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VUU’s Hamilton slugs her way to All-CIAA
Taylor Hamilton swings a powerful bat in the middle of Virginia Union University’s softball lineup. The junior infielder/outfielder from Willingboro, N.J., slugged 10 homers, drove in 40 runs and batted .435 this past spring, leading VUU to a 16-11 record. Her slugging percentage was a robust .848. Hamilton made All-CIAA and the All-CIAA Tournament Team.
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Tree, statue represent positive images
Re “Strange fruit? Critic: Oak evokes lynching image at Walker statue site,” Dec. 24-26 edition: Dr. Kim Coder of the Warnell School of Forestry at the University of Georgia wrote in November 2010 that the “live oak is an ecological and cultural icon of the Southern United States.
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Two new women’s groups chartered
Two national women’s organizations chartered local chapters in luncheon ceremonies last weekend. Above, 40 women were installed into the Richmond Metropolitan Area Chapter of the National Coalition of 100 Black Women Inc. The 33-year-old organization’s mission is to develop leaders and empower African-American women.
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Maggie Walker statue is 80 years overdue
I write with renewed disquiet over what appears to be the stalling of the Maggie Walker statue at the corner of Broad and Adams streets in Downtown.
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3 honorees to speak March 31
Two educators and a historian from the Richmond area will speak at a panel titled “Honoring Women Who Tell Our Stories.”
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Foundation to host summit for student athletes Aug. 23
A foundation that seeks to aid Richmond high school student athletes to consider their futures after they graduate will host its third annual summit for boys in sports this weekend.
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Book bans attack freedom to read, teach and learn, by Ben Jealous
Truth is a threat to authoritarianism. Reading is a path to truth. That’s why the freedom to read is essential to the freedom to learn. And that’s why the freedom to learn is often attacked by those who abuse power and those who cling to it.
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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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Harris takes his turn steering Vikings ship
‘I knew all along I’d come back,’ says TJ’s coach
Eric Harris, a familiar face around Richmond for decades, is the new head football coach at Thomas Jefferson High.
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Making space for history
Shakia Gullette Warren said the story of African-Americans begins in Virginia. That’s part of the reason she’s excited about being the Black History Museum and Cultural Center of Virginia’s executive director. She began work in May, succeeding former interim executive director Marland Buckner, who stepped down in June 2022. Mr. Buckner took the helm after Adele Johnson, the center’s longtime executive director, died in April 2021.
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Ezibu Muntu marks 50th year at Dogwood Dell program
Ezibu Muntu, the oldest African dance company in the Richmond area, will mark its 50th year with a “golden” dance program at Dogwood Dell at 8 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 5.
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Record number of Black candidates enter statewide races
A record 11 Black candidates are competing for the Democratic or Republican nomination for statewide office.
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Vaccine efforts surge with 100,000th dose given at Richmond Raceway
For Antwon Agee, the 34-year-old Richmond nurse expected a routine couple of hours last Saturday helping the Richmond and Henrico County health districts vaccinate people at Richmond Raceway, as he has for the last month.
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Why I went to jail Oct. 5, by Ben Jealous
Sometimes friends have to hold friends accountable. That’s why I got arrested outside the White House on Oct. 5. I was there with other civil rights and religious leaders to call on President Biden to do more to protect voting rights that are under attack.
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Salazar’s glad his travels landed him at VUU
If you’re living in Richmond with a cellphone area code of 562, you are likely far from home. Meet Jonathan Salazar, whose basketball road trip has taken him from his native Panama to Nevada to California to New Mexico, back to California, and now to Virginia Union University. His 562 Area Code stems from when he was in high school (St. John Bosco Technical Institute) in the Greater Los Angeles area.
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Hope for the ‘Cotton Curtain’
We won the Voting Rights Act of 1965 at Selma, combining the power of a principled mass movement led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and a compassionate president who did the right thing despite the heavy political price. What was that cost? President Lyndon B. Johnson said it best at the time when he told his aides that we’d “just lost the South for a generation.”
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Real need for Voting Rights Act
Aug. 6 marks the 50th anniversary of President Lyndon B. Johnson signing the 1965 Voting Rights Act into law. The Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the organization co-founded by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., will hold a Call to Action Rally at 9 a.m. Thursday at the Martin Luther King Memorial on the National Mall.
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VCU adjusting after Shaka Smart exit
Virginia Commonwealth University has a new basketball coaching staff and, so far, the roster of returning Rams has remained intact, albeit a scare. Here’s what has transpired since Coach Shaka Smart left VCU to become coach at the University of Texas, and Coach Will Wade, a former Smart assistant, was named his successor. Promising 6-foot-8 freshman Justin Tillman asked to be released for the purpose of transferring to another university, but has since changed his mind and remains a Ram. All three of Coach Smart’s high school recruits to VCU have asked for and been granted releases by VCU Athletic Director Ed McLaughlin.
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City Council greenlights Maggie Walker statue at triangle
Forget Monument Avenue and Abner Clay Park. The future statue of Richmond’s great lady, Maggie L. Walker, will stand at the intersection of Brook Road and Broad and Adams streets, the gateway to historic Jackson Ward where Mrs. Walker lived and won acclaim for her entrepreneurial spirit. Richmond City Council voted 6-1, with two abstentions, Monday night to reconfirm that decision for the third time in 15 years, clearing the way for the project.

