The ''Richmond Free Press'' is an independent newspaper in

Richmond, Virginia (Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , map_caption = Location within Virginia , pushpin_map = Virginia#USA , pushpin_label = Richmond , pushpin_m ...

. Published on a weekly basis, it is mainly targeted at the city's

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ensl ...

community and its poorest residents. Raymond H. Boone, its founder, started the paper in part because he felt these groups were underrepresented in the mainstream media. Raymond H. Boone and Jean Patterson Boone founded the paper in 1992, and Raymond H. Boone served as its editor and publisher until his death on June 3, 2014. Virginia Governor

Terry McAuliffe Terence Richard McAuliffe (born February 9, 1957) is an American businessman and politician who served as the 72nd governor of Virginia from 2014 to 2018. A member of the Democratic Party, he was co-chairman of President Bill Clinton's 1996 ...

eulogized Boone as “a true Virginia legend” whose "life devoted to justice, equality and a well-informed public discourse, and I know that commitment will live on thanks to his leadership at the Richmond Free Press.” Prior to publishing the Richmond Free Press, Boone, who graduated from Boston University with a B.A. in journalism and Howard University with a M.A. in political science, taught journalism at Howard University for almost a decade. Boone was inducted into the Virginia Communications Hall of Fame in 2000, and in 2006, he received the Virginia

NAACP The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E.&n ...

’s highest honor, the Oliver W. Hill Freedom Fighter Award. Jean Patterson Boone took over the role of publisher and president upon her husband's death. Her son, Raymond Boone, Jr. is vice president. Her daughter, Regina Boone, works at the newspaper as a photojournalist. The newspaper's coverage of anti-racism and

Black Lives Matter Black Lives Matter (abbreviated BLM) is a decentralized political and social movement that seeks to highlight racism, discrimination, and racial inequality experienced by black people. Its primary concerns are incidents of police bruta ...

protests in Richmond, and in particular, the toppling of Confederate monuments on the city's

Monument Avenue Monument Avenue is a tree-lined grassy mall dividing the eastbound and westbound traffic in Richmond, Virginia, originally named for its emblematic complex of structures honoring those who fought for the Confederacy during the American Civil War. ...

, has been highlighted due in part to Richmond's historical status as the former capital of the Confederacy. The paper has won honors and awards for excellence in journalism, including awards from the

National Newspaper Publishers Association The National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA), formerly the National Negro Publishers Association, is an association of African American newspaper publishers from across the United States. History The NNPA was founded in 1940 when John H ...

, as well as the Virginia Press Association. Previous journalists have included A. Peter Bailey.

References

External links

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Raymond H. Boone Oral History
VCU Libraries Digital Collections
The Virginia Civil Rights Movement
Virginia Humanities {{African American press African-American newspapers Newspapers published in Virginia Mass media in Richmond, Virginia 1992 establishments in Virginia