Story
U.S. Black Chambers launches ‘Buy-Black, Bank-Black’ initiative
It is the No.1 reason that black-owned businesses fail: Not enough money and not enough places to get it.
Story
Fighting the corruption of power, by Ben Jealous
We keep learning more about the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. And we keep learning more about the many schemes former President Trump and his team tried to use to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
Story
‘Quiet quitting’ is not just for ‘silly season’, by Clarence Page
Just as I was wondering whether various crises were coming too fast to allow our usual “silly season” of oddball late summer news, an appropriately weird-sounding social trend popped up on social networks and intriguingly struck a nerve. It’s called “quiet quitting.”
Story
Recovery and reflection
Hawaii works to identify wildfire’s 107 dead
Hawaii Hawaii officials worked painstakingly to identify the 107 people confirmed killed in wildfires that ravaged Maui and expected to release the first names Tuesday, even as teams intensified the search for more dead in neighborhoods reduced to ash.
Story
High 5!
Denver Nuggets win first NBA title over Miami Heat in Game 5
This is no joke. The Denver Nuggets, led by Nikola Jokic, aka “The Joker,” are NBA champs for the first time since entering the league 47 years ago.
Story
11 U.S. mayors commit to reparations as national example
Eleven U.S. mayors — from Los Angeles to tiny Tullahassee, Okla., — have pledged to pay reparations for slavery to a small group of Black residents in their cities, saying their aim is to set an example for the federal government on how a nationwide program could work.
Story
Barrier-breaking golfer Lee Elder being honored by the Masters with scholarship
In a year marked by racial injustice, Augusta National announced Monday it would honor Lee Elder with two scholar- ships in his name at Paine College and an honorary tee shot next year for the first Black player in the Masters.
Story
City property values on the rise in many areas
Richmond’s land book of assessed values shows why affordable housing is now a big issue.
Story
’A mass loss of control’: Answers sought in deadly Houston concert
When rapper Travis Scott’s sold-out concert in Houston became a deadly scene of panic and danger in the surging crowd, Edgar Acosta began worrying about his son, who wasn’t answering his phone.
Story
No rights without voting rights, by Julianne Malveaux
Black women leaders have been working on the issue of voting rights, calling for the passage of the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, the Freedom to Vote Act, the Build Back Better Reconciliation Act and D.C. Statehood.
Story
Wrinkle in process means RPS doesn’t have access to city-managed school construction money
Richmond Public Schools has hit an unexpected roadblock on its way to hiring an architectural team to design a replacement for decaying George Wythe High School.
Story
Biden-Harris administration’s LNG decision means hope, by Ben Jealous
James Hiatt lives in an area along the Mississippi River in Louisiana that has been dubbed “Cancer Alley.” Teeming with chemical plants and oil and gas refineries, the air the residents of this area breathe contains more carcinogens than anywhere else in the country.
Story
’Tis the season for food justice, by Julianne Malveaux
Since early November, we’ve witnessed appeals to donate to food banks, food baskets and community food events.
Story
VUU upsets VSU before crowd of 15,000
Panthers, Broncos set for CIAA rematch
Virginia Union University is on its way to scratching more than a two-decade old football itch.
Story
America’s ticking fiscal time clock, by Charlene Crowell
For the second time this year, Congress’ inability to reach consensus on essential fiscal legislation has devolved into largely partisan bickering and literal, last-minute temporary financial Band-Aids. On Sept. 30, the last day of the 2022-2023 federal fiscal year, a continuing resolution (CR) provided a 45-day reprieve, just in time to meet a midnight deadline that would have resulted in a federal government shutdown.
Story
The criminalization of poverty
The recent U.S. Department of Justice report on police and court practices in Ferguson, Mo., put a much needed spotlight on how a predatory system of enforcement of minor misdemeanors and compounding fines can trap low-income people in a never-ending cycle of debt, poverty and jail. This included outrageous fines for minor infractions, such as failing to show proof of insurance and letting grass and weeds in a yard get too high. In one case, a woman who parked her car illegally in 2007 and couldn’t pay the initial $151 fee has since been arrested twice, spent six days in jail, paid $550 to a city court and, as of 2014, still owed the city $541 in fines, all as a result of the unpaid parking ticket. The Department of Justice found each year Ferguson set targets for the police and courts to generate more and more money from municipal fines. And Ferguson isn’t alone. The criminalization of poverty is a growing trend in states and localities across the country.
Story
New leaf in the new year
In two weeks, we will celebrate a new year. In four weeks, the Virginia General Assembly will start its 2016 legislative session. Their actions will determine whether the state springs forward with progress and uplift for all, or will be mired in a bog of callous self-interests and regressive politics.
Story
Story
Rep. Scott’s Labor Day cookout
A 40-year tradition of serving hot dogs, politics
How often can you walk into a cookout, grab a hot dog and chat with U.S. senators, several Virginia mayors and perhaps the governor, without paying thousands?
Story
VCU’s Institute of Contemporary Art to bring artwork to local barbershops, salons
Salons and barbershops have been central communication hubs in African-American communities for as long as they have existed.
