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Meet Young Shorty Doowop, or Y.S.D., one of Richmond’s rising stars — a female rapper and R&B artist who’s been writing her own songs since childhood. She performs around the Bay Area, dishing up beats from her first album, “I Love All My Fans: The Mixtape” and a new single, “Flexin’ on Em” (which comes with its own dance). She’s been featured on KMEL 106.1 FM, danced in music videos with Snoop Dogg and 50 Cent, and sells her “I…
Three young Richmond boxers from the Richmond Police Activities League boxed last Saturday at an exhibition hosted by the RPAL. The exhibition, which welcomed fighters from different boxing clubs and gyms, featured 15 bouts with varying age and weight divisions. RPAL’s Anthony J. Bryant, Vonnie Davison and Delleon Brown are all local talent groomed by John Island, the head coach and coordinator of the boxing program. For some it was their first bout. “These guys were already ready, they train…
A group of students, teachers, parents, and politicians gathered at Harding Elementary, Saturday as a first step to help communication efforts between the Contra Costa LGBTQ community support groups and the school systems. Participants said it’s important to open lines of communication with schools, while the children are young.
Last year, Rob John, who spent more than 20 years teaching first grade in Kensington, decided to leave teaching and try his hand at starting a small business. He loved food and enjoyed the fare he found at gourmet food trucks, so he raised money to buy an old courier truck (think UPS), found an outfitter in Hayward, and voila: the WhipOut food truck was born. “Richard Branson chose to build spaceships,” John said. “I wanted a food truck.” On…
The House Rabbit Society is a no-kill shelter in Richmond. They save rabbits from around the area from being euthanized. When you walk in, it neither smells like a shelter, nor looks like one. With carpeted floors and bright open enclosures, it looks more like a rabbit hotel.
On Saturday, students from Making Waves teamed up with The Watershed Project for a trash assessment and cleanup effort at Baxter Creek, which was recently named one of California’s trashiest waterways. From cardboard and paper, to styrofoam and plastic bags—and even the occasional shoe—students and other volunteers removed debris and freshened up the area. Richmond Confidential caught the action in the video above.
An outdoor art exhibit of work by acclaimed new media artist Scott Snibbe made its debut at the Richmond Arts in Motion festival this Saturday. The display consists of four screens that hang in the front window of the East Bay Center for the Performing Arts on the corner of 11th St. and Macdonald Ave. Three panels feature pre-recorded videos of the EBCPA’s students and resident artists dancing and acting in silhouette. The fourth panel pulls pedestrians on Macdonald Ave….
Feet stepped and hips swayed at last Thursday’s free Zumba class in the Iron Triangle. Though the building on the corner of Macdonald Avenue and 9th Street reads “Karate,” this space is the new home of Main Street Zumba Fitness. The bi-weekly class, located in the heart of historic downtown Richmond, began in March and ran through July. But after a successful first season, Richmond Main Street and Contra Costa Healthy Eating Active Living Collaborative (HEAL) decided to sponsor a…
Jessie Phillips has lived in the same home from the time she was a little girl. If it wasn’t for her home, she says, she wouldn’t live in Richmond. “It’s just too hard,” she said. Just the sound of sirens sends her into a fit of tears. Each siren sound reminds her of the death of her son Anthony Robinson. Robinson was shot in his car following an altercation at a gas station in Richmond on July 18, 2004. His mother Jessie says her son and his friends were followed in his car to Albany, just off the Gilman exit. Shots were fired, and her son Anthony was hit in the head by one of the bullets. He spent four days on life support before he died. On his birthday each year, December 16, Phillips takes out a memorial in the West County Times in his memory. It’s something that gives her peace, she says. Jessie credits prayer, family and community support for keeping her going. She has two remaining children: Kenneth Robinson, 25, and Jessica Walker, 32. She regularly attends events hosted and organized by Charlene Harris of Healing Circles of Hope ( Mother’s Against Senseless Killing, MASK).