Taxes, gambling to lead debate in 2019 General Assembly
Virginia’s 2019 legislative session kicked off Wednesday, with lawmakers set to debate tax policy, gambling and a host of other issues.
VUU’s Joe Taylor named to College Football Hall of Fame
Joe Taylor, director of athletics for Virginia Union University, has been selected for the 2019 College Football Hall of Fame.
Confusion, communication gaps adding to Henrico Branch NAACP problems
Even as it imposed sanctions on the president of the Henrico Branch NAACP, the national office of the civil rights group has allowed other officers who complained about Frank J. Thornton to flout its rules, the Free Press has learned.
CIAA fans — get ready for Baltimore
The CIAA Basketball Tournament is moving to Baltimore. The CIAA board of directors announced Tuesday that the men’s and women’s games will be held in 2021, 2022 and 2023 at Royal Farms Arena, an 11,100-seat facility in downtown Baltimore, about a block away from the Baltimore Convention Center and a short distance from the popular Inner Harbor.
Fay A. Howlette, manager of her husband’s optometry practice, dies at 89
Fay Anderson Howlette aided her husband, the late Dr. John L. Howlette Sr., in offering a new option for eye care in Richmond before the start of the Civil Rights Movement.
Barbara B. Abernathy Ross, longtime Carver community activist, dies at 77
When Virginia Commonwealth University sought to expand its campus north of Broad Street in the 1990s, the university hit a stonewall — civic activist Barbara Beatrice Abernathy Ross. As president of the Carver Area Civic Improvement League, or CACIL, Ms. Abernathy, as she was known in the community, fought against VCU’s plans to replace much of the neighborhood.
Encouraging
The Virginia General Assembly began its 2019 session this week, and last week, the 116th Congress got underway. As both legislative bodies get busy doing the work of the people, we feel a sense of hope and encouragement.
R. Kelly and whether black girls’ lives matter
After viewing “Surviving R. Kelly,” Lifetime’s riveting six-part documentary on the R&B star’s decades of child and sexual abuse allegations, one question rings out to me above all others: Do black girls’ lives matter?
Honoring Dr. King
On Monday, Jan. 21, the nation will engage in a variety of activities saluting Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., a great American and world humanitarian.
Personality: Julie E. McConnell
Spotlight on the MRWBA’s 2018 Women of Achievement Award winner
Julie Ellen McConnell has always fought for the rights of the underprivileged and underserved — first as a public defender and now in defense of children in the court system. She was honored recently for her efforts as a legal advocate.
Training sessions aimed at developing new employees for East End market
A new East End market promises to bring employment and opportunity to a longtime food desert in the city. The Market @ 25th, scheduled to open in March at 25th Street and Nine Mile Road, will fill many voids in the neighborhood, including the need for long-term, large-scale employment.
HBCUs packing power for second half of basketball season
Virginia State University’s recent basketball success can be traced all the way to Chièvres Air Force Base in Belgium. That’s where Armond Griebe, who has given the Trojans a front court boost, grew up tall and strong overseas in a U.S. military family.
Saving Bennett College
Bennett College in Greensboro, N.C., is an oasis where we educate and celebrate women, and develop them into 21st century leaders and global thinkers.
Obamacare ruling a ‘political hand grenade’
After two long years of fruitlessly trying to kill Obamacare, the Republican Party and President Trump have been given a political hand grenade by a federal judge in Texas to get the job done.
The clear difference
As we enter a new year, we look for positive messages of uplift to inspire and motivate us for the days to come. While many recommend we shed the past, we found a distinctive voice from the past urging us to step boldly into the future.
Dr. Daniels and others must ‘put their money where their mouths are’ to block gentrification
I learned 20 years ago the difference in wealth in the white and black communities. I took a white man home to his brick bungalow in the West End, which he said he had bought for $10,000 after World War II and which at the time was assessed by the city at $90,000.
‘Pass your blessings forward’
While riding around the city, I noticed many people handing out meals to the homeless. Some were individuals and organizations committed to doing kind deeds during the holiday season.
Higher judgment
Nearly every day I see or hear something about a person going into a school or club or restaurant killing people and then killing themselves. It’s young people mainly who are doing the killing.
NPS eyeing space for civil rights monuments in Mississippi
The National Park Service, which manages the country’s national parks and many of its national monuments, is studying a location or locations throughout Mississippi to place a monument or monuments to tell the state’s complicated and violent civil rights history, according to the winter 2019 issue of National Parks Magazine.
Alvin Ailey troupe marks 60th anniversary
It was March 1958 when an African-American dancer named Alvin Ailey, then making his living on the Broadway stage, gathered up a group of fellow dancers and presented a one-night show of his own works.
