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Banking, the Black community and the Durbin Amendment, by Taikein M. Cooper
Access to banking, and all the opportunities it affords, is an absolute necessity for historically disenfranchised and marginalized communities. It’s how we pay for our everyday essentials, take out loans to start businesses or buy homes and attempt to build generational wealth to make the American Dream a reality.
Retiring HU president offers advice to graduates
Hampton University’s 152nd annual commencement celebrated graduates as well as the 44-year tenure of HU President William R. “Bill” Harvey, who is retiring on June 30. Dr. Harvey, 81, served as the keynote speaker for the commencement, which was held on Mother’s Day at the Hampton University Convocation Center on campus. Dr. Harvey highlighted a long list of accomplishments made by the university under his stewardship, such as the creation of the Hampton University Proton Therapy Institute to treat cancer and increasing the university’s endowment from $29 million to more than $400 million today. Dr. Harvey told the graduates, “Don’t settle with being the employee; I want you to be the employer. Don’t settle with representing the firm or corporation; I want you to own the firm or corporation. See the horizon as not a limit, but an invitation….” He offered grandfatherly advice to graduates, ranging from the financial -- “Pay yourself first. Save something from every single paycheck. Buy some property”– to the social – “Stay away from drugs and drug dealers. They will destroy your life or make it miserable.” Dr. Harvey went on to tell graduates to “fight racism every time it arises” and to “be positive role models. Be somebody.” He closed out his address by telling graduates to support Hampton University with their money. During the ceremony, Rashida Jones, who became the first Black woman to lead a cable news network when she was named president of MSNBC in February 2021, received the Outstanding 20-Year Alumna Award. The Henrico High School graduate earned a bachelor’s degree in mass media arts from Hampton University in 2002. Earlier this year, she launched the Rashida Jones Scholarship Fund for journalism students at the university. Thomas Hasty III, senior executive vice president and chief regulatory risk officer of TowneBank, received the Outstanding Alumnus-at-Large Award. He graduated from HU in 1977 with a degree in business. Honorary degrees were awarded to former Virginia Supreme Court Justice John Charles Thomas, who was the first Black named to the state’s highest court in 1983, and Christopher Newport University President Paul S. Trible Jr., who represented Virginia in the U.S. Senate from 1983 to 1989.
Our dollars as a form of resistance, by Julianne Malveaux
Our nation’s gross domestic product, or GDP, is a function of consumer spending. We are prodded, cajoled, enticed and engaged in the spending exercise, and all that happens because money makes the world go round.
Young people and vaping
Nearly half a million people die every year from complications from smoking. About a tenth of them never put a cigarette to their lips; they die from exposure to second-hand smoke.
End of the road for free rides on GRTC?
GRTC’s current free fare program was supposed to remain in place through June 2025, but now is at risk of ending far sooner. The regional bus company eliminated fares soon after the pandemic hit in March 2020 with the help of state and federal grants. That change has helped regular bus riders save thousands of dollars in transit costs. The program appeared on course to be extended for an ad- ditional three years after the state awarded GRTC an $8 million grant five months ago. Now transit advocates are raising alarm that the no fare program could end as soon January 2023 for lack of financial backing, most notably from City Hall. According to transit advocates, Mayor Levar M. Stoney, who has repeatedly stated he would keep GRTC fare-free through his term, has put the zero-fare initiative at risk by failing to keep his pledge to provide the required matching funds for the grant. Without notice, he rejected the request of his new internal Of- fice of Equitable Transit to include $1 million in local matching funds for the state grant in his proposed budget for 2022-23. Nor has he indicated any plans for the city alone, or in concert with its regional GRTC partners, Chesterfield and Henrico coun- ties, to provide the matching $3 million required in 2023-24 and the matching $5 million required in the 2024-25 fiscal year. At a news conference on Tuesday, Mayor Stoney defended his decision. He first told reporters that GRTC has “plenty of money” and can cover the match itself. He said the 2020 hike in the regional sales and gas tax to boost funding for transportation through the new Central Virginia Transit Authority, or CVTA, has increased regional support for public transit to record levels. Later in the news conference, the mayor asserted that his spending plan actually includes the $1 million, which was not broken out. That also was the statement given to the Free Press by the mayor’s press secretary, Jim Nolan. However, the only increase in subsidy his proposed budget plan provides to GRTC is $600,000. His proposal is to increase the current GRTC subsidy of $8 million to $8.6 million, still about half the $16 million the city provided GRTC yearly before the General Assembly created the CVTA two years ago. That $6 million increase, he stated in the budget message he delivered to City Council in early March, is needed to meet a state requirement that was part of the CVTA legislation. Under that requirement, localities in the authority must raise the transit subsidy yearly to reflect the increase in inflation recorded by the Consumer Price Index. Some of that increase in city subsidy also is earmarked for new bus shelters. The first warning that the zero-fare policy might not survive came in an April 18 post on the Greater Washington blog that was filed by Wyatt Gordon, a policy manager for land use and transportation at the Virginia Conservation Network. According to Mr. Gordon, the mayor and his administration rejected the request from the new internal Office of Equitable Transit to provide the $1 million in matching funds, putting the zero-fare initiative at risk. The Rev. Benjamin P. Campbell, GRTC board chairman, confirmed that the free fare service could end sooner than anticipated if additional funds are not provided. He noted that federal CARES Act money that has helped support the program is drying up and the continuation of free fares would require a financial commitment from the city and the two counties to cover the increasing cost. He said the big question for GRTC’s board is whether free fares are sustainable. The advocacy group RVA Rapid Transit is urging City Council to save the zero-fare program for at least another year by adding $1 million to the GRTC subsidy to protect riders — a majority of whom live well below the median income — from a major hit to their pocketbooks. In an email, Faith Walker, the group’s executive director, called on the council to embrace 1st District Councilman Andreas D. Addison’s amendment to add the $1 million when the governing body meets Friday, April 22, to complete its work on the city’s 2022-23 operating budget. That budget goes into effect July 1. Mr. Addison supports fare-free transit and believes the city can afford the cost, but it is not yet clear that he can muster a five-member majority to back the $1 million additional GRTC subsidy. Ms. Walker called it a matter of equity — a topic the mayor has preached about—noting that half the regular bus riders have incomes at or below $25,000 a year, with at least one in four hav- ing incomes of $10,000 a year or less. Removing transit fares has helped boost the standard of living for those riders, she stated. Council members have advanced more than $22 million in budget amendments, including the proposal to boost the GRTC subsidy. But the members have shown little appetite to date for making cuts in the mayor’s spending plan to pay for their proposals, and at this moment, have only about $2.7 million in additional funds to spend.
The latest stunt
We are living in dangerous times. The bigots in the White House have launched a federal Justice Department study of anti-white bias in college admissions. The New York Times reported Tuesday that the Trump administration plans to redirect the civil rights division’s efforts toward investigating and suing universities over admission policies believed to discriminate against white people. What????
Free community testing for COVID-19 continues
The Richmond and Henrico County health districts are offering testing at the following locations:
32nd Annual 2nd Street Festival goes virtual Oct. 3 and 4
The 32nd Annual 2nd Street Festival in Jackson Ward will have a twist this year because of the coronavirus pandemic. Instead of thousands of people flocking to the Downtown neighborhood to enjoy the history, music, food and art, events will take place virtually.
Free community testing for COVID-19 continues
The Richmond and Henrico County health districts are offering testing at the following locations:
Free community testing for COVID-19 continues
The Richmond and Henrico County health districts are offering testing at the following locations:
Free community testing for COVID-19 continues
The Richmond and Henrico County health districts are offering testing at the following locations:
Richmond favorites to return for 2024
Riverfront Canal Cruises will kick off their 24th season on Friday, April 5, offering historically narrated tours of the James River and Kanawha Canal. Traveling along Downtown Richmond’s historic Canal Walk, passengers will learn about Richmond’s history and see sights such as the Virginia Capital Trail, the Low Line gardens and James River wildlife. Tours depart on the hour from the canal’s Turning Basin at 139 Virginia St. and will operate between April and November. Tickets are sold on a first come, first served basis at the Turning Basin’s ticket kiosk, and online up to 18 hours in advance. Private charters also are available. Venture Richmond Events also has announced save the dates for two popular fall festivals. The Richmond Folk Festival, in partnership with the National Council for the Traditional Arts and the City of Richmond, will happen along Downtown Richmond’s riverfront a little early this year. By celebrating its 20th anniversary Sep. 27-29, the festival will avoid falling on the Jewish High Holiday of Yom Kippur. It will return to its annual October weekend next year. This year, the 2nd Street Festival, in partnership with the City of Richmond, will mark its 36th year. The free annual festival celebrating the rich culture of Downtown Richmond’s historic Jackson Ward neighborhood, once known as “the Harlem of the South,” will take place Oct. 5-6. The two-day event features three stages of live music and entertainment, a kids area, food vendors, shopping and the Richmond Metropolitan Antique Car Club. Grammy Award-winning hip-hop group Arrested Development will headline the festival on Saturday, Oct. 5, and Richmond vocalist and festival veteran Desiree Roots will close out the festival as the headliner on Sunday, Oct. 6.
Aspire Academy hopes to inspire student interest
They’re lost in the classroom and repeatedly act out — leading to repeated suspensions, expulsion and, sometimes, criminal charges.
School supplies, show giveaways start for ‘back to school’
As Richmond area students prepare for virtual learning this semester, they still will need school supplies and other items as online classes begin Tuesday, Sept. 8.
33rd Annual 2nd Street Festival returns Oct. 2 and 3 in Jackson Ward
The annual 2nd Street Festival, Richmond’s free fall music and cultural festival celebrating Jackson Ward, returns this weekend after going virtual last year because of COVID-19.
Resistance is power
Since taking office two weeks ago, President Donald Trump has proven day in and day out why he is unfit to hold office. Since Jan. 20, he has thrown America into a state of chaos with half-baked executive orders and other actions that: • Trapped permanent U.S. residents, including students, researchers and workers, in airports across the nation, denying them entry into the United States, and barring people from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen — all largely Muslim nations — for 90 days;
Bishop Tutu’s daughter quits priesthood after gay marriage
The daughter of Nobel laureate Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu of South Africa has given up her clergy credentials after marrying a Dutch woman. Mpho Tutu told South African media that because her church did not recognize her wedding, she could no longer serve in the country.
GRTC provides more protective gear to drivers
It took nearly two months, but GRTC is ramping up virus protection for drivers who have kept the public transit system rolling during the pandemic.
New state funding for RPS school construction
Millions of dollars are heading to Richmond Public Schools to support school construction projects, including the rebuild of burned-out Fox Elementary School in The Fan, and the development of a new career and technical education high school in South Side, according to information provided to the Richmond School Board.
