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Northam, Gillespie square off in Northern Virginia debate
The two major party candidates in Virginia’s closely watched race for governor argued in mostly cordial tones Tuesday over taxes, President Trump and what Virginia should do with its numerous monuments to the Confederacy.
Jimmy Carter still drawing devotees to church
The pilgrims arrive early and from all over, gathering hours before daybreak in an old pecan grove that surrounds a country church. They come, they say, for a dose of simple decency and devotion wrapped up in a Bible lesson. The teacher is the 39th president of the United States, Jimmy Carter.
Youngkin inaugural plans include pricey dinner, music acts
Incoming Gov. Glenn A. Youngkin is planning a celebratory inaugural weekend that will include a mix of high-dollar ticketed events and other functions open to the public, according to a program that also touts an appearance by an unspecified Grammy-winning musical artist.
Toni Morrison, who transformed American literature to win Nobel and Pulitzer prizes, dies at 88
Nobel laureate Toni Morrison, a pioneer and reigning giant of modern literature whose imaginative power in “Beloved,” “Song of Solomon” and other works transformed American letters by dramatizing the pursuit of freedom within the boundaries of race, has died at age 88.
Gov. Northam announces plan to reopen schools in the fall
Richmond Public Schools teachers and students are to return to in-person classes after a long summer break, but with strict new social distancing guidelines aimed at preventing the spread of the coronavirus.
#MourningWhileBlack
Social media blows up after white priest kicks black family out of funeral
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington has apologized for a white priest kicking an African-American family out of their loved one’s funeral.
GOP Sen. Amanda Chase sues after being censured
A firebrand conservative state senator from Chesterfield County seeking the Republican nomination for governor filed a federal lawsuit Monday that seeks to undo her legislative colleagues’ recent decision to censure her for an alleged “pattern of unacceptable conduct.”
Officer charged in killing motorist
“He purposely killed him.” That’s how an Ohio prosecutor described a white police officer’s gruesome actions in gunning down an unarmed African-American motorist he pulled over for not having a front license plate.
Jury recommends neo-Nazi spend life behind bars for death at Charlottesville rally
A Charlottesville jury says the man who killed 32-year-old paralegal Heather Heyer and injured nearly 40 other people with his car during a neo-Nazi rally last year should spend the rest of his life in prison.
Black media icons scaling back, possibly closing
It has been a rough few days for the black media. First, Ebony magazine and its sister publication, JET magazine, may be closing their doors for good. And then the publisher of the storied Chicago Defender newspaper announced last week that it will no longer publish a print version.
Justice denied
Ferguson, N.Y. cases expose injustices, spark change
A national movement is underway to address police brutality against African-American men and the criminalization of communities of color.
U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear appeal of N.C. laws targeting African-American voters
In a victory for African-American and other nonwhite voters in North Carolina, the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday refused to lift the racist label that a federal appeals court in Richmond pinned on the state.
Ashe statue to stay put
On Richmond’s Monument Avenue, the collection of towering statues honoring Confederate veterans was interrupted by one noticeably different: A monument to hometown tennis legend and human rights activist Arthur Ashe Jr.
Mormon church denounces white supremacy, angering some members
The Mormon church is specifically condemning white supremacist attitudes in its strongest statement since a Virginia rally over a Confederate monument descended into deadly violence.
Black activist says he took over neo-Nazi group to kill it
A black activist said he has taken the helm of what has been billed as one of the nation’s largest neo-Nazi groups to put it out of business.
Incoming U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson celebrated at White House ceremony
“In my family, it took just one generation to go from segregation to the Supreme Court of the United States.” With those words, incoming Justice Ketanji Brown Jack- son acknowledged both the struggles and progress of Black Americans in her lifetime.
Missy Elliott honored at MTV Awards
Missy Elliott, the rapper-singer-songwriter-producer-dancer and Portsmouth native whose music videos have moved the needle over the last two decades, was honored at the 2019 MTV Video Music Awards, where Taylor Swift also took center stage with her gay pride anthem, “You Need to Calm Down.”
U.S. Supreme Court upholds Bladensburg Peace Cross
A 40-foot-tall cross-shaped war memorial standing on public land in Maryland does not represent an impermissible government endorsement of religion, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled in a major decision testing the boundaries of the federal Constitution’s separation of church and state.
House sit-in
Scores of Democratic lawmakers, led by civil rights icon Rep. John Lewis, refuse to leave the U.S. House of Representatives until gun control measures are passed
Democratic lawmakers, using 1960s tactics to press their point, staged an surprise sit-in on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday, demanding the chamber remain in session until the Republican leadership agrees to a vote on gun control legislation.
Oprah for president?
That’s the buzz since the 63-year-old media mogul stole the show at the Golden Globe Awards on Sunday night with her speech accepting the Cecil B. DeMille Award for lifetime achievement.
