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Black women benefit from more mind, body, spirit practices
Khepera Sankara was at rock bottom when she attended her first yoga class in 2013. It was an Ashtanga class taught by yoga teacher Robbie Norris as part of a program that brought yoga to the Richmond City Jail, where Ms. Sankara was incarcerated for shoplifting. “It was a godsend,” she said in a recent phone interview. “I found it so profoundly transformational. Just the physical practice helped change my
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‘We need to rebuild, renew and refocus,’ Emancipation Day speakers say
One after another, speakers at the 75th Annual Emancipation Proclamation Day Worship Celebration at Fifth Baptist Church in the West End passionately implored listeners to get involved in community betterment. Lynetta Thompson, president of the Richmond Branch NAACP, drew shouts of “Amen” and “Hallelujah” when she said, “Black churches, we need your help. We need for you to be a voice for the voiceless,” she stressed. She urged audience members to step outside the walls of the church to perform community service and become active in groups such as the NAACP that work for social change. The Bible, she said, has more than 300 verses speaking to seeking social justice and helping the poor.
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Longtime Delegate Mary T. Christian of Hampton dies at 95
Dr. Mary T. Christian, a retired educator who represented Hampton in the Virginia House of Delegates for many years, died Monday, Nov. 11, 2019.
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Prospect of home ownership escapes 70-year-old Randolph resident
Charlene C. Harris hoped to buy the home in Randolph that she and her family have rented for nearly 50 years from the Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority.
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Gospel singer, songwriter plans nonprofit to help women returning from incarceration
Rhonda Aiden knows the obstacles many women experience when they are released from incarceration back into society. “It’s an overwhelming feeling,” said Ms. Aiden. The 44-year-old South Side resident said she spent a total of five years behind bars in three separate stints for writing bad checks, beginning in 2003. Her last time was from 2011 to 2012 at Deerfield Correctional Center in Southampton County.
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Personality: Sandra A. Taylor
Spotlight on board chair of the Young Women’s Christian League
In June of 1959, 12 women founded the Young Women’s Christian League in Richmond with the goal of aiding the less fortunate through activism and community service. Today, 60 years later and 115 members strong, the organization continues its work through eight chapters with Sandra A. Taylor, the daughter of one of the founders, leading the organization’s board.
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Healing through humor
Every year millions of children are exposed to family and domestic violence in the United States. Domestic violence affects both physical and mental health, leaving emotional scars that have long-lasting effects on those who experience it directly and those who bear witness to it.
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Personality: Chad Coleman
Chad Coleman has traveled the world as a videographer for the U.S. Army and acted in dozens of films and TV shows, including the award-winning HBO series “The Wire.”
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George Washington professor, who claimed to be Black, comes clean about her racial background
George Washington University is investigating the case of a history professor who allegedly admitted to fraudulently pretending to be a Black woman for her entire career.
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Personality: Tranelle A. Pollard
Spotlight on Richmond Public Schools Teacher of the Year
Tranelle A. Pollard knew the value of a good education. And as a young student at Overby-Sheppard Elementary School, her learning experience was greatly improved through the contributions of faculty such as her kindergarten and first grade teacher, Betty Blue.
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Playwright aims to open hearts and minds with premiere production
Brittany Fisher left her native Virginia for New York in 2021 to attend Juilliard’s Lila Acheson Wallace American Playwrights Program. Now graduated, she is still based in New York, but she never stays away for long. Her family won’t let her.
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Why support the D.C. Women’s March?
“Ain’t I A Woman? I have ploughed and planted and gathered into barns, and no man could head me! And ain’t I a woman! I could work as much and eat as much as a man — when I could get it — and bear the lash as well. And ain’t I a woman? I’ve bourne thirteen children and seen most all sold off and when I cried out with my mother’s grief, none but Jesus heard me! And ain’t I a woman.” — Sojourner Truth
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Personality: Free F. Egunfemi
Spotlight on founder of Untold RVA
Free Folasade Egunfemi is seeking to spread history throughout the Richmond community like seeds in a garden. Born in Englewood, N.J., and raised in Richmond, Ms. Egunfemi wants to offer residents, newcomers and tourists an opportunity to educate themselves about people and places of impact from bygone eras.
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Personality: Gabrielle E. Wilks
Spotlight on Miss Black Virginia USA 2020
The 2020 Miss Black Virginia crown goes to Gabrielle E. Wilks.
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Personality: Michelle Evans-Oliver
Spotlight on AARP Virginia’s 2018 Rookie of the Year Award winner
“I was shocked. I was humbled. I said, ‘Wow! I didn’t think I had done anything out of the ordinary.” That was the reaction of Michelle Evans-Oliver, a volunteer AARP community ambassador, when she learned she had been selected as AARP Virginia’s 2018 Rookie of the Year.
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Alvoston ‘Al’ Taylor, retired city educator, dies at 75
Alvoston L. “Al” Taylor Jr. was a dedicated teacher and principal who cared about his students during 35 years of service.
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Personality: Tyee Davenport Mallory
Spotlight on Richmond Section of the National Council of Negro Women president
Tyee Davenport Mallory is helping to show the worth of women’s organizations. As president of the Richmond Section of the National Council of Negro Women, Ms. Mallory has worked to expand the nonprofit’s presence and mission through new partnerships and increased membership.
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With passion and purpose
Nearing retirement, Debra Carlotti has helped empower children and parents for decades
Richmond Public Schools educator Debra Carlotti was born in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, N.Y., a place that is a lot more trendy now than when she grew up there in the 1950s and 1960s, she said.
