Personality: The Rev. John Brian Sawyer
Spotlight on co-founder and board chairman of Bridging RVA
The Rev. John Brian Sawyer has lived a life driven by his passions.
The shake-up
Here is how the Virginia Supreme Court’s new redistricting maps would shake out for Richmond and the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus.
Richmond, VLBC stand to lose under redrawn district maps
A major political shake-up. That’s the expected result when the Virginia Supreme Court approves new boundaries for the state’s 100 House of Delegates districts, 40 state Senate districts and 11 congressional districts.
NAACP, Herring support innocence claims of the Waverly Two
More than 20 years after two men were sentenced to prison for convictions stemming from the slaying of a Waverly police officer, a new effort has emerged that could grant them their innocence and freedom.
Give gift of Black history this year
During this gift-giving season, it’s very important that serious Black parents provide their children with at least one gift that either introduces them to or broadens their knowledge of Black history.
Remembering the Montgomery bus boycott, by Marc H. Morial
“There comes a time when people get tired of being trampled over by the iron feet of oppression. There comes a time, my friends, when people get tired of being plunged across the abyss of humiliation, where they experience the bleakness of nagging despair. There comes a time when people get tired of being pushed out of the glittering sunlight of life’s July and left standing amid the piercing chill of an alpine November. There comes a time.” — Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Dec. 5, 1955, address to the first Montgomery Improvement Association Mass Meeting.
Right-wing judges putting women’s health care at risk, by Ben Jealous
The political and legal movement to criminalize abortion in the United States is on the brink of its biggest victory in 50 years. Most at risk are people who already are among the most vulnerable in our country—Black and Brown women and LGBTQ people who will be denied access to potentially life-saving health care.
Hate floats; we hope not here
We read with interest a story about the 25th Annual Yorktown Lighted Boat Parade that took place last Saturday evening on the Yorktown waterfront.
Let the future begin
We commend the foresight and action of both outgoing Gov. Ralph S. Northam and Richmond Mayor Levar M. Stoney when it comes to the huge stone pedestal left on Monument Avenue after the removal of the statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee.
NFL Pro-Bowler Claude Humphrey dies at 77
Claude Humphrey, the powerful leader of the Atlanta Falcons’ famed “Grits Blitz,” died Friday, Dec. 3, 2021, at his home in Memphis. He was 77.
Texas Christian picks Sonny Dykes as new football coach
Sonny Dykes has been named as the new football coach at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas. He replaces Gary Pat- terson, who was fired Oct. 31.
Marcus Freeman becomes second Black head coach at Notre Dame
Marcus Freeman has become the second Black head coach in the University of Notre Dame’s rich football tradition.
Jackson State wins SWAC Championship heads to Celebration Bowl
Jackson State University, riding a nine-game winning streak, is making plans for the Saturday, Dec. 18, Celebration Bowl in Atlanta.
Winning streak ends for Bowie State Bulldogs
The Bowie State Bulldogs hit the end of the road in Valdosta, Ga.
Area athletes make All-MEAC football team
Two Norfolk State University athletes from the Richmond area have made the All-MEAC football team.
NSU wins Boost Mobile HBCU Challenge in Phoenix
Kris Bankston wasn’t named to the preseason All-MEAC team in part because few knew much about him. Now they know.
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.
Recount results in GOP control of House of Delegates
A three-judge panel overseeing a recount in a close House of Delegates race upheld the Republican candidate’s victory last Friday, a decision that also reaffirms the GOP’s takeover of the chamber and completes the party’s sweep of last month’s elections.
Grand jury clears officer who shot and killed Pharrell Williams’ cousin
A special grand jury found that a Virginia Beach police officer was justified in fatally shooting a man armed with a gun during a chaotic night of violence on the city’s oceanfront this spring, authorities said late last month.
Sources: $12.8M city budget error found by outside auditor
Richmond’s outside auditor has uncovered a $12.8 million error that has inflated the amount of surplus the city has reported for several years, the Free Press has been told.
