All results / Stories / Free Press staff, wire reports
Virginia hopes to remove time capsule along with Lee statue
If a court clears the way, the state of Virginia expects to remove not just a soaring statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee from Richmond’s historic Monument Avenue, but also a little-known piece of history tucked inside the massive sculpture’s base: A 134-year-old time capsule.
Jay Z, Beyoncé bailed out Baltimore protesters
Power couple Jay Z and Beyoncé have privately donated tens of thousands of dollars to help bail out of jail demonstrators arrested while protesting police brutality in Baltimore and Ferguson, Mo., according to the hip-hop mogul’s ghost writer. Activist Dream Hampton, who worked with Jay Z on his 2010 autobiography “Decoded,” also said the couple wrote a “huge check” to the “Black Lives Matter” movement.
Former St. Philip’s rector consecrated as bishop of West Tenn.
The Rev. Phoebe Roaf, 55, former rector of St. Philip’s Episcopal Church in Richmond, was officially consecrated as bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of West Tennessee on May 4 in Memphis.
One down
Trump’s first year in office marked by controversy and protests
Less than 24 hours after Donald Trump took office, his presidency started generating controversy. Photographs showing that the crowd at President Trump’s swearing-in was smaller than at Barack Obama’s first presidential inauguration in 2009 caused the first ruckus in his administration — but not the last.
Hundreds join ‘Moral March on Manchin’ as he blocks voting rights legislation
CHARLESTON, W.Va. Hundreds of demonstrators outraged with U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin’s opposition to a sweeping overhaul of U.S. election law marched through West Virginia’s capital city Monday evening.
Simone Biles wins 7th title
There’s no disputing that Simone Biles is a champion. After Sunday, she is now a champion seven times over.
Legendary debate coach, Dr. Thomas F. Freeman Sr., dies at 100
Richmond native Thomas Franklin Freeman Sr. transformed historically black Texas Southern University into a national powerhouse in debate.
Democrats angered as Gov. Youngkin vetoes 25 bipartisan bills
Republican Gov. Glenn A. Youngkin vetoed 25 bills — including some that passed with broad bipartisan support — as he took action on more than 800 bills the divided legislature sent him during its regular session.
Senate passes major criminal justice reform package
The U.S. Senate voted 87-12 Tuesday to usher in the most substantial change to the 1990s tough-on-crime sentencing laws that have ballooned the federal prison population and created a criminal justice system that is seen as costly and unfair.
Former U.S. Sen. John Warner dies at 94
Flags are flying at half-staff over the nation’s capital in honor of former U.S. Sen. John W. Warner of Virginia who died Tuesday, May 25, 2021, at age 94.
Americans mark Juneteenth with parties, events and quiet reflection on the end of slavery
Americans across the country this weekend celebrated Juneteenth, marking the relatively new national holiday with cookouts, parades and other gatherings as they commemorated the end of slavery after the Civil War.
Acclaimed writer Paule Marshall, professor emeritus at VCU, dies at 90
Writer Paule Marshall, an exuberant and sharpened storyteller who in books such as “Daughters” and “Brown Girl, Brownstones” drew upon classic and vernacular literature and her mother’s kitchen conversations to narrate the divides between African-Americans and Caucasians, men and women, and modern and traditional cultures, died Monday, Aug. 20, 2019, in Richmond.
Ferguson police created ‘toxic environment’
Federal probe reveals racial bias, injustices aimed at African-Americans; cop cleared in death of Michael Brown
WASHINGTON A U.S. Justice Department investigation found sweeping patterns of racial bias within the Ferguson, Mo., police department that targeted African-Americans and created a “toxic environment,” with officers routinely using excessive force, issuing petty citations and making baseless traffic stops against them. But even in the face of a plethora of problems, the federal probe cleared a former white police officer in the fatal shooting of an unarmed black teenager there, Attorney General Eric Holder said Wednesday.
Breakfast with Bernie
Bernie Sanders had breakfast in New York with the Rev. Al Sharpton just hours after trouncing Hillary Clinton in the New Hampshire Democratic presidential nominating contest Tuesday. His meeting with the iconic civil rights leader marked the recognition by Mr. Sanders that his campaign must swiftly broaden its base of support if he has any chance of mounting a long-term challenge to Mrs. Clinton, who consistently polls better among African-American voters.
Elusive copper cornerstone box pulled from Lee pedestal, opened
Conservation experts at the Virginia Department of Historic Resources pulled books, money, ammunition, documents and other artifacts Tuesday from a long-sought-after time capsule found in the remnants of a pedestal on Richmond’s Monument Avenue that once held a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee.
Pharrell Williams says ‘toxic energy’ tanked 2nd ‘Something in the Water’ in Va. Beach
Hometown or no hometown, music superstar Pharrell Wil- liams is pulling his hugely successful “Something in the Water” music festival out of Virginia Beach.
Hair care products founder Joe Dudley dies
Joe Louis Dudley, who rose from humble beginnings and overcame a speech impediment to create a multimillion-dollar, Black-owned hair care company, died Friday, Feb. 9, 2024, at age 86. Funeral services were Monday, Feb. 19, at Mount Zion Baptist Church in Greensboro, N.C.
‘Bobby Jones Gospel’ signing off the air
For more than 34 years, people have watched “Bobby Jones Gospel” on the BET network for their Sunday morning inspiration. The show, led by the 76-year-old Grammy Award winner, features stirring performances and in-depth interviews. It has served as a springboard to fame for some of today’s leading gospel artists, including Yolanda Adams, Hezekiah Walker, Smokie Norful, Mary Mary and Kirk Franklin.
Civil rights groups to commemorate 57th anniversary of historic March on Washington
A series of events led by a coalition of civil rights groups such as the NAACP, the National Action Network and a coalition, including Martin Luther King III and the families of George Floyd, Eric Garner and Breonna Taylor, will commemorate the 57th anniversary of the historic March on Washington that was led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Amelia Boynton Robinson, civil rights activist, dies at 104
Free Press staff, wire reports MONTGOMERY, Ala. Amelia Boynton Robinson helped change America. The first African-American woman to run for Congress served on the front lines during the Civil Rights Movement. Almost beaten to death in a march for voting rights in 1965, she was among those who pushed the country to pass a strong law to finally ensure African-Americans could cast a ballot without facing literacy tests, poll taxes and vicious attacks.
