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Curbing gun violence demands focus on stronger laws, helping those who’ve been hurt, by Thomas P. Kapsidelis
When Republicans in the Tennessee House were challenged on gun control after three 9-year-old children and three adults were slain at a Christian elementary school in Nashville, Tenn., they responded by expelling two Black representatives who led a protest on the chamber’s floor. A white legislator survived the outrageous ouster.
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Richmond Free Press founders receive City Hall honor and recognition
Black-owned weekly saluted for its ‘leadership, service, dedication and prominence in the community’
Jean P. Boone and the late Raymond H. Boone, founders and publishers of the Richmond Free Press newspaper, received recognition from City Council on Monday night to honor their journalistic contributions to the city.
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Faith and fate of affirmative action
It’s a different colorblindness than the one envisioned in Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech. The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to reject the race-conscious admissions programs at Harvard University and the University of North Carolina comes in a year of 60th anniversaries in American civil rights history.
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9/11 artifacts share ‘pieces of truth’ in victims’ stories
For nearly six years, Andrea Haberman’s ashen and damaged wallet lay mostly untouched in a drawer at her parents’ Wisconsin home, along with a partly melted cell phone, her driver’s license, credit cards, checkbook and house keys. Flecks of rust had formed on the rims of her eyeglasses, their lenses shattered and gone.
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VMFA announces RVA Community Makers, events
For the sixth year, RVA Community Makers will honor African-American leaders from various fields. The annual community-activated art project will be unveiled by the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VMFA) at 6 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 15, and will remain on display until March 16.
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250 years later, ‘Amazing Grace’ has filled churches, concerts, even commercials
James Walvin, a former Church of England choirboy and professor of history at the University of York, doesn’t remember encountering “Amazing Grace,” in song or in his hymnal. It wasn’t until he traveled to the United States to research the history of slavery that he came upon the hymn introduced by John Newton, a former slave trader, in 1773.
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Coaching legend Lou Anderson dies at age 87
Louis “Lou” Anderson Jr., who spent most of his adult life coaching football and, more importantly to him, influencing the lives of young men, died Friday, Oct. 13, 2023. Mr. Anderson was 87 and had been in an assisted living facility for several years.
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For the culture
Recommended works and artists in celebration of Black History Month by Richmond Free Press staff members, Part 2
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Crusade carries on
Anyone who knows anything about Richmond knows that the story of the Richmond Crusade for Voters is legend.
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Reality TV star: ‘I’m not the drama queen’
Reality TV is a breeding ground for drama and squabbles. But one star, Lisa Nicole Cloud of Bravo’s “Married to Medicine,” is focused on being positive. “I wanted to see a different portrayal of African-American women on TV,” said Ms. Cloud, an entrepreneur and cast member on the Atlanta-based reality show about the lives of women doctors and women married to doctors. Ms. Cloud talked with the Free Press during her recent trip to Richmond, where she was a keynote speaker at a business conference.
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VSU topples VUU Panthers 48-21
Virginia State University zoomed across the finish line of the 2016 football season as if powered by rocket fuel. By contrast, Virginia Union University appeared to be running on fumes as it sputtered to the end.
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Moonlight, Rudolph and Black Lives Matter: Poet Nikki Giovanni takes on range of subjects at VUU talk
The Black Lives Matter movement is benefiting white women, the movie “Moonlight” was a showcase of crazy, and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is a story that has a not-so-sweet, enduring side to it.
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Kory Cooley is VUU’s secret weapon
Art and arcs are two of Kory Cooley’s favorite things. The Virginia Union University sophomore concentrates academically on art. He also is the Panthers’ leading marksman behind the basketball court’s bonus arc. Known as “Cools,” he is VUU’s most effective long-distance weapon and the ideal outside complement to All-CIAA player Ray Anderson, who excels attacking the rim.
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Orlando victim to be buried in Amelia
The last time Marie Morton Hart of Richmond saw her grandnephew, Darryl Roman “DJ” Burt II, it was a joyous time. “We had a family reunion last July at Andrews Air Force Base, and DJ flew in from his home in Jacksonville to surprise his mother,” the 79-year-old South Side resident said.
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Siblings win ‘Teacher of the Year’
As teachers for Richmond Public Schools, siblings Gilbert Carter Jr. and Ridgely Carter-Minter took different paths to the classroom. Yet, their recent recognition as Teacher of the Year at their respective schools is singularly rooted in a Richmond family legacy known for teaching excellence.
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5 faith facts about VP pick Kamala Harris – a Black Baptist with Hindu family
Few, if any, vice presidential candidates have had as much exposure to the world’s religions as U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris, the 55-year-old from California whom Demo- cratic presidential contender Joe Biden named Tuesday as his running mate.
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James Meredith on mission from God
James Meredith is a civil rights legend who resists neatly defined narratives.
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Legendary debate coach, Dr. Thomas F. Freeman Sr., dies at 100
Richmond native Thomas Franklin Freeman Sr. transformed historically black Texas Southern University into a national powerhouse in debate.
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Cathy’s Camp razed, but people keep coming during pandemic
Homeless people keep coming despite the destruction last week of Cathy’s Camp, the tent community in Shockoe Valley, and the relocation of its residents to area motels and hotels.
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Dr. Katie G. Cannon, renowned scholar who elevated role of black women in theology, dies at 68
Dr. Katie Geneva Cannon made history in 1974 as the first African-American woman to be ordained a Presbyterian minister in the United States. Dr. Cannon would use that breakthrough to become a driving force in creating the womanist theology that promotes the inclusion of women of color in shaping the understanding of faith.