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EGACY Yesterday. Today. Tomorrow.

WEDNESDAYS • March 9, 2016

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INSIDE

Rape survivors may find solace - 2 DOJ high fives Va.’s prison housing - 3 Va. pastor on the ‘Christian’ vote - 6 India.Arie on Nina Simone movie- 10

Richmond & Hampton Roads

LEGACYNEWSPAPER.COM • FREE

Some ex-offenders now have the chance to vote — for ‘liars’ and ‘con artists’ COURTLAND MILLOY Perspective

For ex-offenders who have successfully fought to have their voting rights restored in recent months, the ongoing presidential primaries were the first chance to go to the polls in years, even decades. And what a special welcome back it must have been for them to choose from a bunch of candidates who have often exhibited the kind of behavior that many were warned about when they were given a second chance.

One of those who started voting again in a Super Tuesday presidential primary was Je’Marc Morton, a warehouse employee in Williamsburg.

His voting rights were revoked for seven years after his conviction for grand larceny in 2008. His sentence for the larceny was five years’ probation.

Morton successfully petitioned to get back the right to vote last year. Now he was able to vote in a presidential primary — to choose among candidates variously described by one another as liars, con artists, hypocrites, wackos, frauds, cheats and thieves.

And to think that millions of people have been permanently disenfranchised — even after completing their sentences — because politicians like some of those running for president say ex-offenders do not have the “judgment” or “trustworthiness” to cast a ballot.

“I’ve heard bits and pieces of the campaigns, candidates being called things like ‘crooks’ and ‘stupid,’ ” said Morton, 28. It’s been a dispiriting campaign, to say the least. “I celebrated when I received a certificate saying my voting rights had been restored. But I just haven’t decided what to do.”

Just vote, that’s what he ought to do.

Get back into the habit of participating in the political life of the nation. These voting-rightsrevocation laws, which proliferated after the Civil War, were designed to do nothing more than keep black people away from the polls. However, as often happens, poor and working-class white people began getting caught up in the traps that

Trump’s been called a racist and a con artist and Clinton has been called a criminal. BRANCO were laid for black people.

As Paul Berendt, then the Washington state Democratic Party chairman, told the Seattle Times back in 2005: “We know for a fact that nonunion, blue-collar, Caucasian men vote very disproportionately Republican, and when you look at the felon population in the state of Washington, they are overwhelmingly nonunion, blue-collar, male Caucasians.”

The result has been a budding bipartisan effort to reform these draconian restrictions on voting rights.

Today, there are an estimated 5 million Americans who have lost the right to vote because of felony convictions. Virginia, as it turns out, is one of the states doing the most to remedy the injustice, with Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) continuing reforms started under his predecessor, Robert F.

McDonnell (R).

Nevertheless, Virginia still has one of the highest rates of disenfranchisement in the country.

According to the Virginia ACLU, an estimated 450,000 Virginians are barred from voting for the rest of their lives because of a felony conviction — nearly 7 percent of the state’s population.

That includes one in four African American men in Virginia permanently banned from voting, and 20 percent of black people in the state, the ACLU says. The numbers would be even higher if McAuliffe hadn’t made policy changes that have helped people with certain drug convictions get their voting rights restored sooner and removed the requirement that people pay court fines and fees before applying for restoration.

Black people make up 45 percent of those

(continued on page 2)

2 • March 9, 2016

The LEGACY

News

Rape survivors may find solace in legislation RACHEL BEATRICE CNS - Many rape survivors are still waiting for the test results of their rape kit. Not only are survivors often denied swift justice, but having untested rape kits sitting on shelves fails to protect other women.

Someone who commits rape is likely to do it again, said Sen. Richard H. Black, a Republican representing Loudoun and Prince William counties, told a meeting of the Women’s Roundtable and League of Women Voters last week at the General Assembly.

He said 2,300 rape kits in Virginia have yet to be tested. It’s crazy, Black said, to have a woman endure the invasive procedure and then making her wait years for the test results.

This legislative session, Black sponsored Senate Bill 291 to help address the problem. It would establish a comprehensive procedure for the collection and analysis of physical evidence recovery kits for victims of sexual assault. Under the bill, law enforcement agencies generally would be required to submit kits to the state Department of Forensic Science for analysis within 60 days.

The General Assembly unanimously passed SB 291 and sent it to Gov. Terry McAuliffe to be signed into law.

McAuliffe already has provided $900,000 in funding to ensure all 2,300 untested rape kits are tested and tested quickly, Black said. “We are going to get all those tested,” he said.

Black said there is a “glaring defect in the system” – involving child rapes by adult caretakers. Under current law, the adult guardian must give permission in order for a rape kit to be tested for DNA. “That’s basically like asking the person, ‘We need to know whether you are going to jail or not,’” Black said.

As a result, Black introduced SB

State Sen. Mamie Locke 248, which “provides that if a parent or guardian of a minor refuses to consent to a physical evidence recovery kit examination of the minor, the minor may consent.” The House and Senate have approved that bill, too.

Another issue, Black said, is that there are “more police officers than there are forensic nurses” – the people who perform rape kit testing. “Forensic nurses are a rare commodity.”

Also at the meeting, attendees discussed the budget that the General Assembly is crafting to fund state government for the next two years.

Sen. Mamie E. Locke, a Democrat representing Hampton County, noted that she was the only senator to vote against her chamber’s budget bill (SB 30).

“I’ve been a lone wolf before,” Locke said, “I don’t vote yes just because everyone votes yes.”

Locke said she voted no on the budget in part because it would cut funds to address hunger and food insecurity. “You can put in $38 million for corporate welfare … but you can’t put in $10 million for food deserts?”

Locke also said that a proposal to

expand Medicaid, the health care program for low-income Americans, was “totally stripped out of the budget.”

“You have quality health care as members of the Senate sitting there on the floor,” Locke said. “But you don’t think 400,000 Virginians – working Virginians – need the same kind of health care? I’m sorry, but I don’t think that’s fair.”

The group also discussed voting procedures – including SB 190, which sought to prohibit the use of direct recording electronic machines in elections.

Sen. John Miller, D-Newport News, introduced that bill. He noted that the measure is on its way to passage.

However, the law was amended so that it wouldn’t be implemented until 2020.

DRE machines do not have a paper trail and are an invitation to election fraud, Miller said. “Forty-nine localities in Virginia still use them,” Miller said, adding that there are 600 machines in use.

“There is more voter fraud in those machines than anything else,” Miller said.

Miller said he was disappointed that the House killed two of his other election-related bills.

SB 191 sought to establish an independent commission to redraw legislative and congressional districts – a task now controlled by the General Assembly. And SB 188 would have allowed voters 65 and older to vote absentee.

(from page 1) restored and get it done in time arrested for drug offenses in Virginia, even though they are only 19.7 percent of the state’s population — and despite evidence showing that white people use illegal drugs at higher rates than black people, according to the ACLU. Such systemic racial disparity could understandably lead to despair and cynicism among black ex-offenders.

Why even participate in a political process that undergirds obvious injustice?

Because voting is the best remedy, no matter how imperfect.

“The real push now should be for people to find out if they are eligible to have their voting rights

for the November elections,” said Rebecca Green, a law professor and co-director of William and Mary Law School’s Election Law Program.

“It takes a few months to go through the process, so they need to start now,” said Green, who also helps run a project for disenfranchised Virginia residents called Revive My Vote. “At least in Virginia, there’s never been a better time to apply to get your rights back.”

And when ex-offenders do succeed in getting their rights, they need to use them. Hopefully, Morton exercised his and voted — if only for the candidate who lies the least.

- WaPo

www.LEGACYnewspaper.com

March 9, 2016 • 3

DOJ highlights ‘restrictive’ housing reforms

Attorney General Loretta Lynch When the Step-Down program to conduct a review of what he began in 2011, 511 Virginia described as “the overuse of solitary Department of Corrections confinement across America prisons.” offenders were housed in long term Its purpose was to help develop administrative segregation, whether strategies for reducing the use of for their protection or the protection restrictive housing. of others. All but 84 of the original Since the reforms, Virginia has 511 offenders have completed the 409 E. Main St. #4 (mailing) • 105 1/2 E. Cla witnessed a 72 percent reduction program and transitioned to general Richmond, 23219 in the number of menVA housed in population housing. Only 15 of the long term restrictive At program completers have returned 804-644-1550 (office) •housing.

1-800-783-806 Red Onion State Prison, measuring to Security Level S. There are more ads@legacynewspaper.com from 2011 through 2015, incident than 30,000 offenders in Virginia’s Ad Size: 7.15 inches (1 column(s) X 7.15 inche reports are down 65 percent, inmate prisons. grievances 1have 71 percent The restrictive housing report was Issuefallen - $100.10 commissioned in July of 2015 when Rate: $17 per column inch (continued page Discounted rate: $14 per on column inch 4) President Barack Obama asked Next run date: March 2

ADVERTISE WITH US The U.S. Department of Justice has recognized Virginia for a drop in the number of offenders in restrictive housing over a five-year period.

Few offenders remain in restrictive housing in Virginia prisons The Virginia Department of Corrections (VADOC) is reporting that Virginia’s efforts to help inmates in the state’s highest security prisons move out of long term restrictive housing have been recognized by the U.S. Department of Justice. In a recently released report, Virginia is recognized for a large drop in the number of offenders in restrictive housing over a five-year period.

The U.S. Department of Justice’s “Report and Recommendations Concerning the Use of Restrictive Housing” highlights the VADOC’s Administrative Segregation StepDown Program at Red Onion State Prison and Wallens Ridge State Prison, one of only five states’ programs lauded in the report. The Administrative Segregation StepDown Program addresses offenders assigned to Security Level S, which

is defined as long term restrictive housing.

“I’m proud that Virginia has earned the praise of the Justice Department for the success we’ve had in reducing the use of restrictive housing in our highest security prisons,” said Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe. “The commonwealth continues to be at the forefront of prison reform and reentry efforts, earning us the second lowest recidivism rate in the country.

Smart administration of our justice programs is good for public safety, for taxpayers and for the individuals whose lives we are working to turn around.”

In October of 2011, the VADOC initiated reforms at the state’s highest-security prisons to change the culture and motivate positive change. As a result, the Administrative Segregation StepDown Program was created, giving high-risk offenders the opportunity to work their way out of restrictive housing and into the general prison population.

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4 • March 9, 2016

The LEGACY

Jim Webb: I won’t vote for Clinton, but I may for Trump Former Democratic presidential candidate and Virginia U.S. Sen. Jim Webb won’t be voting for Hillary Clinton, but he hasn’t ruled out casting his ballot for Donald Trump.

Webb, who briefly flirted with an independent bid before deciding against it, said last week that the Democratic front-runner wasn’t inspirational.

“I would not vote for Hillary Clinton,” Webb said on MSBNC’s “Morning Joe.” When asked whether he’d vote for Trump, Webb said he wasn't closed to the idea. “I’m not sure yet. I don’t know who I'm going to vote for,” he said.

He said Clinton would simply continue President Barack Obama’s policies, but that with Trump, things would change — but he’s not convinced it would be for the better.

“If you’re voting for Donald Trump, you may get something very good or very bad,” Webb said. “If you’re voting for Hillary Clinton, you’re going to be getting the same thing.”

Webb’s former senior strategist,

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Jim Webb David “Mudcat” Sanders, said in published interviews that he wouldn’t be voting for Clinton, either.

“As a Jim Webb Democrat, and I’ve called myself that before, I’ve never been prouder of the boy,” Saunders said.

State Sen. A. Donald McEachin (D-Henrico) issued a statement in response to Webb’s comments saying that he “considered” Webb a political friend and ally.

“But anyone who can rationalize Trump’s racist, xenophobic and misogynistic attitudes, his absurd coarsening of the dialogue and demeaning of the presidency and the process is someone I feel compelled to repudiate,” said McEachin.

(from page 3) and informal complaints have been reduced by 76 percent. A school was built for the first time at Red Onion State Prison, opening on July 26, 2013. In 2015, 260 Red Onion offenders were enrolled in school.

In referencing VADOC’s StepDown Program, the Justice Department (DOJ) states, “The Department focused on risk reduction strategies, enhancing inmates’ motivation to change problematic behavior combined with programming to provide new skills.

The program includes cognitive behavioral journaling, the use of therapeutic modules, and security chairs to allow inmates to come out of their cells and join small groups for programming, and increasing performance expectations and additional privileges at each level.”

Offenders who would once have been restricted to their cells for the majority of each day are given the opportunity to work their way out of their cells and join small groups for programming. Performance expectations increase at each level of the Step-Down Program and additional privileges can be earned.

In describing Virginia’s implementation of the Step-Down Program, the DOJ report states,

“The warden, his executive team, and all staff completed training to acquire effective communication and strategies to motivate change.

The Department also created new positions of Cognitive [sic] Treatment Officers, uniformed staff who escort and supervise inmates, who are also trained to provide programming to motivate and support positive change.”

The Segregation Step-Down Program was also nationally recognized in 2013, receiving the State Transformation in Action (STAR) Award from the Council of State Government’s Southern Legislative Conference.

VADOC is working to implement key elements of the Administrative Segregation Step-Down Program statewide for offenders at lower security facilities who are placed into restrictive housing for short periods of time, giving these offenders an opportunity to participate in activities like cognitive behavioral journaling before they return to the general prison population.

Applying the program statewide is intended to prevent offenders them from escalating to longer term, higher security restrictive housing, according to VADOC.

Sex Offender Helpline

The helpline provides support to communities on issues related to accessing sex offender registration information; responsible use of information; sexual abuse prevention resources; and accessing crime victim support services.

The tips program provides the public an opportunity to report registrants who are failing to comply with registration requirements.

Tips can also be provided at www.parentsformeganslaw.org.

This program is not intended to be used to report police emergencies.

www.LEGACYnewspaper.com

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6 • March 9, 2016

Op/Ed & Letters

The LEGACY

The Christian vote is the only hope we have E.W. JACKSON America is changing, but not for the better. The election of the first black president could have been a cause of ongoing celebration, but Americans who understand what he has done are mourning. As an American of African descent, I wish I could rejoice. Unfortunately, his administration has done extensive damage to our Republic which may take a generation to repair.

These snapshots show a president out of touch with the spirit of Our country. One of his first symbolic gestures was to send the bust of Winston Churchill back to Great Britain, insulting a great ally and trivializing our victory over the Nazis. He apologized to “the Muslim World” for American arrogance and mistakes. He bowed to a Saudi king.

He had a Marine in dress blues holding an umbrella over his head as if he were a king. He canceled the White House celebration of the National Day of Prayer. He was willing to shut down the government rather than discontinue funding Planned Parenthood. He traded the deserter Bowe Bergdahl for five Islamic terrorists and held a White House photo-op to rub it in our faces.

He treated Benjamin Netanyahu despicably while a guest in the White House. He entered into a nuclear agreement with Iran, which The LEGACY NEWSPAPER Vol. 2 No. 10 Mailing Address 409 E. Main Street 4 Office Address 105 1/2 E. Clay St. Richmond, VA 23219 Call 804-644-1550 Online www.legacynewspaper.com

continues to denounce the United States and repeatedly violates the agreement. He proudly ignores Congress and the Constitution as if he were a dictator.

He is the single greatest advocate for the radical homosexual agenda, even forcing it on our military.

Perhaps his crowning achievement is jamming ‘Obamacare’ down the throats of the American people with extreme partisanship, late night deals, legal bribes and telling pro-life Democrats the lie that it would not provide abortions. In fact, he sued Hobby Lobby and the Little Sisters of the Poor because they refused to pay for abortion drugs under ‘Obamacare’. Frankly, he behaves more like the head of a banana republic than president of our constitutional republic.

After seven years of this madness, is there any hope?

Yes. It is that evangelicals turned out to vote in record numbers in the Iowa caucuses. If that trend continues, America will be rescued from a Democrat Party that is more socialist than democratic. They purport to represent working people, but their policies put people out of work and make them wards of the state. They then terrorize the poor by telling them their benefits will be cut unless they keep Democrats in power. They demagogue race to keep minorities as a captive constituency.

The LEGACY welcomes all signed letters and all respectful opinions.

Letter writers and columnists opinions are their own and endorsements of their views by The LEGACY should be inferred. The LEGACY assumes no responsibility for unsolicited material.

Annual Subscription Rates Virginia - $50 U.S. states - $75 Outside U.S.- $100 The Virginia Legacy © 2016

Instead of solving problems, they manipulate people. Instead of bringing Americans together, they divide and conquer.

The Christian vote - white, black, Hispanic and others united as the body of Christ - is the only hope we have to elect a president who believes in the Constitution, the free market economy and in the Creator who gave us rights and liberty. If we continue to mobilize Pastors and churches in every state to register and vote their Christian values, we will win a victory for America.

We need an awakening. According to Religion News Service, the period from 1998 to 2013 can be described as the great decline: “Two decades ago only one in twenty Americans said they weren’t part of any religion.

Today it is at least three times that level, with the “nones” becoming one of the largest religious groups in America.”

That trend can be reversed, but it will take the right leadership and no small amount of God’s grace.

John Adams said, “[W]e have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion...Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”

Our founding fathers intended the fabric of American culture to be Christian. They saw in it the virtue

necessary for a free people and the blessing that would allow this grand experiment to succeed.

If we can awaken evangelical Christians as the keepers of the flame and get them to vote their Christian values in the upcoming Presidential election, we can drive a stake through the heart of Obamaism and bring our country back from the brink. We can elect a president who will recapture what the founders envisioned and the Constitution designed.

De Tocqueville said America was great because America was good, and that America was good because of her churches. It will all come to a calamitous end if pastors and churches cease to be the moral conscience of the nation.

Only an awakening in our churches will give us the new birth of freedom we so desperately need. If what happened in Iowa happens all over America, things are about to start changing for the better.

Jackson is the founder and senior pastor of THE CALLED Church in Chesapeake and a former Republican nominee for Virginia lieutenant governor.

www.LEGACYnewspaper.com

March 9, 2016 • 7

P.T. Hoffsteader, Esq.

SCOTUS talk

The passing of Justice Antonin Scalia after a Texas quail hunt with a pillow over his face has the conspiracy theories flying faster than ... ‘Obama did it’. Justice Scalia was loved by most Republicans because he was their guy on the court.

For others he was the nation’s wrecking ball on the court. Was he a racist, a sexist, a homophobe, etc.?

The truths about the man are buried in his decisions for the majority and the minority, as well as his public comments.

The man had a lot of hate in his heart and it came out in his decisions. You can start with his argument in Bush v. Gore to stop the vote counting in Florida, which was instrumental in giving us George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Connie Rice, Don Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz, the Afghanistan War, WMD lies, the Iraq war with millions dead and maimed (including thousands of US military) and displaced, torture as an accepted policy, the assassination of constitutional law, and demolition of the economy.

His ruling in favor of citizens united gave the power and influence of modern billion-dollar multinational corporations on elections. He ruled in favor of Hobby Lobby's desire to discriminate against basically whoever they want because they think Jesus is whispering in their ear, his dissenting opinion against same-sex marriage, and when Anthony Graves, a black man, was spared the death chamber by court

exoneration in Texas, Scalia argued in dissent that Graves should still be executed because established proof of innocence should not upend a standing court decision, even if that decision is decisively proven wrong.

As you know the GOP has went into instantaneous “blocking” mode against President Obama so we must get out the vote in November and screw up the GOP plans against undocumented immigrant, abortion and women in general, another conflict in the middle east where the U.S. would need to use thousand of combat personnel, LGBTQ rights, planned parenthood. Justice Scalia maybe gone, but the Republicans in congress and GOP candidates both have supported are supporting hate!

Black folks - think about it? Seven + years of hatred against President Obama by the GOP! I choose GOD. Walt Hill Petersburg

Polygamy is next

Back in the bad old days before the US Supreme Court’s ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges, many opponents of same-sex marriage warned us that if it became legal, polygamy would be next. They were -- some no doubt for the the first time in their lives -- right. Polygamy is, as it should be, next.

In 2013, a federal judge struck down part of Utah’s ban on marriages of more than two in a case involving the Brown family from the reality TV show “Sister Wives.” The ruling didn’t require the state to issue “marriage licenses” to more than two partners, but

it did invalidate the rule against cohabitation of those partners.

On March 2, Utah’s House of Representatives attempted to resuscitate the ban, passing a bill that, if it makes it through the Senate and past the governor’s desk and over the inevitable court challenge hurdles, would punish cohabiting parties of more than two who say they are married.

Yes, you read that right. No, it’s never going to pass constitutional muster.

If you get in a car and take off down the road without a driver’s license, you’re still driving. If you get married without a marriage license, you’re still married. A law forbidding you to mention that you’re driving, or that you’re married, belongs on the list of dumbest ideas ever.

What does it mean to be married?

For many, marriage has religious features, but those vary. At bottom marriage is a contractual arrangement that has evolved, just like every other kind of contractual arrangement, in many directions over the millennia. Government control of the possible permutations of such arrangements is neither necessary, nor desirable, nor morally defensible.

In fact, marriage licensing appeared in the mid-19th century in the U.S. for the specific purpose of enabling states to ban interracial marriage. It’s one of the last and most stubborn remnants of Jim Crow. It’s time to bring an end to that era of darkness. The developing fight over polygamy is custom-made to hasten that outcome. The more

complex marriage becomes, the less workable one-size-fits-all licensing schemes become.

Libertarian science fiction author Robert Heinlein envisioned a future in which various forms of marriage flourish, allowing families to conserve capital over centuries instead of mere decades and create perpetual rather than temporary legacies to support their descendants. We’re standing in the doorway of that future. Time to step through.

Thomas L. Knapp

Too establishment

Marco Rubio and Hillary Clinton both want the U.S. government to set up a “safe zone” in Syria to care for refugees from the raging civil war. You may assess their judgment by noting that Secretary of State Clinton and Sen. Rubio also pushed for bombing and regime change in Libya, which was crucial in spreading bin Ladenite mayhem far and wide, and that Rubio thinks knocking out the Sunni Islamic State would hurt Shi’ite Iran.

Ted Cruz does not call for a safe zone; he merely wants to bomb the Islamic State back to the stone age while arming the Kurds, whom the leadership of NATO member Turkey wants to destroy and the Sunni Arabs distrust. Cruz says the Kurds would be “our ground troops,” yet he does not rule out American troops as a last resort.

Where do the reputed antiestablishment candidates stand on the safe zone? Alas, Donald Trump favors it, and Bernie Sanders is ambiguous.

If this is disestablishmentarianism American-style, we are in bad shape.

Sheldon Richman

8 • March 9, 2016

Faith & Religion

The LEGACY

‘Evangelical support for Trump a failure for Christianity’ A moderate Baptist ethicist says evangelicals who support Donald Trump for president represent a failure of conservative Christianity.

David Gushee, a distinguished university professor at Mercer University, attributed the Trump phenomenon to a failure to “inoculate” American Christians against ideas and attitudes contrary to their religious values in a recent Religion News Service blog.

“I think my political vision has been

decisively shaped by spending many years studying the rise of Fascism in Germany and Italy and right-wing politics in Europe during the ’20s and ’30s, and the way in which politicians were able to appeal to the baser, more racist, nativist, nationalist, xenophobic kinds of tendencies, fears and passions of people, most of whom were also self-identified Christians in those countries,” Gushee said of the column with Welton Gaddy on State of Belief Radio.

Christian bishop calling blacks to come out of “anti-Christian” Democrat Party

purported claims that Democrats have helped minorities and the poor.

“If the Democrat Party has done so much for the black community, why is poverty increasing? Why are there no jobs? Why is the unemployment rate among black citizens twice the national average? Why is there a 50 percent unemployment rate among black youth?”

He answers, “They don’t care about black people. They care about those who will bow to them.”

Jackson says that Democrats have offered racial demagoguery, and nothing else. He says they manipulate black voters with fear of what they will lose if they don’t vote Democrat. The bishop also says that the government policies of Democrats have hurt rather than helped.

“The two parent black family has been all but destroyed,” he says.

“Too many young black people are on drugs, in gangs, prison or the morgue. In fact, government programs supported by the Democrat Party always make poverty worse.”

The video ends with an admonition about Election Day. “When you get to the polls this year, they will hand you a ballot expecting you to vote a straight Democrat ticket,” he says, it’s time to say, ‘No thank you.’

“It is time to stop blindly following the Democrat Party and start faithfully following God.”

Virginia-based Bishop E.W. Jackson says that black Christians should not remain in a Democrat Party that is increasingly hostile to Christianity.

He has produced a new video which urges black voters to abandon the Democrat Party.

Part of what he says is, “Four years ago I released a video called EXODUS NOW, calling black Christians to come out of the Democrat Party. When I did that video there was no gay marriage.

Now we have it, and the Democrat Party is mainly responsible. I am back to say once again, come out.”

In the video, Jackson urges black voters to oppose Democrats on marriage and abortion. "Why has the Democrat Party embraced gay marriage when black voters believe in the biblical definition of marriage?

Why does the Democrat Party avidly support Planned Parenthood when they know it's founder, Margaret Sanger, was a racist eugenicist who wanted to stop the growth of the black population?"

But the bishop also dismisses

Donald Trump is joined by a coalition of 100 African-American evangelical pastors and religious leaders, following a private meeting at Trump Tower. PHOTO: Dennis Van Tine/STAR MAX Gushee said he has used the language “inoculated Christians” in previous writings about political realities like Germany in 1929 or 1932.

“Some of them were inoculated in the sense that they would listen to somebody like a Hitler and they would say: ‘No way. There’s no way support for this person is compatible with the Christian faith that I hold dear,’” he explained. “But many, many other Christians, they didn’t get the shot. They didn’t get the inoculation, or it didn’t take. So the elements that were attractive at that moment in the passions of the era kind of overrode the Christian convictions that should have helped them stand firm.”

“It’s the contrast between a Dietrich Bonhoeffer on the one hand and like the German Christian movement on the other in pre-Nazi and Nazi Germany,” Gushee said.

Gushee said he is not making “a direct comparison” between the current election and pre-war Germany, but simply trying to argue there should be certain kinds of politicians and policies that are “just ruled out by what it means to be a follower of Jesus.”

“That’s what worries me about, at least the worst moments, of Donald Trump’s campaign,” Gushee said.

“Things he has said, ways he has presented himself, the comments about Muslims, about immigrants, with the tone of his rallies, things like saying from a platform I’d like to punch him in the face, you know, about a person who was protesting — that kind of demeanor, the violent spirit, I just don’t see how a Christian’s intuitive sense wouldn’t just recoil and say: ‘No. No matter what else might be attractive about this person, this crosses the line.’”

Gushee said the anger and anxiety many voters feel today remind him of political tensions that in the past aided the rise of Latin American dictators.

“It’s more like the appeal of a strong man in Latin America, where democracy is crumbling or weak, and so you elect a strong man who is going to be tough and restore order,” he said. “Rule of law or the nicer virtues are set aside for the toughness and authoritarian kind rule that we need right now. That’s the neighborhood that I think we find ourselves in, and that’s why I wrote the piece that I did.”

www.LEGACYnewspaper.com

March 9, 2016 • 9

Carson leaves campaign trail to mobilize christians to vote Former neurosurgeon Dr. Ben Carson confirmed that his presidential campaign was ending, but that he was going to channel his time and energy to mobilize Christians to vote.

At a speech delivered Friday at the Conservative Political Action Conference, Carson stunned the audience when he stated during his remarks that he was “leaving the campaign trail.”

“Now that I am leaving the campaign trail,” said Carson, before his sentence was interrupted by a long audience reaction that included expressions of sorrow and an applause with shouts of respect.

Carson noted that he was going to be heading a group called My Faith Votes, whose mission is to get the faith communities of America more involved in the presidential election.

“We’re in the process of allowing the secular progressives to drive faith out of our country,” cautioned Carson.

Carson argued that the faith vote needs to be mobilized because, as seen with the 2012 presidential election, not getting involved can have a major impact on the results.

"In 2012, 25 million evangelicals did not vote. The margin of difference [between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney] was only five million," continued Carson.

“We have to get these people registered and we have to get them to understand that they have to play a role because a lot of people in the faith community they say ‘God’s got it under control so I just don’t really need to do anything.’ Well one of the ways that God controls it is through us.”

Carson's comments came as part of the annual multiday CPAC event, which was hosted by the American Conservative Union at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland.

In addition to Carson, other former and current Republican presidential hopefuls who spoke on the main stage included U.S. Senator Ted

Cruz, former Senator Rick Santorum, Ohio Governor John Kasich, and former Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina.

Announcing his candidacy last year in his home town of Detroit, Michigan, Carson's campaign stirred some interest but was ultimately overshadowed by other candidates including current frontrunner Donald Trump.

Known to be soft spoken and often silent during the Republican primary debates, Carson also garnered controversy for statements like claiming Muslims should not be allowed to run for president and that prison rape proved people can change sexual orientation.

Carson’s remarks at CPAC came days after Super Tuesday, in which the accomplished neurosurgeon failed to win a single state of the twelve that were up for grabs.

Immediately following the results from Tuesday, Carson sent out a statement saying that he was not going to attend the GOP debate in Detroit, heavily implying that he was dropping out of the race.

“I do not see a political path forward in light of last evening’s Super Tuesday primary results,” read the statement from the Carson campaign.

“However, this grassroots movement on behalf of ‘We the People’ will continue. Along with millions of patriots who have supported my campaign for President, I remain committed to Saving America for Future Generations.”

According to the My Faith Votes’ website, the effort to mobilize Christians to vote will be a “relevant” and “non-partisan” endeavor.

“Christians in the U.S. can and should make their voice heard for the stability of our country and security of our freedoms,” read the “About Us” section of the website.

“The best way to make a difference is to ensure we dramatically enhance voter participation amongst Christians. If we don’t speak up, we can't expect to be heard.”

Ben Carson

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10 • March 9, 2016

The LEGACY

Ask Alma

India Arie: Why Zoe Saldana as Nina Simone is “tone-deaf” casting (Q&A)

Husband still hits the clubs – without me Dear Alma, I recently got married to a man I dated for six years. We have a wonderful relationship – open and trusting – and I couldn’t ask for anything more.

However, he likes to go quite often (about once a week) to the club. I’m never invited. He acts as if it would be a sin if I were to go with him.

Sometimes he doesn’t get home until after midnight.

I will trust him until he gives me a reason not to. If I were to go out in the same way with my girlfriends, he would get irate, wondering what I’m doing, who we’re with, etc. When he tells me he’s going out, I never get mad (I definitely don’t want him going to a club mad at me!). I just don’t know if I should start “putting my foot down,” so to speak.

How can I get him to see things from my perspective? For all I know, he could be in another woman’s bed! All I have to go on is trust. What do you think?

Left at home, Washington, D.C. I think is the same thing you think. You just want me to say it.

You aren’t doing yourself or your husband any favors by not telling the truth about how you feel. If an issue doesn’t sit well with you, you should be straightforward. Honesty helps to build a genuine and trustworthy commitment.

If simply loving somebody could make a person do or be better, we’d all be doing the right thing, ‘cause we all got somebody who loves us.

You asked if you should put your foot down? Hello-o-o, you’re still standing on your tippy toes right

now, so you’re not in a position to put your foot down.You lead him to believe that his clubbing is fine with you. To make matter worse, you even send him off with a kiss on the cheek and a smile. Because, like you said, you don’t want to send him to the club mad. Don’t be angry with him for doing what he’s doing when you’ve told him it’s alright to do it.

Don’t get me wrong; I understand what you’re saying, and I agree with you. I wouldn’t want my husband at the club either. But this should have been discussed and clarified early on.

First things first: Start telling the truth. I’d suggest you take the time to tell him how you really feel.

There’s no need to be hostile. Part of this is your fault, so you need to come clean with patience in one hand and understanding in the other.

An old Chaka Khan song comes to mind – Once you get started, snap, snap, Ooooh, it’s hard to stoppppp, yea, you just can’t stop now!!!

(Sorry, I lost my train of thought.)

Maybe he can go to the club every other week, or maybe you can go with him. The two of you need to decide what’s best. I don’t think he’ll stop right away, but I’m sure there’s a place in the middle that will satisfy both of you. ***** Want advice? E-mail questions to alwaysaskalma@yahoo.com.Follow her on Facebook at “Ask Alma” and twitter @almaaskalma *****

Grammy-winning soul singersongwriter India Arie was an early critic of the Nina Simone biopic Nina, penning an open letter on the decision to cast Zoe Saldana shortly after on-set photos of the actress in darkened skin and facial prosthetics surfaced in 2012.

Outrage over the long-shelved film went viral last week when the trailer was released, with the harshest response coming from the official Twitter account of Simone’s estate.

(Simone’s only child, Lisa Simone Kelly, told Time that although the family disapproves of the film, she does not hold Saldana responsible for its failings.)

Arie, a musical descendant of

Nina Simone who portrayed her in a musical performance during a 2003 episode of the 1960s-set NBC drama American Dreams, saw an early version of the movie during a 2013 private screening.

She spoke to The Hollywood Reporter about why she doesn’t blame Saldana, how this cinematic treatment of Simone fails to understand the icon’s essence and legacy, and why she understands Judd Apatow’s dismissal of the whole controversy: “To be of the most powerful race and gender in the world, of course that’s going to be your point of view.”

(continued on page 11)

www.LEGACYnewspaper.com

March 9, 2016 • 11

President Barack Obama congratulates members of the 2016 National Champion Alabama Crimson Tide at the White House. Alabama beat the Clemson Tigers 45-40 to win the College Football Playoff championship.

PHOTO: Cheriss May/HUNS

(from page 10) What did you think of the movie?

It made me sad. The way she looked in the movie was ugly.

Whether or not Nina Simone was beautiful in your eyes, I thought she was beautiful. But in this movie, she just looked weird. Her skin looked weird, and her nose looked weird. It made me wonder, was that how the filmmakers see her? Did they not think she was beautiful? Were they like, “Yeah, we got it! That’s how she looked.”

Why are some people calling this a blackface performance?

Isn’t Zoe Saldana black? Or is this about her not “being black enough”?

It’s messy to put it that way. I think the best way to say it is that they casted her against type and went too far to make her fit. It’s not my place to say how Zoe Saldana perceives herself, and I can’t say how anybody else perceives her either. I see her as a black person of Hispanic origin, but I don’t even know what that really means, because I don’t know anything about race and Hispanic culture.

In my open letter I called it “black(er) face.” I didn’t know what

to call it either. I have heard that there were black actors who played blackface, back when people did that. I think blackface was putting charcoal on your face and doing a certain type of act on stage, the shucking and jiving. You could be black or white. [The Nina portrayal] is a caricature. You had to put a whole other face on someone’s face.

Zoe has said that playing Nina Simone is her truth. Does she deserve any of this blame?

I don’t know her and I don’t think she did anything wrong. If I were in her shoes and I admired Nina Simone the way that I hear she does, I would have said yes, too, and I don’t even think I can act. If they asked me to sing Nina Simone, I got that.

But I never pursued it because I felt it was not my place. And I don’t know if it was her place to do that.

I think they cast Zoe Saldana because they wanted a big name, but that makes me ask, “Is the name Nina Simone not big enough to get people to come to the movie?”

It sounds like you’re not judging Zoe’s right to accept this role.

I can’t say I’m 100 percent

(continued on page 12)

DIANDRA BOLTON WASHINGTON – During the annual celebration of the college national football champion at the White House, President Barack Obama joked Wednesday that he obviously is the reason for the continued and dramatic success of the University of Alabama, the winners of the 2016 college football championship, their fourth in seven years.

“Now my first question is, ‘Coach what took you so long?’” Obama said.

“It’s been three whole years since I last saw you. This is the fourth time I have hosted Alabama here at the White House. So clearly, I have brought you some good luck. In fact, you could call me ‘O-BAMA.’” Obama also commended the team for its skill and called coach Nick Saban “somebody who’s in the running to be the greatest football coach of all time.”

Saban said he is still appreciative of the experience of winning championships and of visiting the White House.

“It never gets old,” he said. “This is a wonderful experience. Not a lot of our players get to experience the District of Columbia, Washington, D.C., the Washington Monument, and the Lincoln Memorial. I think it’s something our players all look forward to.”

Saban attributed this year’s victory to teamwork.

“This team is special in the fact that…I use the term ‘We won as one,’ everybody sort of holding each other accountable,” he said. “The leadership we had on the team, the adversity we faced losing early…to winning the championship against the very good Clemson team, I think, makes this team really unique from all the rest.”

The team presented Obama with a jersey and helmet emblazoned with the number 16, representing the number of national championships the team claims to have won. Officially, the team is recognized by the NCAA as having won 13.

The audience was filled with the family and friends of the players as well as Robert Bentley, the governor of Alabama, and some members of the Alabama delegation in Congress.

12 • March 9, 2016

(from page 11) not judging. There’s that vocal intellectual conversation in all the magazines and on TV, and there’s that emotional conversation about how we feel about things and how we are all on our own journeys. Then there’s that spiritual conversation, beneath race and all those things.

On that soul level, I’m not here to say what she’s supposed to do. Your soul is between you and God. On that soul level, it’s not my place to say. Emotionally, I respect her truth.

Intellectually, though, I’m pretty judge-y about it. I don’t like it; I’m just being honest.

Actors do transform their looks to play real-life characters, most recently like Kate Winslet in Steve Jobs. Why does it matter that Zoe Saldana doesn’t look like the real Nina Simone?

I do kind of agree with that argument that we are diminishing the creativity of acting if you have to cast a person who looks exactly like her — in a perfect world, race shouldn’t matter, right? But we don’t live in a perfect world and it does matter. Nina Simone sacrificed so much to be as bold as she was about being black and about being female in an era where that could have cost her life. She was denied access to a conservatory not because she didn’t play great, but because she was black. She would have had a different career if she looked like Lena Horne or Dorothy Dandridge.

She could have been the first black female concert pianist, world-famous.

When you look a certain way you get certain privileges; when you look another way you’re denied access to certain things, especially in her era.

So in the context of the politics of race in America and the politics of race in the entertainment industry in America, to make a movie about a person like that and cast an actress that has to wear blackface and a prosthetic nose is tone-deaf.

To propagate that institutionalized racism that is historical in Hollywood in a movie about her is ironic in the worst possible way.

It’ll be nice when someone like a Zoe Saldana could play Nina Simone and there wouldn’t have to even be a conversation. That’s extreme, but what I mean is when there can just be black actresses with lots of opportunities because people can see the beauty in all kinds of different

The LEGACY faces and skin tones. But we’re far away from that. We’re really far away from somebody like Zoe Saldana being able to play Nina Simone and nobody cares. Maybe that’s utopia.

Nina’s director, casting director, makeup and prosthetic artists and producers (except executive producers David Oyelowo and Aigerim Jakisheva) are all white.

Do you think this problem could have been averted if more people principally involved in the production were black?

Yes, I think so. There are certain understandings that are just in your bones, based on who you are, and those would have been brought to bear. I don’t know if it would have been a perfect movie, but certain fundamental truths would have been taken into account.

But there’s also a part of me that’s naïve and thinks, even if it were 98 percent white people involved in the making of this movie, it still could have been done right if they cared enough to do it right. But obviously, that didn’t happen.

In response to this controversy, Judd Apatow sarcastically tweeted, “I think all actors should only be allowed to play themselves.

It is offensive to pretend to be other people.” In other words, he seems to be defending artistic freedom of expression.

I believe in freedom of expression, too. But when someone’s freedom of expression is denied to give someone else a freedom of expression, then who is free? What he’s saying doesn’t take into account so many things that matter to this story. I see why that is his point of view and he has that right. Why would you have the point of view of a black woman when you’re a white man? I respect his perspective.

It sounds like he has the utopian perspective you were talking about, where there’s not a problem if Zoe Saldana plays Nina Simone because there’s not a limit of opportunities for people who look like Nina Simone, and in his worldview things are less limited.

Far, far less limited. (Laughs.)

That’s what people mean sometimes when they use the word “privilege.”

You have the privilege of not having to look at these ugly things. I get it.

You don’t know what you don’t know.

To be of the most powerful race and

gender in the world, of course that’s going to be your point of view, and it actually gives me a hope that some people can see it that way. But if you’re talking to me, a black woman in America who makes music that’s spiritual and socially conscious and all this stuff that they don’t really want black women in the music industry to do, then I’m gonna have different takes from Judd Apatow.

Very different. (Laughs.)

Why are some people taking this portrayal of Nina Simone so seriously?

What does she mean to you?

I loved her music and the fact that she was a classically trained pianist and that her voice was so unique, but what made Nina Simone my hero is that I had never seen anyone in the public eye who looked anything like me at all, ever. When you think about the way that we as human beings can inspire each other by being able to be our authentic selves, to deny someone who looks like Nina Simone the opportunity to play her is sad. It would have been important and impactful had they made a movie about Nina Simone where the actress really looked like her. It would have changed someone’s life, I think. She changed my life just by looking the way she looked.

Like Oprah says, we all want to know, “Do you see me? Do you hear me?” When people don’t look like you in commercials, no one looks like you anywhere, Nina Simone made me feel like I existed. And wouldn’t it be amazing if that happened for someone else?

When you’re a black woman in the entertainment industry, you really feel that black tax. You have to try twice as hard to get half as much, for people to see you or for people to understand your beauty and to photograph your skin the right way, and to think that you’re beautiful enough to want to photograph you the right way. I have had personal conversations with some black women in Hollywood who would be considered some of the most beautiful women in Hollywood, and they struggle with it too: “I lost to this actress because she’s lighter. It’s always me and her, and then she gets it.” I think that needs to be taken into account any time you talk about Nina Simone. I say this because I look at the world through those same eyes. I came into the music industry and I was really naïve. I know a lot about my history, but I thought, “We

live in modern times and I’m gonna have as much of a chance as anybody else.” And I did and I didn’t. I have more access than my mother would have had at my age, but there were other things that were just denied me based on my race and my skin tone and my facial features.

How does this film portray Nina?

I saw a very early, early version in 2013, so I don’t know what they ended up doing, but it was a lot like the feel that you got from watching the Nina Simone documentary [the recent Oscar-nominated What Happened, Miss Simone?]: She was troubled, she was institutionalized, she had addictions. It doesn’t go into her childhood and things like that.

It was just a story about her and the butler, and I guess his perception about what happened when he was with her.

What kind of movie would you like to see about Nina Simone, and who would you want to play her?

The thing for me is that Nina Simone is part of a small sorority of women who came from being considered the least valuable human beings in all of America — a darkskinned black woman from Jim Crow South, from very oppressed societal situations, like Maya Angelou being abused because you’re just a black girl, Oprah being abused because you’re just a black girl, Nina Simone being abused because you’re just a black girl — and who became selfdefined and venerated and successful and influential and made history.

I want to see the epic tale of a woman who came from nothing to have everything and who struggled and had a child and mental illness and addictions.

I want to see the story of a full person.

If I was going to pick someone I know, I would choose Adepero Oduye [a Sundance breakout for 2011’s Pariah, most recently of The Big Short] because of her acting chops and her facial features. But also, wouldn’t it be cool if somebody just came out of nowhere, like a stage actress or how Lupita Nyong’o just came out of nowhere? Somebody who’s amazing and ethnic and really beautiful and had chops, and then she did this movie and had a chance to elevate her craft the way that Nina Simone did? That to me would capture her essence. To see someone else have that opportunity because she paved that road, that to me would be inspirational.

www.LEGACYnewspaper.com

March 9, 2016 • 13

Fallen first responders’ constitutional amendment Del. Tim Hugo notes that HB865 and HJ123 will help families by giving localities the authority to exempt spouses of first responders who have died in the line of duty from personal property taxes.

Del. Hugo’s HB865 and HJ123 unanimously passed in both the Virginia House and the Senate. The initiative will now be placed on the general election ballot to amend the Constitution of Virginia on Nov. 8 “In May of 2006, a shooter opened fire on police officers in the parking lot of the Sully District Police Station in Fairfax County, hitting Master Police Officer Michael Garbarino and Detective Vicky Armel, both of whom succumbed to their wounds,” said Hugo. “My constituent, Suzanne Garbarino, Officer Garbarino’s widow, met with me to share her concerns about the financial burdens that face the families of our fallen

first responders, and the significant impact the exemption from personal property taxes could have on their lives.”

This bill intends to amend the Virginia Constitution, providing a real personal property tax exemption for the spouses of emergency responders who have died in the line of duty. HJ597, introduced and passed in 2015, combined with this year’s HB865 and HJ123 will put this potential amendment on the general election ballot in November.

“This is but a small recognition for the efforts of our first responders who put their lives on the line each and every day in order to keep us safe, particularly those who have given the ultimate sacrifice.

Hugo said that the death of Prince William Police Officer Ashley Guindon on Feb. 27 fshould urther remind all of the “tremendous

Leaders and citizens convene to highlight ‘legacy of pollution’ Diverse coalition calls for action towards environmental justice Virginia leaders and citizens recently gathered to call for action on environmental justice issues plaguing communities across Hampton Roads and the commonwealth as a final nod to Black History Month. Community leaders discussed the historical legacy of pollution affecting people of color and low-income communities and strategized action plans to raise awareness and address community concerns.

U.S. Rep. Bobby Scott, state Del. Marcia Price (D-95th District) and state Sen. Mamie Locke (D-2nd District), chairwoman of the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus, were in attendance to show their support.

“We owe it to all communities, from those in Flint, Michigan to those in Hampton Roads, to ensure that no one is denied the opportunity to live in a clean and safe environment free from polluted water, air, or the increasing threat of rising seas”, said Scott, championing the voices of the gathered community leaders.

“Families in underserved neighborhoods often face limited opportunities to voice their concerns about health impacts caused by toxic air and water pollution,” said Jill Witkowski, director of the Choose Clean Water Coalition. “For this reason, the Choose Clean Water Coalition is proud to partner on an event that is geared toward raising awareness of justice issues and ensuring that everyone with a voice is heard.”

In light of the ongoing health and environmental crisis in

First responders are designated and trained to respond to emergencies sacrifices of our first responders.

“I am looking forward to the success

of this initiative with the help of the voters of Virginia on Nov. 8,” said Hugo.

Flint, Michigan, community representatives highlighted issues of environmental injustices presently impacting families across Virginia.

From the Appalachian coal regions of southwestern Virginia to the poultry and agricultural farms on the Eastern Shore, groups gathered to discuss concerns and collaborate on possible solutions to protecting public health and safety.

The community event was held in the Southeast Community of Newport News, where atendees notes that the “legacy of industrialization” dates back to 1880, 1890, and 1892, respectively, with the creation of the Old Dominion Land Company (ODLC), the Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company, and the infamous Coal Pier. Because of this legacy, coupled with the current environmental backdrop of various industrial developments, port facilities and highways operating within, residents continue to voice concerns and raise questions regarding the impacts of toxic pollutant exposure on the environment and the health of citizens.

Dr. Erica Holloman, program coordinator of the Southeast CARE Coalition, said “Although

complicated, achieving environmental justice is not impossible and is a must, in Virginia and abroad. For many fence-line communities located next to multiple sources of toxic releases, the lack of community-specific environmental data is discouraging and makes understanding health implications difficult. This is where state and federal agencies have an opportunity to assist communities seeking to understand the relationship between our environment and our health.”

Angela Harris, President of All From One Inc. and Youth Coordinator for the Southeast CARE Coalition said, “The youth and the elderly are often the most susceptible populations impacted by issues of environmental injustices. It is especially imperative that the voices of the youth are empowered to be advocates for their environment and health”.

“The commonwealth should move forward to become a nationwide example of engaging minority communities in planning processes for addressing environmental justice issues such as the Clean Power Plan” said Mariah Davis, Hampton Roads organizer with Virginia Conservation Network.

14 • March 9, 2016

The LEGACY

Access to healthier foods could be just a TEXT away The Richmond City Health District is asking Richmond residents to let them know if they would like to be able to buy fresh produce and healthier foods at convenience stores located in their neighborhoods.

Richmonders can text “YES” to 804292-2265 and be guided through a text-based survey that allows them to provide valuable feedback regarding what they would like to see in their neighborhood as it relates to increasing their access to healthy food options.

Spanish-speaking residents can

text “SI” to 804-419-7355 for a Spanish translation of the survey.

Standard text messaging prices may apply.

Callers will answer a few ‘yes or no’ and multiple choice questions about their access to healthy foods as well as selecting healthy food items that they would like to see in their neighborhood stores, such as fruits and vegetables, 100 percent juice, and whole grains.

It’s an easy way to let the health department know what types of foods they want to buy and the

Event to discuss cancer efforts The Cancer Action Coalition of Virginia is inviting all interested individuals to attend the Hampton Roads, Virginia Colorectal Cancer Roundtable and its efforts to eliminate colorectal cancer as a major public health issue The roundtable will include a discussion on the nationwide initiative to reach an 80 percent colorectal cancer screening rate by 2018. Attendees will explore some of the factors and barriers that impact screening and also focus on best practices for screening, development of community partnerships, available tools and resources, and a plan of action to increase screening.

The free event take place at Brock Institute for Community and Global Health, Eastern Virginia Medical School, Lester Hall Room 104, located at 651 Colley Ave. in Norfolk on March 15. Onsite check in at 8:30 a.m. with a roundtable discussion beginning at 9:30 a.m.

There is NO COST to attend.

Everyone is invited as it will take the support and collaboration of many including hospitals and health systems, community groups, primary care practitioners, employers, insurers, gastroenterologists, nurses, navigators and more – to reduce the burden of colorectal cancer in Virginia.

The American Cancer Society, which describes itself as a global grassroots force of more than three million volunteers saving lives

and fighting for every birthday threatened by every cancer in every community, notes that 80 percent by 2018 is a National Colorectal Cancer Roundtable (NCCRT) Initiative in which hundreds of organizations have committed to substantially reducing colorectal cancer as a major public health problem ad are working toward the shared goal of 80 percent of adults aged 50 and older being regularly screened for colorectal cancer by 2018. Leading public health organizations, such as NCCRT, CDC, and the ACS are rallying organizations to embrace this shared goal. If we can achieve 80 percent by 2018, 277,000 cases and 203,000 colorectal cancer deaths would be prevented by 2030.

Chesapeake, Newport News, Portsmouth, Suffolk and several other cities in Virginia have been identified as “hot spots” for colorectal cancer - the region’s colorectal cancer rate is roughly 9 percent above the national rate - according to a new report from the American Cancer Society. Colorectal cancer is the nation’s second-leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the U.S. when men and women are combined: however, it is one of only a few cancers that can be prevented.

Through colorectal cancer screening, doctors can find and remove hidden growths (called “polyps”) in the colon, before they become cancerous.

Register in advance by visiting http://tinyurl.com/vacrcrt.

neighborhood where they would like to have access to healthier foods.

The Healthy Food Access Survey is being conducted by the Richmond City Health District’s Healthy Corner Store Initiative from now until April 30. The goal of the survey is to gather input from Richmond residents living in areas of the city designated as food deserts.

A food desert is a geographic area where affordable and nutritious food is difficult to obtain, particularly for those without access to an automobile. The Healthy Corner

Store Initiative hopes to use the survey data to make better informed decisions regarding the future implementation of the Healthy Corner Store program and residents’ preferences for the variety of fresh produce they would like to be available to them.

The Healthy Corner Store Initiative works with community partners Shalom Farms and Tricycle Gardens to increase community access to fresh, affordable, locally grown produce through neighborhood corner stores.

VCU and partners receive $5.7m to study clinical depression Virginia Commonwealth University is part of an international research team that has received a Wellcome Trust grant totaling more than $5.7 million to uncover the underlying biological processes that cause major depressive disorder. The study, to be conducted by researchers from VCU, the University of Oxford and throughout China, is an extension of a study from the same team that uncovered the first identified risk genes for clinical depression last year.

The design of the five-year study will replicate and extend the original, with researchers conducting in-depth personal interviews with Han Chinese women who have had at least two episodes of major depression and have no history of alcohol or drug abuse. Researchers will also collect DNA samples from study participants. While the study’s design will follow the same structure of the original, it will be four times as large.

The first study recruited 6,000 cases of recurrent major depression and 6,000 controls, whereas the current study will recruit approximately 24,000 Han Chinese women with severe clinical depression and 24,000 controls.

Together with the existing sample of 12,000, the total sample will

be 60,000, which the researchers estimate is sufficient to identify at least 30 genetic risk loci. This will transform the scientific community’s understanding of the origins and nature of major depressive disorder, providing a starting point for improvement in mental health care.

“Our opportunity is to replicate the initial findings and to substantially enlarge the number of variants that we have found so that we may be in a better position to articulate distinct biological pathways to major depression,” said Kenneth S. Kendler, M.D., professor of psychiatry and human and molecular genetics at VCU School of Medicine. Kendler is a key collaborator on the study that is led

by Jonathan Flint, M.D., professor, Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics at the University of Oxford.

Major depression is one of the most common mental disorders in the U.S., according to the National Institute of Mental Health. In 2012, an estimated 16 million adults in the U.S. aged 18 or older had at least one major depressive episode in the past year, representing almost 7 percent of the population.

The second phase of the study will collect genetic information and high-quality phenotypes for major depressive disorder at an unprecedented scale.

www.LEGACYnewspaper.com

March 9, 2016 • 15

AMY DAVID

mental disorder are fraud.

California, Illinois, New Jersey and Oregon, as well as the District of Columbia, have all banned the practice using the legislative process.

“They have a lot of support leading up to this,” he said. “it would be a really great milestone.” he said. “The victims of it and the people that are claiming to be conversion therapists, they need a lot of healing.”

Other organizations, such as Christian litigation group, Liberty Counsel, are not so happy about this complaint.

Liberty Counsel has posted this Letter of Opposition to “Change Therapy” on its website, asking for signatures to urge the FTC not to take on the request made by the LGBT groups.

“This request is an outrageous overreach of a government agency’s power and a clear violation of individual rights,” the letter states.

“The allegations made in the letter are one-sided and skewed toward the pro-homosexual viewpoint.”many young people and their Liberty Counsel’s letter also says the lives of many young people and their families will be “destroyed under this potential ban.”

In an email, Liberty Counsel had this to say about the complaint and their letter: “Homosexual activists want us to believe that conversion away from their lifestyle is not possible – and therefore, “Change Therapy” should be banned in the United States. This assertion is pure deception at its core and a stealth tool of recruitment for their movement. The minors we represent in our litigation efforts have not and do not want to act on same-sex attractions, nor do they want to engage in such behavior.

They are greatly benefiting from counseling. That is a fact that prohomosexual lawmakers want to shield from the American public.”

Virginia conversion therapy group hit with consumer fraud complaint

Three LGBT advocacy groups recently filed a federal fraud complaint targeting People Can Change, a Virginia-based organization that claims it can help individuals overcome “unwanted same-sex attraction.”

Southern Poverty Law Center, The National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR), the Human Rights Campaign filed the 39-page report with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) against the Ruckersville-based gay conversion group citing their practices as “deceptive, unfair and fraudulent.”

People Can Change offers services such as the “Journey Into Manhood” weekend experience which is done in England, Israel and across the U.S, along with other “experimental healing weekends” meant to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity.

The report filed by the three LGBT advocacy groups claims People Can Change violates Section 5 of the FTC Act by claiming they can change a person’s sexual orientation.

The complaint asks the Federal Trade Commission to ”take enforcement action to stop PCC’s deceptive advertising, marketing, and other business practices in all forms, including through its website, brochures, videos, social media, emails, or other advertisements or promotional materials.”

Mathew Shurka, an ambassador for Born Perfect, a campaign from the National Center for Lesbian Rights to end conversion therapy , was in conversion therapy for five years and was treated by People Can Change in 2008, at the age of 20.

“People Can Change do these weekend camps, I attended one of their programs… they rent a sleepaway camp site and they have men come together “to heal” their homosexuality,” he said.

He attended one of their camps in

Transgender rights supporters hold signs related to their cause during a past vigil in memory of Leelah Alcorn, a 17-year-old transgender girl who committed suicide in 2014.

Charlottesville and was specifically treated by People Can Change’s Executive Director Rick Wyler. “{During} the weekend they use this fairy tale narrative, they use the story of Jack and the Bean Stalk, ” he said.

As the story goes, Jack takes his family’s cow to market in exchange for money, but instead returns with magic beans. Furious, his mother throws out the beans and sends Jack to bed.

“The seeds (beans) are supposed to represent his testicles which is a representation of his masculinity,” he said. “The whole journey of the weekend is to go fight back for your masculinity and you go through all these exercises that they believe will help you get rid of all of the past trauma in your life that created your homosexuality.”

Shurka said People Can Change believes that being homosexual stemmed from some sort of childhood trauma.

“They even reward you at the end, during the weekend they give you a necklace, it looks like an Indian necklace with a sac of seeds in it,” he

said.

Stinque has an eye-opening story of a writer they sent undercover to a People Can Change weekend camp.

Shurka is in full support of the complaint and hope the FTC chooses to accept it and pursue an investigation.

“T{here’s}he potential that the FTC will rule conversion therapy as fraud which will then make conversion therapy illegal for the entire United States for all ages and by anyone conducting it,” he said. “It could be a psychotherapist a rabbi, a priest, a life coach anyone who is wiling to take money in exchange of something called conversion therapy with the promise of claiming it could make someone heterosexual.”

Shurka said many are confident this complaint could lead to a federal investigation based on New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s recent executive action to ban private and public health care insurers from covering conversion therapy. Shurka also mentioned the recent ruling from a New Jersey judge that claims of gay conversion therapy that describe homosexuality as a curable

© GayRVA

16 • March 9, 2016

Calendar Multiple events

The Alzheimer’s Association Greater Richmond Chapter will be offering several educational programs to the general public during the month of March. Advance registration is required by calling 804-967-2580.

3.12; 10 a.m.

Effective Communication Strategies Chester United Methodist Church 12132 Percival Street Chester, VA 23831 3.15; 6:30 p.m.

Conversations About Alzheimer's and Dementia Topic: Preparing the Family Petersburg Public Library 201 W. Washington Street Petersburg, VA 23803 More information is available online at www.alz.org/grva.

NAMI of Central Virginia will sponsor two Free Family-to-Family Education Programs specifically for families of persons diagnosed with serious mental illness.

The 12-week series of Richmond classes take place on Monday of each week starting on April 4 from 6 to 8:30 p.m., at First Presbyterian Church at 4602 Cary St. Rd., Richmond. For residents of the TriCities, a class will start in Hopewell on March 28th 2016 from 6 to 8:30 p.m., at John Randolph Medical Center’s Wellness Pavilion, located at 411 West Randolph Street, Hopewell.

The course will cover information about schizophrenia, the mood disorders (bipolar disorder and major depression), panic disorder and obsessive compulsive disorder; coping skills such as handling crisis and relapse; basic information about medications; listening and communication techniques; problem-solving skills; recovery and rehabilitation; and self-care around worry and stress. The curriculum has been written by an experienced family member mental health professional.

The LEGACY

COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES & EVENTS

Chesterfield Comic Con The Chesterfield County Public Library will host its annual Chesterfield Comic Con on Saturday, March 19 from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. at Meadowdale Library, 4301 Meadowdale Blvd, North Chesterfield.

Local artist and designer Bizhan Khodabandeh, illustrator of the comic book Little Red Fish, will present “Comic Pacing and Storytelling.” Cosplay artist Brandon Moseley will demonstrate “The Art of Crafting a Monster” and take participants inside his costume from the movie “Alien.”

This year’s event will also include games, a Yu-Gi-Oh card tournament, a comic book swap, a station to print t-shirts and exhibitors, such as the Steampunk Alliance of Eastern Virginia, who will bring a full-size T.A.R.D.I.S, similar to the one seen on the TV show Doctor Who. Last year more than 3,000 people, dressed in their favorite comic book, science fiction or movie character, attended the event. For more information, visit library.chesterfield.gov or call 804-751-CCPL.

Time Travelers Passport The Richmond Region's most renowned historic sites offer visitors a “passport” to time-travel during a special admission-free weekend on Saturday and Sunday, March 12 and 13.

Tourists and locals alike are invited to discover the area's treasures, spanning 400 years of fascinating history and including the homes of John Marshall, Jefferson Davis, John Wickham, Major James Dooley and other important Virginians. Fourteen participating sites – Agecroft Hall, The Branch Museum of Architecture and Design, Chesterfield County Museum, Chimborazo Medical Museum, Dabbs House Museum, The John Marshall House, Magnolia Grange House Museum, Maymont, Meadow Farm Museum, Museum & White House of the Confederacy, Poe Museum, The 1812 Wickham House, The Valentine First Freedom Center and Wilton House Museum – will offer complimentary admission to visitors who show a Time Travelers Passport, available via download from any website of participating attractions. Visit www.nps.gov/rich.

National Megan’s Law Helpline & Sex Offender Registration Tips Program Call (888) ASK-PFML (275-7365) Submit your calendar events to editor@legacynewspaper.com.

Include contact infomation that can be published.

3.15, 6:30 p.m.

A complimentary seminar covering steps women can take to help ensure their financial security will be offered by the Members Financial Services Representatives at Virginia Credit Union, 7500 Boulder View Drive, Richmond.

To register, visit www.vacu.org/ Learning_Planning/Financial_ Education/Seminars_Workshops/ Women_Money.aspx or call 804-3236800.

3.16, 7:30 p.m.

Members and guests of the Richmond Ostomy Association, a support group for individuals who use ostomy products, will gather for their monthly meeting at Henrico Doctors Hospital, 1602 Skipwith Rd. (corner of Skipwith and Forest).

This meeting will be an open forum. Member questions and problems will be discussed. A special guest will be a 90 year-old who had an ileostmy (surgical removal of her large intestine) over 50 years ago. Further information, call Mike Rollston at 804- 232-1916.

Editorial note: It is unusual to find a person who had an ileostomy over 50 years ago. In an ileostomy, the large intestine is removed, the small intestine is routed to an abdominal stoma, and waste is collected in an external pouch through the stomal opening.

Ongoing

GRASP (GReat Aspirations Scholarship Program, Inc.) will provide free, financial aid assistance to include the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) on Mondays from 6-8 p.m. from January through March at the Belmont Library, 3100 Ellwood Ave., Richmond.

Call 804-527-7743 for more information or to schedule your hour-long appointment. More information is available at the GRASP website, www.grasp4va.org or www.richmondpubliclibrary.org.

March 9, 2016 • 17

www.LEGACYnewspaper.com

Strong reactions in D.C. move to name school for Barry TEWire - The possible renaming of Ballou Senior High School in South East’s Ward 8 of Washington, DC to the Marion S. Barry Senior High School has drawn some strong reactions from community members and alumni of the institution.

The D.C. Commission to Commemorate and Recognize the Honorable Marion S. Barry Jr. has recommended that the current administration rename Ballou Senior High School in honor of Barry. The commission had other recommendations such as renaming Good Hope Road S.E. in Ward 8, the new University of the District of Columbia student center in Ward 3 and either a bust or statute in the John A. Wilson Building located in Ward 2. However, changing Ballou’s name has generated the most discussion.

A record 149 individuals exonerated FREDERICK H. LOWE NNPA - Last year, a record 149 individuals from 29 states, the District of Columbia, the federal court and Guam were exonerated, according to the white paper “The National Registry of Exonerations: Exonerations in 2015” from the National Registry of Exonerations at the University of Michigan Law School. Out of that number, 71 black men and four black women were exonerated for crimes they didn’t commit.

Since 1989, 1,733 individuals have been exonerated as of January 27, 2016. The paper reported that 58 defendants were exonerated for homicide cases in 2015. The exonerees came from 25 states and the District of Columbia. More than two-thirds of the homicide exonerees were minorities, including half who were African-American.

The study reported 47 defendants

Late D.C. Mayor Marion S. Barry Jr. “I think the alumni and the students should have a say on changing the name of Ballou,” the Rev. Oliver Johnson, a parent of two graduates from the high school, said.

“I talked to both of my children, who

were exonerated in 2015 for drug possession. A record 42 of those exonerated had pled guilty in Harris County, which includes Houston.

Twenty-seven exonerations last year were for convictions based on false confessions, also a record. More than 80 percent of these false confessions were in homicide cases, mostly by defendants who were under 18 or developmentally disabled or both.

Official misconduct played a role in 65 exonerations, another record number. Three-quarters of homicide exonerations in 2015 included known official misconduct. Some of the officers who commit official misconduct are African American, according to Samuel R. Gross, editor of the National Registry of Exonerations.

The story reported that 65 exonerations were convictions based on guilty pleas. The majority were for drug cases and eight were homicide convictions based on guilty pleas that turned out to be false convictions.

Finally, a record 75 exonerations in 2015 were based on confessions in which no crime had been committed.

Gross noted the nation averages three exonerations per week, but most get little attention.

are graduates of Ballou about this and while they were fond of Marion Barry, they aren’t too sure about the name change.”

The commission held a public hearing last August to get public input on how to honor Barry and many of the speakers supported Ballou being renamed in honor of the former mayor. The formal recommendation for the honor was made Nov. 23.

Nicknamed “Mayor for Life”, the widely beloved Barry is a national hero to many. The son of a Mississippi sharecropper, the civil rights activist served three terms as mayor before surviving a drug arrest and jail sentence; then coming back to be re-elected as mayor. Among other accomplishments, Barry is credited with hundreds of millions of dollars in economic development in D.C. during his tenure, much of which was spent with black businesses and contractors. He died Nov. 23, 2014 at the age of 78.

Saying Barry deserves even greater recognition, Monique Goldston, who graduated from Ballou in 1997, doesn’t support the high school name change.

“Ballou has a history with that name,” Goldston, who lives across the street from the school, said. “Marion Barry did a lot for the city as a whole and he should be remembered for something bigger than just a high school.”

Christopher Barry, a member of the commission commemorating his late father, is circulating a petition and is active on social media promoting the name change. Barry, who ran and lost in the April 2015 special election to take his father’s council seat, said that Ballou isn’t a name that a predominantly black high school should have.

“Who was Frank W. Ballou?

Christopher Barry asks rhetorically.

“What I have heard is that he was a segregationist and didn’t believe in black education.”

Ballou served as the superintendent of the D.C. public schools from 1920-1943 when racially segregated schools were District law. Ballou

Senior High School was opened in 1960 when the Congress Heights neighborhood in which it sits was predominantly white. Christopher Barry said that “Barry High School” would be one of the few landmarks for blacks in the city.

An anti-name change group held a public meeting at Ballou on Feb. 18. Isabelle Jenkins, a longtime D.C. resident tried to attend the meeting but when she revealed that she supported the name change, she was told by an organizer that she shouldn’t participate.

Jenkins exploded in indignation.

“Who do they want to name the school after, George Wallace or Bull Conner?” Jenkins said.

“Heck, Marion Barry has done so much for this city that I think the White House should be named after him....Barry helped to secure funds for the re-building of this school. Without his intervention, the students and faculty wouldn’t have this nice shiny building to come to every day.”

Karen Lucas, a leader in the antiname change group and a 1988 Ballou alumnus, suggested another high school be named in honor of Barry. “The new Empowering Males High School should be named for him,” Lucas said, speaking of the all-male public secondary institution that will open in the fall in Ward 7.

D.C. Council member LaRuby May (D-Ward 8) hasn’t commented publicly about the name change but her chief opponent, former Ward 8 State Board of Education member Trayon White, is a 2002 graduate of Ballou and supports the name change.

Bowser will make the decision on the school’s name change and the D.C. Council must vote to approve or disapprove it.

“Mayor Bowser hasn’t set up a definite date on deciding on the Barry Commission’s recommendations,” said LaToya Foster, Bowser’s senior communications officer. “The mayor is committed to honoring Mr. Barry in a way that symbolizes his great accomplishments and contributions to the city.”

18 • March 9, 2016

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“One of VA’s Largest Consignment Auctions” Sat., March 26 @ 9:00 A.M Gray Auctions Yard, 14089 Robinson Rd, Stony Creek, VA 23882. www.graycoservices.com Call Joe 804-943-3506 VAAL#1104 EDUCATION MEDICAL BILLING TRAINEES NEEDED! Train to become a Medical Office Assistant! NO EXPERIENCE NEEDED! Training & Job Placement available at CTI! HS Diploma/GED & Computer

The LEGACY is looking for a reliable, highly-motivated, goal-driven sales professional to join our team selling print and digital advertising in the Richmond and Hampton Roads areas.

Duties include: Building and maintaining relationships with new/existing clients Meeting and exceeding monthly sales goals Cold calling new prospects over the phone to promote print and online advertising space Qualifications:

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The LEGACY is an African-American-oriented weekly print newspaper, circulation 25,000, with a website featuring local and national news and advertising.

E-mail resume and letter of interest to ads@ legacynewspaper.com detailing your past sales experience. No phone calls please.

The LEGACY

EMPLOYMENT, ANNOUNCEMENTS, FOR SALE, SERVICES, FOR LET

needed. 1-888-424-9419 FARM/LIVESTOCK Our Hunters will Pay Top $$$ to hunt your land. Call for a Free Base Camp Leasing info packet & Quote. 1-866-309-1507 www.BaseCampLeasing. com FOSTER CARE Almost 6,000 children in Virginia foster care.

FOSTER FAMILIES ARE NEEDED! PLEASE CALL 540613-5120 or VISIT www. ncgtfc.com HELP WANTED The Virginia Press Association seeks a dynamic leader to chart our course for the future.

Anticipating the retirement of our long-time executive director, we’re searching for a trailblazer to build on past success, while

addressing the challenges facing our members in the 21st century. The next executive director will help define and implement VPA’s mission in a changing business environment. The candidate will work with the board, full-time staff, members, and others to create new opportunities for growth. This position will require detailed business planning skills, goal-setting, establishing measurable objectives, accurate cost estimates, and task deadlines.

Duties include: member relations, engagement and development; government relations and lobbying; sales, marketing and fundraising; community and industry relations; public speaking; programming and event planning; staff, P&L and administrative

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Applications must be received by Tuesday, March 15.

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March 9, 2016 • 19

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REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS – RFP# 153225-ABJ

Serving Richmond &

The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) is requesting proposals 409Cultural E. Main St.Consulting #4 (mailing) from firms to provide Statewide Resource Services. • Richmond, All proposals must be received by 2:00 P.M. on April 8, 2016 at the V Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT), Central Office Mail Center • 804-644-1550 (office) – Loading Dock Entrance, 1401 E. Broad St., Richmond, VA 23219, Attn: ads@legacynew Alice Braswell-Jones, Contract Officer.

The City of Richmond is seeking to fill the following positions: Administrative Project Analyst 35M00000642 Public Utilities Apply by 03/20/16

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