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Parents anxious about virtual learning as new school year starts
As Richmond Public Schools launches a new school year Tuesday, Sept. 8, with all virtual learning, parents and students are grappling with the reality of not having face-to-face instruction.
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Rev. C.T. Vivian, Freedom Rides organizer and key adviser to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., dies at 95
The Rev. C.T. Vivian, an early and key adviser to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. who organized pivotal civil rights campaigns and spent decades advocating for justice and equality, died Friday, July 17, 2020, the same day as fellow civil rights leader Congressman John Lewis of Georgia.
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Washington NFL team drops racist name
The most polarizing name in North American professional sports is gone.
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Salvation Arms headquarters move to North Side has clear path from City Council
The Salvation Army appears to have won its nine-month battle to move its Central Virginia headquarters and shelter program from Downtown to North Side after the main opponent, 3rd District Councilman Chris A. Hilbert, dropped his opposition.
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Ensuring democracy by securing elections
by Sen. Mark R. Warner
For the past two years, I have served as vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, helping lead the only bipartisan investigation into Russia’s attack on the 2016 election. Our goal in this investigation is not to re-litigate the 2016 election or question its validity. Instead, we are focused on how we can protect the integrity of future elections so that every American heads to the polls confident that his or her vote will count.
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Tree problems go unanswered by city
Editor’s note: Just before the Free Press Wednesday deadline, Spencer Turner sent a text message to a Free Press reporter stating: “Thanks for help. They are cutting tree down Friday. The power of a free press.” As of deadline, the Free Press had not been able to confirm Mr. Turner’s statement with city officials. By Jeremy M. Lazarus
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Virginia expresses ‘profound regret’ for history of lynchings
Outlining a “dark and shameful chapter of American history,” state legislators unanimously passed resolutions to “acknowledge with profound regret the existence and acceptance of lynching” in Virginia, where more than 80 people — mostly African-American men — were killed by mobs in the decades after the Civil War.
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Special VCU council offers plan for human remains from old medical research
A proper burial in a historic African-American cemetery, recognition on the Virginia Commonwealth University medical campus and continued research.
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President Obama inspires Class of 2020, adroitly criticizes current leaders for mishandling pandemic crisis
Hours after former President Obama delivered two measured and inspiring na- tional commencement speeches to the Class of 2020 college and high school graduates last Saturday, social media lit up with comments of “Great speech, Mr. Obama. We miss you!” and “That’s what a president should be like. November 2020 can’t get here soon enough.”
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Salvation Army Boys and Girls Club becomes temporary shelter for homeless
The Salvation Army this week turned its recently renovated Boys and Girls Club in Church Hill into a temporary 75-bed shelter for homeless people.
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COVID-19 and inequities in health care system, by Kristen Clarke
In 1966, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said, “Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in healthcare is the most shocking and inhumane.”
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Henrico hotel pays workers with free lodging
An aging hotel in Henrico County has found a way to virtually eliminate wages. Instead of money, employees get a room in exchange for working 40 hours a week checking in guests, doing maintenance work, cleaning rooms or filling other needed roles.
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New website hopes to make sermons vital part of life
Every week, millions of Americans go to houses of worship to hear a message from a spiritual leader. Most of those congregations are small. And few sermons ever make their way beyond the four walls of a given congregation.
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Boston church stamping Harriet Tubman on its $20 bills
Three years ago, the Treasury Department announced that it would put Harriet Tubman’s face on the front of the $20 bill by 2020. A portrait of the abolitionist, championed by activists, would replace that of President Andrew Jackson, who would be moved to the back of the bill.
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City loses last independent, black-owned radio station
WCLM-1450 AM, the last independent, African-American-owned radio station in Richmond, is off the air after 21 years.
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Frank Lloyd Wright synagogue continues 60 years later as work of art
Sixty years ago, just before the Jewish High Holy Days, members of a Conservative synagogue processed into their new sanctuary, marking a new era in their congregational life and in modern religious architecture.
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Black media icons scaling back, possibly closing
It has been a rough few days for the black media. First, Ebony magazine and its sister publication, JET magazine, may be closing their doors for good. And then the publisher of the storied Chicago Defender newspaper announced last week that it will no longer publish a print version.
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Personality: Free F. Egunfemi
Spotlight on founder of Untold RVA
Free Folasade Egunfemi is seeking to spread history throughout the Richmond community like seeds in a garden. Born in Englewood, N.J., and raised in Richmond, Ms. Egunfemi wants to offer residents, newcomers and tourists an opportunity to educate themselves about people and places of impact from bygone eras.
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Personality: Tani Washington
After four years of researching, writing and making oral presentations in high school forensics and debate competitions, Tani Washington has made history.
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Personality: Rahmah T. Johnson
Spotlight on Richmond Public Schools Teacher of the Year
A holistic approach to counseling is the key to success for Richmond Public Schools Teacher of the Year Rahmah T. Johnson.
