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New D.C. archbishop poised to become first African-American cardinal
Archbishop Wilton Gregory of Atlanta has been tapped to head the influential Archdiocese of Washington, filling a slot left vacant in October after its previous archbishop, Cardinal Donald Wuerl, was accused of mishandling cases of sexual abuse by priests during his time in Pittsburgh.
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VSU grads receive uplifting messages at 2 commencement ceremonies
U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath ‘We must take seriously our responsibility to build a better world’
“Everything that has happened in my life — everything that I have survived and everything that I have accomplished — prepared me for what I am doing now,” Congresswoman Lucy McBath of Georgia told an arena full of graduates, family members and friends at Sunday afternoon’s commencement ceremony at Virginia State University.
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Free students from burden of college debt
Columnists
The reaction — shock, joy, disbelief, euphoria — revealed the importance of billionaire Robert F. Smith’s stunning gift, when he announced unexpectedly that he would pay off the college debts of Morehouse College students graduating this year. His gift literally changed the prospects and the lives of the vast majority of those 396 graduates.
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Efforts grow to preserve history of Saint Paul’s College
“Challenge by choice” was the motto of Saint Paul’s College, which closed in 2013 because of financial problems and declining student enrollment. Now the citizens of Lawrenceville are living up to that motto — by taking up the challenge of collecting and preserving artifacts documenting the 125-year history of the historically black college.
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Questions raised about charity status of Navy Hill entities
Now stumping for tax increases that he claims will go to pave streets and repair aging schools, Mayor Levar M. Stoney has clearly put a proposal to build a new, larger Richmond Coliseum on the backburner.
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Don’t sleep on judgeships
Two people reported to work at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Nov. 27, both expecting to lead the bureau. Leandra English, who had been chief of staff to former Director Richard Cordray (he resigned before Thanksgiving to return to Ohio to run for governor), was appointed to the director position by her old boss.
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Chadwick Boseman in ‘Marshall’ is bulletproof
Thurgood Marshall, a titan of 20th century law and a civil rights pioneer, has until now largely eluded Hollywood’s notice. Despite its title, “Marshall,’’ too, is wary of taking on the Supreme Court justice in full, sticking to a minor case from Mr. Marshall’s early career as counsel for the NAACP. That makes, for better and worse, a sometimes slight, sometimes serious courtroom drama, shot through with bright certainty in the coming triumphs for Mr. Marshall and the civil rights movement. It’s a superhero-style origin story: Thurgood, pre- “Brown v. Board of Education,’’ pre-black robe.
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VUU alum, former player Alvin Parker to coach Panthers
Alvin Parker didn’t need much in the way of a formal introduction Monday as Virginia Union University’s new football coach.
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Thanks are OK, but hook a sistah up
U.S. Sen.-elect Doug Jones, a Democrat from Alabama, did not have to win his battle against accused sexual molester and Republican candidate Roy Moore in the epic battle in Alabama on Dec. 12.
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John Marshall shows off its squad on the road
For most high school basketball teams, a road trip means a quick bus ride across town or perhaps to a nearby county. By contrast, the John Marshall High School Justices logged more December miles than just about everyone but Santa Claus.
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Neo-Confederates to return for second Richmond rally
A neo-Confederate group plans to return to Richmond next month for a second “Heritage Not Hate” rally on Monument Avenue, despite new state regulations restricting firearms and the number of people allowed at rallies at the Gen. Robert E. Lee monument. CSA II: The New Confederate States of America, a Tennessee-based group, “will hold their rally on Richmond City property outside of the traffic circle surrounding the Lee monument in the same location of the Sept. 16 rally,” Thomas Crompton, a rally organizer, told the Free Press on Wednesday.
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VUU in exhibition game Friday with VCU at Siegel Center VUU in exhibition game Friday with VCU at Siegel Center
Virginia Commonwealth University’s Siegel Center and Barco-Stevens Hall at Virginia Union University are located about a mile apart on a Richmond map. But on the basketball court, the teams from the two Richmond schools were 50 points apart (94-44) when they met last in a 2012 exhibition.
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Work begins in Creighton Court
Work is finally underway to restore heat in 12 buildings in the Creighton Court public housing community, a failure of a basic service that has come to symbolize the deteriorating state of Richmond’s “public housing stock.”
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Rev. Jesse Jackson diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease
The Rev. Jesse L. Jackson Sr. disclosed publicly on Friday that he has been seeking outpatient care for two years for Parkinson’s disease and plans to “dedicate” himself to physical therapy to slow the progress of the disease.
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We know the problems; we need action
Editorials
It’s tough to dig yourself out of a hole. But Gov. Ralph S. Northam is still in the trench trying to work his way out eight months after his sad and disgraceful blackface scandal.
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Quarterback Aarek Thomas ready to take John Marshall to championships
Phillip Sims left Oscar Smith High School in Chesapeake as the most prolific passer in state history. Some of that aerial artistry seems to have rubbed off on his prized passing pupil at Richmond’s John Marshall High School. Coach Sims, who coaches the John Marshall Justices, sees some of himself in senior, third-year starter Aarek “Rico” Thomas.
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Rekindling memories of childhood and pal Arthur
For one group of men, Arthur Ashe Jr. is more than a tennis superstar and internationally recognized crusader for human rights and bringing awareness and resources to the AIDS epidemic.
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Washington Nationals fuel ahead with diverse roster
Any Washington Nationals victory sets off celebration throughout North and South America, the Caribbean and far off as Oceania.
Story
Getting to root cause of racism
Columnists
It’s amazing how often the news media give big play to an academic report that tells us something black mothers already knew.
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RPS basketball alumni showdown Saturday at Ashe Center
Richmond Public Schools is turning back the clock on basketball. Players from bygone decades will be dusting off their jump shots in the inaugural RPS Alumni Showdown on Saturday, Aug. 3, at the Arthur Ashe Jr. Athletic Center, 3001 N. Arthur Ashe Blvd.
