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School Board approves $365.6M budget, after slashing $6M from Kamras plan
After months of quibbling, the Richmond School Board approved a $356.6 million budget Monday night that provides a 5 percent raise for teachers and other schools employees, but eliminates money for new student laptops, instructional contracts and cellphones for employees.
Tear-gassed protesters reach settlement with Richmond Police
A settlement has been reached in a lawsuit filed by demonstrators who were tear-gassed by Richmond Police during a social justice protest in June 2020 following the murder of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis Police.
Washington or Virginia Commanders? Va. aims to lure NFL team
Virginia lawmakers are advancing a measure intended to lure the Washington Commanders to the state by allowing the NFL team to forgo what could be $1 billion or more in future tax payments to help finance a potential new football stadium.
Personality: Dr. Arcelia ‘CC’ Jackson
Spotlight on board president of Mental Health America of Virginia
Dr. Arcelia “CC” Jackson is bringing a caring, thoughtful approach to the issues and stigmas surrounding mental health in the Richmond community across her multiple disciplines and roles.
Jordan Pendleton, 10, roars to lead role as young Simba in national tour of ‘The Lion King’
Richmond’s Jordan Pendleton has been selected to play young Simba in a national touring troupe of Disney’s “The Lion King.”
School Board rejects Kamras budget plan; misses deadline set by mayor
The Richmond School Board is still trying to come up with a finished spending plan to send to City Hall so it can be included in the proposed 2022-23 budget that Mayor Levar M. Stoney will present to City Council on Friday, March 4.
VUU hopes to repeat 1952 Baltimore CIAA glory
The last time Virginia Union University traveled to Baltimore for the CIAA Tournament, the Panthers returned to Richmond hoisting the championship trophy.
NFL’s race problem and Robert F. Smith, by Benjamin Chavis Jr.
Even before former Miami Dolphins Coach Brian Flores filed a class action lawsuit against the NFL claiming the league discriminated against Black coaches in their hiring practices, it was pretty clear that professional football has a race issue. The Insti- tute for Diver- sity and Ethics in Sport at the University of Central Flor- ida recently found that, in 2021, around 71 percent of the players in the NFL were people of color, while only a quarter were white. Yet of the league’s 32 teams, only three head coaches are people of color. And only two team own- ers are non-white—Jacksonville Jaguars’ owner Shahid Kahn is a Pakistani-American, and Kim Pegula, a Korean American, is a co-owner of the Buffalo Bills. In a league whose players are overwhelmingly Black, there needs to be more representation in the front office of people who look like the athletes that take the gridiron each Sunday. With the Denver Broncos expected to hit the market sometime this offseason, now is probably the best time in the 101-year history of the NFL for the league to have its first Black team owner and to begin to change the plantation mentality that has plagued professional football for decades. When considering potential buyers of the team, one name continually rises above the rest— Robert F. Smith. Mr. Smith is the 59-year-old founder of private equity firm Vista Equity Partners whose net worth is estimated to be around $6.7 billion. He may not have the star power that other potential buyers do, i.e., former Broncos quarterbacks Peyton Manning and John Elway or Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. But what he does have Benjamin Chavis Jr. is a long track record of success in the largely white world of investment. The Broncos could certainly use some of Mr. Smith’s magic given that the team hasn’t had a winning record since the 2015-16 season when they won the Super Bowl. Putting aside Mr. Smith’s investing acumen and ability to grow emerging businesses, his up-from-the-bootstraps story and expansive philanthropic work in the Black community would go a long way in changing the make-up of a NFL ownership from its traditional purview of stodgy, old white men. For one, Mr. Smith is a Denver native whose curiosity, intelligence and drive led him to a job with Bell Laboratories when he was just in high school. From there, he went on to Cornell and Columbia universities and jobs with Goodyear, Kraft and Goldman Sachs before founding Vista Equity in 2000. What his resume shows is that Mr. Smith is not afraid of break- ing down walls and inserting himself into traditional bastions of whiteness like the Ivy Leagues and private equity. If there is any Black man in America who could take on the lily-white structure of NFL ownership, it’s Robert F. Smith. If the NFL is serious about changing not just its image, but its relationships with its players and fan base, then Mr. Smith also would be an ideal partner for the league. He not only talks a big game about racial equity, but he backs it up by putting money where his mouth is. In 2019, Mr. Smith spent $34 million of his own money to settle the loan debt for the nearly 400 students who graduated that spring from Morehouse College. He also donated $20 million to the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington—the largest by an individual donor to the museum at the time—and he helped found and donated $50 million to the Student Freedom Initiative, which aims to relieve the financial burdens on minority college students. Through Vista, Mr. Smith also has spearheaded the Southern Communities Initiative, a con- sortium of companies working to address problems facing communities of color in the South, where almost 60 per- cent of all Black Americans live. Through the SCI, he hopes to tackle pressing issues like substandard education and work- force development opportunities, housing and healthcare inequali- ties, the digital divide, limited access to capital and physical infrastructure failures in these communities. In an argument about integrat- ing professional football, Black athlete, activist and journalist Halley Harding wrote in the Los Angeles Tribune in 1941 that “most persons, corporations or businesses almost always forget the people or incidents that made them big.” Mr. Harding added: “This story is about a great American sport (football) that took all the aid the colored American could give and then as soon as it became ‘big league,’ promptly put a bar up against the very backbone of its existence.” These words could just as aptly be applied to the NFL today as they did in the 1940s. But now, as America once again re-examines its turbulent past when it comes to race, the NFL probably has its best chance in years to right a glaring gap in its leadership when it comes to the Broncos. And if there is anyone who can fill that gap, it’s Robert F. Smith. The writer is president and chief executive officer of the National Newspaper Publishers Association.
Cancel student loan debt, by Charlene Crowell
One of President Biden’s first executive actions exercised his authority granted in the Higher Education Act.
Black Muslim life honored in new online portrait exhibit
A new online exhibit featuring portraits of Black Muslims was launched earlier this month by Sapelo Square, a Black Muslim education and media collective.
VUU Panthers ready for CIAA Tournament in Baltimore
The Virginia Union University Panthers have taken care of important basketball business in Pennsylvania. The next stops on the team’s planned hoops itinerary are North Carolina, then Maryland and then, perhaps, the NCAA Tournament at points now unknown. Following a crucial 79- 71 victory last Saturday at Lincoln University in Pennsylvania, Coach Jay Butler’s squad has taken the pole position, steering into next week’s CIAA Tourna- ment in Baltimore. VUU will finish the regular season Saturday, Feb. 19, at Shaw University in Raleigh, N.C., before heading for the tournament in Baltimore, which starts Tuesday, Feb. 22. If the Panthers can hold on to the top spot in the CIAA Northern Division, their likely quarter final tournament opener would be Thursday, Feb. 24, at Royal Farms Arena. The CIAA Tournament finals are set for Saturday, Feb. 26. ESPN-Plus and ESPN-U will provide TV coverage throughout the week. VUU’s victory at Lincoln University put distance between the Panthers and the runner- up Lincoln Lions for the Northern Division top seed. VUU forward Robert Osborne received no mention in the preseason All-CIAA voting. But he’s due for much more recognition when the more important postseason All-CIAA team is announced next week. The 6-foot-5, 230-pound junior powerhouse out of Hermitage High School in Henrico County was at his burly best at Lincoln, hitting 12 of 20 field goals and scoring 26 points. Jordan Peebles, the pogo-stick senior for- ward from Emporia, added 19 points and nine rebounds at Lincoln and is always a best-bet for the highlight reels. In only 20.5 minutes per game, Osborne leads the balanced Panthers in scoring (12.6 points per game), field goal percentage (.573)
10 players from Va. schools selected for inaugural HBCU Legacy Bowl in NOLA
The state of Virginia will be well represented at the inaugural HBCU Legacy Bowl set for Saturday, Feb. 19, in New Orleans.
L.A. Rams put a ring on it
Put a ring on it. As an exclamation point to winning Super Bowl LVI, the Los Angeles Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald triumphantly pointed to the ring finger on his left hand. Now the NFL’s most ferocious pass rusher will have a Super Bowl ring to go with his extensive collection of individual awards that include three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year.
Black History Month events continue
Black History Month is an annual celebration of achievements by African-Americans and a time for recognizing their central role in U.S. history.
Overcoming NFL’s shameful history, by Marc H. Morial
“More than half the players in the NFL are Black, and most coaches have played the game at some level. That would seem to be the perfect recipe for Black coaches to find success. But most NFL owners have been white men, and they have seldom been willing to let African Americans or Latinos call plays — either on the field or from the sidelines. This is no different from when franchises presumed that Black players weren’t smart enough to play quarterback and lacked leadership skills to command men. The league’s paltry record of hiring minority head coaches comes from the same mindset. And its primary effort to address the problem has been a failure, because a policy can’t compensate for ignorance.”— Jemele Hill
HOME to receive $1.1M from landmark multimillion-dollar bias settlement with Fannie Mae
It took six years, but a national mortgage company has finally agreed to accept responsibility for its racial bias in handling foreclosed property.
VUU’s on a roll at home – and to CIAA Tournament
The countdown to Baltimore and the CIAA Tournament has begun, and few teams appear more prepared for takeoff than the Virginia Union University Panthers.
Black History Month events continue
Black History Month is an annual celebration of achievements by African-Americans and a time for recognizing their central role in U.S. history. The event grew out of “Negro History Week,” the brainchild of noted historian Dr. Carter G. Woodson and other prominent African-Americans.
Disdain for the people
We are gravely concerned by the growing disdain the Youngkin administration and his GOP and Democratic supporters have for the people of the Commonwealth.
What will the Black History Museum leave out with Confederate statues?
Re “Confederate pedestals out: Grass and landscaping to soon replace dead soldiers,” Free Press Feb. 3-5 edition:
