Richmond opens cooling stations to beat extreme heat
As summer temperatures start to spike this week, the City of Richmond is taking steps to help residents stay cool and safe by opening cooling stations in neighborhoods throughout the area.
Military Retirees to host Veterans Awareness Walk
The Military Retirees Club of Richmond is calling on vet- erans, service members and military families to participate in their first “Bridge Over Troubled Waters Walk” on Saturday, June 29, at Belle Isle. The event aims to bring more attention to suicide prevention and the opioid crisis affecting the military community. Partici- pants will gather at 7 a.m. in the Dominion Energy parking lot adjacent to the foot of the Belle Isle Pedestrian Bridge to register for the 5K walk, which begins at 7:30 a.m. The route will take walkers around Brown’s Island, allow for a photo opportunity at the Tredegar Iron Works, cross over the Belle Isle Pedestrian Bridge, and conclude back at the Dominion parking lot. Refreshments and entertainment will be provided after the walk. The “Bridge Over Troubled Waters Walk” is being held to show support for veterans, active service members, and their families affected by mental health issues and substance abuse. For additional information, please contact the Military Retirees Club of Richmond at (804) 400-9473.
Honoring outstanding volunteers and service groups
The Commonwealth of Virginia is calling on residents to nominate exceptional volunteers, organizations and businesses for the 2024 Governor’s Volunteerism & Community Service Awards. These annual honors celebrate the contributions of Virginians who dedicate their time and energy to causes that create positive change across the state.
Brewing business in Scott’s Addition
Next month, Scott’s Addition will officially be home to Brainstorm Brewhouse, a majority Black-owned brewery.
Genealogist Michelle Evans-Oliver selected for fellowship
Preservation Virginia announced the 2024 class of its African American Fellowship Program recently, recognizing five community preservationists for their dedication to historic preservation and research. Among this year’s fellows is Michelle Evans-Oliver, a renowned local genealogist.
Henrico County transitions to .gov domain to bolster cybersecurity
As part of an effort to enhance cybersecurity for r users of its online services, Henrico County general government is moving the domain for its website and email to “.gov.”
The big payback
Over the next few weeks, we will be devoting a portion of our pages to a three-part story called “40 Acres and a Lie.” This project is the result of work by the Center for Public Integrity, the Center for Investigative Reporting and the Investigative Reporting Workshop. The story examines a gov- ernment program that most African Americans are aware of, a broken promise that people who were enslaved in the South would receive 40 acres of land and a mule. If you think you know this story, you’ll be surprised what the reporters (Alexia Fernández Campbell, April Simpson and Pratheek Rebala) found in their research of land records and documents from the Freedmen’s Bureau, a govern- ment agency that assisted free black people in the South, founded in 1860s. While the details about the government program were long buried and forgotten, the idea of it lived on in Black popular culture, among poets, writers and storytellers. That fact may have been key to helping bring this story into the light. One of the writers of the project says when she ran across the phrase “40 Acres and a Mule” in her research for another project, it struck a chord – only because she remembered it from a song by Nas called “You Owe Me” and from Kanye West’s “All Fall Down.” Yes, we miss old Kanye too. If the writer had been of a certain age, perhaps she would have recalled the name of film director Spike Lee’s production company, “40 Acres and a Mule,” or Gil Scott- Heron’s song about waiting for reparation, “The Train From Washington.” When others forgot, the griots remembered. In the aftermath of the Juneteenth holiday, this is a timely report that reveals new details about the challenges African Americans faced after the news of emancipation. By unearthing the truth about this broken promise, and others, we gain a deeper un- derstanding of the systemic barriers and injustices that still need to be addressed today.
Protecting the elders
There’s a lot you can learn about a place by looking at how they treat their vulnerable populations, such as senior citizens. Here in Virginia, we’ve got some work to do on that issue. We’re glad our attorney general recognized this and decided to do something about it.
Countering MAGA movement with nonviolent extremism, by David W. Marshall
Between 1941 and 1945 some 6 million Jews were systematically murdered across German-occupied Europe during World War II. As part of a state-sponsored genocide, two-thirds of Europe’s Jewish population was executed. As a result, those of Jewish faith made it a point to never allow future generations to forget or become desensitized to what happened to the European Jews at the hands of the Nazi regime.
If you’re truly pro-life, you should be anti-gun, by Tony Campolo
June is National Gun Violence Awareness Month, a good time to consider America’s relationship with guns.
In 2022, 48,204 Americans were killed by guns, which are now the leading cause of death among children and teens. Our gun deaths have come to define us in the eyes of the world. You might even say that guns are as American as apple pie.
Former VUU star Dillon nominated for College Football Hall of Fame
Former Virginia Union University defensive stalwart William “Dil” Dillon is among the nominees for the College Football Hall of Fame, Class of 2025.
VUU ranked 14th in Lindy’s preseason Division II poll
Virginia Union University has earned a national football reputation. Looking ahead, it plans to polish that status this coming season.
Celebration Bowl moved up a week to avoid TV conflicts
Anyone planning to travel to Atlanta for the Celebration Bowl will need to arrive a week earlier than expected.
CIAA shakes up football’s closing act, moves title game to Durham
Some changes are coming to CIAA football.
Celebration of Freedom continues
Throughout June, a variety of public events will commemorate the fourth national Juneteenth holiday. These events aim to recognize and celebrate this important occasion in different ways.
Conservative Coalition selects Will Archer as chairman
The Virginia Faith & Freedom Coalition recently announced that Will Archer, a pastor with over 30 years of experience, has been elected as their new chairman. VAFFC is the Commonwealth of Virginia’s affiliate with the Faith & Freedom Coalition, a national conservative political advocacy non-profit.
Free community testing for COVID-19 continues
For the week ending Saturday, June 8, confirmed hospital admissions for COVID-19 in Virginia rose 14.6% from the previous week. No deaths associated with COVID-19 were reported statewide during that timeframe. COVID-19 wastewater levels in Central Virginia remain below detection.
NAACP sues Shenandoah over Confederate names
The Virginia NAACP on Tuesday filed a lawsuit against the Shenandoah County School Board for what it called “reaffirming discrimination,” after the school system voted to rebrand schools with Confederate names in May.
Rewinding a Reckoning
When police officers murdered Minneapolis resident George Floyd in 2020, and America went through what some people called a “racial reckoning,” a portion of the population seemed ready to have that “talk” about power and privilege that they had been avoiding. As fleeting at this moment was, it did create a cultural shift in business as usual that would’ve been unlikely years before.
City Council votes 8-1 to increase their salaries
City Council members awarded themselves substantial pay raises Monday night in a near-unanimous vote, the first salary increase for the elected officials in more than two decades.
