DOWNLOAD: RICHMOND GRID X THE CHEATS MOVEMENT “VOICES” THE MAGAZINE

VOICES is a community essay project–created by The Cheats Movement. The goal was simple: to highlight community voices that reflect the time we’re living in.

2020 presented challenges that we’d never seen before and our community needed safe places to express their feelings and process their emotions. The Cheats Movement (blog) provided a place for reflection and critical thought. A digital community where there are no wrong answers: no wrong essays. The community submitted essays on race, protest, COVID-19, relationships, leadership, just about anything you could imagine. The only guidance was that your essay had to reflect these unique times and come from your vantage point (first-person).

Over a six-month period, the Cheats Movement collected approximately 40 essays and published 26 in Series I. In addition, The Cheats Movement published over 40 amazing photography essays from 32 photographers that were capturing the energy of 2020 in real-time. The street photography work presented by these brave individuals deserves your admiration and, frankly, they deserve journalistic and artistic awards.

As the founder of the Cheats Movement, I’m humbled that so many people would trust the blog with their words and images. I am honored to partner with Richmond Grid and Bizhan Khodabandeh to highlight these phenomenal community members. And I hope you will consider submitting work for Series II launching in 2022. #WESEEIT

Publisher: Paul Spicer (Richmond Grid), Editor: Marc Cheatham (The Cheats Movement), Creative Director: Bizhan Khodabandeh (Mended Arrow)

Essay Contributors: Julian Hayter, Angelica Garcia, Chance Fischer, Tawnya Pettiford-Wates, Lauren Garcia, Marland Buckner, ZBey Tha Poet, Nicole Mason, Prabir Mehta, Patricia Bradby, Duron Chavis, Free Bangura, Kim Young, Siona Peterous, R. Anthony Harris

Photography Contributors: Dave Parrish, Joey Wharton, Chandler Mann, Risa Gomez, John Freyer, David Kenedy, Kegham Hovsepian, Jamie Patterson, Samia Minnicks, Christopher Smith, Brian Palmer, John Donegan, Sean Paul Mayfield, Landon Schroder, Eric Foster, Christian Ross-Carter.

CLICK HERE TO READ ALL OF THE VOICES ESSAYS.