Tropical inland: Party like it’s sunny Santa Monica in a flashback to the origins of fitness culture at Charlottesville’s IX Beach Club. Muscle Beach is the theme at this week’s local gathering, recreated with weight training and a pose-off to flaunt your hard bod. The work-out and splash-about opportunities come complete with a rocking run-through of ‘80s hits.
Ethan McSweeny is fond of automotive idioms. “I’m firing on all cylinders,” he says when asked about his work with the American Shakespeare Center, where he has been the artistic director for close to a year. It’s like “trying to tinker on the engine of your car while you’re driving—this thing never gets up on blocks,” he says, adding that joining the company was like “trying to jump onboard a moving train.”
The schedule of the 2019/2020 season, which starts June 25, is just as daunting as he depicts it. It launches with three summer productions, which together mark the start of McSweeny’s first official season.
McSweeny describes the cycle of Julius Caesar, Antony and Cleopatra, and Caesar and Cleopatra as “three plays, two authors”—Shakespeare and George Bernard Shaw—“one story.” A fourth production, the world premiere of The Willard Suitcases, will be added in the fall. Written by New York–based composer/lyricist Julianne Wick Davis, the musical is based on the intriguing contents of luggage found in the abandoned Willard Psychiatric Center. The suitcases belonged to the patients, and, McSweeny says, “they didn’t put sensible things, necessarily, in them.”
In his 20-year career, McSweeny has been involved in productions around the world, and he insists that the ASC is “very unique….I can tell you that there are very few places like this.” He cites the company’s unusual adoption of “universal lighting and Shakespearean performance conditions” as one reason why the center stands out, but adds that it’s not a “museum recreation”; rather, “It really combines the intensity of intellect that these plays require with the infectious joy of performing them.”
McSweeny still intends to tinker with the engine, “enhancing what’s already there.” One of his first decisions on the job was to put two of the longest-serving company members on year-round, full-time contracts, giving them the title of Actor Managers, to follow a tradition established by Shakespeare’s own King’s Men.
Rather than institute large-scale changes, McSweeny seems to be most interested in experimentation with the existing model. “It’s such a gift to not have to make the same choices over and over again,” he says. “I’m trying to find ways to do what we do, but even better.”
He’s also committed to getting more people into the Blackfriars Playhouse in Staunton, a town that McSweeny professes to love. “It’s a rich buffet of culture and arts,” he says, encouraging his Charlottesville neighbors to visit. “It’s a four-lane highway. Get used to it.”
Late in the interview, McSweeny compares the appeal of theater to that of a “live sporting event.” It’s a simile that, for a theater geek, seems even further removed than his vehicle imagery—but the new artistic director has made it clear that he’s unconcerned with preserving stereotypes or favoring tradition over innovation. He sums it up by saying, “I’m a profound Shakespeare believer, but also a real agnostic when it comes to ways to do Shakespeare.”
More information at americanshakespearecenter.com
Somehow, against all odds and conventional wisdom of movie sequels and their diminishing returns, the Toy Story series just keeps getting it right. The mere fact that there is a conversation about which is the best one shows just how successful it is. No one says the same about Incredibles 2, Monsters University, or Cars 2 and 3—some of which are good, but the superior movie in those series (the original, always) is so clear that it’s not up for debate. Not so with Toy Story, where each installment has so much to offer that it could legitimately be someone’s favorite; including, miraculously, this new entry no one asked for that comes nine years after an indisputably conclusive ending.
We meet Woody (Tom Hanks), Buzz (Tim Allen) and the gang shortly after the end of 3. With Andy off to college, they are now officially Bonnie’s toys. As they get to know her and her toys, Woody struggles to find his place; he’s not Bonnie’s favorite like he was Andy’s, and he’s not the leader of this new group. Woody sees his chance to save the day on Bonnie’s first day of kindergarten, when he sneaks into her backpack and helps her create Forky (Tony Hale), a spork with googly eyes and pipe cleaner arms that is baffled by his own existence. Bonnie loves Forky so much that Woody deputizes himself as his protector. Things go haywire when Woody and Forky fall out of the car on a family trip, and in their journey back they discover the long-missing Bo Peep (Annie Potts), plus a vintage Gabby Gabby doll (Christina Hendricks) in an antique shop that takes interest in Woody’s voice box, and will stop at nothing to get it.
The struggle faced by all of the toys, new and old, is how to fulfill their purpose. For some, it’s as easy as being whatever Bonnie wants them to be in the moment, but that’s not easy for Woody, who wrestles with not being the special one anymore. It’s also not that easy for Gabby Gabby, who was built to love an owner but has never had the opportunity. Meanwhile, Forky, a toy made of trash, wants nothing more than to return to the bin. Even minor characters like Canadian stuntman Duke Caboom (Keanu Reeves) and carnival prizes Ducky and Bunny (Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele) have exciting and endearing arcs of their own.
The worst criticism one could offer about Toy Story 4 is that it can be repetitive; once the characters are established, the main plot devices are chases and rescue missions. It’s not quite at the level of its predecessor, and there is no scene in 4 that matches the dread of 3’s climax, but it’s so much fun that you won’t even notice. It’s not the best of the series, but it is the funniest, and still packs an emotional punch at just the right moments. TS4 doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but it does make a satisfying conclusion to the series—assuming it actually is. Who can say what the future holds?
Toy Story 4 / G, 100 minutes / Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX, Violet Crown Cinema
Alamo Drafthouse Cinema 377 Merchant Walk Sq., 326-5056, drafthouse.com/charlottesville z Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX The Shops at Stonefield, 244-3213, regmovies.com z Violet Crown Cinema 200 W. Main St., Downtown Mall, 529-3000, charlottesville.violetcrown.com z Check theater websites for listings.
See it again
Do the Right Thing
R, 125 minutes / Alamo Drafthouse Cinema / June 30
Route 29 is infuriating, thick with careening cars or just plain clogged with traffic. Route 29 is a sweltering asphalt jungle of sad strip malls, tacky hotels, and gaudy fireworks tents. Go ahead, bash it. Route 29 won’t mind. Because you need Route 29. You need to fill up with gas, get groceries at Trader Joe’s, shop for T-shirts at Marshalls, and buy 48 rolls of toilet paper at Costco. You must fulfill your role as a consumer, and for that Route 29 won’t fail you—especially, when it comes to eating.
As a commercial and commuter thoroughfare, Route 29 is fast-food heaven, of course. But it can also be one hell of a culinary journey. Diversity is Route 29’s strength, from hearty diner grub to sipping and snacking at a winery. And when you’re headed south, and you escape the city’s vortex, you’ll also find that the countryside and mountain views are quite lovely.
So my husband and I set out on a marathon nosh, 26.2 miles from the first bite to the last. We took on the gut-busting challenge for the good of all road-food-loving humanity, sampling bites at nine stops. Fill up your tank, and get ready to stuff your face!
Drive 20 minutes north of Charlottesville and you’ll reach the homey Blue Ridge Cafe & Catering, family-owned and serving since 1995. It proudly claims to be “nestled in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains,” but it’s actually in a parking lot next to an antiques shop. Angus beef burgers and generously sized pasta bowls are the favorites among regulars, but if you’re powering up for a long drive, order ahead for a Grab and Go Breakfast, complete with bagels, muffins, fruit, juice, and coffee, a deal at $5.99. 8315 Seminole Trail, Ruckersville, 985-3633, blueridgecafe.com.
Five miles down the road sits a white building dusted with road grit. Big, blocky letters announce your arrival at Bamboo House, which looks like it emerged from the bayou on an HBO Southern Gothic miniseries. Inside, where you might expect the ambiance of a roadhouse, the Korean/Chinese restaurant has the familiar trappings of casual Asian dining: red-and-gold place settings on round tables, dishes with heaps of fried rice, and seafood platters blanketed in sticky sauces. The food is average and unsurprising, but the atmosphere—enhanced by the diorama of a woodland hunting scene complete with a family of taxidermied deer—is out of this world. 4831 Seminole Trail, 973-9211
Wood paneling? Check. Metal fish wall art? Check. A menu with oysters on the halfshell and a BBQ tuna sandwich? Check and double-check! Despite the strip-mall setting, Rhett’s River Grill & Raw Bar brings to mind the seafood shacks peppered along the highways on the Outer Banks. If it swims, then they’ve probably got it—steamed, fried, or grilled. We hurried to list Rhett’s as a Route 29 haunt, because on July 15, it relocates to Zion Crossroads. 2335 Seminole Trail, 974-7818, rhettsrivergrill.com
The DoubleTree Hilton opened the aptly named Root 29 Craft Kitchen & Bar in May after renovating the hotel’s reception and dining spaces. Root 29 is bright and modern with tile floors and geometric glass fixtures bouncing light across the many-shades-of-gray decor. The American menu includes snackable shared plates like shrimp tempura and hummus, and a full bar features local wines and beers. 990 Hilton Heights Rd., 529-8400, root29restaurant.com
About a mile further south, you can enjoy a little taste of Little Havana. Guajiros Miami Eatery conjures the laid-back vibe of a neighborhood Cuban deli. The tropical lounge music oozes into the small space decorated with lush Caribbean blues, hibiscus flowers, and sultry palm leaves. The cafecito (Cuban-style espresso) is made in the super-sweet traditional way, and the croquetas (finger-sized snacks of deep fried ham) are salty perfection. 1871 Seminole Trail, 465-2108
On Saturday mornings and Thursday evenings during warmer months, you can sample the artisanal selections at The Green Market Stonefield. The vendors set up tents on a big lawn next to Burger Bach, and offer farmers market fare of local produce and baked goods along with handmade gifts. We like to go for the speciality items (uniquely flavored sauces, cheeses, and other treats) and food samples from stores and restaurants in Stonefield. 2100 Hydraulic Rd., shopsatstonefield.com
Looking like the setting of a Thomas Kinkade painting, a dirt road winds up a hill and over a quaint little bridge to reach Albemarle Ciderworks. I once struggled to jog up that hill during the Annual Hard Cider 5K, and while I always have liked Albemarle’s tart, citrusy GoldRush cider, it has never tasted better than it did at that finish line. Pair it with Caromont goat cheese and Olli Salumeria charcuterie. 2545 Rural Ridge Ln., North Garden, 297-2326, albemarleciderworks.com
It’s difficult to imagine someone walking the hydrangea-lined path down toward the French country-style barn at Pippin Hill Farm and Vineyards, turning to the wild hillside lining the western horizon, and not concluding that this is one of the most breathtaking patches of land on earth. The tasting room is the perfect place to watch the sunset while you sample wines and delicious small plates. 5022 Plank Rd., North Garden, 202-8063, pippinhillfarm.com
Dr. Ho’s Humble Pie is destination eating. You make the trip this far down Route 29, about 10 miles south of I-64, because you want some serious pizza. All pies are made with hand-tossed dough, and sources for toppings include dozens of local vendors. Creations like the Annie Oakley (buffalo chicken, jalapeño, pineapple, and cheese) undoubtedly have loyal fans, but we always fall for the classic Margherita (fresh basil, tomato sauce, and fresh mozzarella). Our final recommendation? Order an extra pie for the road home. 4916 Plank Rd., North Garden, 245-0000, drhoshumblepie.com
More than two hundred years after she departed North Dakota as a member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, Sacagawea of the Shoshone tribe is at the center of controversy in Charlottesville—again.
At issue is her depiction in a statue on West Main, where she crouches at the feet of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark. The statue, gifted to the city by local benefactor Paul Goodloe McIntire (who also commissioned the Robert E. Lee and “Stonewall” Jackson statues), has been a target of protests for years.
“It still is probably the worst statue of Sacagawea in the country,” Anthony Guy Lopez, a UVA alumnus (’09) and member of the Crow Creek Sioux tribe, said at a June 17 City Council meeting. “If you do the research, you won’t find another one as demeaning.”
It was renowned sculptor Charles Keck’s idea to add Sacagawea to a statue that was originally intended to depict only Lewis and Clark. Her inclusion may have been considered ahead of its time back in 1919, but more recently, critics have objected to her subservient posture in relation to the explorers (others say she’s tracking or foraging for food).
The issue was back in conversation because of the West Main Street improvement plan, a $31 million project which requires that the statue be moved 20 feet. Some suggested the city take the opportunity to relocate the statue altogether. But, as often is the case in Charlottesville, councilors say more feedback is needed.
After initially approving $75,000 to form a committee to decide the statue’s fate, City Council decided instead to seek the input of Native Americans in a work session, using some of those approved funds to cover the invitees’ travel expenses. Councilors hope to include descendants of Sacagawea and Councilor Kathy Galvin also proposed inviting the recently appointed U.S. poet laureate, Joy Harjo, who’s a member of the Muscogee Creek Nation.
“I see this as a great opportunity to gain more insight and wisdom about the Native American community’s perceptions of this statue and then we as duly elected representatives of this community have to take in all that information and make a decision on whether the statue stays or goes or whether we add context,” Galvin says.
One potential landing spot for the statue is the Lewis & Clark Exploratory Center in Darden Towe Park. Executive Director Alexandria Searls has invited City Council to consider moving the statue to the facility’s front lawn, where it can be viewed more easily and contextualized to explain how Sacagawea’s crouched position recognizes her skills as a tracker and forager.
“It used to be [in] a big park called Midway Park, where you could really get close to the statue and see the details on the side,” Searls says. “As that park land became what it is today, which is basically next to nothing, it’s changed the way we encounter that work of art.”
Searls insists she isn’t lobbying for City Council to move the statue in front of the center, but rather providing it as an option for the councilors to consider. The center, a nonprofit, doesn’t have the resources to fund the statue’s upkeep, so the city would still have to pay for its removal and maintenance, says Searls. However, Searls says donating it would align with the city’s desire for the center to be a tourist destination, as the statue figures to be a significant draw for visitors.
It’s impossible to tell the story of Lewis and Clark’s trek across the continent without talking about their navigator, translator, forager, and tracker.
Even though she was only a teenager, Sacagawea played an integral role on that historic journey. Her knowledge of the Hidatsa and Shoshone languages was pivotal, and she proved invaluable with her ability to collect food and medicinal herbs.
But this isn’t the first time residents have raised issues with the statue. In 2007, local performance artist Jennifer Hoyt Tidwell organized a demonstration on Columbus Day. She collected 500 signatures protesting Sacagawea’s portrayal, prompting the addition of a plaque commemorating her contributions that was installed two years later. Mayor Nikuyah Walker pitched the idea of moving the statue last November.
For now, City Council has already voted to go ahead with moving the statue 20 feet as part of the West Main Street improvement plan. That project, which has been in development since 2013, aims to ease traffic congestion, expand surrounding sidewalks, plant more trees, remove overhead wires, and replace underground gas lines. According to Galvin, construction is expected to begin in “about a year.”
A timeline hasn’t been established for the work session or an eventual decision on the future of the statue. To prevent anyone from feeling alienated by the decision, Galvin says “it has to take as long as it has to take” for all parties to have the chance to give their input.
“The removal and the relocation of the statue is not the most important thing,” Lopez says. “The most important thing is that … a good, healthy relationship can be established between the city and Indian country.”
Correction (6/27/2019, 9:00 a.m.): A previous version of this story stated Sacagawea departed from St. Louis for the expedition. Lewis and Clark did begin their journey in Missouri, but didn’t encounter Sacagawea until they arrived in North Dakota.
Long-on-the-books redevelopment plans for Friendship Court, Southwood Mobile Home Park, and Crozet’s town center got millions in funding last week. Southwood and Crozet Plaza each got a $3.2-million go-ahead from Albemarle’s Board of Supervisors June 19, contingent upon rezoning approval in August. And Friendship Court can start phase one of its redevelopment next spring.
Southwood: Habitat for Humanity bought the mobile home park off Old Lynchburg Road in 2007, and wants to remake it as a mixed-use development with 700 to 800 mixed income units—without displacing any of the residents. Habitat plans to build 450 units in phase one, with 75 that will be affordable for 40 years. But before any checks are cut, the county wants detailed plans.
Crozet Plaza: The former Barnes Lumber will be redeveloped by Crozet New Town Associates—Frank Stoner and L.J. Lopez, the same guys who rehabilitated the Jefferson School. The plaza will have retail and commercial spaces, a hotel, and approximately 52 residential units in its first phase, as well as street extensions into the congested, growth-area neighborhoods currently accessed only by Hilltop Street. Bonus for the county: Ultimately it will own the plaza.
Friendship Court: On June 21, Piedmont Housing Alliance, which bought Friendship Court in 2015, announced it received more than $15.8 million in tax credits as part of the U.S. Treasury Department’s Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program. The credits can be sold to an investor, bringing nearly $15 million in funding, which allows phase one of the Friendship Court redevelopment plan to begin. Piedmont Housing has stressed that current residents will not be displaced, and it hopes to open the first 150 affordable units by 2021.
Quote of the week
“The essential property of mercy is that it applies to the undeserving.”—James Fields’ attorneys in a memo seeking to avoid life in prison for the convicted killer
In brief
Charlottesville Tomorrow is ending its 10-year partnership with The Daily Progress, one of the first in the country between a daily and a nonprofit. The digital news source, known for covering government meetings and providing free content to the Progress, plans to change its mission to in-depth reporting that “improves local decision making” and expands civic engagement, while working towards “a sustainable subscriber-supported revenue model,” says executive director (and former C-VILLE editor) Giles Morris.
Antiwar activist David Swanson is collecting signatures to remove the statue of “Conqueror of the Northwest” George Rogers Clark that sits on UVA property at West Main and JPA. Albemarle native Clark is depicted on a horse confronting a Native American family with several of his men, one of whom is wielding a gun. The statue is the fourth donated by Paul Goodloe McIntire that some people want to disappear from the center of town.
Three players from UVA’s national championship-winning men’s basketball team had their names read at the 2019 NBA Draft last week. De’Andre Hunter went fourth overall to the Atlanta Hawks, Ty Jerome earned the 24th selection by the Phoenix Suns, and Kyle Guy was taken with the 55th pick by the Sacramento Kings. Virginia Tech’s Nickeil Alexander-Walker was picked 17th by the New Orleans Pelicans.
Robert Tracci announced he’s seeking a second term as Albemarle commonwealth’s attorney June 25, and says he wants to work with the General Assembly to set THC levels to determine stoned-driver impairment and help former convicts to re-enter society. He faces Democratic nominee Jim Hingeley, a former public defender, in November.
Lawyers for Virginia’s AG were in federal court for the third time seeking to dismiss a lawsuit against the DMV for the automatic suspension of driver’s licenses with no notice nor consideration of ability to pay. The AG rep argued that Governor Ralph Northam has ordered current suspended licenses be reinstated July 1 and that the General Assembly could repeal the law, an argument that plaintiffs’ attorney, Legal Aid Justice Center director Angela Ciolfi, scoffed at.
Being music phenoms isn’t enough for Dave Matthews and custom guitar maker Brian Calhoun. They’ve launched a new board game called 25 Outlaws, with Matthews-drawn illustrations, and a kids’ version of Chickapig called Chickapiglets, both of which will be available at a Target near you.
Clarification: Albemarle Commonwealth’s Attorney wants to work with the General Assembly to set statutory levels to determine marijuana impairment and he will not specifically be targeting stoned drivers.
When the ParkMobile signs went up June 15, the paid parking designation caught Belmonters by surprise. Parking can be a challenge in the neighborhood, and customers at two new restaurants, Belle Coffee & Wine and No Limits Smokehouse, had been using the adjacent lots for free. Now, they’ll have to pay.
Belle Coffee & Wine is in the building that formerly housed La Taza, which was purchased by real estate investor Murry Pitts’ MELCP LLC September 24 for $3.65 million. The sale included property across the street that used to house Belmont BBQ, and both sites have lots that now warn parkers to pay with the mobile app or risk getting towed.
No Limits Smokehouse occupies the former Belmont BBQ space, and its owner, who declined to provide his name, says, “People are pissed.” He says he’s watched people pull into the lot beside his restaurant, look at the signs, and leave.
He was aware the landlord was going to put in paid parking when he signed the lease two months ago, he says, but he didn’t realize it would happen this soon.
Thirty percent of No Limits’ business is takeout, he says, and Friday and Saturday nights have been “super busy.”
Across the street, Belle Coffee & Wine has been open fewer than two months, and some customers have been “very upset,” says manager Bailey Laing. “We do get a lot of people asking about it.”
Not everyone is bothered by the paid parking. A woman sitting outside Belle says it was her second time there and paying to park didn’t keep her from coming.
“I never mind paying for parking,” says her friend “It’s not as big a deal as people make it.”
Restaurateur Andy McClure owns Belle, along with the Virginian and Citizen Burger, and he sees the paid parking as a plus. “I think it’s good for all of Belmont. There’s nowhere to park.”
People pay to park on the Corner and downtown, he points out. The Belmont lots are private, and now anyone can park there. “People weren’t allowed to park there before,” he says. “I think everyone wants more parking.”
Resident Kimber Hawkey was “astounded” to see the newly installed parking signs, and she does not believe the paid lots will ease the neighborhood’s parking crunch.
‘Why would it help?” she asks. “Why would someone choose to pay when they can go down the street and take a free space in front of someone’s house? That makes no sense.”
Matt Shields, who has lived in Belmont for 20 years, was having a brisket sandwich at No Limits. He says he stopped for coffee at Belle’s last week. “I didn’t pay because I thought it was crazy. I was only going to be in there a minute.”
He acknowledges that parking in Belmont can get “bonkers,” and can see the paid parking hurting both new restaurants, particularly for customers making a quick stop who have to pause and download an app or risk getting towed.
Pitts, who also bought the former Gleason feed store property at 126 Garrett Street for $5 million in 2016, did not respond to messages left with his registered agent in Staunton.
However, Ben Wilson with Nest Realty, which manages the properties, says Pitts “is trying to expand the parking rather than have it exclusive to the properties he owns. He wants to create an opportunity to anyone who wants to park.”
Correction June 28: Pitts does not own the Gleason condo building as stated in the original story.
Local poet and pediatrician Irène Mathieu has been a storyteller for as long as she can remember. Before she learned to write, she would observe her mother and narrate everything she did. “She found it super annoying,” Mathieu says with a laugh.
Mathieu, who lived in Charlottesville for parts of her childhood, returned last July to begin work at the University of Virginia Health System. Already a published poet with two books, this spring she published her third collection, Grand Marronage, with Switchback Books. The title comes from the name given to communities formed by newly free, formerly enslaved peoples in the United States, Latin America, and the Caribbean—a name she came across while reading about the history of Louisiana. The term “metaphorically and perfectly captured,” Mathieu says, the question of “how you can be fully free when you’re still living in a society that is built on inequity, racism, capitalism, and the patriarchy.”
In the poem “maron (circa 1735),” Mathieu employs magical realism to turn a girl who is fleeing enslavement into a fig tree to escape the men with guns and dogs that pursue her, as Daphne evaded Apollo in Greek mythology. “I was really interested in that idea of transformation,” Mathieu says, “and how can we as families or society or community transform into a more liberated form of ourselves? That includes not only our personal liberation but also the liberation of others.”
The book is composed of four sections and three voices: that of her grandmother, herself, and Harlem Renaissance writer Alice Dunbar-Nelson. Deeply grounded in the body, many of the poems explore how family history can manifest physically at the cellular level—not only in the case of trauma, but in strength, joy, love, and liberation, too.
While writing poems in her grandmother’s voice, Mathieu was hyper aware of the fact that she couldn’t write them without filtering her grandmother’s experience through her 21st-century lens. Those poems “are the marriage of my grandmother’s stories and my interpretation of them. I’m taking a huge poetic license,” she says. Writing poetry, rather than memoir, allowed her to get to the root of “the emotional truths of the stories my grandmother was telling me, or not telling me,” she says.
In imagining the life of Harlem renaissance writer Alice Dunbar-Nelson—who, like Mathieu’s family, also moved from New Orleans to the mid-Atlantic—Mathieu positions her in conversation with her family, their shared experience of race, gender, and capitalism paralleling each other. And through her own voice, Mathieu provides a contemporary perspective on the experience of a Black Creole American woman while exploring her ambivalence about those identifying terms, particularly the term American.
“In the United States, we look at things literally and figuratively in a very black and white way,” she says, “but reality and history are much more complicated than that.”
After our in-person interview, she reflects more on the experience of passing and colorism that she explores in Grand Marronage and writes in an email, “I am interested in how race is a slippery concept, yet so materially consequential.” She describes her grandmother as “a very light-skinned Creole woman” often mistaken for being “foreign” or European, while Mathieu herself is usually perceived as black. “I have siblings, cousins, aunts, and uncles who are routinely assumed to be a wide variety of races, ethnicities, and nationalities. This reality is not special, though; in fact it’s a pretty common result of (North & South) American colonialism and the transatlantic slave trade,” she writes.
“In Grand Marronage I focused on colorism and passing because so much of our experiences are defined by how others perceive us, and yet that perception is entirely subjective and a function of time, place, and culture.”
Another perception she challenges in the book is one generated by the myth of meritocracy, something she’s encountered in her own experience in higher education. She says people assume “you’re black and you made it, so everyone should be able to pull themselves up by their bootstraps.” But, she says, “This is a capitalist country that is based on racialized capitalism. We have to have a nuance to understand the forces that create the circumstances of our lives and the lives of those we perceive as other.”
In this present moment in our culture, Mathieu sees writing and reading “as a way to get more clarity for a step toward action” that will contribute to a more equitable future. Through her writing, she asks her readers the same question she asks herself every day in her work, both as a poet, and as a pediatrician: “How can we take what we know about the past and present and then commit ourselves to greater action?”
What that action looks like is giving time, money, resources, “or some other material part of your life to the struggle for greater equity.” But, she adds, it’s also about learning the practice of taking up less space and time “if you belong to a group that has historically taken up most of the space and time.”
Through her own voice, Mathieu provides a contemporary perspective on the experience of a Black Creole American woman while exploring her ambivalence about those identifying terms, particularly the term American.
Although President Trump walked back his order to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to conduct mass roundups of migrant families in major U.S. cities over the weekend, the delay did nothing to forestall the anxiety already created in the local immigrant community.
The raids were postponed to allow talks between the White House and Democrats in Congress after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called Trump.
Priscilla Mendenhall with Charlottesville-area Immigrant Resource and Advocacy Coalition is skeptical about the delay.
“It’s designed to further terrorize children and families and whole communities,” she says. “It’s deliberately manipulative. It’s cruel. I think it’s very intentional.”
She believes the mass roundups are tied to Trump’s reelection campaign. “This kind of action on his administration’s part furthers a narrative about immigrants that’s dehumanizing, criminalizing, and one that’s recurring in American history.”
CIRAC and other immigrant advocacy groups are calling upon local law enforcement to not cooperate with ICE.
The Trump administration is targeting “vulnerable Virginia residents that might’ve fallen through the cracks in their court case for reasons beyond their control,” says Luis Oyola with Legal Aid Justice Center. “We are calling on localities to refuse to assist ICE in their operations.”
Charlottesville Sheriff James Brown says his office has no intention of participating in ICE raids because it’s a federal operation, and the people targeted don’t have state or local offenses.
Oyola offers this advice to Virginia residents: “You do not have to open the door for ICE and you should demand to see a judge’s signature on a criminal warrant.”
Charlottesville’s most high-profile asylum-seeker is Maria Chavalan-Sut, who has taken sanctuary at Wesley Memorial United Methodist Church since October while she fights her deportation order through the court.
Before the raids were postponed, the church’s Pastor Isaac Collins urged ICE agents in the state who “are spending Sunday tearing families apart” to quit their jobs. “Walk away from this evil work, repent of these actions, make reparations to the migrant community, and I will help you find new work,” says Collins.
He also calls upon “every church in Virginia to offer sanctuary to undocumented migrants.”
Lana Heath de Martinez, a faith leader and organizer with the national sanctuary movement, notes that the majority of people targeted are indigenous to North America. “It is actually reminiscent of the Trail of Tears and other efforts to forcibly remove Native American folks and First Nations people.” she says. “This is a continuation of our disgraceful history and should be recognized as such.”
Mendenhall pledges resistance and support for migrant residents. “This community really shows what a small place can do when we come together.”
ICE spokeswoman Carissa Cutrell did not respond to phone calls from C-VILLE.
Updated 11:30am June 24
Updated 3:46pm with Sheriff James Brown’s response.
Original story
President Trump’s order to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to conduct mass roundups of migrant families in major U.S. cities, reportedly on Sunday, has created anxiety in the local immigrant community. Activists say raids have already occurred in Washington, D.C.
“Definitely in D.C. and we’ve heard raids are happening in northern Virginia,” says Priscilla Mendenhall with Charlottesville-area Immigrant Resource and Advocacy Coalition. “Whether or not we have raids, the fear they’re invoking here is real.”
CIRAC and other immigrant advocacy groups are calling upon local law enforcement to not cooperate with ICE.
The Trump administration is targeting “vulnerable Virginia residents that might’ve fallen through the cracks in their court case for reasons beyond their control,” says Luis Oyola with Legal Aid Justice Center. “We are calling on localities to refuse to assist ICE in their operations.”
According to Oyola, Charlottesville Sheriff James Brown says his office has no intention of participating in ICE raids. C-VILLE Weekly was unable to immediately reach Brown.
Oyola offers this advice to Virginia residents: “You do not have to open the door for ICE and you should demand to see a judge’s signature on a criminal warrant.”
Charlottesville’s most high-profile asylum-seeker is Maria Chavalan-Sut, who has taken sanctuary at Wesley Memorial United Methodist Church since October while she fights her deportation order through the court.
The church’s Pastor Isaac Collins urges ICE agents in the state who “are spending Sunday tearing families apart” to quit their jobs. “Walk away from this evil work, repent of these actions, make reparations to the migrant community, and I will help you find new work,” says Collins.
He also calls upon “every church in Virginia to offer sanctuary to undocumented migrants.”
Lana Heath de Martinez, a faith leader and organizer with the national sanctuary movement, notes that the majority of people targeted are indigenous to North America. “It is actually reminiscent of the Trail of Tears and other efforts to forcibly remove Native American folks and First Nations people.” she says. “This is a continuation of our disgraceful history and should be recognized as such.”
ICE spokeswoman Carissa Cutrell did not immediately respond to phone calls from C-VILLE.
Correction: Lana Heath de Martinez was misidentified in the original story, as was Priscilla Mendenhall.
When Paul Gaston came to the University of Virginia in 1957, it was overwhelmingly white and male, and segregation was the order of the day. And that’s why the young history professor and early civil rights activist chose it for his life’s work.
He brought Martin Luther King Jr. to Old Cabell Hall in 1963, just weeks before King wrote his Letter from Birmingham Jail. That same year, Gaston became UVA’s only professor to get punched and arrested during a sit-in at the staunchly segregated Buddy’s restaurant on Emmet Street.
Professor emeritus Paul Gaston died June 14 at age 91.
Daughter Chinta Gaston remembers her brother Blaise teasing her that “Daddy is in jail.”
She also recalls, “My dad was kicked out of Fry’s Spring [Beach Club] after Buddy’s.” A number of people threatened to leave the club in protest of his ouster, she says, “but Father decided it was wrong to belong to a segregated place. My recollection is we didn’t go back.”
As a white boy growing up in Jim Crow Alabama, Gaston might have seemed an unlikely leader of the civil rights charge. But he was raised in the utopian community of Fairhope, founded by his grandfather, an experience he wrote about in a 2009 memoir. “I grew up in a community where equal rights and justice were grounding moral principles,” he once told this reporter.
Gaston’s Deep South roots also struck civil rights legend Eugene Williams, who was head of the local NAACP in the 1950s and met Gaston and his wife Mary at a meeting, where they became regulars. Williams says he was “very impressed” when he heard Gaston was at the Buddy’s sit-in.
“I am speaking of a white man, Paul Gaston, born in Alabama, professor at the University of Virginia, and a sure face at civil rights meetings,” says Williams, who also remembers Gaston’s charm during those days of segregation. “And at the end of meetings he would mingle with the attendees.”
The ‘60s were cathartic for Gaston. “Life in the 1960s was the most rewarding era I’ve known,” he said in 2005. “I found a community of students who wanted to shake things up. We marched together, we had sit-ins, we had boycotts. I was their leader—I was 30.”
Gaston was offered jobs up north, but chose to stay at UVA, says his youngest son Gareth. “He wanted to teach white Southerners.” Gareth admires the way his father “combined scholarship and activism.”
Gaston taught the South’s history, and wrote The New South Creed: A Study in Southern Mythmaking in 1970. The book was republished in 2002 and his former student, Robert J. Norrell, wrote in the introduction that it had “stood the test of time as a historical interpretation.”
He helped establish the Carter G. Woodson Institute of African-American and African Studies in 1981. And he is credited with wooing civil rights leader Julian Bond to UVA’s faculty.
In the 1980s, he went to South Africa, met Desmond Tutu, and taught a class at the University of Cape Town, says Gareth.
University of Richmond president emeritus Ed Ayers, former UVA dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, recalls that Gaston was a “legend” when Ayers arrived at UVA in 1980.
“I think Paul will be remembered for both writing and making Southern history,” he says.
Chinta notes her father’s optimism and idealism in his belief that he could dispel racism by talking truth. “He was not successful,” she says. Yet he continued to believe “there was a new dawn that would make these poor benighted white people understand.”
He had a great faith in people, says Chinta. He was “endlessly interested in his children and he was nonjudgmental.”
Mary Gaston died in 2013. Gaston is survived by his three children and two granddaughters. A memorial is planned for the fall.