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‘Richmond … you rock’
Thanks go out to Mayor Dwight C. Jones, police officials from various localities and volunteers from around the world, officials from various localities and the different agencies that showcased Richmond as a world-class city.
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18-story apartment tower planned for Belvidere, Grace streets
Richmond is losing another gas station on the edge of Downtown, but is set to gain a $100 million apartment tower in exchange.
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Grace Street development plan on hold
Plans to develop nearly a block of city property on East Grace Street into an $86 million office, hotel and residential complex are headed back to the drawing board after Mayor Levar M. Stoney withdrew legislation on the project. Bob Englander of CathFord Consulting, who proposed the project, said
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‘$20 at the store doesn’t do anything but make you sad’
I am a reader of your newspaper. And many times, you have things in your paper that hit home with me. I am 71 years old and live on North Side. I am thankful to the Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority for low-income housing.
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Governor: Texas gunman said he was going to ‘shoot up school’
The gunman who massacred 19 children and two teachers at an elementary school in Texas warned in online messages sent minutes before the attack that he had shot his grandmother and was going to shoot up a school, the governor said Wednesday.
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Dominion Energy GardenFest of Lights voted best in the nation
The Richmond region is now home to the country’s best “Botanical Garden Holiday Lights.” This year, voters helped Dominion Energy GardenFest of Lights at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden secure the number one spot in the USA Today 10 Best contest. The win comes after two consecutive years in the No. 2 spot.
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Tiger Woods blames medication for his DUI arrest
Former world No. 1 golfer Tiger Woods said an unexpected reaction to prescribed medications was to blame for his early-morning DUI arrest near his Jupiter Island home in Florida on Monday.
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Need protection?
Replicas of Terracotta Warriors up for auction
They were life-size terracotta depictions of soldiers protecting Qin Shihuang, the first emperor of China, and buried with him in Xi’an in 210 BCE to protect him in the afterlife.
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Falwell apologies for tweet with racist photo
Liberty University President Jerry Falwell Jr. apologized Monday for a tweet that included a racist photo that appeared on Gov. Ralph S. Northam’s medical school yearbook page decades ago.
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New type of renter’s insurance covers security deposit
When it comes to renting an apartment, one problem people face is the big outlay.
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Kaepernick, Reid reach settlement with NFL
In what amounts to a secret agreement, Colin Kaepernick and Eric Reid last week resolved their grievances with the NFL. They will receive an undisclosed settlement based on claims that NFL owners colluded against them as retaliation for kneeling during the playing of the national anthem.
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MJBL members pitch in for hurricane relief
The Metropolitan Junior Baseball League saw a huge turnout from the Richmond community during the group’s efforts to collect hurricane relief items last Saturday at The Diamond.
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ELECTION 2020: 5 candidates for Richmond mayor share vision
I decided to run for election for Richmond mayor because:
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Dr. Fauci promotes COVID-19 vaccines on local Zoom call
“We want you all to get vaccinated for your own protection, for that of your family and for your community,” Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, who leads the nation’s health efforts to combat COVID-19, told a Zoom audience of about 10,000 people on a call with Richmond and Virginia health officials Jan. 8.
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Smoking and public housing
Like many public housing residents, we were surprised to learn that smoking will be prohibited in all public housing apartments in Richmond beginning Aug. 1. The smoking ban was put in place nationally by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and will affect more than 1.2 million households, including 4,000 families living in Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority properties in the city.
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VCU grads urged to turn adversity into strength
This year’s graduates of Virginia Commonwealth University have redefined the American dream, university President Michael Rao told a packed audience in opening VCU’s commencement ceremony last Saturday.
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Personality: Fattah Muhammad
Spotlight on community activist and founder of RACE
Fattah Muhammad began marching in the streets of several North Side and East End neighborhoods in 1980 to help end violence plaguing these communities and encourage cooperation with Richmond law enforcement.
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She’s lovin’ it
Former Richmonder’s career with McDonald’s has made her a millionaire
Flipping burgers leads to millionaire status
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Reinstate Cornell Brooks
Black people have fared best when our collective interests and goals are held paramount. We’ve made the greatest headway when our assumed leaders are guided by principles of self-sacrifice above self-aggrandizement. I pray that we have the wisdom to remember and embrace these lessons learned “over a way that with tears has been watered ... through the blood of the slaughtered.” Since 1909, the NAACP has been the most recognized and venerated civil rights organization in the United States. Most Americans respect and admire the NAACP. Those of us 50 years old and older remember that, when intervening in civil rights matters, the NAACP often mitigated outcomes of interracial conflict to the benefit of often maligned African-American victims. It’s said, “Familiarity breeds contempt.” A lapse of time often adds to that contempt. Outside of “the faithful,” the NAACP’s reputation as a relevant player in the civil rights arena had diminished. This perception was especially true among youths who were more likely to ask the question, “What have you done for me lately?” While I am an NAACP life member and I’ve always seen its relevance, many people thought the organization had moved close to being irrelevant. Several episodes of questionable leadership did little to rehabilitate its reputation. For many, that changed in May 2014 with the selection of the Rev. Cornell William Brooks as national NAACP president and CEO. Lacking the bravado and ostentatiousness of many leaders of our community, Rev. Brooks came to the job as an experienced civil rights professional. A fourth generation A.M.E. minister and Yale-trained civil rights lawyer, Rev. Brooks was eminently qualified and well focused on directing the activities of the NAACP to meet contemporary imperatives. Three years ago, he inherited a staff demoralized by layoffs and uncertain funding. Now, fundraising is up and he had begun hiring additional staff to conduct the organization’s business. In nearly three years, Rev. Brooks has led the NAACP with purpose, dignity and skillful determination. His “hands-on, lead by example” approach to activism has inspired a new generation of youths to pick up the mantle of the NAACP. We have seen substantial participation and the increased membership of young people. Young people were constantly seen with Rev. Brooks demonstrating consistent, targeted action and participation in activities that gave renewed meaning to the concept of peaceful and intelligent resistance to injustice. Rev. Brooks is not a lip service leader. With the exception of being called away for related obligations, he walked every step of the two marches he organized between Ferguson and Jefferson City, Mo., and Selma, Ala., and Washington. The marchers and he became targets of racist snipers in Missouri and he remains under threat by domestic terrorists who would love nothing more than to stop his work. Rev. Brooks’ testimony against the confirmation of Sen. Jeff Sessions as U.S. attorney general was topped only by his sit-in and arrest in the Birmingham offices of Mr. Sessions. He gave national attention to the fact that the NAACP was once again a genuine player in the fight against injustice. This revitalized NAACP attracted a new following and, accordingly, online memberships increased significantly. For individuals and institutions alike, longevity can mistakenly be assumed to be the same as indispensability. Logic should inform that the only foundation of indispensability is in the sustainment of relevance. Under Rev. Brooks, the NAACP escaped the image of doing little and existing in outdated ineptitude to a state of true relevance. Sadly, the NAACP executive board has chosen to take a step backward by not renewing Rev. Brooks’ contract. I pray that decision will be reversed. Rev. Brooks was the right leader when he was chosen and remains the right leader for our challenging times. The board should reverse its ill-advised decision. The writer is president of the National Congress of Black Women.
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Exceptional? Data tell the story, by Lee H. Hamilton
Like most Americans, I have always considered the United States an exceptional country.
