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Personality: Lawrence D. ‘Larry’ Wilder Jr.
Spotlight on board chair of the Southside Community Development and Housing Corp.
Lawrence D. “Larry” Wilder Jr.’s focus and passion these days is revitalization. The 55-year-old son of former Virginia Gov. L. Douglas Wilder and retiring Richmond Treasurer Eunice M. Wilder loves his volunteer work as board chairman of the Southside Community Development and Housing Corp., a nonprofit that helps first-time buyers achieve their dream of home ownership.
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Personality: David Mickens
Spotlight on president of local chapter of Buffalo Soldiers Motorcycle Club
Richmond’s Buffalo Soldiers Motorcycle Club rides for a reason and a cause — to make a difference in Richmond and across the country. David Mickens, the club’s president until 2019, says “their mission is to carry on the legacy and honor of two United States African American regiments known as the Buffalo Soldiers.”
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Selma
Excerpts from President Obama’s speech at the 50th anniversary of the Selma marches
There are places and moments in America where this nation’s destiny has been decided. Selma is such a place. In one afternoon 50 years ago, so much of our turbulent history — the stain of slavery and anguish of civil war; the yoke of segregation and tyranny of Jim Crow; the death of four little girls in Birmingham; and the dream of a Baptist preacher — all that history met on this bridge. It was not a clash of armies, but a clash of wills; a contest to determine the true meaning of America. And because of men and women like John Lewis, Joseph Lowery, Hosea Williams, Amelia Boynton, Diane Nash, Ralph Abernathy, C.T. Vivian, Andrew Young, Fred Shuttlesworth, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and so many others, the idea of a just America and a fair America, an inclusive America, and a generous America — that idea ultimately triumphed.
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Personality: Vilma T. Seymour
Spotlight on president of Richmond Region League of United Latin American Citizens
Strength is the key to Vilma Seymour’s life.
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Census data show Virginia’s population up by 7.9%
Virginia’s population grew over the past decade, but not enough to gain an additional seat in Congress, according to new figures released by the U.S. Census Bureau on Monday.
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UR women to play in ‘Big Dance’
Grace Townsend and the rest of the University of Richmond (UR) women’s basketball team are packing their dancing shoes for what lies ahead.
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A new sheriff in town
Move over, C.T. There’s a new sheriff in town.
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Kiana Johnson breaking records for Lady Panthers
Kiana Johnson is rewriting the women’s basketball record book at Virginia Union University. The senior guard from Chicago eclipsed two standards in VUU’s 85-68 win over Lincoln University of Pennsylvania last Saturday at Barco-Stevens Hall.
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Mixed messages
A Richmond Free Press newspaper box on Robinson Street in The Fan was defaced again last week with a sticker of the Confederate battle flag. In the latest graffiti, a photo of President Trump was glued over a Richmond Struggle.com sticker, an organization with a stated mission to reject patriarchy, white supremacy and capitalism.
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Dr. Cora S. Salzberg, a state, national and international champion of education, dies at age 81
Dr. Cora Slade Salzberg, a leader in promoting higher education in Virginia and the leader of The Links’ national program aimed at aiding underachieving K-12 students to become more successful in school, has died.
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Waiver sought for RPS student-athletes to continue playing sports
Student-athletes in Richmond whose grades suffered when schools went virtual could still play football or participate in other fall sports.
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Rev. William Barber II to preach at inaugural interfaith prayer service
The Washington National Cathedral will host a virtual iteration of its traditional interfaith worship service on Thursday, Jan. 21, the day after the inauguration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. Activist and pastor the Rev. William Barber II will preach the sermon.
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No comment unless we know what you’re talking about
Resolution changes how residents address City Council
Council members unanimously passed a resolution Monday night that will mean changes to its meeting rules and procedures — including some related to public comment.
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Volunteers to help fix up homes for elderly during Affordable Housing Awareness Week
April is here and that means hundreds of Richmond area volunteers soon will pour into neighborhoods to make home improvements for elderly and low-income residents who cannot afford them.
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School safety
We understand the unfortunate conundrum parents and families are facing as school districts across the state grapple with how to reopen safely and effectively during this time of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Heating repairs still needed on 104 public housing units
Heat has been restored to more than 300 public housing units, but work still needs to be completed in more than 100 other units.
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Richmond School Board approves grading policy during shutdown
The Richmond School Board approved a plan Monday night to calculate students’ final grades that will hold students harmless during the coronavirus shutdown.
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Signs of 2019 shutdown for Coliseum
The 47-year-old Richmond Coliseum could go dark next year even in the face of continuing uncertainty about a private group’s proposal to tear it down and replace it with a new $220 million arena.
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Reframing the history of slavery in Angola and U.S.
If the United States has 35,000 museums, a writer asked in 2014, why is only one about slavery? And if the wealth of this country was built on the backs of enslaved people from Africa, why has that story been vastly under-reported in our media, in our schools and in our political discourse?
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Personality: Viola Baskerville
Spotlight on co-founder of Save Richmond Community Hospital Work Group
In just over a month, Viola Baskerville has become front and center in an important aspect of Richmond’s Black history.
