Arlington R. Banks, owner of Banks Coin Laundry in Jackson Ward, dies at 81
Arlington Raymond Banks spent much of his life clean- ing the dirt from people’s clothes, towels, sheets and other fabrics. Following in the footsteps of his grandfather and father, Mr. Banks operated a coin laundry and dry cleaners in Jackson …
Resilience after the hurricane
The president of the historically African-American Progressive National Baptist Convention traveled to the Bahamas island of Grand Bahama on Sept. 11 to assess the damage from Hurricane Dorian and came away with stories of damage and determination.
Prayer at the pole
Area ministers and church members gather last Saturday outside Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School in the East End to pray for students, teachers, administrators and all employees of Richmond Public Schools and other area school districts.
Alexandria seminary announces $1.7M slavery reparations fund
An Episcopal seminary in Alexandria has announced plans to create a $1.7 million endowment fund whose proceeds will support reparations for the school’s ties to slavery.
2 church-sponsored festivals set for Sept. 20, 21 in Church Hill
Back-to-back festivals will be held on church grounds in Church Hill next weekend.
Pope Francis preaches message of peace, care of the sick and environmentalism during 3-nation visit to Africa
Pope Francis greeted packed stadiums full of celebrating locals and spoke to crowds numbering up to 1 million people in Madagascar, the second stop on his weeklong, three-nation trip to Africa.
In Mississippi Delta, Catholic clergy abuse cases settle on the cheap
A famed Catholic religious order settled sex abuse cases in recent months by secretly paying two African-American Mississippi men $15,000 each and requiring them to keep silent about their claims, the Associated Press has found.
‘A heavy lift’: Religious black voters weigh Buttigieg’s bid
The Rev. Joe Darby, a South Carolina pastor in the African Methodist Episcopal Church, pondered a sensitive question that he knew was on the mind of his congregation. Would black voters be able to reconcile their conservative religious doctrine with …
Court rules denomination can be sued over child sexual abuse by church employee
One of the nation’s largest Pentecostal denominations can be sued for failing to protect one of its child members from a pedophile who worked closely with the children in a member church, the Virginia Supreme Court has ruled.
Trump steadily fulfills goals on religious right’s wish list
When Donald Trump assumed the presidency, conservative religious leaders drew up “wish lists” of steps they hoped he’d take to oppose abortion and rein in the LGBTQ rights movement. With a flurry of recent actions, the Trump administration is winning …
Sister Helen Prejean, activist nun, talks about getting Jesus 'right'
Sister Helen Prejean wants to get religion “right.”
Acclaimed writer Paule Marshall, professor emeritus at VCU, dies at 90
Writer Paule Marshall, an exuberant and sharpened storyteller who in books such as “Daughters” and “Brown Girl, Brownstones” drew upon classic and vernacular literature and her mother’s kitchen conversations to narrate the divides between African-Americans and Caucasians, men and women, …
William M. ‘Bill’ Jones Jr., former Richmond corporate executive, dies at 88
William M. “Bill” Jones Jr., who was the first African-American corporate manager and personnel development manager at Thalhimers in Richmond, died Saturday, July 27, 2019, in Dallas, where he and his family have lived for many years. He was 88.
Dr. Martha C. Cook, longtime educator and former first lady of Ebenezer Baptist Church, dies at 82
Dr. Martha Louise Charles Cook combined a love of science and education with her faith. Dr. Cook taught the basics of biology to students in Richmond Public Schools and other school districts in a teaching career that spanned more than …
Democratic hopefuls seek support from young black faith leaders
Three Democratic presidential hopefuls fielded questions from black church leaders last week, bouncing between politics and prayer as they vied for support from an audience of about 5,000 black millennials.
