Vinegar Hill Magazine

08/05/2025

Charlottesville, the time is fast approaching, the week-long 5th annual Soul Of Cville is happening August 10 -17th, 2025!!

We don’t deserve to be content; we deserve to be happy, and each of these events will do that. This event is a mirror held up to Black brilliance in Charlottesville, reflecting black joy, power, and presence.

📷 JBella Photography

Click the link to learn more about the events happening throughout the week.

🔗 vinegarhillmagazine.com/soul-of-cville-2025-unapologetically-us

07/29/2025

Learn about the influential legacy that Upward Bound has given to many Charlottesville and surrounding county students.

This is a unique and special account from Marquan Jones, a 2019 graduate of UVA’s Upward Bound program and a 2024 graduate of Virginia Military Institute. He recounts his time at UVA and his experience with Upward Bound and how it not only shaped his life but also the lives around him.

We are all saddened that such a great program is coming to an end.

Read and learn more about Marquan’s experience on our website.
🔗 vinegarhillmagazine.com/a-legacy-of-uplift-reflecting-on-uvas-upward-bound-program

07/22/2025

Chris Gaither isn’t just breaking barriers in the wine industry; he’s pouring knowledge, accessibility, and style into every glass.🍷 From sommelier to educator, he’s changing the game for wine lovers everywhere, including Charlottesville.

✨ Shift your perspective on what it means to know wine and remember,
“You don’t have to be a wine specialist to appreciate wine,” says Gaither

👉 Tap the link to read Chris’s story and how he’s bringing the knowledge of wine to the masses.

🔗 www.stayfreshmag.com/blog-2-1/chris-gaither-makes-wine-accessible-to-the-masses

📸 Photo credit: Maggie Mai

07/15/2025

The Homesteader, Nivek Anderson-Brown, discusses her journey from city dweller to farm-to-kitchen homesteader. She also shows how we, as a community, can start homesteading. She practices traditions that have been passed down in many American families for generations and utilizes 21st-century technologies to reintroduce them to worldwide audiences. 🪴 🍇

Read more about Nivek's story in Stay Fresh Magazine.

🔗 www.stayfreshmag.com/blog-2-1/nivek-anderson-brown-teaches-self-reliance-through-homesteading-by-katrina-l-spencer

07/14/2025

We know the lineup is a lot…
But guess what? We’re a lot. And more importantly we DESERVE a lot!
We love hard, show up big, dance loud, eat effortlessly AYYYYYEEEE, and celebrate each other like the community we are. So yeah…it’s giving: full-on experience.

From community art-making 🖼️ to line dancing, trap karaoke, Soul Skate, to scholarship giveaways, and Best In Black Cville announcements, Black excellence will be in full effect ALL. WEEK. LONG. That’s five days of programming rooted in joy, culture, and connection…and baby, it’s not for the faint of vibe. 🔥 🥵

Don’t sleep!

✨ Some events will sell out.
🎟️ Some require advance tickets or registration.
💃🏾 All of them are worth pulling up for.

Here’s your checklist (don’t say we didn’t tell you):

🔗 Full festival lineup & ticket link:

https://tinyurl.com/Soul-of-Cville-Tickets

🌟 Best In Black Cville (this one’s a whole experience):
https://theparamount.net/event/best-in-black-cville/

🗳️ 🔔 Vote for Best In Black until July 15:
https://www.cognitoforms.com/DSID1/_2025BestInBlackCVilleVoting

📋 More info, including vendor app:
https://tinyurl.com/Soul-of-Cville

📧 Questions?
We got you: [email protected]

Tag your Boys and screenshot for your GWORLS. Save the dates 📆. Charge your phone. And get ready to show up and show out like only we can.

07/14/2025

07/08/2025

🎉 Our 2025 Summer Issue Is Now Available! 🎉

Our Cover Girl Jessica Carter Talks about her involvement with H.E.R. Sports, the quest to impact the lives of girls and young women, and more. ⛹🏽‍♀️

We also hear from Darnell Lamont Walker, with a perspective on what it means to be uncompromising in morals, even if it means losing access and position. Through the lens of fictional character Kim Reese of the hit TV show Different World, Darnell invites us to consider the cost of integrity and what it looks like to hold onto your values when the world asks you to let them go.

This issue is rooted in acknowledging the kind of work people don’t always clap for. The kind that happens when nobody’s watching.

👉🏽 Read these stories and more on our website
🔗 vinegarhillmagazine.com/issue-summer-2025

📸 Photo by Kristin Finn

07/07/2025

07/07/2025

07/07/2025

It’s time to vote for the Best In Black Cville 2025! Voting is open until July 15 at https://www.cognitoforms.com/DSID1/_2025BestInBlackCVilleVoting!

We're excited to be a sponsor for this year's awards and help celebrate "the folks who pour into our communities, move the needle, make space, and make magic." Read more about them on Vinegar Hill Magazine at https://vinegarhillmagazine.com/its-time-to-vote-best-in-black-cville-2025-voting-is-now-open/?utm_source=mailpoet&utm_medium=email&utm_source_platform=mailpoet&utm_campaign=the-latest-from-vinegar-hill-magazine-3

cc: Chic & Classy Image Consulting, Khalilah Jones Black Professional Network of Charlottesville

07/01/2025

🧵🎶📚 In Pulaski, Virginia, history isn’t just something you read about, it’s something you feel and experience. Through a powerful blend of a dissertation, a soulful song, and a lovingly crafted quilt, the town is reclaiming and celebrating its deep-rooted civil rights heritage.

The story honors and respects the everyday and the past heroes of the community who had resilience and fought resistance. To create a legacy that will last through the ages. ✊🏾🖤

Read the full article on our website. 🔗 vinegarhillmagazine.com/a-dissertation-a-song-and-a-quilt-pulaskis-long-civil-rights-heritage

02/21/2025

Are we failing our youth? Vinegar Hill Magazine Editor-in-Chief, Sonia Montalvo, believes so. In her thought-provoking new article, she calls on us to stop blaming young people and start taking responsibility for the world we've created. Sonia examines the challenges they face, from educational inequities to the digital landscape, and offers a powerful call to action. Read her full piece at vinegarhillmagazine.com and join the conversation.