VLBC outlines legislative priorities for new General Assembly session
Buoyed by two legislative sessions last year that ushered in huge reforms in voting and criminal justice, the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus is vowing to keep pressing for more change.
NAACP call for resignation, accountability from elected Trump-backers
The Loudoun County Branch NAACP is calling for Loudoun Republican Delegate David A. “Dave” LaRock to immediately resign for participating in the Jan. 6 rally and insurrection in Washington.
Area residents react to Jan. 6 events
Americans will mark Jan. 6, 2021, as another day that will live in infamy. On that day, throngs of Trump supporters left a rally where he had spoken and made their way to the U.S. Capitol, pushing past barricades and Capitol Police to force their way inside to disrupt Congress and the certification of Electoral College votes declaring Democrat Joe Biden the winner of the November presidential election.
Dr. Fauci promotes COVID-19 vaccines on local Zoom call
“We want you all to get vaccinated for your own protection, for that of your family and for your community,” Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, who leads the nation’s health efforts to combat COVID-19, told a Zoom audience of about 10,000 people on a call with Richmond and Virginia health officials Jan. 8.
Virtual events to commemorate the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
The life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the nation’s “drum major for justice,” will be celebrated during the annual national holiday on Monday, Jan. 18, in a very different way in the Metro Richmond area this year.
Alabama claims college football national crown
The University of Alabama ran the table and never broke stride in doing so.
Best-selling novelist Eric Jerome Dickey dies at 59
Eric Jerome Dickey, the best-selling novelist who blended crime, romance and eroticism in “Sister, Sister,” “Waking With Enemies” and dozens of other stories about contemporary Black life, has died at age 59.
Personality: Jonathan D. Davis
Spotlight on president of the Richmond Crusade for Voters
Now more than ever, Jonathan Dwayne Davis is aware of the impact of his work to encourage and safeguard an equitable voting process for Richmonders.
Growing their own
South Richmond medical marijuana facility grows more than 70 strains of plants used to help patients with various conditions
If recreational marijuana use were legalized in Virginia tomorrow, Green Leaf Medical — a medicinal marijuana dispensary in South Richmond — would be able to distribute products immediately, according to the company’s operations manager, Samer Abilmona.
Black officer hailed as hero
A Black U.S. Capitol Police officer is being hailed a hero for steering an angry mob away from the U.S. Senate chambers in last week’s deadly storming of the U.S. Capitol by supporters of the president.
Day of reckoning
The U.S. House of Representatives votes to impeach President Trump for a second time, charging him with “incitement of insurrection” over the deadly mob takeover of the U.S. Capitol
The reckoning has begun. Even as his followers were being arrested and he prepares to leave office in a few days, President Trump was labeled a “clear and present danger” to the nation’s security in becoming the first chief executive in U.S. history to be impeached twice – this time for the failed Jan. 6 insurrection in which he incited followers to carry out the biggest attack on the U.S. Capitol since 1814 when British troops burned it.
School Board swears in new members, selects new leaders
The East End gained another leadership post with Cheryl L. Burke’s election as the new Richmond School Board chair.
2020 Year in Photos
Who knew when Richmonders rang in the year 2020 that it would be such a year of tumult?
Questions raised about legalizing marijuana and equity
Re: “Coalition pushes Black inclusion in marijuana legalization,” Free Press Dec. 31, 2020-Jan. 2, 2021, edition:
New year, new meat alternatives
With the year of COVID-19 barely behind us, we look forward to the new year and the customary resolutions — reduce personal weight, reduce time on social media and reduce consumption of animal foods.
Woodland Cemetery is a quiet gem of beauty
Nestled between Richmond’s Highland Park neighborhood and the Henrico County boundary lines lies Woodland Cemetery, a quiet, somewhat isolated cemetery that is a gem of a beauty.
Justice Department protests powerful, by Marc H. Morial
The decision in late December not to charge the officers who shot and killed a Black child on sight encapsulates everything that is wrong with the U.S. Department of Justice under the current administration.
We were medical guinea pigs, by Julianne Malveaux
People who don’t know Black history have probably heard more about the Tuskegee syphilis “experiment” in the last month than they have in their whole lives.
Woman power
“If you want something said, ask a man; if you want something done, ask a woman.” — Margaret Thatcher
