Graham is VUU’s human stop sign
Shamar Graham wears jersey No. 36, but an octagon stop sign in maroon and steel colors might better describe his gridiron duties. Not much in the way of ball carriers or pass receivers get past Virginia Union University’s aggressive, always ready to rumble linebacker out of nearby (3.2 miles apart) Thomas Jefferson High. “You don’t get 80 tackles standing around in a great defense like ours,” Coach Alvin Parker said. “Shamar makes plays ... he’s a playmaker.” In his first season as a starter, Graham had 84 tackles in 2022, including 7.5 for losses. He added two sacks, and three passes broke up. “I like to go full speed to the ball, sideline to sideline ... and never give up on a play,” Graham said. His ability to crush oppo- nent’s best-laid plans has earned him a nickname – “Showtime.” Among all returning CIAA players, Graham has the most tackles from the 2022 season. “He plays at such a high speed,” Coach Parker said. “He sees where the ball is going, and he goes after it.” The 6-foot-1, 225-pound Graham was here, there and ev- erywhere in a defensive unit that dominated opponents in a 9-2 season that produced an NCAA Division II invitation. Allowing just 17.9 points per game, VUU ranked second in the CIAA behind only conference champion Fayetteville State (17.3). Graham hails from a winning background. As a TJ senior in 2019, he earned All-State honors as a running back and linebacker as the Vikings reached the Class 2 state semifinals. The Richmonder is just warming up at VUU. Despite his tackling heroics, he didn’t make All-CIAA as a sophomore. That’s an award he’s in line for in 2023. The stop sign isn’t going away. There is good news and bad news regarding players coming and going. All-CIAA receiver John Jiles entered the transfer portal and will not likely be back, according to Coach Parker. The North Carolina native caught 40 passes for 627 yards and nine TDs last season after transferring to VUU from Fort Scott Community College in Kansas. On the plus side, 6-foot-3, 215-pound quarterback J’Bore Gibbs, a former starter at FCS power South Dakota State, has transferred to VUU where he will compete with returnees Chris- tian Reid and R.J. Rosales. Gibbs, a native Chicagoan, had a banner freshman year at South Dakota State in 2019 before suffering a knee injury. He later transferred to the University of Idaho where he had yet another knee injury.
VCU Rams score victories in Greece
New VCU basketball Coach Ryan Odom is piling up the miles on his “Odometer” before his first season begins.
Simone Biles dazzles in her return from a 2-year layoff to dominate the U.S. Classic
Simone Biles spent two years trying to distance herself from those strange days in Tokyo and all the outside noise that came along with it.
Former VUU star Fairley dies
Nathan Fairley, a swift, bruising fullback during a highly successful era of Virginia Union football, died Monday, July 31, 2023, of natural causes. He was 65.
Down Home Family Reunion is ‘Bringing the World Home’
The 32nd Annual Down Home Family Re- union will bring music, dance, stories, food, shopping and enrichment to Jackson Ward’s Abner Clay Park on Saturday, Aug. 19. Presented by the Elegba Folklore Society, this year’s cultural arts festival highlights “A Celebration of African American Folklife.”
Summer sounds visit Highland Park
The St. Elizabeth Catholic Church Jazz & Food Festival bills itself as blending traditional and contemporary jazz with great food in a Christian, family-oriented atmosphere.
Services scheduled for Dr. Adelaide Winfree Simpson
Dr. Adelaide Winfree Simpson loved helping people learn to cope with challenges, deal with traumas and handle the troubles in their life. For more 36 years, she worked with a wide array of individuals as a practicing clinical psychologist in the Richmond area.
Richmond Electoral Board to reverse course
The Richmond Electoral Board is preparing to retreat from its controversial and evidently illegal plan to eliminate two early voting sites for the upcoming Tuesday, Nov. 7, general election, one at Hickory Hill Community Center in South Side and the other at City Hall. Hit by strong backlash after the vote last month to shutter those sites as well as a stern, official legal opinion stating the action violated state law, the Republican-led board already has scheduled a special meeting for Friday, Aug. 4, to reverse course.
City reverses course on Hickory Hill
In a surprise reversal, City Hall has dropped its plan to build a new training building for the city Fire Department on 2 acres of lawn at the Hickory Hill Community Center in South Side after a two-year effort to make it happen.
Goldman prepares to sue over casino
In mid-June, Richmond City Council voted 8-1 to select RVA Entertainment Holdings LLC as its preferred choice to operate a resort casino in the city — setting the stage for a second attempt to win city voter support for a gambling operation that was defeated two years ago. However, political strategist Paul Goldman believes the no-bid award to the company could violate a provision of the state constitution as well as the Virginia Public Procurement Act. He said he is preparing a lawsuit to test whether the city was required to go through a bidding process before making what amounts to a perpetual right for that company to operate the casino.
‘He took the bait’
Kamala Harris pushes back over Florida’s new teachings on slavery
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, facing heavy criticism for defending “anti-woke” teaching in Florida, this week teed up an unusual proposal to the nation’s first Black vice president: Come debate the merits of the state’s new curriculum on African-American history.
Rep. McClellan addresses climate crisis during museum roundtable
Congresswoman Jennifer McClellan, a member of the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee, was joined by National Aeronautics and Space Administration and Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy on Monday to tour the Science Museum of Virginia’s exhibit, “Space: An Out-of-Gravity Experience.”
Good times, good cause
Many South Side residents celebrated the 40th anniversary of National Night Out in Richmond at Hobson Lodge on Tuesday. During the event, Mayor Levar M. Stoney issued a proclamation commemorating the 40th year celebrating police and community partnership.
Henrietta Lacks’ family settles lawsuit with biotech company
More than 70 years after doctors at Johns Hopkins Hospital took Henrietta Lacks’ cervical cells without her knowledge, a lawyer for her descendants said they have reached a settlement with a biotechnology company that they accused of reaping billions of dollars from a racist medical system.
Dr. Cora S. Salzberg, a state, national and international champion of education, dies at age 81
Dr. Cora Slade Salzberg, a leader in promoting higher education in Virginia and the leader of The Links’ national program aimed at aiding underachieving K-12 students to become more successful in school, has died.
Music week features folk, hip-hop, jazz, metal, pop, rock, R&B and more
Entertainment will be in the spotlight during the first ever Richmond Music Week.
Meade clears Byers for takeoff
If Jada Byers is the leading man at Virginia Union University, then Justin Meade represents the powerful supporting cast.
Free community testing for COVID-19 continues
The Richmond and Henrico County health districts are offering testing at the following locations:
Trump indicted for efforts to overturn 2020 election and block transfer of power
Donald Trump was indicted on felony charges Tuesday for working to overturn the results of the 2020 election in the run-up to the violent Jan. 6, 2021, riot by his supporters at the U.S. Capitol, with the Justice Department acting to hold him accountable for an unprecedented effort to block the peaceful transfer of presidential power and threaten American democracy.
