whites lick blacks ass and you solve problems in USA of race hate, you very wrong. I know Americans (not you stupid hipps kids) and they will not take this. race problem only gonna get bad now much worse then before. some WHITE brother is gonna assasinate your Hussien boy. he gonna come up and shoot him in the eyes like I did in Chechneya to Muslim. 9 grams in the head. and then you will see riots like never. race war will be on and no stop to it then. what will u do when blacks come to your door? this is not over, is just begining now!!
I’m glad you went down for GOTV. I went down with a group of Columbia Law students to canvass in Clifton and Woodbridge on Saturday and Sunday. We hit up the Manassas rally Monday night, and then worked as “Lawyers for Obama” doing voter protection at the polling sites. It was absolutely amazing. Though I’m originally from Texas, I live in Harlem now, and I couldn’t be prouder of the work everyone did in VA. I don’t know if the feeling I got when they called it for Obama will ever be replicated.
I was there. It was incredible. Just one thing, you’ve got your norths and souths mixed up. Oregon Hill is to the South, Jackson Ward is to the Northeast and Carver is to the Northwest. Downtown is Southeast and The Fan is Southwest.
alexy
you are an idiot, but i just wanted to say that i dont think this is going to solve the racial problems in america, but it is a good step in the right direction. stop reading my blog.
cog
my dad did the legal aid stuff too, he worked polls in alexandria. thanks for helping va swing blue… maybe in 4 years we can get texas too…
andrew
i am an idiot. it has been fixed. i am not sure how i fucked that up. i even did my GOVT in NORTHside.
I just wanted to say beautiful photographs. I come from a small town and nothing really happened here, i wish i would have been in a city that produced such joyous reactions. But i also must say that although this is a beautiful thing, it is also a dark time in this nations history. We will see the worst of people.
To be quite honest, I didn’t care at first who won (though I voted for Obama because I leaned a little bit more towards him). When I found out Obama won, I was like “Okay, cool” and turned to go to bed (I live on West Grace St). Then I looked out the window and saw the rioting. I opened the window and heard the screaming. I decided to go outside and see what was going on. Just being with all those people made me ECSTATIC that Obama won. It was CRAZY! I mean, feeding off of each other’s energy was the only way I can explain why we were all running all the way down Broad street in fuzzy slippers and pjs, hi-fiving people in cars as they drove by, hugging complete strangers and chanting (where did they get the drums? I don’t know!). It’s the beginning of a new era!