Your voice, your vote
Next Tuesday is “Cross-over Day” at the Virginia General Assembly. That means it’s halftime for the 2015 legislative session. By the end of the day Tuesday, the Senate and the House of Delegates must finish any action on bills that were introduced by each chamber’s members, with the exception of the budget bill. Then on Wednesday, the chambers swap. The House considers bills that originated in the Senate, while the Senate considers bills that were introduced in the House.
Bobby Brown maintains constant bedside vigil over Bobbi Kristina
ATLANTA The daughter of late pop star Whitney Houston and singer Bobby Brown was placed in a coma to stop brain swelling after she was found facedown and unresponsive in a bathtub in her Georgia home last weekend, family friend and gospel singer Kim Burrell told “Access Hollywood.”
NASCAR inducts Danville’s Wendell Scott into Hall of Fame
Wendell Scott, the Danville native who got his start in auto racing by running moonshine in the 1940s, has been inducted posthumously into the NASCAR Hall of Fame. The trailblazing stock car racer was the first African-American to break into the previously all-white world of NASCAR when a part-time steward granted him a NASCAR license at a race in 1953 at the old Richmond Speedway.
Bernard L. Jones Sr., 94, community advocate
Bernard L. Jones Sr. loved Richmond and did all he could to enhance it. “He really liked seeing the community become better in every way,” his daughter, Dr. Badiyyah Waajid, said. That’s the reason he joined the Astoria Beneficial Club Inc. in 1962 and remained a member for 53 years, she said. “He liked their mission,” his daughter said.
Charlie Sifford, golf trailblazer, dies at 92
Charlie Sifford, who broke the color barrier in golf as the first African-American PGA Tour member, died Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2015, at age 92, the PGA of America announced. Considered the Jackie Robinson of professional golf, Mr. Sifford endured death threats, racial taunts and other harassment as he paved the way for Tiger Woods and other African- American golfers in becoming the first African- American player in a PGA tournament in 1952 at the Phoenix Open.
Personality: Rosa A. Jiggetts
Spotlight on mission to proclaim ‘Be Kind Wednesdays’
Rosa Annie Jiggetts is always ready to help. Her idea of a perfect day is one in which she can do at least one good deed. For the past 30 years, the 65-year-old Richmond native has run the Helpline out of her Providence Park home on North Side, with the assistance of her sister, Lydia.
Butler gives Patriots a super win
Malcolm Butler ranks among the most unlikely heroes in Super Bowl history. In 2010, Butler had been suspended from college and was working part time at Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen chicken restaurant in his hometown of Vicksburg, Miss. From that humble point, he has become the toast of New England and Patriots fans everywhere. Butler’s end zone interception of Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson’s pass with 20 seconds left enabled the Patriots to defeat the Seattle Seahawks 28-24 in Super Bowl XLIX in Glendale, Ariz. Butler’s first NFL interception may become the most talked-about pick in NFL annals, turning what looked like a probable loss for the Patriots into a jaw-dropping victory.
Wilson resilient after heartbreaking loss in Super Bowl
Less than 36 inches separated former Richmonder Russell Wilson and his Seattle Seahawks teammates from their second consecutiveSuper Bowl title and talk of a dynasty. Anticipation was high that Seahawks coach Pete Carroll would call on bulldozing running back Marshawn Lynch to plow the ball into the end zone on second-and-goal with 26 seconds to play and one timeout left in Super Bowl XLIX. Already, in this game against the New England Patriots, Lynch had logged a total of 102 yards for the game, including an earlier touchdown.
State Dems hit with voting rights suit
Did the Democratic Party of Virginia violate the U.S. Constitution and the federal Voting Rights Act in choosing its nominee to compete in a recent special election for a House of Delegates seat? Yes, say three African-Americans, who are taking their case to federal court.
Mayor touts anti-poverty efforts in city address
Mayor Dwight C. Jones spoke of “a tale of two cities” in his State of the City address. “Right now, one part of town is vibrant, prosperous and forward-looking,” he told an attentive audience of about 300 people Jan. 29 in the auditorium at Huguenot High School on South Side. “And then when you cross the Martin Luther King Bridge, you find another Richmond — one that has largely been ignored, overlooked and shunned.
VSU spring enrollment brings optimism
Enrollment at Virginia State University has dropped less than initially projected — good news for the school and a relief to Dr. Pamela V. Hammond, the interim president. The latest figures indicate nearly 4,500 students are en- rolled and validated as meet- ing their financial obligations. That’s about 130 students fewer than projected for the spring semester in the university’s budget. Earlier this month, Dr. Hammond and VSU’s board of visitors were advised that fewer than 4,250 students might be enrolled this semester. Dr. Hammond told the Free Press last week the higher enrollment means she will not have to consider additional personnel actions to balance the budget. After taking office Jan. 1, she ordered a freeze on hiring and other spending to stabilize finances and those freezes are still in place. She said the freezes should keep spending in line with revenue through the rest of the fiscal year.
Richmond schools seek money to fulfill needs
Lucille M. Brown Middle School is facing a serious communications problem. The South Side school has not had a working intercom system since December.
VCU and the SATs
We applaud the move this week by Virginia Commonwealth University President Michael Rao to eliminate SAT scores as a criteria for admission. In a major policy change announced Tuesday, Dr. Rao said applicants with a GPA of 3.3 or higher no longer will be required to submit scores from the test that he called “fundamentally flawed.”
Scales unbalanced
On Jan. 19, the Virginia General Assembly scrubbed from the state judiciary the name of Judge Birdie Hairston Jamison, who was up for reappointment to the Richmond General District Court. Judge Jamison, 57, is chief judge of the city’s busy traffic court, having served on the bench for more than 23 years. She is the longest serving traffic court judge in the state. k
The real Obama re-emerges
President Barack Obama knocked it out of the park during the State of the Union address. He was strong, progressive, firm and relaxed. He was almost cocky as he offered a few jokes, smugly announced that he would have no more elections, and just generally exuded confidence. Instead of the kumbaya thing, he laid out his priorities to a Republican Congress that likely will block much of what he proposed, especially when it comes to raising taxes on the wealthy to support his free community college program.
White savior not required
The fierce and aligned — if not coordinated — campaign to smear the motion picture “Selma” by suggesting it inaccurately portrays the role of President Lyndon B. Johnson in the fight for African-Americans’ civil rights is par for the course. Critics of the movie that focuses on the campaign for voting rights waged in Selma, Ala., suggest that President Johnson was a champion for civil rights and is principally responsible for securing voting rights for African- Americans.
Sign up for affordable health care by Feb. 15
Too many in our city lack health insurance. However, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) affords us the opportunity to do something about it. Residents can now take advantage of an open enrollment period for health care plans available under the ACA.
State legislature oblivious to plight of working poor
On Jan. 19, while the rest of the nation was giving recognition to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the Virginia Senate’s Commerce and Labor Committee voted down one of several measures that would have increased the state’s minimum wage.
Wake up and change the world
Wake Up Everybody” was a song by R&B group Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes in 1975. It could be the theme song for today’s African- Americans. The lyrics, written by Gene McFadden and John Whitehead, who also pinned and performed “Ain’t No Stopping Us Now,” are so poignant that I won’t fully repeat them here. Like my grandson says, “Google them, Papa.” YouTube has several renditions.
Someday we’ll get to the point where we are all Americans
Re “A new moniker?” Dec. 24-27 edition: The writer suggests that it would be more accurate to say American Africans rather than African-Americans. I couldn’t disagree more.
