i knew a lot of other people, davis and carter collins, kerry washington. i knew a lot of people in chicago politics, the dealey family, but i never heard of barack obama. so we met him that spring 2003, and let me say this, the rest is history. announcer 1: humid day tonight at -- q and a tonight at 8:00. >> i am tiffany rock a producer on the city's tour team. we visited several cities, looking at literary life of different communities. now we will show you several stops from our time in richmond, virginia. announcer 2: while in richmond, we took a driving tour with mayor lavar stoney. ashley: well, mayor stoney, thank you for showing us around richmond today. if somebody has never been to richmond, virginia, what should they know about the city? mayor stoney: i think they

should know this is the cultural history arts capital of all things virginia. we're sitting on the rise, we're thriving, but imagine a thriving city with the backdrop of all the historical -- historic riches we had here as well. ashley: so we are going to a historic everett as well right now. mayor stoney: we are going to churchill. ashley: so what makes churchill distinct? mayor stoney: it is part of the original layout of richmond. right here on the st. john's church. ashley: tell me for those who do not know what happened at st. john's church, tell me about that spot. mayor stoney: i know many people have their textbooks out right now. everybody has heard of a guy named patrick henry, we know his favorite speech "give , me liberty or give me death." ashley: you still preserved the church. when you go through richmond, you're kind of walking among history next to these modern restaurants and modern shops. how do you make sure that you keep that nod to history alive

while still advancing the city? mayor stoney: well you know, this is about tourism, what attracts people to your city. i think one of the most attractive -- not only do we have great historic features and we also have, you know a great , river that runs through the city as well. the rapids, but history is what keeps people coming back and coming back and coming back. if history brings you here initially, then they can also partake in our restaurants, partake in the great museums we have. ashley: what are we coming up upon? they can see so many things. mayor stoney: this is the view, william byrd came to the -- you know the settlers of richmond, came up here and he saw this bend around the river right here and said it reminded him of richmond hill, the river thames near london. and that is how we got the name richmond.

to the right you have a view of downtown beautiful view of the district. financial as people know this is the capital of virginia as well, and so not only do we have a great financial district, we also have the government buildings down there, where the seat of government is in virginia. i think that makes us a great city, too. ashley: i am seeing a lot of industrial buildings. that is the lucky strike tower. with that sort of richmond's economic past, present? mayor stoney: that is right, its economic past. the river provided for all things commerce and trade back in day. not too many cities have what we have right here. ashley: so where are we heading now? mayor stoney: we are going to head to richmond hill, here in churchill. it is a view of all things downtown. it is one of my favorite views. a lot of what i have known, what i remember from this view of the city is a lot of different candidates and politicians and whatnot in the past have held a lot of press conferences because

it offers such a great view of all things downtown. you can see the hustle and bustle of downtown. this is right here a great view of -- this is shackled bottom right here underneath, and you see downtown and the vcu health complex over there, you got state government over there. you can see the state capitol from here and the executive mansion from here as well. are we going to go by the capital? ashley: i would love to. seer stoney: now you can jefferson's work still around. ashley: how does the city government and state government and direct at all? mayor stoney: the state government is our partner. i'm lucky to have state government base in our city. but also presents challenges as well because when you're the home of state government, you don't necessarily -- you are tax exempt. youdon't want to be, but

don't want to pay taxes on these beautiful buildings. so, it's -- i would rather have them than not have them. ashley: we're at the state capitol. the state capitol doesn't look like a lot of other state capitol buildings that i have seen. mayor stoney: this is the original. this is one of the oldest operating capitols we have. ashley: now, who designed this? thomas jefferson. mayor stoney: thomas jefferson. the third president of the united states of america. ashley: designed the capital that is still in use today. mayor stoney: that's exactly right. ashley: tell me about what we're seeing here? mayor stoney: abraham lincoln came here during -- came here during -- right the end of the civil war, when richmond fell, and basically he freed some slaves right over here, and we have number of statues on the -- on the capitol square grounds as well. here,is harry byrd over civil rights, oliver hill, and barbara jones. ashley: we are talking about

kind of these statues and these monuments, there is a lot of statues. mayor stoney: there are, there are. want to go to monument avenue? ashley: yeah, let's go to monument avenue. mayor stoney: even when i came here back in 2004, richmond was like on that upward trajectory but oh man, it was still much to be desired. and in the 1990's, a lot of this was basically abandoned. and then when people come back now, what were -- i think what we're experiencing is that there are folks who began their lives here, who went off to college and other places, had jobs in other cities like new york and san francisco and washington, and they come back because richmond's cool again. ashley: ok what turned that , tide? what made it cool again? when did people start coming back? i am seeing all kinds of artsy things, great murals and businesses. what made the change? mayor stoney: i think the change -- i was trying to explain it to

someone the other day. vcu grew some of them. remember vcu went to the final four. they kind of put richmond on the map. this was one of the epicenters of the 2008 presidential election as well. president obama put us on the map, too, when president obama won virginia for the first time in 44 years. ashley: a democrat. mayor stoney: a democrat, that's right. ashley: so you think that changes the government? virginia also went blue in the most recent election. mayor stoney: that's right. richmond is the heart of that because we play a significant role in the electoral future of the commonwealth of virginia. not only do you have votes in northern virginia and also have a thriving, growing region as well. we're still growing, and i think vcu is a driver of that, and i think that young people in

general moving to the city. ashley: how did millenials respond to richmond's history? mayor stoney: you know what, i think the folks who are moving into the city, just like i did about 13 years ago, you are surrounded by history, basically every single day. but it's -- but history also means -- some of the history here we're not proud of. right? it's a confederate history that kind of is i think a stain on the city's record, you can say. instead of worrying, instead of being stuck in the past and using history as an anchor, we think history should be our foundation to build from, and i think we are rewriting -- we're writing a new chapter in richmond's history. that is a chapter of being a welcome, tolerant inclusive city , that is tolerant of all cultures and all walks of life. we are head down monument avenue one of the most iconic , streets in all things america,

i think. one of the first monuments you are going to see on your left here is one i think that was created around 1996 towards arthur ashe, who was the international tennis star, born and bred right here in the city of richmond. right now it's the only monument, statue, to an african-american on monument avenue. beyond that you will see statues that will be to those who served in the civil war. so you got arthur ashe. you got jeff stewart, you got stonewall jackson, you got robert e. lee. ashley: there has been maybe a little bit of controversy about some of the statues here. what are are the feelings in the city about the statues on monument avenue? mayor stoney: i think folks recognize this is part of the history. a terrible history it may be, a horrible history it may be, but it is a part of our history. as i've always said, would i

shed any tears if the jefferson davis statue was torn down? no i wouldn't, but i think the , history of the past of richmond, that being terrible or not, shouldn't be a -- our anchor. it should be a foundation for us to build from. ashley: [indiscernible] mayor stoney: it's about an opportunity for history. [indiscernible] statues honoring or memorializing the figures, and i think the key is to tell the whole story. i think richmond can be the center of reconciliation. right? we do have a terrible past, but it's time to start writing that chapter to begin with the conversation about reconciliation. ashley: and what is the narrative that you would like to achieve, your dream goal for

your time not only as mayor but as a resident in city of richmond? mayor stoney: i think my time as mayor and my time of residency, the goal i would like to achieve would be to -- when people think about the city of richmond, the next sentence is the city of richmond, the current capital of virginia, and a former capital of the confederacy. i want to change that. the culture and history, not necessarily being known as the capital of the confederacy. [indiscernible] we are more welcoming, we are more open minded and inclusive and positive than our history may say. chris semtner: edgar allan poe is the wider put -- the writer who put american literature on the map. he is the one who is the first internationally influential american writer. he inv