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A ‘woke’ military? Don’t forget the messy race relations that got us here, by Clarence Page
Recent Republican moves to limit diversity training and transgender rights and other hot button controversies stemming from the annual defense authorization bill remind me of my own days in uniform back when some of those diversity policies were being created.
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It’s time to act, by Jesse Jackson
If things don’t add up, it makes sense to see if something has been left out of the equation. That’s the case today. The experts tell us that the economy is as good as it has been in decades – unem- ployment at record lows, inflation under control, wages finally rising faster than prices. Yet, most people are unhappy and pessimistic. President Biden’s approval rating is still underwater. Donald Trump, his likely opponent in the presidential race, is even less popular. What’s going on?
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Historically Black fraternity drops Florida for convention because of DeSantis policies
The oldest historically Black collegiate fraternity in the U.S. said it is relocating a planned convention in two years from Florida because of what it described as Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration’s “harmful, racist and insensitive” policies toward African-Americans.
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VSU, NSU to play charity baseball
Time for the “old-timers” to loosen up their arms and rub a little oil into their fielding gloves.
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Published on July 27, 2023
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Thumbs up: Circuit court OKs casino referendum for Nov. 7 ballot
Voters have the power to change South Side’s ‘economic trajectory,’ says Mayor
Richmond voters are all but certain to have a second chance to decide whether the city should host a casino resort.
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Bold beginnings
RPS pilots new program at 2 schools
It was bright and sunny Monday morning when Angela Swafford brought her sons, Zarkarin and Zionyah, back to school. While other Richmond students and parents are still in the middle of the summer break, Ms. Swafford was one of the first of many parents escorting their children to Fairfield Court Elementary School this week as part of a pilot program extending the school’s semester from 180 to 200 days.
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For Emmett Till’s family, national monument proclamation cements his inclusion in the American story
When President Biden signed a proclamation Tuesday establishing a national monument honoring Emmett Till and his mother, Mamie Till-Mobley, it marked the fulfillment of a promise Till’s relatives made after his death 68 years ago. The Black teenager from Chicago, whose abduction, torture and killing in Mississippi in 1955 helped propel the Civil Rights Movement, is now an American story, not just a civil rights story, said Mr. Till’s cousin the Rev. Wheeler Parker Jr. “It has been quite a journey for me from the darkness to the light,” Mr. Parker said during a proclamation signing ceremony at the White House attended by dozens, including other
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At International African American Museum opening, a reclaiming of sacred ground for enslaved kin
When the International African American Museum opened to the public last month in South Carolina, it became a new site of homecoming and pilgrimage for descendants of enslaved Africans whose arrival in the Western Hemisphere begins on the docks of the low country coast.
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Personality: Tiya Williams
Spotlight on Richmond Metropolitan Habitat for Humanity board chairman
Tiya Williams, a board member of Richmond Metropolitan Habitat for Humanity since 2015 and the outgoing board chair, knows from personal experience the life-changing effect the nonprofit can have on people’s lives.
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VSU’s legacy of musical excellence
Earlier this year it was announced that Virginia State University was awarded the prestigious All-Steinway School designation — a recognition of their commitment to providing only pianos from the Steinway & Sons company for students and faculty to use.
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Council approves Highland Park housing units, ban on wild animals, and more honorary street signs
Rushing to get to their August recess, City Council spent less than 90 minutes passing more than 40 pieces of mostly routine legislation that largely involved approvals of special use permits for development and authorizations for future transportation projects.
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RRHA prepares to launch home-buying initiative
Richmond is preparing to become the first place in the country to test a revamped federal regulation aimed toward making it easier for people who hold housing vouchers or live in public housing to buy homes. Describing it as a “groundbreaking and historic ini- tiative” that would build wealth for those who qualify, Steven B. Nesmith, the chief executive officer for the Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority,
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Free community testing for COVID-19 continues
The Richmond and Henrico County health districts are offering testing at the following locations:
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DHR approves 7 state historical highway markers
City’s African burial ground, Washington Park to be recognized; Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup hailed
The Virginia Board of Historic Resources recently approved seven new historical markers that will be placed along roadsides in Virginia. The signs will highlight the City of Richmond’s first municipal African burial ground; three communities founded by formerly enslaved African-Americans after the Civil War; and the life and work of Arthur Crudup, a 20th century blues musician of the Eastern Shore whose song, “That’s All Right,” launched the career of Elvis Presley.
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Slavery was good?
Africans were so lucky to be captured, shipped in torturous conditions away from their homeland, stripped of their languages, kinship, religion and culture and bound into perpetual servitude in America so that they could learn “useful skills.” Pretty preposterous, right? Not for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
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All is forgiven? by Charlene Crowell
When the Biden Administration announced its latest initiative to reduce the nation’s unsustainable trillion dollar student debt, both borrowers and advocates rejoiced. In the coming weeks an estimated 804,000 student loan borrowers will together receive $39 billion in federal loan debt cancellations.
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Biden names longtime Hill aide as his legislative affairs director
President Biden is tapping Shuwanza Goff — a veteran congressional aide who also served as his main point of contact to the House at the start of the administration — as his new director of legislative affairs, making her the first Black woman to be the White House’s chief emissary to Capitol Hill.
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Bobby Dandridge recognized in Bullets’ D.C. Sports Hall of Fame induction
Native Richmonder Bobby Dandridge, along with the entire 1977-1978 Washington Bullets, have been inducted into the Washington, D.C. Sports Hall of Fame.
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Jacoby Brissett’s experience is a win for Commanders
For every Plan A, there needs to be a Plan B. For right now, that’s quarterback Jacoby Brissett with the Washington Commanders.