
Claudelia S. Barnes, 81, former med tech, teacher
Claudelia S. Barnes was born and raised in Richmond at a time when Jim Crow laws oppressed African-Americans and the Ku Klux Klan fomented a reign of terror. “The Ku Klux Klan burned a cross in her parents’ front yard when she was a teenager,” recalled Mrs. Barnes’ daughter, Dawn C. Cobb.

Personality: Altamese R. Johnson
Spotlight on winner of AARP Virginia’s Shaw Advocacy Award
Altamese R. Johnson first met the late Elvira B. Shaw in the early 1990s, when the two attended an AARP meeting with Congressman Robert C. “Bobby” Scott of Newport News. The two became fast friends, advocating for issues important to AARP, whose stated mission is “leading positive social change and delivering value to people age 50 and over through information, advocacy and service,” according to the organization.

Mistrial in Freddie Gray’s death
A mistrial was declared Wednesday in the case of a Baltimore police officer charged in the death of Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old whose death while in police custody sparked riots last April.

NAACP vows to continue marches in Richmond man’s death
Black leaders marched in Virginia last Saturday to protest the death of an 46-year-old Richmond man who died in police custody after officers shocked him repeatedly with stun guns, and they vowed to continue marching until they believe that justice has been served.

New VSU president shares vision, receives support at official introduction
Brimming with confidence and eager to get started, the new president of Virginia State University is promising to first listen to students, faculty and staff and then roll out a “strategic vision that will be bold and purposefully challenging.” Among other things, Dr. Makola M. Abdullah wants VSU to be known for providing “a quality education,” to invest in specialty academic areas that would make the university more attractive while continuing to be “an opportunity university” for students who might not be admitted elsewhere.

State looks to expand youth voter participation
Thanks to a little-known law, many 17-year-olds in Virginia can have a voice in which Democratic or Republican candidate is selected to represent their party in the 2016 presidential election. The state law allows 17-year-olds who will turn 18 by the Nov. 8, 2016, election to register in advance and vote in the state’s 2016 presidential primaries on March 1.

Recount confirms Roscoe Cooper as School Board winner
It’s official. The Rev. Roscoe D. Cooper III is confirmed as the winner of the Fairfield District seat on the Henrico School Board — by 42 votes.

City Council greenlights Maggie Walker statue at triangle
Forget Monument Avenue and Abner Clay Park. The future statue of Richmond’s great lady, Maggie L. Walker, will stand at the intersection of Brook Road and Broad and Adams streets, the gateway to historic Jackson Ward where Mrs. Walker lived and won acclaim for her entrepreneurial spirit. Richmond City Council voted 6-1, with two abstentions, Monday night to reconfirm that decision for the third time in 15 years, clearing the way for the project.

‘Tickling the senses’ with food and music, jazz flutist arranges recipes for romance
To her devoted fans, the lilting, insistent melodies of smooth jazz flutist Sherry Winston are inextricably linked to romance. Love is the theme of each of her six CDs, embedded in such titles as “Do It For Love,” “Love Madness” and “Life Is Love & Love Is You.”

Voter supression or simple snafu?
City man given wrong ballot in Nov. election
Edward A. Adams went to the polls Nov. 3 eager to cast his ballot for Dan Gecker, the Democrat who ultimately lost in the hotly contested race in the 10th Senate District. But the 59-year-old postal worker wound up casting a ballot for unchallenged incumbent Sen. A. Donald McEachin in the 9th Senate District — even though Mr. Adams’ residence at 612 W. Franklin actually is listed on the poll books as being in the 10th Senate District.
No Trump card here
Re “Playing the ‘Trump’ card,” Dec. 3-5 edition: I saw on national television how Richmond Pastor Stephen A. Parson Sr. was touting how he and many others were endorsing Donald Trump.
‘This is not a time for fear-mongering’
At a time when we, as a country, are mourning the victims of terror and war, some public figures are using the tragedy in Paris to promote a dangerous politics of fear. This is not a time for fear-mongering against Muslims and refugees. This is a time that we, as a community, should unite around our core values of democracy and inclusion.

AIDS: Getting to zero
“Three decades into this crisis, let us set our sights on achieving the “three zeros” — zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths. On this World AIDS Day, let us pledge to work together to realize this vision for all of the world’s people.” — Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, United Nations, World AIDS Day 2010

Wiping away the stain
Despite racist vitriol characterizing African-Americans as “dirty,” most of us were reared in an environment where “cleanliness was next to godliness.” Many, if not most, of us know the virtues of keeping our minds, bodies and belongings clean. With the hectic pace of our world, these lessons still guide our behaviors.
Ballot box red flag
We are disturbed by the revelation this week that voters in seven precincts in the City of Richmond may have received the wrong ballot when they went to cast ballots in November’s state Senate elections.
Three words: Trump must go
When His Ridiculousness Donald J. Trump called for a “total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country’s representatives can figure out what is going on,” the mayor of St. Petersburg, Fla., answered with a ban of his own.

Church backs away from Parson
“You all are a bunch of black idiots over there supporting someone who doesn’t care anything about black people,” one angry caller said in a voicemail message left for the Richmond Christian Center last week. Another caller chimed in: “If Donald Trump wasn’t running for president, he would have nothing to do with you a-holes.” A third anonymous caller said, “Your pastor is an ignoramus. I doubt if he has any degrees at all.”