by Henri Gendreau, The Roanoke Rambler

The yellow-brick Claytor Memorial Clinic sits at the heart of Gainsboro, resembling the neighborhood itself: stately, imbued with history, haunted by the past, in need of repair.

Roanoke was Gainsboro before it was Roanoke; the Town of Gainsborough was incorporated in 1835. Once a thriving part of the city and home to Roanoke’s “Black Wall Street,” in the early 20th-century, the neighborhood was decimated during urban renewal, or what the writer James Baldwin memorably termed “Negro removal.” Between 1955 and the 1980s, the city tore down 1,600 homes, 200 Black-owned businesses and two dozen churches in Gainsboro as part of a nationwide trend in which localities used eminent domain to take Black property for a pittance. Continue reading On the future of Gainsboro →

by S. Rotan Hale

The richness of history is something not to be taken lightly, particularly those stories involving the countless and ongoing struggles for civil rights.

Pulaski, is one of those rural Virginia towns rich in history that at one point needed a racial overhaul like many across the nation. Through the tenacious efforts of a well respected educator Chauncey Depew Harmon (1913-1993), an African American native of the town, that much needed overhaul became a reality. Continue reading Adaire Theatre enlightens and inspires through Chauncy Harmon story →

by Shawn Nowlin

On September 18, thousands of Roanoke Valley residents attended the Henry Street Music Festival. Formerly known as the Henry Street Heritage Festival, event organizers decided to rebrand the annual gathering this year.

The festival, kicked off at 3:00 p.m. at Elmwood Park and lasted for approximately seven hours celebrating African American culture with crafts, merchandise, cuisines and of course, music. Continue reading Henry Street Festival, entertainment and fellowship return to Elmwood →

City selects Youth and Gang Violence Prevention Coordinator

Roanoke City continues acting upon its Comprehensive Gun Violence Prevention Framework, which focuses on the community as a whole in partnering with law enforcement, prevention, intervention and justice. As a follow-up to the City’s press conference held in early August and acknowledging that there has not yet been the reduction in gun violence, the City continues to enhance prevention and safety strategies by working together to support the work of law enforcement and the RESET Team; the progress of the Gun Violence Prevention Commission; the addition of the first-ever Youth and Gang Violence Prevention Coordinator; and the Star City Safe initiative. Continue reading Roanoke continues Comprehensive Gun Violence Prevention Framework →

by Cynthia Morrow,
MD, MPH

Fueled by the highly transmissible Delta variant, the Roanoke City and Alleghany Health Districts are currently in the midst of a surge of cases of COVID-19. In June, we saw a low for the year of about 80 new cases each week, but by early July, that number had jumped to over 200 new cases per week. We’re now in the eleventh week of this most recent surge, with over 950 new local cases were reported this past week alone. Continue reading The Question of Boosters →