HBCU All-Stars complete historic first international tour in France
The 10-member HBCU All-Star basketball squad successfully completed its first-ever international tour in France last week after competing in the QUIA 54 International Tournament and a series of exhibition games.
Former Ram Owusu Sekyere returns to VCU
VCU Women’s Soccer Head Coach Lindsey Martin recently announced the hiring of Owusu Sekyere as assistant coach. Sekyere returns to VCU after spending the past season as an assistant coach at George Mason. He previously served as a volunteer assistant under Martin for two seasons from 2021-2022.
NFL Players Choir set for Essence festival performance
The Players Choir, a group composed of current and former NFL players, is scheduled to perform at the 30th Anniversary Essence Festival of Culture on Sunday, July 7.
Local drag performers crowned with ‘Virginia Pride’ titles
Drag royalty was celebrated at the annual Virginia Pride Pageant last Sunday.
Election to reshape Richmond School Board with nine seats up for grabs
Richmond’s highest education authority is set for a significant political shift with the upcoming general elections for the Richmond School Board in November. Sixteen candidates are seeking the public’s approval for the nine representative district seats of the Richmond Public Schools system, with four candidates running unopposed. The candidates bring a wide array of experiences and perspectives to the table, including educators, parents, business leaders and community activists.
West Virginia couple used adopted Black children as ‘slaves,’ judge says
A couple arrested after some of their adopted children were found locked in a shed at their West Virginia home are set for trial later this year on charges that a judge said involved their use as “slaves.”
Anti-war protesters sentenced to jail after blocking I-95
Almost all of those involved in the blocking of Interstate 95 months ago as part of a protest of the war in Gaza were sentenced to five days in jail earlier this week.
Extreme heat a wake-up call, by Ben Jealous
As I write these words, the mercury is soaring. The world is reeling from the deadly impact of extreme heat and weather events. This is climate change in action. We are living it. And the thermometer-busting temperatures are just the tip of the (melting) iceberg.
Poor people are the new swing vote, By William J. Barber II
If you’re an ordinary American who goes to work to pay the bills or takes care of a loved one most days, it’s easy to feel down when you see the headlines about the 2024 election. Donald Trump has been convicted of 34 felonies for falsifying business records to cover up hush money he paid to bury an alleged affair with a porn star during the 2016 campaign, and the Republican Party continues to think he’s their best candidate. At the same time, President Biden is struggling to hold together his Democratic base as images of devastation in Gaza continue to dominate the news. Stories of good news in politics seem few and far between. But as a preacher, I learned a long time ago that you don’t get to the good news by looking away from problems; the good news is most often found right amid trouble. Yes, politics is a mess in 2024. But, at the same time, several popular movements of everyday people struggling for economic justice have emerged that have the potential to reshape our politics. Against the backdrop of decades of rising inequality, low-wage worker movements have made huge strides since the pandemic, insisting that living wages are a moral issue for “essential workers” and seeing the largest increase in real wages in decades. Young people who’ve watched education and healthcare costs soar have come together to form effective coalitions for debt relief and won billions in loan forgiveness. Leveraging worker power, unions have waged effective strikes and negotiated new contracts while expanding to include new workers, especially in the South. Though they’re rarely in the headlines, these movements made up of millions of low-income workers have the potential to reframe political debates for people who are weary of the status quo. The good news in 2024 is that poor and working people are the new swing vote in US politics. A report from Lake Research Partners demonstrates just how powerful this untapped coalition of low-income voters could be. Looking back at the past three presidential elections, they found that in the seven states that will likely decide the 2024 election— Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, Nevada and Pennsylvania— low-income voter participation was an average of 12 percentage points lower than that of their higher-income voters. Using past averages to project 2024 turnout, this study measured the difference between the margin of victory in the last Trump-Biden matchup and the number of eligible low-income voters who are likely not to vote. In Georgia, for example, Biden won by almost 12,000 votes in 2020. In North Carolina, he lost by 74,000. But in both states, more than a million eligible low-income voters will likely not vote in 2024 if past trends continue. That’s a huge potential swing vote, and the proportions are similar across the seven swing states in the study. Since the 2024 presidential race will likely be a rematch of 2020, this study used exit poll data from 2020 to ask who unlikely low-income voters would vote for if they did turn out in 2024. Of the 1.3 million likely nonvoters in Georgia, 746,000 would likely be Biden voters. Of the 1.1 million in North Carolina, some 594,000 would likely go for Biden. In short, Biden and other Democrats have a huge advantage among this demographic when they are able and willing to vote. The overwhelming takeaway of this study is that a relatively small increase in low-income voter turnout in any of these seven states would dramatically increase Biden’s chances of winning a second term in the White House. The millions of low-income people who’ve risen as leaders in movements for economic justice over the past few years have the power to decide the outcome of the 2024 election. Celinda Lake and her research partners are consultants for the Biden campaign, and there is a focus on the potential for his candidacy in 2024, but the potential power of this swing vote is much larger than one election or even one political party. Both Democrats and Republicans have ignored low-income voters for decades precisely because they are unlikely voters. But when the nonpartisan Poor People’s Campaign, which I serve as a co-chair, surveyed poor people to ask why they don’t vote, the number one reason they gave was, “No one speaks to us.” This is why our campaign has committed to holding a Mass Poor People’s and Low-Wage Worker’s Assembly in Washington, D.C., on June 29. We are bringing the everyday people who’ve demanded better wages from their bosses to Washington and insist that Republicans, Democrats, and Independents make clear what they will do to address the needs of 135 million Americans who are living on the edge in the richest nation in the history of the world. And we are committing to go home to our communities and reach 15 million of the unlikely low-income voters with the message that they have power in 2024. If they show up, especially in seven key states, their votes will decide the outcome in 2024. When they do, they will be able to help shape the reconstruction of an American democracy that works for all of us. The writer is the president of Repairers of the Breach and author of “White Poverty: How Exposing Myths About Race and Class Can Reconstruct American Democracy.
VCU basketball player Joe Bamisile creates app for mental health
Joe Bamisile wants to take the future as it comes. He tries not to force things. But he remains dedicated to excellence in anything he pursues.
A dream deferred?
Chesterfield Agrihood plan withdrawn amid accusations of discrimination
The organizers of Bensley Agrihood, a planned affordable housing neighborhood built around an organic farm and wellness center in Chesterfield County’s Bensley neighborhood, have withdrawn their rezoning application.
Virginia is for Willie Mays
There have been many great baseball players and many who oozed with excitement. But perhaps no one man combined greatness and excitement like Willie Mays.
Education, housing, economy key in mayoral forum
The race to become Richmond’s next mayor came into sharper focus Monday evening, as the candidates shared their plans and priorities for the office during the first mayoral forum of the election year at Virginia Union University.
Richmond area health officials promote HIV testing, prevention
In honor of National HIV Testing Day on June 27, health officials in Richmond and Henrico County are urging residents to get tested and learn about prevention methods.
Paradise Stolen
Black families were cheated out of their land on Skidaway Island. Now it’s a wealthy white enclave.
Karen Dove Barr parked her cart next to a “Golfers Only” sign. Up ahead, men in khaki shorts and polo shirts leaned on golf clubs around the 12th hole. Houses with large wooden decks dotted one side of the fairway. On the other side, miles of shallow salt marshes extended to the horizon.
Personality: Dr. Jodi Marie Winship
Spotlight on Richmond Aging and Engaging founder
As a passionate advocate for older adults, Dr. Jodi Marie Winship’s story is a testament to the power of one person’s determination to make a difference — and it’s her dedication to the health, wellness and quality of life of older adults in low-income housing that led her to establish Richmond Aging and Engaging.
Clergy, parents file suit against Louisiana Ten Commandments law
A group of public school parents, including some clergy, have filed a lawsuit against Louisiana’s new law mandating the display of the Ten Commandments in public schools, arguing the statute unfairly privileges a specific version of Christian scripture in addition to impinging on the rights of the nonreligious and those of other faiths.
Black baseball and Birmingham remembered
When Wilie Mays broke into pro baseball in 1948 with the Birmingham Black Barons, his teammates at Rickwood Field included pitcher Bill Greason. Mays would go on to rank among the greatest and most scintillating players in the sports’ history as the slugging, base-stealing, fly shagging, power-armed centerfielder for the New York and San Francisco Giants. When Mays died last week at age 93, he was the oldest living Hall of Famer (inducted in 1979). But don’t forget Bill Greason, also known as Rev. Greason.
‘Sing Sing’ screens at Sing Sing in an emotional homecoming
Clarence “Divine Eye” Maclin is standing inside Sing Sing Correctional Facility for the first time since he was incarcerated here 12 years ago. In this very chapel, he reminisces, he once sold drugs — a backup plan for when the yard was closed. Not many men pine to return to the prisons in which they toiled away years of their life. Maclin, 58, lived inside Sing Sing for 15 years. But on this day, he’s buoyant.
Dali cargo ship leaves Baltimore for Virginia nearly 3 months after bridge collapse
The cargo ship Dali headed out of Baltimore for Virginia on Monday, nearly three months after it lost power and crashed into one of the Francis Scott Key bridge supporting columns and caused the bridge to collapse.
