VSU, NSU bands featured in documentary
In honor of Black History Month, the Pepsi National Battle of the Bands (NBOTB) announced the debut of “The Legacy of HBCU Marching Bands,” a documentary film that pays tribute to the heritage and legacy of marching bands at historically black colleges and universities. The film will air on WTVR CBS6 at 9 p.m.,Sunday, Feb. 18.
NFL broke color line in 1946
Sunday night’s Super Bowl will showcase two franchises with Black players making up some 65% of their rosters.
RPS School Board appoints Shavonda Dixon for 9th District; budget changes, safety also discussed
The Richmond School Board has unanimously voted to appoint Shavonda Dixon to represent the 9th District.
Family of Black girls handcuffed by Colorado police, held at gunpoint reach $1.9M settlement
The four Black girls lay facedown in a parking lot, crying “no” and “mommy” as a police officer who had pointed her gun at them then bent down to handcuff two of their wrists. The youngest wore a pink tiara as she held onto her teenage cousin’s hand.
‘Removing obstacles to growth’
VUU’s plan for $42M investment includes new housing, but not historic hospital
President Hakim J. Lucas used Virginia Union University’s Founders Day celebrations to announce a partnership with a New York-based development and investment firm to build affordable housing along Brook and Overbrook roads. The Steinbridge Group has committed $42 million to build 130 to 200 residences on the northern edge of VUU’s campus. During the Feb. 2 press conference, the group’s founder and CEO, Tawan Davis, said his firm had worked with business- man and philanthropist Robert F. Smith’s Student Freedom Initiative (SFI) to select VUU as the first HBCU to receive an investment as part of its $100 million initiative announced in November 2023. Its aim is to help HBCUs and other minority-serving institu- tions make underutilized assets economically productive, thereby diversifying their revenue streams and improving their financial situations and endowments. Mr. Davis estimated that Steinbridge’s investment in VUU will increase the university’s endowment 13% to 18%, as well as providing the school cash income 3.5 to 5.5 times greater than what would have resulted from the sale of the land in to- day’s market. He noted that while a significant number of Black professionals emerge from the HBCU system, the schools are funded 30% less than their counterparts and that the collective endowments of all HBCUs is less than the smallest Ivy League endowment. Dr. W. Franklyn Richardson, VUU’s board chair, said this project was a demonstration of thinking creatively about remov- ing the obstacles to growth.
Personality: Shawna Chapman
Spotlight on America’s United States Mrs. Mid-Atlantic 2024
Growing up in Petersburg, Shawna Chapman never believed pageants were open to women like her, whose background includes dropping out of high school and experiencing periods of homelessness.
An hour can save a life
More diverse blood donors needed amid emergency shortage nationwide
National Blood Donor Month might have ended Jan. 31, but ongoing shortages in Virginia and nationally mean that the need for donors remains critical.
The Holy Eucharist commemorates Rev. Barbara Harris
The Diocese of Virginia announces the Celebration of the Holy Eucharist commemorating the consecration of the Right Reverend Barbara Clementine Harris, the first woman Bishop in the Anglican Communion, and celebrating the life and witness of the Reverend Absalom Jones, the first African-American priest in The Episcopal Church.
Carl Weathers, linebacker-turned-actor, dies at 76
Carl Weathers, a former NFL linebacker who became a Hollywood action movie and comedy star, playing nemesis-turned-ally Apollo Creed in the “Rocky” movies, facing off against Arnold Schwarzenegger in “Predator” and teaching golf in “Happy Gilmore,” has died. He was 76.
Mahomes, Purdy in NFL spotlight
Meet the “odd couple” of Super Bowl quarterbacks. Greatness, from the get-go, was predicted for Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes, not so for San Francisco’s Brock Purdy, the longest of the longshots.
Setting record straight on Black History, by Ben Jealous
With the start of Black History Month, I brace myself for the mis-telling of Black History yet again.
Justice Department proposes major changes to address disparities in state crime victim funds
The Justice Department proposed changes Monday to rules governing state-run programs that provide financial assistance to violent crime victims in order to address racial disparities and curb the number of subjective denials of compensation.
Black wealth remains elusive, by Charlene Crowell
For America, Black History Month brings opportunities to revisit our nation’s lessons, achievements, and unfulfilled promises, capturing our attention as well as our hopes. Yet nothing hits home harder than the painful reminders of how so much of Black America continues to struggle financially, despite an economy that reports low unemployment, a robust stock market, and low inflation.
Love Stories
The Free Press proudly presents its annual Valentine’s Day feature that shares the Love Stories of five Richmond area couples.
The line into the bookstore wrapped around the building. Angela had been standing in line for nearly an hour. Out of nowhere comes this bow-legged guy wearing a cowboy hat, suede coat, a tank top and Timberland boots…in AUGUST.
A record number of Americans can’t afford rent
Single mom Caitlyn Colbert watched as rent for her two-bedroom apartment doubled, then tripled and then quadrupled over a decade in Denver — to $3,374 from $750 last year.
Virginia Democrats sending gun control bills to a skeptical Gov. Youngkin
Dozens of pieces of gun-related legislation that advocates say will bolster public safety are winding their way through Virginia’s Democratic-controlled General Assembly, including a measure that would halt the sale of certain semiautomatic firearms.
FeedMore hosts food drive
A canned food drive to benefit Feed More will be held in the Henrico Sports & Events Center starting Saturday, Feb. 10 through Friday, March 1, with free tickets to the upcoming Atlantic 10 Conference Women’s Basketball Championship for those who contribute.
Richardson gets new hearing in controversial case
A man who was cleared in the murder of a police officer, but has served decades in prison, has another chance to seek his release.
Standing up
“It was February 1, 1960. They didn’t need menus. Their order was simple. A doughnut and coffee, with cream on the side."
Free community testing for COVID-19 continues
The Richmond and Henrico County health districts are offering testing at the following locations:
