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As diversity, equity and inclusion comes under legal attack, companies quietly alter their programs
Sophia Danner-Okotie’s has ambitious plans for her Nigerian-inspired clothing line but a sense of dread has punctured her optimism as she watches a legal battle being waged against a small venture capital firm that has provided funding instrumental to her boutique brand’s growth.
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Legal freedom fighters
At 75, ODBA’s struggle for justice continues
When black lawyers from across Virginia gathered in Richmond last week to mark the 75th anniversary of the Old Dominion Bar Association, far more than nostalgia was on their minds.
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Showing up and showing out
HBCU football attracted more fans this season
Football attendance was way up this season at Norfolk State University and Hampton University.
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New UR program offers beer brewer certificate
Responding to the explosion of breweries in Central Virginia, the University of Richmond will begin offering this fall a yearlong program to train professional brewers.
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VSU opens football season in Norfolk at Labor Day clasic
Virginia State University hopes to start its 2018 football season the same way it opened the 2017 season — by defeating Norfolk State University in the Labor Day Classic.
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Women power
Military veteran becomes first-time homeowner through Habitat initiative
Spring Cambric broke down in tears as she stood surrounded by family and friends last Saturday on the front porch of her new North Side home.
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Investing in people and communities, by Ben Jealous
President Biden and the Democratic Congress have come through with a $1.2 trillion infrastructure package — something the previous president repeatedly promised but never delivered.
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’Where are people to go?’
Cityscape: Slices of life and scenes in Richmond
Homeless residents of a small tent city outside the vacant Richmond Coliseum received a final notice to move before a 12-foot fence blocking access is completed. The fence is being installed as a squad of city workers prepare to salvage useful items from the building before its demolition.
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Richmond area toy drives and distribution
Christmas drives are underway to try to ensure that children in struggling families receive gifts.
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Henrico CARES aims to strengthen youth mental health services
Henrico County and Henrico County Public Schools (HCPS) are implementing the Henrico CARES plan with the goal to increase availability of mental health services in schools and to expand efforts of prevention, support, and early and intensive intervention for youth mental health, substance abuse and violence.
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Center awaits end of bankruptcy
The 300-member Richmond Christian Center is poised to leave bankruptcy after nearly two years, with the finances of the South Side church restored.
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Woodland, Evergreen cemeteries for sale
A Richmond foundation is pursuing the purchase of two historic, but privately held African-American cemeteries, the Free Press has learned.
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38-year-old scientist crosses into the realm of preserving historic African-American cemetery
Woodland Cemetery, the burial place of humanitarian and tennis great Arthur Ashe Jr. and thousands of other African-Americans, is looking spiffier, thanks to the dogged persistence of one man, John William Joseph Slavin.
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Jesse Jackson steps back from PUSH
The Rev. Jesse Jackson announced Saturday that he will step down as president of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, the Chicago-based civil rights group he founded more than 50 years ago.
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VCU still slays on the road
The road, almost no matter where it led, used to be a scary proposition for Virginia Commonwealth University basketball.
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Ora Lomax, longtime NAACP leader, civil rights advocate, dies at 86
For decades, black women could only work behind the scenes at white-owned retail stores in Richmond during the harsh era of segregation. Ora Mae Perry Lomax helped change all that.