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Former Richmond pastor faces life sentence
Geronimo Aguilar once walked into services at the packed former Richmond Outreach Center worship services like a rock star. He waved to excited congregation members as about a half-dozen muscular security team members surrounded him. Known as “Pastor G,” the pastor drew lofty praise from politicians, business leaders, educators, law enforcement, faith leaders and ordinary citizens alike for leading the South Side church’s 24/7 mission to help the downtrodden.
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Personality: Shakera K. Vaughan
Spotlight on Richmond’s youth mayor
Unbeknownst to many Richmonders, another “mayor” has been serving in the city other than Mayor Dwight C. Jones.
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‘Senseless’
Police, community leaders seek leads in shooting death of 9-year-old Markiya Dickson on Memorial Weekend
Police are still searching for the person or people who turned a Memorial Weekend community cookout into a tragedy Sunday when gunfire broke out at Carter Jones Park in South Side, killing 9-year-old Markiya Dickson and wounding 11-year-old Jaquez Moses.
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Charles A. Gill Sr., who shared a big lottery win to help the Richmond community, succumbs at 63
Struggling to make ends meet for his family, Charles Allen Gill Sr. sought to change his luck and became an instant millionaire in the process.
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Personality: Faye K. Logan
Spotlight on Richmond president of National Council of Negro Women
In 1956, two years after the U.S. Supreme Court outlawed separate and unequal public education — and a period many Richmonders remember vividly — Richmond and many other Southern cities were in the midst of growing political change.
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Janice F. Lewis, left, and her sister, Celieto L. Lewis, stand beside their vehicle, which now doubles as their bedroom. The sisters have been homeless …
Published on September 13, 2019
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Personality: Annie Giles
Spotlight on longtime volunteer, advocate for Whitcomb Court
For roughly five decades, Annie Giles has worked to make Whitcomb Court a better place to live and raise children. She has volunteered her time to a range of efforts, including registering people to vote, feeding the hungry and fighting crime.
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Boxing legend Earnie Shavers dies at 78
Earnie Shavers, among the hardest punch- ers in heavyweight boxing history, died Thursday, Sept. 1, 2022, at the home of one of his daughters in Virginia. He was 78. Known as the “Black Destroyer,” Mr. Shavers posted a career record of 74-14-1 between 1969 and 1995. His worksheet included 68 knockouts with 23 coming in the first round. The Alabama native won 44 of his first 47 bouts via knockout. Twice he fought for the world title, los- ing to Muhammad Ali in 1977 and Larry Holmes in 1979. Mr. Shavers left an indelible impression on Ali. “Earnie hit me so hard, it shocked my kinfolk back in Africa,” Ali said. Along the way, Mr. Shavers scored ring victories over three former world champs, Jimmy Ellis, Ken Norton and Vincente Rondon. Mr. Shavers’ immense power came up in the 1980s when late-night TV host David Letterman interviewed boxing champ George Foreman. Letterman asked Foreman about Mr. Shavers. Foreman replied: “I never fought Earnie Shavers. Thank goodness.”
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Class of 2020 inspired by four-hour virtual ceremony headlined by the Obamas and Beyoncé
Former President Obama said in a commencement speech Sunday that the nationwide protests following the recent deaths of unarmed black women and men, including George Floyd in Minneapolis, were fueled from “decades worth of anguish, frustration, over unequal treatment and a failure to perform police practices.”
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Personality: Jacqueline C. Presley
Spotlight on president of Altrusa International of Capital City of Virginia
As she nears the end of her two-year tenure as president of Altrusa International Capital City of Virginia, Jacqueline C. Presley remains excited “just to be a part of a worldwide organization” dedicated to making the community a better place.
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Cityscape // Ms. Burton, who said she suffers from chronic health issues, calls working in the garden “my therapy.” She finds peace when her hands …
Published on August 4, 2017
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‘Revival!’ brings mostly black cast to movie depiction of Gospel of John
For creator Harry Lennix, the new movie “Revival!” — a retelling of the Gospel of John with a mostly African-American cast — is a film whose time has come.
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A lifetime of racism makes Alzheimer’s disease more common in Black Americans
Constance Guthrie is not dead yet, but her daughter has begun to plan her funeral.
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Reva rebels
Councilwoman gives out city officials’ cell phone numbers
City Councilwoman Reva M. Trammell registered her protest against new restrictions on City Council members directly contacting city administrative staff by publicly announcing the cell phone numbers of Mayor Levar M. Stoney and other top officials.
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Sister of man killed by police enters governor’s race
The sister of Marcus-David Peters, who was shot and killed by a Richmond Police officer in 2018 during what has been described as a mental health crisis, has formally announced her candidacy for Virginia’s gubernatorial race.
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Winter shelter’s opening may be delayed
A planned 150-bed winter shelter for Richmond’s homeless population may not open until Dec. 1, or well after freezing temperatures could hit the city, it has been learned.
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Cherished Holiday Memories
Four Richmond area residents shared with the Richmond Free Press their most cherished holiday memories. We hope their reflections will bring to mind joyful recollections of your own during this special season.
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Personality: Montae Lamar Taylor
Spotlight on interim president of Va. NAACP Youth/College Division
Montae Lamar Taylor, interim president of the Virginia NAACP Youth and College Division and a student at Old Dominion University, witnessed the clash between white nationalists and counterprotesters in Charlottesville on Aug. 12 that outraged people around the nation and the world.
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Malveaux moves to Va. Court of Appeals
Henrico County Judge Mary Bennett Malveaux is a beneficiary of the judgeship fight between the governor and the Republican-dominated General Assembly. She is headed to the state’s 11-member Court of Appeals where she will make history as the court’s first African-American female member. She is officially to begin on April 16.
