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Personality: Zenobia Cardwell
Spotlight on founder of 125 Black Women at Boushall Middle School
Zenobia Cardwell says she always has been active and involved in the community, so much so that she won the School Spirit Award her senior year as a student in the International Baccalaureate Program at Thomas Jefferson High School.
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Personality: Scottessa A. Hurte
Spotlight on Metropolitan Business League board chair
Scottessa A. Hurte has been a source of aid and guidance for Virginia’s small, women and minority-owned businesses during years of struggle.
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Personality: Genevieve A. Roberts
Spotlight on board president of YWCA Richmond
The presence of COVID-19 hasn’t slowed down YWCA Richmond, which is preparing to celebrate 40 years of recognizing women leaders in education, volunteerism and more with its Outstanding Women Awards on Friday, Oct. 16.
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Personality: Kenda Sutton-EL
Spotlight on co-founder and board president of Birth in Color RVA
Kenda Sutton-EL knows that all births aren’t equal in Virginia.
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Foremost wishes for the new year
With the start of 2023, the Richmond Free Press invited select local officials to share their foremost wishes for the new year. Here are their responses:
With the start of 2023, the Richmond Free Press invited select local officials to share their foremost wishes for the new year.
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Personality: Brian Bell
Spotlight on Keep Virginia Cozy founder
Picking up trash and litter while hiking and backpacking trails throughout the United States may sound like a strange hobby. But Brian Bell said he has always felt compelled to do it from the time he was a Boy Scout.
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A Jackson Ward Journey
Unearthing the history and legacy of civil rights attorney Roland J. ‘Duke’ Ealey
When my wife, Sasha Finch, and I purchased the 1880s East Clay Street building on Jan. 4, 2012, it had been dormant for more than 10 years. Plywood covered its outside window and inside the level of disrepair was undeniable. A fire on the second floor had caused considerable damage to much of the property. Yet something drew us to this building. We saw beauty in this wonderful old brick structure. For five years we worked steadily on the property’s exterior, rebuilding damaged brick walls while preparing the interior for its eventual renovation.
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Personality: Shirley H. Scarborough
Spotlight on Cry Loud, Spare Not, Speak Up founder
For the past two years Shirley H. Scarborough has worked, in her own words, to create “Beauty for Ashe,” through her organization Cry Loud, Spare Not, Speak Up.
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From Senate subcommittee to Easter sermon: Raphael Warnock on life as a pastor-politician
Raphael Warnock, U.S. senator and Baptist pastor, was wrapping up his time on Capitol Hill before heading back to his native Georgia in time for what is perhaps the busiest week of the year for Christian clergy.
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Personality: Utibe O. Bassey
Spotlight on honorary chair of Centennial American Heart Association 2024 Richmond Heart Ball
Nigerian-born Utibe O. Bassey grew up in Connecticut and has family scattered far and wide, but none in Virginia. When she moved to Richmond in the summer of 2020 for a job with Dominion Energy, she was all alone and the pandemic was raging.
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Personality: Brent Timberlake
Spotlight on Greater Richmond Bar Foundation board president
The three words that Brent Timberlake used to describe himself — curious, hopeful and hard-working — play a role in many aspects of his life.
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Personality: Dr. Kenneth S. Kendler
Spotlight on winner of National Academy of Medicine prize
Dr. Kenneth S. Kendler says three things “get me up in the morning to come in to work.” “The first is my intense curiosity about how the mind and brain of human beings work,” says the director at Virginia Commonwealth University’s Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics.
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Personality: Reginald D. Ford
Spotlight on new head of Richmond Crusade for Voters
Reginald D. (for Darnell) Ford revs himself up for the day by going on a 10-mile run after waking at 5 a.m.
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Personality: Coach R. Vance Harmon
Spotlight on the Henrico High Warriors’ winning coach
As a basketball player at Virginia Union University, R. Vance Harmon drew attention for his shooting, his passing, his passion for the sport … and, oh yes, for the color of his skin. One of only two Caucasians ever to suit up for the historically black university, Coach Harmon played for the Panthers from 1990 to 1993, and was a member of VUU’s 1992 NCAA Division II national championship team.
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Personality: Gary L. Flowers
Spotlight on local coordinator of ASALH 101st annual convention
Black history — for people of all ethnic backgrounds — is a requirement and not an elective in understanding the common origins of all people, says Gary L. Flowers.
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Personality: Vanessa Myers Mason
Spotlight on co-chair of Sauté & Sizzle: Richmond Men Are Cooking
With Thanksgiving and Christmas around the corner, recipes for holiday staples are passed between family chefs like love letters.
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Personality: Amanda Lewis
Spotlight on Miss Black America Virginia 2016-17
As a child, Amanda Lewis always dreamed of participating in beauty pageants, but never felt that she was “seen as pretty or attractive.”
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‘Silence is violence’
Pastor and author Dr. Brenda Salter McNeil talks about racial justice and faith
Dr. Brenda Salter McNeil has been on stages, in classrooms and pulpits, preaching for decades about bridging racial divides. In her new book, “Becoming Brave — Finding the Courage to Pursue Racial Justice Now,” the associate professor of reconciliation at Seattle Pacific University said there is no more time to wait.
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More bad news
As consultant points out flaws, City Council majority gives Mayor Stoney a choice to withdraw the $1.5B Coliseum and Downtown development plan or have it stricken
The bad news just keeps coming for the doomed $1.5 billion proposal to replace the Richmond Coliseum and develop an area of Downtown around it.
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Joe Jackson was admired by some, detested by others
When Joe Jackson, the patriarch and architect behind the musical Jackson family dynasty died on June 27, some media organizations focused on the negative stories. However, at least one Richmonder who found his own success in show business, remembers the 89-year-old Mr. Jackson in a more positive light. “Joe Jackson was one of the greatest fathers of all time,” said Steve K. Branch, a former concert promoter and nightclub owner.
