Children play on the Robert E. Lee monument the morning after it was refaced/defaced and less than a week after George Floyd was murdered in Minneapolis by police officer Derek Chauvin. May 31, 2020.

Jefferson Davis statue, toppled from its Monument Avenue pedestal on June 10, 2020, on display at the Valentine Museum. Richmond, VA. 2022

Truck with vanity plates parked on the lawn of the United Daughters of the Confederacy headquarters the morning after protests over the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis by police officer Derek Chauvin. May 31, 2020

Self-proclaimed protector of United Daughters of the Confederacy headquarters menaces the photographer who came onto the premises, as did other citizens, to photograph the damage done to the building the night before. May 31, 2020.

Refaced/defaced statue of J.E.B. Stuart on Monuument Avenue as public works crew clears away damaged fencing the morning after protests over the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis by police officer Derek Chauvin. May 31, 2020

The Jefferson Davis monument the morning after it was refaced/defaced and less than a week after George Floyd was murdered in Minneapolis by police officer Derek Chauvin. May 31, 2020.

Citizens converge on the refaced/defaced Robert E. Lee monument to protest police violence and brutality, including the killing of Marcus-David Peters by Richmond Police officers in 2018 and the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis by Derek Chauvin. May 31, 2020.

Citizens gather at the refaced/defaced Robert E. Lee monument to protest police violence and brutality, including the killing of Marcus-David Peters by Richmond Police officers in 2018 and the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis by Derek Chauvin. May 31, 2020.

People gather on the refaced/defaced Robert E. Lee monument to protest police violence and brutality, including the killing of Marcus-David Peters by Richmond Police officers in 2018 and the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis by Derek Chauvin. May 31, 2020.

Citizens protest days after the murder of George Floyd. May 31, 2020.

Richmond Police in paramilitary gear respond to a nonviolent George Floyd-antipolice brutality protest with overwhelming force, including pepper spray and gas. May 31, 2020.

Citizens run from police launch of gas and pepper spray against nonviolent protest against police brutality less than week after the murder of George Floyd. May 31, 2020.

Citizen confronts Richmond Police William C. Smith and Mayor Levar Stoney during a police brutality protest on the steps of City Hall. June 2, 2020.

Frank during a police brutality protest on the steps of City Hall that began before Mayor Levar Stoney’s scheduled listening session. Richmond Police Department Chief of Police William C. Smith accompanied him. Both attempted the address the rally, with minimal success. June 2, 2020.

A man speaks with Richmond Police officers, some in riot gear, blocking traffic on N. Allen Street, a block from the Robert E. Lee monument. June 2, 2020.

Officers face off with demonstrators at Richmond Police Department’s Fourth Precinct on Chamberlayne Avenue. June 4, 2020.

Demonstrators and protesters face off at Richmond Police Department’s Fourth Precinct on Chamberlayne Avenue. June 4, 2020.

Demonstrators leave Richmond Police Department’s Fourth Precinct on Chamberlayne Avenue after a tense protest ended without incident. June 4, 2020.

The defaced/refaced Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson monument, June 7, 2020.

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Visitors pose on the defaced/refaced James Ewell Brown “Jeb” Stuart statue on Monument Avenue, June 8, 2020.

A rally with many speakers at dusk on and around the defaced/refaced Robert E. Lee monument. June 19, 2020.

The defaced/refaced Robert E. Lee monument at dusk surrounded by visitors and demonstrators. June 19, 2020.

Texas Beach skate park before protest march set off for the J.E.B. Stuart statue on Monument Avenue. June 21, 2020.

Skaters skate and cyclists cycle around and on the James Ewell Brown “Jeb” Stuart statue on Monument Avenue during a protest that started with a march from Texas Beach skate park. June 21, 2021.

Skaters skate and cyclists cycle around—and on—the James Ewell Brown “Jeb” Stuart statue on Monument Avenue during a protest that started with a march from Texas Beach skate park. June 21, 2021.

Protest around and on the James Ewell Brown “Jeb” Stuart statue on Monument Avenue that started with a march from Texas Beach skate park. June 21, 2021.

Police line blocks protesters near the J.E.B. Stuart statue on Monument Avenue. June 21, 2020.

The area renamed Marcus-David Peters Circle (formerly Robert E. Lee Circle) the night Governor Ralph Northam declared that it would be closed at sunset as a matter of public safety. June 22, 2020.

Protesters burn a Trump banner pulled from a back of a pickup truck that was circling the Robert E. Lee monument a day after Governor Ralph Northam declared it would be closed at sunset as a matter of public safety. June 23, 2020.

Mayor Levar Stoney and Gerald Smith take questions during an invitation-only press conference at which Stoney announced Smith’s appointment as Chief of Police. Smith, deputy chief for the Investigative Services Group of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, would assume the position July 1. City Hall. June 27, 2020.

Demonstrators occupy Robert E. Lee Circle, called Marcus-David Peters Circle by protesters, a day after Governor Ralph Northam declared it would be closed at sunset as a matter of public safety. June 23, 2020

People play pickup basketball with portable hoops under the Robert E. Lee statue at what activists renamed Marcus-David Peters Circle after the young, unarmed African American man killed by Richmond Police in 2018. June 27, 2020

Workers remove statue of Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson, Confederate general, from its pedestal. July 1, 2020.

The statue that sat atop Libby Hill’s Confederate Soldiers and Sailors monument is strapped onto a truck to be hauled away after the City of Richmond ordered it removed. July 8, 2020.

The statue that sat atop Libby Hill’s Confederate Soldiers and Sailors monument is hauled away. July 8, 2020.

“Reclamation Revival” rally and march from North Belvidere Street and West Clay Street to Festival Park. July 15, 2020.

Omilade Janine Bell of the Elegba Folklore Society conducts a ritual during the Reclamation Drum Circle for the Richmond community at Marcus-David Peters Circle, encircling the 130-year-old Robert. E Lee monument. July 24, 2020.

The Elegba Folklore Society holds a Reclamation Drum Circle for the Richmond community at Marcus-David Peters Circle, encircling the 130-year-old Robert. E Lee monument. July 24, 2020.

People participate in the Elegba Folklore Society Reclamation Drum Circle for the Richmond community at Marcus-David Peters Circle. July 24, 2020.

T-shirt placed on a chair at the Elegba Folklore Society Reclamation Drum Circle for the Richmond community at Marcus-David Peters Circle. July 24, 2020.

Armed men, including several from the far-right “Boogaloo Bois” and “Black Lives Matter 757,” gather near the Robert E. Lee monument. July 24, 2020.

Projections of Black Lives Matter Movement material by Dustin Klein and Alex Criqui on the Robert F. Lee Monument. July 24, 2020.

Artists from Studio Two Three silk screen cloth items brought by members of the public with images of William Custalo—Richmond civic leader and restaurateur, and a labor activist in his youth— buried at East End Cemetery. The message reads: “Preserve Sacred Black Sites. Disrupt Racist History.” Chimborazo Park, August 4, 2020.

People gather at Marcus-David Peters Circle after the announcement on news media that Joe Biden won the presidential election. November 7, 2020.

The Robert E. Lee monument and Marcus-David Peters Circle encircled by a fence erected by the Virginia Department off General Services and contractors on the orders of Governor Ralph Northam. March 18, 2021

People gather around the Robert E. Lee monument the night before the statue is removed from the pedestal. September 7, 2021.

Statue of Robert E. Lee is removed from its pedestal in Marcus-David Peters Circle, formerly Robert E. Lee Circle. September 8, 2021

The base of the monument days after the removal of the statue of Robert E. Lee astride his horse. September 12, 2021.

Cyclist circles the base of the monument days after the removal of the Robert E. Lee statue. September 12, 2021.

Contractors dismantle the pedestal on which the Robert E. Lee statue sat. December 17, 2021.

The space where the Robert E. Lee Monument once stood. January 2, 2022.

2020-21: Reckoning, Resistance, and Refacement in the City of Richmond