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Petersburg’s pioneering educator and mayor, Dr. Florence Saunders Farley, dies at 94
Dr. Florence Saunders Farley, a trailblazing psychologist who also served as Petersburg’s first Black female mayor, has died.
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Boushall Middle teacher is Region 1 Teacher of the Year
When Henrico County native Kiara Thompson began her college career, teaching was not what she had in mind.
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Dr. Tinina Cade retires after 35 years at University of Richmond
Longtime educator praised for building an infrastructure of support for students
As a new semester begins at the University of Richmond, there is one familiar face that students, faculty and staff will not see on campus this year.
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Summer internships key to jump-starting careers
Internships for college students can be pivotal in steering and developing a young person’s career.
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VCU’s 2022 ‘Common Book’ further exposes Richmond’s racist past, by Chip Jones
Parking in front of a massive stone clubhouse, I was ready to enjoy an evening visit with a book club in the suburbs.
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Only $21M to rename military bases?
I’m glad that no one saw my stunned deer-in-headlight face after I recently read an editorial regarding the quoted sticker-price of $21M for renaming our military bases, but believe it or not, I do have a suggestion!
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Fellowship day for Richmond area schools brings back classmates and memories
Approximatley 500 to 600 alumni and faculty from Maggie Walker High School, Armstrong High, Carver Elementary and other historic Richmond schools gathered Aug. 21 in Henrico County’s Dorey Park to reconnect and celebrate decades of academic history and change.
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Richmond Community High School grad’s vegan cooking satisfies hungry New Yorkers
Middleburg Chef Shenarri Freeman started cooking 10 years ago at the 9:30 Club, a concert hall in Washington, D.C. Then a pre-physical therapy student at Howard university, she took the gig to get free concert tickets.
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Personality: Lynette Lewis Allston
Spotlight on the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Board of Trustees president
When the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts named its newest Board of Trustees president, Lynette Lewis Allston became the first Native American elected to the role in the museum’s 86- year history. The current chief and chair emeritus of the Tribal Council of the Nottoway Indian Tribe of Virginia also will be the first Native American board chair of a top 10 U.S. comprehensive art museum.
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Upbeat about Armonii Burden
Armonii Burden would love to be known as the second-best defensive player to ever come out of Williamsburg’s Lafayette High School. The incomparable Lawrence Taylor, of course, is No. 1 on that list.
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A space for fun ... and dreams
Marsh Elementary School’s colorful new playground spells success
Henry L. Marsh III Elementary School, named after former state Sen. Henry L. Marsh III, one of Richmond’s African-American political trailblazers, opened two years ago at 813 N. 28th St.
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SOL scores remain low for RPS
Illness, isolation, trauma faulted for dismal test results
Richmond Public Schools’ Standard of Learning test scores remain below pre-pandemic levels, coming in the same for reading, but falling in math and science when compared with scores from last year.
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‘Defund the FBI’? Seriously?, by Clarence Page
Yes, I had to polish my eyeglasses and put them back on for a second look before I could believe what the always provocative and occasionally rational Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene had just tweeted. In a takeoff on the Black Lives Matter slogan, she tweeted “Defund the FBI.” Cute. Barely a step ahead of other like- minded law- makers, the Georgia Re- publican went on to sell hats and other sou- venir merchan- dise online with the slogan, all in response to the FBI’s execution of a search warrant at Mar-a-Lago, the Florida home of her hero, former President Donald Trump. Although more than a dozen other Republicans publicly shared Rep. Greene’s sentiments, others, like Texas Rep. Dan Crenshaw, were not amused. Although he was “impressed Democrats finally got us to say, ‘Defund the FBI,’” he said sarcastically, the slogan “makes you look unserious, when you start talking like that.” On that, I agree. I have ex- pressed similar criticism of the original “Defund the police” sloganasitemergedamid global protests by the Black Lives Matter movement follow- ing George Floyd’s murder by police in 2020. Although apologists defended the slogan as a call for construc- tively rethinking policies that pile too many social service burdens on police, conservatives easily turned it into a call for softness on crime. Now, in another ironic twist, a disturbing number of Repub- licans are using it to call for softness on Donald Trump. After the FBI search at the Mar-a-Lago estate, many Trump supporters have turned a slogan they hate into one that they love, Clarence Page even at the cost of the GOP calls to “Support the police” and “Back the Blue” going back at least to Richard M. Nixon’s 1968 presidential campaign. Florida GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz, whom I call Rep.Greene’s brother in shameless grandstand- ing, threatened to give “not one more damn penny” to the FBI and other such agencies. To which BLM tweeted back with “you are corny..... But we’ll work with you to defund and dismantle the FBI. Welcome to #DefundThePolice.” While most of the GOP’s establishment leaders stayed out of the fray, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of Cali- fornia tweeted after the search, “The Department of Justice has reached an intolerable state of weaponized politicization.” Thisisthesameleaderwho, during a Police Week speech in May, said “hateful rhetoric” and policies have helped create an “environment of rising crime and put our officers in danger.” The search came after Mr. Trump failed to comply with polite invitations to return clas- sified government documents he had taken to his home. Instead, he claimed to have declared the documents “declassified” without any documentation to back that up. That’s not how declassification is done, especially when you’re no longer president. Now we see some Republi- cans finding virtue in “Defund the FBI” as a rallying cry for Trump’s MAGA (Make America Great Again) base. They’re hungrily looking for some solace amid the pile of scandals threatening their favorite potential candidate. So far, echoing Mr. Trump’s FBI attacks appears remarkably to be working, even in the wake of shocking revelations uncovered by the House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection. After the committee took its summer break, a poll by The New York Times and Siena College showed Trump support had weakened. But after the search at Mar-a- Lago, a new poll by the Trafalgar Group and the Convention of States Action revealed more than 80 percent of Republican respondents said the feds’ action made them more motivated to vote in this November’s midterm elections. Regardless, our justice system is being tested in this case, along withourdemocracy.Let’stake our time and do it right. Our system of justice isn’t perfect but, for now, it’s all we’ve got. The writer is a syndicated columnist and senior member of the Chicago Tribune edito- rial board.
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A first: African-American marine promoted to 4-star general
The first African-American four-star general in Marine Corps history, Gen. Michael E. Langley, credited his father with telling him to “aim high” and predicted that his recent rank would have an impact on younger people.
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Personality: Lynda Sharp Anderson
Spotlight on the president and CEO of The DBALSA Foundation
Three decades ago, when Lynda Sharp went to a magazine marketing event with friends, she didn’t know the young man named Dolson Barnett Anderson Jr. who was there with friends of his own. They both volunteered to help the magazine, became better acquainted and later became a married couple. The rest, Mrs. Anderson said, is history.
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NSU’s former president remembered
Dr. Marie McDemmond’s vision boosted university’s technology focus
Marie Valentine McDemmond, the first female president of Norfolk State Univer- sity and the first African-American woman to lead a four-year college in Virginia, is being remembered as a history-maker and educational visionary. Dr. McDemmond, who led NSU from 1997 to 2005 before illness led to her retire- ment, succumbed to cancer on Wednesday, July 27, 2022, at her retirement home in Florida. She was 76. Her groundbreaking service to NSU and higher education was celebrated at a memorial service Saturday, Aug. 13, in Fort
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Rita Dove is among Library of Virginia finalists for the 25th Annual Literary Awards
Nine finalists have been selected for the 25th Annual Library of Virginia Literary Awards, the Commonwealth’s premier celebration honoring Virginia writers and their contributions to literature. Acclaimed poet and former U.S. poet laureate Rita
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Book has insight, no clear answer on Ralph Northam blackface yearbook photo
A Virginia author’s investigative effort to uncover the origins of a racist photo on Ralph Northam’s medical school yearbook page has ended inconclusively, according to the author, who has written a book that offers new details about the 2019 scandal and the former governor’s remarkable political survival.
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Serena’s legacy: Plenty of wins, plenty of stands on issues
A couple of days before Serena Williams claimed the 22nd of her 23 Grand Slam singles titles at Wimbledon in 2016, she was asked what she makes of it when people refer to her as one of history’s greatest female athletes. Her reply: She prefers being characterized as “one of the greatest athletes of all time.” That one, brief response from Williams said quite a lot — about her one-of-a- kind talent with a racket in hand, about her status as an icon, about her willingness to stand up for herself, about why women’s sports should not be thought of any differently than men’s sports. That all came to mind again Tuesday, when Williams indi- cated she is preparing to walk away from her professional tennis career as the start of the U.S. Open approaches on Aug. 29 and her 41st birthday next month nears. Yes, with shouts of “Come on!” marking the journey, she’s won the most major singles championships in the profes- sional era of tennis, which began in 1968; more than the 22 for Steffi Graf or Rafael Nadal, more than the 21 for Novak Djokovic, more than the 20 for Roger Federer, more than the 18 for Chris Evert or Martina Navratilova, more than anyone else. And, yes, Williams won a total of 73 tour-level singles titles and spent more than six years’ worth of weeks ranked No. 1. And she combined with older sister Venus to claim 14 Grand Slam women’s doubles titles. And then there are the four Olympic gold medals. Still, mere numbers can’t capture everything Williams has represented during a dis- tinguished career that began when she was a teenager in the 1990s and is remarkable for not just the successes but also the longevity, including a record10majorchampionships after turning 30. “She’s lasted longer than most, if not all, female tennis pros. She’s transcended tennis and become a leader on many important cultural, social and gender issues. She has lived an extraordinary life,” Evert wrote in a text message to The Associated Press, “and will undoubtedly continue to crash the glass ceiling in the future.” Indeed, what Williams did without a racket in her hand is rather noteworthy, and extends past the millions in endorse- ment deals; the flirtations with acting; the interest in fashion design and penchant for bring- ing the catwalk to the court with body suits and knee-high boots and whatever else she decided to try; the celebrity and place in pop culture; and, most recently, the work as a venture capitalist (“Seventy-eight per- cent of our portfolio happens to be companies started by women and people of color, because that’s who we are,” Williams said). “It is important to take a step back and think about everything that Serena has brought to our sport and what she has accomplished both on and off the court,” said Steve
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When tenants don’t pay, eviction is the price, says one landlord
Landlords are in trouble, too, according to Bobby L. McIntosh, who is in charge of 109 units in Richmond through his company, Bayside Properties and Management.
