Personality: Keith W. Hicks
Spotlight on the 2015 Astorian of the Year
“To inspire men to a higher moral, intellectual, civic and social standing” through activities that build a better community and promote racial equality.
Officer’s jobs program puts men on right side of law
Jeffrey Perry served 18 years in prison for his role in an armed robbery. Shaun Moore served two separate stints behind bars — seven months for possession of drugs with intent to distribute and, later, four months for failure to pay child support.
Holiday closings
In observance of Christmas, please note the following:
Coffee shop reopens on Brookland Park Blvd.
The Streetcar Café on North Side is back in business under new management. The coffee shop at 10 E. Brookland Park Blvd. turned on the lights and began serving patrons again Dec. 14, two weeks after the previous operators departed.
Va. NAACP elections on hold in wake of national investigation
In a surprise move, the national NAACP has put the Oct. 31 election results for the Virginia State Conference of the NAACP on hold as it investigates claims of irregularities in the vote. Among other things, the national office is seeking to determine whether youth delegates were wrongly denied ballots in the vote for officers.
New street sign unveiled to honor Alicia C. Rasin
Mayor Dwight C. Jones and others gathered Monday in Church Hill to unveil an honorary street sign in Church Hill for Alicia C. Rasin, a longtime advocate for families of homicide victims in the city. Ms. Rasin, who was known as the city’s “Ambassador of Compassion,” died in October. Ms. Rasin’s sisters, Patricia Rasin Smith and Albertina Rasin Walker, attended the ceremony, along with City Council member Cynthia I. Newbille, 7th District.-
Strange fruit?
Critic: Oak evokes lynching image at Walker statue site
The fight over the tree in the planned Maggie L. Walker plaza isn’t over. Gary L. Flowers, a Richmond native and national political and civil rights operative living in Jackson Ward, has jumped into the fray with a petition drive opposing the live oak that now dominates the gateway into Jackson Ward where the monument to the great lady is to stand.
City election officials called on the carpet
The Virginia Department of Elections has a software upgrade that could have prevented voters in precincts split into two or more election districts from receiving the wrong ballots, the Free Press has learned. The finding comes at the same time the state Board of Elections, which oversees the department, has asked City of Richmond election officials to appear Jan. 8 before the state board to explain a series of problems that cropped up during the Nov. 3 election.
‘A Mad Hatter’s Party’
Colorful, creatively decorated hats fill the banquet room at a Downtown hotel for The Mad Hatter’s Party. The event, held Dec. 6, was organized by the Richmond Chapter of The Links, which invited other Richmond area Links chapters to join in the Fifth Annual Friendship Tea.
Women should not serve in combat roles
In another epic fail of the Obama administration, it was announced that women now will be given combat duty, as well as included in the draft, should one be reinstituted.
Why let anyone come to your country?
There’s a right way to enter the kingdom door. The thorns fall among the plants, choking them.
Black children overwhelmingly hurt by not modernizing schools
Ten years ago, I developed a plan for then Mayor L. Douglas Wilder to modernize Richmond’s public schools. At the time, City Council President Bill Pantele got it enacted into law.
The biggest threats are the lawmakers
Too many lawmakers do not want to listen to concerns of their constituents. Rather, they want to tell us what our concerns should be. Listening to us might cause them to have to hear about problems they have caused by bad laws they have passed.
Eloquence and arrogance
On the same day that President Obama gave a stirring and historically grounded commemoration regarding the 150th anniversary of the passage of the 13th Amendment that “abolished” slavery, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia chose to disregard tenets of equality and opportunity from the bench during the Fisher v. University of Texas hearing when he suggested that African-American students would benefit more if they went to “lesser track” schools. His verbatim comments:
The politics of courage
If Donald Trump can thrive politically by throwing meat to the American id, what else is possible? How about the opposite? Mr. Trump’s most recent attempt to reclaim poll supremacy — his call for “a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our representatives can figure out what’s going on” — is not simply reckless and dangerous, but also starkly clarifying. America’s bully billionaire is channeling old-time American racism, as mean and ugly and self-righteous as it has ever been. Jim Crow is still with us. “The only good Indian is a dead Indian” is still with us. Americans — at least a certain percentage of them — like their racism straight up, untampered with code language, unmodified by counter-values. Come on! An enemy’s an enemy. A scapegoat’s a scapegoat. Don’t we have the freedom in this country to dehumanize and persecute whomever we want?
New leaf in the new year
In two weeks, we will celebrate a new year. In four weeks, the Virginia General Assembly will start its 2016 legislative session. Their actions will determine whether the state springs forward with progress and uplift for all, or will be mired in a bog of callous self-interests and regressive politics.
Capital City Kwanzaa Festival at Altria Theater Dec. 26
The main stage will reverberate with the sounds of African music, dance and spoken word. The African Market will offer African-inspired cuisine, thought-provoking books, finely handcrafted and imported items, colorful clothing, jewelry and more.
Spike Lee’s ‘Chi-Raq’ grosses $2.1M in 10 days
Director Spike Lee hopes his latest film “Chi-Raq,” an adaptation of ancient Greek play “Lysistrata” looking at Chicago’s gun violence, will help make a difference in tackling the problem. Based on Aristophanes’ play in which the titular character rouses women to stop the Peloponnesian War by going on a sex strike, the movie sees Lysistrata try to persuade rival gangs to lay down their guns by using the same technique.
2016 NAACP Image Awards nominees announced
“Empire” leads the television nominees for the 2016 NAACP Image Awards. The scintillating drama is up for 12 trophies at the ceremony honoring diversity in the arts, including acting nominations for Terrence Howard, Taraji P. Henson, Bryshere Y. Gray, Jussie Smollett and Grace Gealey.
Serena Williams named Sportsperson of the Year
Serena Williams, who held all four of tennis’ grand slam titles for the second time in her career and won 53 of 56 matches in 2015, was named Sportsperson of the Year by Sports Illustrated magazine Monday.
