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Better wages for low-wage workers at tipping point, by Clarence Page
As our pre-pandemic way of life struggles to make a come- back—which I, for one, am rooting for it to do—one tradition that I greet with mixed emotions is my personal subsidy to low-wage workers. I’m talking about tipping.
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Jeffries makes historic bid to lead House Dems after Pelosi
A day after Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced she would step aside, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York launched a history-making bid Friday to become the first Black person to helm a major political party in Congress as leader of the House Democrats.
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Training grounds
Former tobacco factory may become teaching site for construction workers
Along with a huge investment to transform the 67-acre Diamond District, the private development team that has been awarded the project also is proposing to invest in a construction training center and in other projects that could benefit the Black community.
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Hundreds join ‘Moral March on Manchin’ as he blocks voting rights legislation
CHARLESTON, W.Va. Hundreds of demonstrators outraged with U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin’s opposition to a sweeping overhaul of U.S. election law marched through West Virginia’s capital city Monday evening.
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14 African-Americans connected to Jackson Ward to be recognized with honorary street signs
Honorary brown street signs soon will go up in Jackson Ward to call attention to 14 deceased Black men and women who made a lasting imprint on Richmond and often on the nation.
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City plans $3.5M sale of Public Safety Building for new development
Unveiled nine months ago, a $325 million plan to replace the city’s decaying Public Safety Building in Downtown is gathering steam.
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New coalition offers blueprint for more affordable housing
A coalition of Richmond groups is advancing a policy agenda they hope can be a blueprint for City Hall’s efforts to reduce evictions and make affordable apartments and homes more available.
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‘Moral and ethical imperative to combat climate change’, by U.S. Rep. A Donald McEachin
The climate crisis is the greatest existential threat we face.
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Black turnout is key in high-stakes Va. election, by Keauna Gregory and Alexsis Rodgers
As Virginia’s statewide general election approaches on Tuesday, Nov. 2, let’s re- member what happens when Black people get to the polls and vote.
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Wealth disparities by race grew during the pandemic, despite income gains, report shows
A strong performance in financial markets, particularly an outsize gain for the stock market in 2021, helped entrench existing trends of wealth inequality during the pandemic, new data released this week show.
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N.C. Moral Monday leader urges local NAACP to mobilize
“This is no time for foolishness,” said the Rev. William J. Barber II in an energizing message at the Richmond Branch NAACP’s Freedom Fund Awards Gala last Saturday.
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Real ‘Woman of the Year’
Jannie Ligons is an Oklahoma City grandmother who left a friend’s house to drive home. She collided with Daniel Holtzclaw, the rogue police officer who seemed to think it was part of his duty to sexually abuse black women. He raped them because he could. They did not accuse him because they feared they could not. Some of the women had criminal records — they had been involved with drugs or had other skirmishes with the law. They felt both vulnerable and violated, and they thought nobody would believe them.
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Journey for Justice’ makes stop in Richmond
“The struggles (for civil rights) that our parents and grandparents fought still continue. Those who would take away hard-earned rights take note: A new generation has taken up the challenge. As we march on this America’s ‘Journey for Justice,’ we say to everyone, ‘We will not turn around!’ ”
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Affordable, quality day care difficult for families
Families across the United States are facing a child care crisis, but African- American families are especially hard hit by the rising cost of child care and limited options for working families.
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Athletes standing up for justice, by Jesse L. Jackson Sr.
The greatest athletes in America are standing up for justice at a critical time.
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Why Trump hearings are important by Rep. Frederica S. Wilson
History continues this week on Capitol Hill as impeachment inquiry hearings into President Trump continue.
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Blackballing Kaepernick
Colin Kaepernick, the former quarterback of the San Francisco 49ers, is being blackballed — itself a revealing phrase — by the National Football League with the collusion of the all-white owners. He is being ostracized because a year ago he exercised his First Amendment right to free speech by taking a knee during the playing of the national anthem.
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Sen. Kaine visits new vocational school for former felons
When Kenneth Williams got out of prison, he found work in construction and began rebuilding his life. Thirty years later, the veteran 68-year-old contractor strives to help other felons follow in his footsteps by teaching them carpentry, plumbing and other basic skills to help them become employable and perhaps start their own business.
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When in doubt, blame Obama
“Bump stocks.” Hardly anyone had heard about them before they were found in the late Las Vegas sniper’s arsenal. Association with that massacre has made the devices, which can enable a semiautomatic rifle to fire almost as rapidly as a machine gun, so widely despised that even the National Rifle Association has turned against them in a surprising move — after unsurprisingly blaming Barack Obama.