
City Council authorizes mayor to accept Lee monument and land from state
The traffic circle at Monument and Allen avenues where the giant monument to Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee once stood will soon belong to the City of Richmond.

Personality: Myra Goodman Smith
Spotlight on board chair of the Annabella R. Jenkins Foundation
With the rise of the omicron variant of COVID-19, focus again is being directed toward the systemic issues surrounding health care and health care delivery systems. These types of issues have been a lifelong focus for Myra Goodman Smith.

Nikole Hannah-Jones: ‘We’ve been taught the history of a country that does not exist’
Following a year of professional mile- stones born of her work on America’s history of slavery, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones said she is clear-eyed about her mission to force a reckoning around the nation’s self-image.

Tips to deal with holiday, post-holiday blues
Holiday depression, also called the “holiday blues,” is a real thing, and it can last long after the holidays. It affects 1 million people every year.

How young people can save America, by Jesse L. Jackson, Sr.
My new year’s wish this year is that across the country, every high school gives each graduate a diploma and a voter registration card, and every center of education and training — whether community college or four-year university, technical training or business school — ensures that every entering student is registered to vote.

What will 2022 bring?, by Dr. E. Faye Williams
Far too many in our community fail to look to the future seriously. My greatest disappointment is in those who have so very much to lose and who demonstrate so little concern about the futures they must face.

An honest accounting
Richmond writer reveals story of her family’s interracial heritage that has been shrouded in history
Richmond novelist Ellen Glasgow gained fame for her realistic depictions of women, their relationships and their efforts to gain indepen- dence in a male-dominated world.

Former VCU standouts ‘Bones’ Hyland, Justin Tillman making noise in NBA
The Denver Nuggets may have struck gold with their No. 1 draft pick, former Virginia Commonwealth University Rams player Nah’Shon “Bones” Hyland.

Quiet in the stands for VUU
Virginia Union University has announced a “No Fans/Spectators Rule” for its upcoming men’s and women’s basketball games at Barco-Stevens Hall.

All eyes will be on quarterbacks at College Football Playoff National Championship Jan. 10
Since its inception in 2015, the College Football Playoff National Championship has been a shining showcase for quarterbacks.

NBA, HBCU legend Sam Jones dies at 88
HBCU and Boston Celtics legend Sam Jones died Thursday, Dec. 30, 2021, at his home in Florida. Mr. Jones was 88.

Twist of fate
Black History Museum and Cultural Center of Virginia to get Confederate statues removed from Monument Avenue
What do you do when you don’t want to make a difficult decision? Let someone else make it.

bell hooks, writer and groundbreaking feminist thinker, dies at 69
NEW YORK bell hooks, the ground- breaking author, educator and activist whose explorations of how race, gender, economics and politics intertwined helped shape academic and popular debates over the past 40 years, died Wednesday, Dec. 15, 2021.

Herring sues Town of Windsor, alleging discriminatory policing
The police department in Windsor, a small southeastern Virginia town located in Isle of Wight County, has operated in a way that led to discrimination against African-Americans and violated their constitutional rights, Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring alleged in a lawsuit filed last week.

Foremost wishes for 2022:
With the start of 2022, the Richmond Free Press invited select officials to share their foremost wishes for the new year. Here are their responses:

City utility field technicians miffed about exclusion from city bonuses
Field technicians from the Richmond Department of Public Utilities are upset that City Hall failed to include them among the first responders, such as police officers and firefighters, who received pandemic bonuses of up to $3,000 each during the holidays.

Artists Dustin Klein and Alex Criqui, whose projections on the Lee monument gained national attention, receive grant for new works
Richmond lighting artists Dustin Klein and Alex Criqui drew national attention 18 months ago in projecting the faces of Black thinkers, activists and victims of police violence nightly on the pedestal of the Lee monument on Monument Avenue.

Capitol Square offices to be named for Dr. William Ferguson ‘Fergie’ Reid
Dr. William Ferguson “Fergie” Reid, a Richmond surgeon and activist for voting rights, made history in 1967 when he won election to the House of Delegates. He was the first Black person to break through the legislature’s whites-only ranks in more than 76 years.