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In April, honor memories and seek reforms, by Thomas P. Kapsidelis
Spring ought to be a time of relief and promise. The days are longer and seemingly a bit sunnier, and the end of the school year is around the corner — and with it, the hopes of graduation days ahead.
Lots of baseball talent used to flow through HBCUs
Fans don’t often see them now in Major League baseball, but HBCU players have left a star-shaped mark on the sport. The illustrious list of long-ago standouts includes numerous Major League Hall of Famers and several others with local connections.
City Council postpones budget adoption
Despite calls to increase funding for Richmond Public Schools and address capital improvement issues, Richmond City Council delayed adopting its proposed $2.9 billion 2025 budget until May 6.
It’s not too early to vote
Early voting has begun across Virginia, with locations open as of Friday, May 3, for Democratic and Republican primary ballots ahead of the primary election Tuesday, June 18.
Investigation reveals more than 1,000 deaths from police use of non-lethal tactics
More than 1,000 people have died in the past decade after encounters with law enforcement, despite officers using non-lethal tactics, according to a recent investigation by The Associated Press, the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism, and PBS’ Frontline. The findings again show systemic issues within policing and raise questions about accountability and reform.
Oliver Hill’s haunting thoughts on landmark court case, by Carol A.O. Wolf
As we approach the 70th anniversary of the landmark Brown v. Board of Education decision of the U.S. Supreme Court outlawing segregation in public schools, I remain haunted, and yet hopeful, by the words the late Oliver W. Hill, one of the lawyers who helped bring the case to our nation’s highest court, shared with me one afternoon at his North Side home.
Fani Willis should have known better, by Clarence Page
It doesn’t take a law degree to know that the appearance of impropriety can be just as damaging as the real thing. Sometimes worse.
50 years after Va.’s first heart transplant, legislature honors Black donor who never gave consent
The first human-to-human heart transplant in the South occurred without donor consent from the injured Black man nor his family to help a white businessman live. Doctors in 1968 determined Bruce Tucker would not survive a severe head injury.
State of Black America 2024, by Marc H. Morial
“We’re building an America where we recognize the inherent dignity of every single person, and where every American has the chance to live a life of purpose and meaning. This is my vision for the future.” — President Biden, 2024 State of Black America
Controlling our own story
In war, one of the first things the enemy does is destroy his adversary’s ability to communicate within its ranks. Chaos likely ensues if a fighting force cannot communicate internally. Individual soldiers end up doing their own thing, left to their own devices. They make decisions based on their individual situations and in their individual interests. This allows the enemy to come in and pick them off one by one, using false information and propaganda, instilling fear of being captured or killed, or by making the individual feel abandoned and left with no hope of victory.
Stand up to corporate polluters
As Earth Day is upon us, we have a perfect opportunity to reflect on the important issue of climate change and what it means to the faith community. As people of faith and as people sharing this planet, it is clearly our moral obligation to address this growing and potentially catastrophic problem. Climate change affects all of us, including our children, our children’s children, and especially those in the poorest and most vulnerable communities among us. If we are truly our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers, we cannot ignore and leave them helpless to this public health threat.
Churches battling Selma’s ongoing problem — poverty
The world’s eyes were again on this small Alabama city, the epicenter of the voting rights battle 50 years ago. However, the crippling poverty that faith and community leaders grapple with daily was largely overlooked amid the commemoration of the long ago fight to end the exclusion of black people from the ballot box. For those who live here, the big march and the powerful words of President Obama were a passing moment with little impact on conditions. As Pastor Reginald Wells put it in considering the spotlight that Selma has been in, “We’re not benefiting. Oprah (Winfrey) was just here. They just filmed the movie ‘Selma’ here and the world is enjoying Selma” this weekend.
Ferguson’s double message
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder’s Ferguson investigation offers plenty for both sides of this dispute to hate. Seven months after the shooting of unarmed black teen Michael Brown by former white Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson sparked national protests and a #BlackLivesMatter movement, U.S. Justice Department sleuths found enough evidence to let the cop off the hook but indicted the criminal justice system in which he worked. That’s enraging to Michael Brown’s family and many protesters nationwide who wanted to see Mr. Wilson prosecuted. But the evidence kept pointing the other way, said Mr. Holder, who would hardly be called an apologist for police abuse or racial profilers.
No hooray for Hollywood
“Diversity is basically a description of independence. Diversity is what moves the ball for me, and I thought ‘give people a chance that have different points of view. Let the audience decide whether they like it or not. But give those voices a chance to be seen and heard.’” – Robert Redford, actor, director, and co-founder of Sundance Film Festival.
City registrar to seek $1.2M for new voting machines
Richmond is close to resolving its voting machine problem. Less than two weeks after the state banned the touch-screen machines Richmond and 29 other localities have used for 10 years, the city’s Electoral Board has selected replacement equipment.
GRTC adding unlimited rides
Pay one fare and get unlimited bus rides for a day, a week or a month. That’s an option that cash-strapped GRTC expects to begin offering by the fall in a bid to pump up ridership. GRTC won a 9-0 vote Tuesday from Richmond City Council to inaugurate what is regarded as the biggest change in fare pricing since the start of public transit in the city.
A ‘kill-and-cover-up’ police culture?
When public officials refuse to release a video that shows alleged misconduct by a police officer, you should only expect the worst. That’s particularly true in Chicago, where one “bad apple” too often has signaled a bushel of coverups and other problems underneath.
Huguenot wins opener over TJ
So far, so good. Huguenot High School is undefeated, untied and unscored upon, albeit after just one game in a new era of Falcons football. Led by Jameko Coleman’s defense and the rushing of Donte Lester, the Falcons are pumped after christening their new stadium last Saturday with a 14-0 win over Thomas Jefferson High School.
De Grasse racing toward ‘world’s fastest man’ title
When the throne for “world’s fastest man” eventually has a vacancy, Andre De Grasse seems primed to fill the seat. Since 2008, the “world’s fastest” title has been held by Usaian Bolt of Jamaica, a two-time Olympic gold medalist in 100- and 200-meter races.