Raymond H. Boone Jr. speaks about his father's legacy after unveiling the street sign bearing his name. (Photo by Samantha Willis)
As a chilly wind swept down the 100 block of North Fifth Street on Thursday morning, Raymond H. Boone Jr. pulled a sheet of plastic from a street sign bearing his late father's name. The honorary naming of the street just outside the doors of the Richmond Free Press after its founder, Raymond H. Boone Sr., was the culmination of a resolution started by Richmond City Council two years ago.
Dozens gathered in the lobby of the newspaper’s office at 422 E. Franklin St. to witness the special commemoration of Boone's contributions to the city through the paper he established in 1992. Sixth District Councilwoman Ellen Robertson, who proposed the sign be named in Boone's honor in 2016, led the ceremony.
"Look at all that Ray did, and all the strong positions he took in his editorials, and all the stories that the Free Press has told," she said. "We always need someone to take a stand in that way, and Ray stood on fairness, unapologetically."
Boone's son, Raymond H. Boone Jr., gave remarks at the ceremony, as well as Mayor Levar Stoney. The mayor joked that although his first meeting with the elder Boone "didn't go well," the publisher later called to tell him directly that the young man had his respect.
Mayor Levar Stoney speaks with Richmond City Councilwoman Ellen Robertson (right) and Raymond H. Boone, Jr. (left). (Photo by Samantha Willis)
"I think the one thing we all can remember about Ray is, he respected everyone. He respected his people, his community his city. Ray spoke up because he recognized that if we don't speak up, it would render us mute, it would render us insignificant," said Stoney. "This sign reminds us that we all need to speak out, especially against injustices in the city of Richmond."
Describing Boone as a hard-working man who always insisted on quality, Richmond Free Press Managing Editor Bonnie Winston said, “Mr. Boone understood that Richmond needed a more diverse voice to represent the underserved and underrepresented. He knew Richmond needed a strong, independent voice to hold politicians' and policymakers' feet to the fire about what they were doing, how they were doing it, for whom they were doing it, and why. Mr. Boone and the Free Press became that voice." She pointed to Boone's refusal to print the name of the Washington, D.C.-based National Football League team in the paper, and his invitation to Occupy Richmond protestors to camp out on his front lawn — despite the fact that he lived next door to then-Mayor Dwight Jones.
Boone's widow, Jean, reached by phone for comment, called the street sign an "immeasurable honor" to her family. While Boone would be pleased with the progress the city has made since his death in 2014, his spouse acknowledged that he would be unhappy with the economic injustice faced by people of color.
Richmond Free Press publisher Ray Boone died at age 76 on June 3, 2014. (Photo by Sandra Sellers/Richmond Free Press)
"His mission, and that of the paper, was to comfort the afflicted, and afflict the comfortable; in other words, be a disrupter of the status quo," Jean Boone said. "Ray's mission was always to do that which would move the needle a little bit further toward equity and justice."
A documentary crew from Japan was present at the sign unveiling, shooting footage for an upcoming film about Boone, whose father was Japanese. Boone's daughter Regina, an award-winning photographer currently studying abroad on a Knight-Wallace fellowship, is leading research for the film.
The honorary street sign bearing Boone's name is posted at the corner of Fifth and Franklin Streets.
“A street sign helps you with directions,” Winston said. “When you find it, you can figure out where you’ve been, and where you are going. As people drive, walk, bike or skateboard past the new Raymond H. Boone street sign, we hope they think about Mr. Boone, a truly crusading journalist who helped the city figure out where it is, where it has been and where it needs to go.”
