
Biden signs historic Emmett Till Anti-Lynching Act
In a ceremony in the White House Rose Garden, President Biden sat at a small desk and put his signature on the Emmett Till Anti-Lynching Act that now makes lynching punishable by up to 30 years in prison.

Signs of the times
University of Richmond campus buildings honoring slaveholders and segregationists are getting new names after years of pushing Board of Trustees to make changes
Six buildings on the University of Richmond’s campus are being cleansed of the names of slaveholders and champions of segregation, including a building named in honor of the university’s founding president, the Rev. Robert Ryland.

Training program for released convicts faces shutdown
Rodney Brown had just served a six-year sentence in prison in 2018 when he found his way to the nonprofit Adult Alternative Program at 4929 Chamberlayne Ave. in the city’s North Side.

Dauntless
U.S. Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson deflects Republican attacks
Republicans on Wednesday pressed their attacks on a range of issues against Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, President Biden’s nominee to become the first Black woman on the U.S. Supreme Court, as she inched closer to the end of an intense two days of questioning with Democrats coming to her defense.

The Black Press celebrates 195 years of pleading the cause of African descendants everywhere, by Stacy M. Brown
On March 16, 1827, the Rev. Samuel E. Cornish and John B. Russwurm founded Freedom’s Journal, the first Black-owned newspaper in the United States.

Pay inequity: Past is prologue, by Julianne Malveaux
March 15 was National Pay Equity Day. It’s the day when women have to work into a new year to earn the same amount that men earned in the previous year.

Black Americans and principles of democracy, by Ben Jealous
Anti-democratic authoritarianism is on the rise both around the world and here at home. Sometimes it is easier to recognize overseas.

A lesson in class
In case you missed them, the televised confirmation hearings for nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the U.S. Supreme Court are a study of extraordinary class in the face of arrogance, sexism, white privilege, homophobia and, yes, racism — everything the Republican Party seems to embrace these days.

Honoring Pocahontas
Chief Anne Richardson, leader of the Rappahannock Indian Tribe, speaks during a ceremony Monday honoring Pocahontas, or Matoaka, the young Native American woman whose influence aided the survival of the English settlers at Jamestown in the early 1600s and bolstered relations with the English when she traveled to England later with her white husband, John Rolfe, and son, Thomas.

28th Annual James River Film Festival RVA kicks off March 31
The 28th Annual James River Film Festival RVA is back after a pandemic break, with 13 films being shown at venues around Richmond from March 31 through April 3.

VCU’s season ends with 80-74 loss in NIT
A Virginia Commonwealth University basketball season featuring many highlights ended with a hurtful thud.

Stanford’s Fran Belibi makes record dunk during NCAA game
Dunking in basketball has become commonplace—for male players, that is.

Howard University Lady Bison bow to top seed South Carolina
The Howard University women’s basketball team was outstanding in qualifying for the NCAA Tournament. Unfortunately, the Lady Bison had nothing left once they got there.

6 Virginia teams bounced out of NCAA tourney
The state of Virginia’s six representatives to the NCAA Division I Tournament didn’t need a lot of laundry changes.

NSU bows to defending national champ Baylor in NCAA first round
Norfolk State University’s trip to the NCAA “Big Dance” ended almost before the band began warming up.

Rodney L. Lofton, LGBTQ advocate, community leader, author, succumbs at 53
Rodney Lamont Lofton was a force in changing Richmond’s attitudes toward gay, lesbian, transgender, bisexual and queer people.

School Board still working on final 2022-23 budget
Nearly four weeks after approving the 2022-23 budget, the Richmond School Board is still struggling to complete a final version with all line items filled in to send to City Hall and City Council.

RPS data show middle schools under capacity, as controversy over new high school size continues
Richmond Public Schools enrollment data are undermining claims from members of Richmond City Council that surging enrollment would require a future George Wythe High School to be built to accommodate 2,000 students to prevent overcrowding when it opens.

Fox students return to in-person classes at First Baptist Church
As the sun rose at 7:15 a.m. Monday, a parade of happy and enthusiastic parents with their elementary-age children made the trek to school at Richmond’s First Baptist Church on Monument Avenue.

Hampton U. offers free tuition to students displaced from Ukraine
Hampton University is offering free tuition, room and board to Ukrainian and international students displaced by the ongoing Russian invasion of the Eastern European nation.