Hood fights
Fight Round Fairfield Part1 (November 25, 2012)
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Not entertaining.
Why would you post this?
I think I speak for many when I say “and you’re posting these videos WHY, John?”
I love reading posts on CHPN because it usually put out great information that betters the CH community. Promoting bakeries and restaurants is a lot better use of the site. I don’t really think “hood fights” videos are a representation at all of our community.
Way too many people standing around and cheering this shit / taking pictures on their smartphones. Anyone still want to tell me that a majority of the folks in these cesspools are heading in right direction? The public housing experiment is a miserable failure.
I do feel bad for the couple of folks who had the decency and good sense to intervene and are stuck in these f’ing zoos. Too many of them seemed to be lost causes though.
At least most of the technique I saw on here was pretty poor so nobody seemed to be getting seriously hurt.
Crass.
Why would you post this stuff?
Round 2 is kinda gnar. GIve em’ gloves. Lose the kicking heads and the girl with the bat. Backyard boxing’s heart is in Richmond.
I found 2 more with kids fighting. It seems like this might happen a lot.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvb1lEHpsd4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbzKjjyo2yQ&sns=em
To all who are complaining about John posting these, he’s not the one who filmed these or posted them to YouTube, and certainly not the one who put them up to fighting or created the toxic environment that spawns this.
It’s ugly as hell but it is real. I’d rather this type of ugliness didn’t exist but since it does, a real journalist should report on it.
I guess too many of us have gotten used to getting our news from MSNBC/Foxnews and being shielded from stories we don’t want.
One more…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbzKjjyo2yQ&sns=em
This one’s probably the scariest of all because it looks like its 10 year olds (younger?) and the neighbors watching find it amusing.
There’s also at least a couple dozen of these from our local schools it seems, judging by what I saw linked on youtube while watching these.
Alex: criticizing throw down technique on fight videos from the projects: priceless. Lmao.
While I find street fight videos scary and sad, these videos have already been posted to the internet by someone else because that’s what these guys do all the time. I am sure there are tons more out there. This is going on in our community. There are people who live very close to Mosby and may have no idea that this is going. I’ve seen videos like this on national news channels so I know about the filming and then posting (I.e. bragging) but I did not realize it was going on so close to home.
Michael, “hood fights” are absolutely a representation of the community, every bit as much as new bakeries, restaurants and all of the other posts that “better the CH community.” John has pointed out before that this is not a fluff site being run to drive up home values, and even though I’d love to see home values everywhere improve, I totally agree. CHPN covers the ENTIRE Church Hill area, not just the photo opps and restaurant reviews, and this stuff happens regularly in Church Hill. So here it is.
@13 – sorry if that came out a bit different than I intended. I just meant that this ain’t exactly UFC (thankfully) so even if it looks pretty bad, it didn’t seem to be that many serious blows landing in these. That’s a good thing, not a bad one in case anyone was confused. I wasn’t suggesting that it would be good for them to get more skilled at this or anything.
I don’t have a problem with these videos. If anything, I’d much rather see people fight it out rather than shoot each other. Either way, violence will always fail to be an answer to lifes problems.
Posting this make you just as trashy as the people in the videos. You just went from a respectable blogger to a nobody. Time for damage control John.
We all love hearing about rainbows and bakeries but lets face it… these are your neighbors. Its awareness. Your tax dollars made this possible. It’s like pay-per-view. HA.
To all those who object to posting these videos, this IS your community or at least a large segment of it. It is everyday life for the kids growing up there. It’s unpleasant, it’s sad, but it’s also true. It’s something everyone should be aware of, especially if you live amongst it. These communities breed poverty and ignorance. They are the result of 50 years of failed social policy. The hard reality it almost everyone would be better off without them, in particular the residents.
How can you believe these videos are a positive thing? What if I were considering moving to Church Hill or bring a business there and came across this website. Normally I might find the occasional stolen bike or sadly a homicide way up in the hood, but to blast this stuff (that’s not even in Church Hill but rather the neighborhoods to the north) you are doing nothing but a disservice to the community. This is NOT a representation of Church Hill… I’ve lived there since 2007 and NEVER seen herds of people brawling in the streets. I’ve seen that in Shockoe Bottom, but never the hill. this was a terrible post and a terrible disservice to the community.
As a member of the Law Enforcement community, I would encourage residents who find recent videos involving activities like the above to forward them to their local or state PD for awareness. While some of the above are well over a year old, more recent videos may be used as evidence of criminal activity. What you are watching may not be a simple scrap between two angry young men, but rather the motive for a future homicide.
Exactly Paul Hammond… it’s OUR neighborhood. Promoting this crime that took place in other neighborhoods is NOT good for Church Hill which I do believe this is the Church Hill People’s News. This is smut. Think I’m wrong though? If someone was killed at the BP on Cary St/Meadow would you report it as a murder in Carytown? Because that’s ACTUALLY closer than Fairmont to Church Hill. You guys need to stop defending a bad post and admit when you make a mistake that affects home owners and future development.
It’s time for Ike to turn off the computer and go have some real human interaction.
If you do not like what you are seeing then maybe you can start by mentoring at woodville elementary. Simply asking not to post these videos is not going to stop these activities. Opening bakeries are great but do nothing to change the way these kids are growing up.
To those saying this isn’t our neighborhood so it shouldn’t be covered on here, that discussion was already had last year and the consensus seemed to be that this blog is about the East End rather than just Church Hill proper.
As to whether this story should be covered…this stuff is real, like it or not. I’d much rather my sources for news tell everything and let me decide what to make of it rather than be a propaganda arm for local realtors. If it’s hurting home values, let’s talk about how to fix it instead of pretending it doesn’t exist.
Thank you, Ben!
“Let them eat artisan cake made from local ingredients.”
— Anti-video Church Hillians
The saddest part here isn’t the fact that these fights occur as that happens in every community, large or small, rich or poor. It’s the crowd reaction and the fact that the fights are glorified by posting on the internet. That’s the sign that this culture is warped.
Ike- You can’t gerrymander what is and what is not church hill to the advantage of your own property value. Sorry man.
Too real for you, homie?
This shit makes me want to move. I can’t believe I’m raising my two baby girls blocks away from this garbage and behavior.
Our community is a collection of both beauty and brokenness. And by that I do not mean South of Broad and the projects. I mean that there is both beauty and brokenness present within every block, every home, every household in our community, whether rich or poor, educated or undereducated. Some folks hide it better than others, but it’s still there.
If you’re disturbed by the environments that some of our youth are raised in, I’d encourage you to get involved in CHAT, PPDC, Blue Sky Fund or some of the other great non profits in our community that are working for cultural change among our youth.
Maybe the next segment of “hood fights” can be screen shots of this blog and of the way neighbors “go at it!” over their opinions , etc . Right HERE on CHPN. Look at the conversation this opened up. You are being challenged to look at yourselves and your behaviour as well.
It would have been wiser to post this with some minimal commentary rather than just post it in a way that the website and comunity are in favor of this behavior. CHPN usually is more responsible, and I suspect this was an error caused by haste.
Anne and Cory said the important stuff.
I had a notion that this could be controversial, and while I’m a little surprised that so much of the discontent is directed my way, I’m glad to see the discussion which has come up.
Why did I post these? This is a slice of reality from part of the world that I cover here.
No I don’t think that these are a positive reflection of anything. There are, however, a representation of part of the community.
CHPN isn’t a booster site for the area. It is a look at the area – good, bad, interesting, and otherwise. You want something different? Send in stories, share’em on the CHPN facebook, put ‘em on tumblr and tag ‘em “Church Hill”, or cc @chpn on twitter.
CHPN covers the East End of Richmond, pretty much anything east of Shockoe Valley. My center of gravity is somewhere around the intersection of 23rd and R Streets. My personal interests are education, maps, history, food, crime and bicycles. And zoning, I love zoning.
We are all intertwined up here. If you think otherwise, you are missing a lot. If you do not like what you see, work to change it.
I love covering new businesses & pretty pictures. I love the bakeries and the restaurants, shoot maybe one day we’ll even have our own donut shop. There is also a value in knowing what is really going on, even when it not so nice, to help know where we are as a community and how things have changed.
I agree completely with #34 though… a little snippet of “this is what is going on” and why the community should be aware and maybe suggestions on how to get involved would have put a great spin to this. Simply posting it made me question why, as the first several posters also asked. It came off as vile and cruel.
“I’ve lived there since 2007 and NEVER seen herds of people brawling in the streets.”
You must not live in Church Hill North.
I’m really disappointed that this kind of thing appeared on CHPN. What’s the point?
This really is a great dialogue to a bigger picture. Some of these fights seem to be entertainment, not necessity. Just think if these kids had an avenue to burn this energy. Watching videos like these makes me wish the city had legit rec centers. Schools can provide some programs, but they are overburdened, and honestly it’s not the same. Kudos to CHAT for filling some of the void. These aren’t drunkards fighting. These are bright kids trying to prove their worth the only way they know.
Anne when was the last time you took one of your real estate clients to one of the housing projects these fights are taking place in? If the fights are a representation of our community, wouldn’t you take your clients to Creighton Ct? Let’s just agree to disagree. I love the Church Hill area and enjoy reading about the positive things that are happening. Hood fights just did not make it for me.
Michael, I have no need to take my clients to Creighton Court as I can’t sell someone public housing. I’m not sure your argument makes sense. My point was that this is not a real estate advertising site. It is a community news site. It sounds like you are looking for a real estate site? Feel free to click my link and visit mine — but if you want unbiased news from around the community, CHPN is the place to be. Thanks, John!
Parents Speak Out Against Richmond “Hood Fights”
http://www.wric.com/story/20584672/parents-speak-out-against-richmond-hood-fights
All I see is young people whaling at each other while others hold up their smartphones going OMG OMG. Having lived at that end of the economic strata the fights were either over a girl/guy or getting “dissed,” which has been going on for thousands of years. You’ve filmed one, you’ve filmed them all. I guess we should be grateful that no weapons seem to be involved, but if one adult waded in to break things up yelling WHY? WHY? maybe it wouldn’t be so bad.
Your justification is not convincing.
There was what I thought was a fairly big street fight in front of my house during this past summer. It was probably 15-20 people and the primary fight looked to start between 2 girls fighting over a guy. Lots of yelling and screaming. No weapons, thank God. I called RPD, who responded with lights and sirens. As soon as the kids heard the sirens, long before we ever saw the lights or actual police, they immediately broke up and disappeared. Two groups that had come in cars piled in and took off. The rest of the on lookers ran into the nearby Blue Wheeler and acted like patrons. When the police got there (4 marked cars), not a person was in sight. We’ve had several other street fights in the block around my house since we moved here 6 years ago. None have ever involved weapons (knocking on wood) and most seem to be people who have a grudge against each other and then inadvertently run into each other at the Blue Wheeler. I have seen some really vicious fights and the vast majority of them are not kids.
How dare channel 8 report on this?!?! I’m outraged! This isn’t the Richmond I know. Shame on them for reporting on this smut. (Buries head in sand). Anyhow, thanks John…..sigh.
Just another crime post which really gets folks excited about where they live. People who don’t live in this area look here like those interested in moving to the area. This doesn’t help promote it.
Thank heavens CHPN does not exist simply to promote the neighborhood. Not only does it highlight the great things about living in Church Hill, it also serves as a forum to uncover problems, discuss issues, and facilitate community involvement. CHPN is not a marketing brochure, but a community news and information site.
For those in this discussion who feel that John has done a disservice to the ‘promotion’ of Church Hill, I guess out of sight is out of mind for you. Frankly, if I were moving into this area for the first time, I’d rather know that these things happen around here so that I could make an informed decision. Reality isn’t always pretty. Unsavory acts happen in every part of every city. To imagine that they can’t happen or won’t happen is naive. To knowingly brush them under the rug and pretend they aren’t there at all is ignorance…which for some, I suppose, is bliss.