Mayor Stoney throws over Columbus to proclaim Oct. 14 Indigenous Peoples' Day
Richmond has long refused to recognize the annual federal Columbus Day holiday that will fall on Monday, Oct. 14, to remember the European explorer Christopher Columbus who “discovered” America.
Bad for grads
Richmond Public Schools’ 70.6% on-time graduation rate is lowest in Virginia
Richmond Public Schools had the lowest graduation rate in Virginia last June.
VUU pulls out a win in last 21 seconds
The Virginia Union University Panthers have played like Houdini in their last two outings, escaping disaster on their home field. This Saturday, Oct. 5, the Panthers hope to take that magic to Livingstone College in Salisbury, N.C., in a battle of CIAA championship contenders. In sports jargon, there’s winning by a nose, by a hair, even by a split second. In defeating Winston-Salem State University last Saturday, VUU won by an instep — that of soccer-style kicker Jefferson Souza. The final score: 16-15. The Brazilian born Souza booted three field goals during the game at Hovey Field, most dramatically a game-winning 25-yard field goal with a mere 21 seconds left. VUU fans are getting accustomed to being nervous. The week before, the heavily favored Panthers weren’t assured victory over Johnson C. Smith University until Sterling Hammond’s interception and touchdown return in the game’s closing minute. Jarrett Sumiel was the Panthers’ late-game defensive savior against Winston-Salem State. The defensive back from Westmoreland blocked a Rams punt with 1:52 to go and recovered on the Winston-Salem State 19-yard line. That set up Souza’s decisive kick that pushed VUU’s record to 3-1 overall and 1-0 in the CIAA. Tabyus Taylor led the Panthers’ ground-and-pound running game with 76 bullish yards. The junior from Hopewell also caught two passes for 30 yards and returned a kickoff for 58 yards. Panthers quarterback Khalid Morris hit 11 of 14 passes for 114 yards and a touchdown to former Highland Springs High star Jaiden Reavis. Tyrone Glanton and Hammond spearheaded the Panthers’ defense against Winston-Salem State. Glanton, a graduate student from Miami, was in on eight tackles and has 31 stops for the year. Hammond, arguably the CIAA’s top NFL prospect in years, had seven tackles against the Rams and has 40 for the season. Like VUU, upcoming opponent Livingstone College also is enjoying life on the gridiron. The Blue Bears are 4-0, with wins over Chowan University, Elizabeth City State University, Allen University of Columbia, S.C., and most recently a 35-19 victory over Lincoln University. Livingstone travels best by the arm of quarterback Miles Hayes. The Miami native has hit 68 percent of his passes. He averages 204 yards through the air with eight touchdowns. Livingstone appears to be on the uptick under fifth-year Coach Daryl Williams. The Blue Bears were 0-10 in 2017 and 3-6 a year ago, including a 52-19 loss to VUU at Hovey Field. Livingstone’s only CIAA titles came back to back in 1997 and1998, while VUU has won 11 CIAA crowns, most recently in 2001. This is a pivotal game for both teams. With tough schedules looming, both need a victory to remain viable candidates for the CIAA cham- pionship game in Salem.
Abner Clay Park to get facelift
Cityscape: Slices of life and scenes in Richmond
Construction fencing now surrounds most of Abner Clay Park in Jackson Ward as a long-awaited facelift begins on the park in the next few days. A children’s playground and a basketball court will remain open until work begins on those portions of the park next year.
Isn’t it time for a promised honor?
Wouldn’t you agree that something is wrong if a top figure at a Richmond university told the world you were going to receive a tremendous honor, but the university never delivered that honor? That is what happened to me.
Worker power
Columnists
More than 2,200 nurses at the University of Chicago Medical Center went out on strike re-cently, but they are not alone. American workers are waking up and walking out.
Homelessness: A national crisis
Columnists
For more than a decade, economists, lawmakers and others have heralded the nation’s economy, often citing how unemployment has declined as new jobs have been created, or Wall Street trading and major bank profits rise. Some might be led to believe that all is well in America. But as Sportin’ Life in the folk opera “Porgy and Bess” sang, “It ain’t necessarily so.”
Your vote is your voice
Editorials
Voting is your right and your power. And on Nov. 5, Virginia will hold elections for the 140 seats in the General Assembly.
RPS: A snapshot from the state
Editorials
There were no surprises in the report released this week by the Virginia Department of Education. The report showed that fewer than half of Richmond’s public schools — 20 of the 44 schools — are fully accredited.
17th Annual Gabriel Forum set for Oct. 8 at the African Burial Ground
A public forum and the debut of a new dance work next week will call attention to Gabriel, the Richmond man who organized the area’s largest slave revolt, and the African Burial Ground in Downtown where he was executed after the 1800 uprising for freedom failed. The 17th Annual Gabriel Forum will take place from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 8, at the burial ground at 16th and Broad streets. =
New ICA exhibit, 'Great Force,' to include late Free Press founder
The power of white culture versus black resistance is at the heart of a major art show opening this week at Virginia Commonwealth University’s Institute for Contemporary Art.
Kehinde Wiley statue unveiled in Times Square; next home, Richmond
Artist Kehinde Wiley unveiled his biggest work ever last Friday — a massive bronze statue of a young African-American man in urban streetwear sitting astride a galloping horse. Called “Rumors of War,” it flips the script on traditional statues in Richmond and through-out the South commemorating white generals.
African-American quarterbacks making an impact in NFL
Rookie quarterback Kyler Murray signed a lucrative four- year contract with the NFL Arizona Cardinals worth more than $35 million. Early indicators suggest he may be worth every penny.
VSU rolls over J.C. Smith; ready for Shaw on Saturday
The spotlight will be on the quarterbacks this Saturday, Oct. 5, at Virginia State University. Both Cordelral Cook of the host VSU Trojans and Torrin Campbell of visiting Shaw University are building All-CIAA credentials.
Frank Lloyd Wright synagogue continues 60 years later as work of art
Sixty years ago, just before the Jewish High Holy Days, members of a Conservative synagogue processed into their new sanctuary, marking a new era in their congregational life and in modern religious architecture.
International opera star Jessye Norman dies at 74
Jessye Norman, the renowned international opera star whose passionate soprano voice won her four Grammy Awards, the National Medal of Arts and the Kennedy Center Honor, has died, according to family spokesperson Gwendolyn Quinn.
Barbara W. Rabin, a founder of HOME, dies at 86
Most people take for granted that if they have the money to pay rent or cover a mortgage, they can live anywhere they want in the Richmond area. But that was not the case 50 years ago when skin color often trumped income in segregated Richmond. Barbara Wurtzel Rabin and a group of African-American and white colleagues ushered in change. They organized Housing Opportunities Made Equal of Virginia, or HOME, and broke the back of overt dis- crimination in the sale and leasing of residences with lawsuits and other actions to enforce the 1968 federal Fair Housing Act.
Personality: Christa Lynne Coleman
Spotlight on board member of Peter Paul Development Center
It is unbelievable for Christa Lynne Coleman, daughter of the founder of Peter Paul Development Center, to celebrate the organization’s 40th anniversary as well as the life and legacy of her late father.
Eviction forum set for Oct. 10
Legislative candidates from around Metro Richmond are expected to tackle the issue of eviction during a forum 6 to 8:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 10, at the Virginia Museum of History and Culture, 428 N. Arthur Ashe Blvd.
Evictions in Virginia
Scholars, lawyers and lawmakers are grappling with high eviction rates in Virginia and how to enact solutions.
