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Salvation needed
Like most of us, Richmond Mayor Dwight C. Jones has a lot to pray about. Unfortunately for him, it’s about his church, First Baptist Church of South Richmond, and the city. Unfortunately for us, the Richmond taxpayers, it’s about his church and the city — and the intersection of the two apparently without transparency or accountability.
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Freedom Classic comes to Coliseum Sunday
It’s fitting that someone from historic Yorktown has helped spark a basketball revolution at Virginia State University. The reasons are numerous why VSU has vaulted from the bottom to the top of the CIAA standings. You can start the list with versatile 6-foot-8 junior Elijah R. Moore, aka “ERM,” from Yorktown’s Grafton High School.
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Denzel receives top Golden Globe award
Oscar-winning actor Denzel Washington joined the ranks of Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro when he was awarded the Golden Globe for lifetime achievement Sunday.
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Shaka Smart loses match to Tubby Smith
Two of NCAA basketball’s more prominent African-American coaches, both with ties to Virginia Commonwealth University, went head-to-head Saturday, Jan. 2, in Lubbock, Texas.
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Chaise Johnson eyeing options after Steward School
Like many star high school guards, Chaise Johnson has speed, court smarts and a keen shooting eye. Unlike most, he also has a former NBA first-round draft choice as his longtime tutor. The Steward School all-time scorer credits Cory Alexander — San Antonio’s first-round draft pick in 1995 — with advancing his development.
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In wake of terror attacks
Kaine: Will you hold on to your principles, faithfulness?
Religious leaders and community members of various faiths exchanged smiles, hugs and well wishes as they made new acquaintances Sunday at Congregation Beth Ahabah near Virginia Commonwealth University. Several hundred people gathered at an event designed to promote religious tolerance and nonviolence. Many wore the head coverings of their religions — Muslim women wearing hijabs, Sikh men in turbans and some Jewish men wearing kippahs. The occasion was the first “Standing Together” faith unity gathering organized by the Virginia Center for Inclusive Communities.
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Richmond School Board elects new chairman
“I think we are at a critical time at our tenure and at a critical juncture in making progress in Richmond Public Schools. I felt compelled to continue the progress that we have made.” Jeffrey M. Bourne, 3rd District, told the Free Press on Tuesday that’s why he agreed to serve as chair of the Richmond School Board.
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City becomes dumping ground again // Just weeks after a community cleanup, these alleys in Highland Park have been re-trashed. Unwanted mattresses now fill part …
Published on January 8, 2016
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Statue, plaza need to be done right
The legacy of Maggie L. Walker has been for decades a guiding light that shines on the heritage and values of the African-American community of Jackson Ward. A lighted statue that hails her many achievements is a statue long past due in the city of Richmond.
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Athletes, dollars and progress
As the University of Alabama football team prepares to line up against Clemson University on Jan. 11 in Glendale, Ariz., to decide the national collegiate football championship, it’s worth noting that the Crimson Tide wouldn’t be “rolling” in success and the money that accompanies it without its African-American players led by 2015 Heisman Trophy Winner Derrick Henry.
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Henrico High gym becomes ‘Buckingham Palace’
It’s about time for De’Monte Buckingham to be entered into the discussion of the Richmond area’s all-time, high school basketball greats. At least since the 1970s, few players have piled up more points — and more championships — than the Henrico High School megastar.
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Tiger at 40
Ten days after Tiger Woods turned 24, he picked up his 16th career PGA Tour victory by beating Ernie Els in an epic battle at Kapalua.
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VUU hosts annual Community Leaders Breakfast Jan.15
The 38th Annual Community Leaders Breakfast honoring the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. will be held 7:30 a.m. Friday, Jan. 15, at the Claude G. Perkins Living and Learning Center at Virginia Union University, 1500 N. Lombardy St. The keynote speaker will be Dr. Robert M. Franklin Jr., president emeritus of Morehouse College.
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Personality: Robert N. Barnette Jr.
Spotlight on board chairman of Virginia Alliance Against Mass Incarceration
Robert N. Barnette Jr. says he was inspired to accept the position as board chairman of the Richmond-based Virginia Alliance Against Mass Incarceration after reading “Billion Dollar Divide,” a report by the Justice Policy Institute in April 2014. “I wanted to lend my voice to a worthy cause,” he says.
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Dr. Frances C. Welsing, 80, renowned psychiatrist best known for her views on the origins of white racism
Dr. Frances Cress Welsing used her platform as a psychiatrist in the nation’s capital to battle white supremacy. Dubbed the “Queen of Black Consciousness,” she won attention for her views on white racism, including her assertions that white racism is because of a deficiency of melanin, the pigment that darkens skin, and that white people oppressed black people out of fear of black domination.
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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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27% Black-owned businesses gain from Stone Brewing project
Black contractors have quietly played a big role in the development of the Stone Brewing Co.’s new East Coast brewery off Williamsburg Avenue in Fulton, according to city records. For example, Glen Allen contractor Dwight Snead and his employees prepared the land for construction, the city Office of Minority Business Development (OMBD) report shows.
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RRHA resident’s chilly 3-year ordeal
For the past three years, Tina Marie Shaw has had to rely on an electric space heater to keep the winter cold out of her public housing unit in Creighton Court. “I worry about the heater starting a fire,” said Ms. Shaw, who looks after her 9-year-old grandson, Xavia, her pride and joy and an honors student at a Richmond elementary school. To avoid risk to herself and the child, “I unplug (the heater) at night when I go upstairs to bed, and turn it on in the morning.”
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Real ‘Woman of the Year’
Jannie Ligons is an Oklahoma City grandmother who left a friend’s house to drive home. She collided with Daniel Holtzclaw, the rogue police officer who seemed to think it was part of his duty to sexually abuse black women. He raped them because he could. They did not accuse him because they feared they could not. Some of the women had criminal records — they had been involved with drugs or had other skirmishes with the law. They felt both vulnerable and violated, and they thought nobody would believe them.
