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EGACY Yesterday. Today. Tomorrow.

WEDNESDAYS • April 25, 2018

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INSIDE

Inside Virginia’s next door epidemic - 2 Talking of “ungrateful Negroes” - 6 Race incidents, police & churches - 8 Youngest champ: Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis - 10 Grace Jones’ life in new documentary - 11

Richmond & Hampton Roads

LEGACYNEWSPAPER.COM • FREE

Nonprofit helps Va. maintain lowest recidivism rate THOMAS JETT

(CNS) - Over the past 14 years, Richard Walker went from dodging incarceration to running a volunteer organization aimed at helping other exoffenders stay clean and out of prison. The efforts of groups like his are one reason Virginia has the nation’s lowest recidivism — or reoffense — rate for former inmates, state officials say.

The story of Bridging the Gap in Virginia began more than a decade ago.

“I had a substance abuse problem back then; this was in 2004,” Walker said. “I was a fugitive of justice from Henrico County. They arrested me at 2 o’clock in the morning, and I’m hitting golf balls into a quarry in Prince George County after being on a two-day crack binge.”

After making bail at Riverside Regional Jail, Walker absconded to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he was arrested for writing fraudulent checks.

Walker served time at a Virginia Department of Corrections camp in Halifax County. After re-entering society, he found that his criminal record kept him from landing jobs offered through the Richmond Career Advancement Center.

Ultimately, he found work selling cars.

“That was short-lived because I made good money and I hadn’t dealt with my drug problem,” Walker said. “I ended up going into treatment in 2006, and I haven’t looked back since.”

Within three years, Walker created a job for himself.

“We started in 2009 as a direct result of my incarceration,” Walker said. “I started Bridging the Gap in Virginia because I knew there were people with less experience, less credentials than I had, that were having a challenge in Virginia.

When I found out the legislation and the laws in Virginia, it just motivated me to make changes.”

Charlotte Gomer, the public information officer for Attorney General Mark Herring, said re-entry programs like Walker’s are valuable resources for ex-offenders.

“Re-entry services have been proven to reduce crime, strengthen communities and … can reduce violent reoffending by as much as 83 percent,” Gomer said. “The attorney general has made it a real priority to support re-entry, which is why he hired Virginia’s first full-time local jail re-entry coordinator to start and strengthen programs around the commonwealth.”

The efforts of Herring’s office and groups like

Lawrence Bibbs III (left), and Richard Walker at a Bridging the Gap in Virginia workshop.

PHOTO: Thomas Jett Bridging the Gap in Virginia seem to be working.

For the past two years, Virginia’s re-incarceration rate has been the lowest in the country among states for which data was available, according to the governor’s office.

About 22 percent of inmates released from the state’s prisons and jails end up re-incarcerated within three years. Virginia’s recidivism rate has fallen a full percentage point since the previous year. It’s the lowest among the 45 states that report three-year incarceration rates for felons.

Nationally, more than two-thirds of convicted criminals reoffended in the past three years, according to the National Institute of Justice.

Gainful employment is the key to helping exoffenders re-enter society — and that is the main focus of Bridging the Gap in Virginia. Lawrence Bibbs III can vouch for that. The nonprofit helped him after he was released from prison on Aug. 29 after 30 years of incarceration.

“Since I’ve dealt with Bridging the Gap, each person has been a specialist in knowing how to focus your skill set into a specific area,” said Bibbs, who works for Amazon and owns a bricklaying company. “This situation where people are saying they can’t get a job — you just didn’t go to the right specialist that could employ you.”

Walker has several legislative allies. He has worked with Del. Delores McQuinn and Sen. Jennifer McClellan, both of Richmond, on issues pertaining to re-entry and criminal justice in general.

“I have always tried to work collaboratively with some organization or group to do that — looking at how do we provide a service to returning citizens so that there is a certain quality of life that they can expect as they exit the prison system,”

McQuinn said.

McClellan said re-entry programs help not only ex-offenders but also the community.

“I support any efforts that remove barriers for returning felons resuming their lives,” McClellan said. “Once you get out of jail, if you can’t get a job, you’re more likely to do something to cause yourself to go back to jail.”

Walker, McQuinn and McClellan are behind legislation enabling former felons to find employment more easily.

The “Ban the Box” proposal seeks to remove questions about arrests and convictions from employment applications. In 2015, then-Gov. Terry McAuliffe issued an executive order that banned the box on state government applications.

During the General Assembly’s 2018 session, attempts to make that executive order a state law failed, although one bill cleared the Senate before dying in the House.

Even though there’s no state law, Walker said 16 cities and counties in Virginia have “banned the box” for ex-offenders.

“They have more of an opportunity to get a one-on-one interview with potential employers in various cities for city employment through ‘Ban the Box,’” Walker said. “People want to work; they don’t want to sit in squalor.”

Walker’s efforts extend beyond legislative changes. His organization also helps ex-convicts rebuild their lives through drug treatment, housing referrals and other services.

“God didn’t put me in here for me to give up, so I’m going to keep on doing what I do, believing that that million-dollar grant is sitting there waiting on me,” Walker said.

The LEGACY

2 • April 25, 2018

News

Virginia’s epidemic next door CAITLIN BARBIERI A routine day for paramedics in Richmond finds them at a hotel where a young woman is overdosing on heroin. She’ll live because of the 911 call her 4-year-old son placed, but the future for this woman and her son is still hazy. This is the sixth time she’s overdosed — her son has seen it enough times to know how to respond — and it will most likely happen again.

Alex Brooks, a trauma technician at MCV and paramedic at Chippenham Hospital, shared this story with us as we investigated the opioid epidemic in the River City. He said this story was a common one, estimating that four to five overdoses occur every day in Richmond. With the introduction of fentanyl and ever-stronger heroin, this epidemic becomes harder and harder to control.

“This summer was pretty rough,” Brooks said. “I recall one particular evening we had seven [overdoses] at one hospital.”

People who suffer from addiction have a complex disease that compels sufferers to seek and use a particular substance. This disease, now called Substance Use Disorder by the American Psychiatric Association, changes the mood, personality, and actions of those struggling with it.

On top of the physical and mental challenges individuals face during recovery, there are also social challenges that make long-term recovery very difficult.

A survey conducted by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health showed that the general public does not believe treatment options for drug addicts are effective, and are opposed to government spending on treatment facilities. Their research also showed that people are averse to working with sufferers in a job space, and most would not welcome a family member’s marriage to someone with the disorder.

In an interview with Johns Hopkins University’s The Hub, lead researcher Colleen L Barry told

Alumni of The Healing Place and work program graduates. reporters, “While drug addiction and mental illness are both chronic, treatable health conditions, the American public is more likely to think of addiction as a moral failing than a medical condition.”

Alumni of The Healing Place and work program graduates However, despite conventional wisdom, there is hope for people who suffer from this disorder — even the mother in that hotel room. We were unable to find out where she is now, but interviews with other locals suffering from the disorder give a partial picture. The people we spoke to hoped that sharing their story could help others by removing some of the stigmas they’ve faced.

“I used to hate to see the sun come up,” said William, who seeks to rejoin society following years of substance use. “I didn’t want to get up and go outside in the freezing cold to stand out there and wait for somebody to get beat, or somebody to score so I can get some. But I couldn’t help myself.”

William (who wished to be identified only by his first name) grew up in Richmond and struggled

with heroin for 10 years. He has been in recovery at the Healing Place, a local treatment center for people struggling with substance use disorder, for two years; currently, he’s working on rebuilding the life heroin took from him.

“In step one they talk about powerlessness. I was powerless over the drug,” William said. “Every part of my life, heroin was in it. If I woke up, I needed it; if I went to sleep, I needed it; if I took a shower, I needed it; if I ate, I needed it. If I looked at you, I needed it.”

The disorder does not discriminate across race, gender, or economic lines. Although the face of addiction in mainstream culture is predominantly male and black, men and women from all races and walks of life have suffered from the same dependence.

Marie Pruitt, who is now in recovery, is a former college student from an upper-middle-class background. She talked about how heroin supplanted school and the future she originally saw ahead of her.

“Junior year, I gave up. I felt like

school was irrelevant,” she said.

“I was just going to go to NOVA [Community College] because there was really no point in me leaving the area because I don’t know people who will sell me drugs outside of the area.”

At first glance, Pruitt and William are polar opposites, but substance use disorder has erased many of the gaps between them. While William is an African American man from poverty, Pruitt is a young white woman from an upper-middle-class household in Fairfax, Virginia, born with every resource to succeed.

However, at the age of 20, Pruitt has been through inpatient rehab five times. She began experimenting with drugs in middle school, and by the time she was 18, Pruitt had tried almost every drug imaginable, and developed a dependence on heroin.

“I felt like [I had lost control] before I even got to heroin. I felt like that with oxies,” said Pruitt. “I had too much money and access, and things were getting really awful.”

No one plans on getting addicted to substances, but their availability

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The LEGACY

4 • April 25, 2018

(from page 2) both behind the counter and on the street makes it easy for individuals to slip into dependency. Both Pruitt and William were introduced to opiates by people they trusted. A trusted adult in Pruitt’s life would trade prescription opioids to her in exchange for marijuana. Later, Pruitt began buying opioids outright.

It was a short step to buying heroin.

“I think the main reason why there is such a big heroin problem now is because of over-prescribing meds,” Pruitt said. With opioids being prescribed so frequently, they become easily accessible for a wide range of people. “They’re available, and you don’t realize they’re that bad. You don’t think it’s bad because it’s in a [prescription] pill bottle.”

Before William could get heroin himself, his uncle would share his heroin with him. In the environment where he grew up, these substances seemed like an inescapable part of life.

“I grew up on misinformation,” William said. “I thought the only way I was going to get out the ghetto or get a pair of Jordans was I had to sell drugs; only way I thought I was gonna get a nice car was I had to sell drugs.”

That misinformation is not isolated to the Richmond community. A study from Harvard’s Equality of Opportunity Project showed that the American Dream of upward income mobility is dissolving. Only 50 percent of children born in 1985 were expected to earn more than their parents did, down from 90 percent of children born in 1940. For people like William, who are born into poverty, that means they are likely to stay in poverty throughout adulthood.

In areas of poverty and high unemployment, the people with the most money tend to be drug dealers, who in turn become idolized for their apparent success.

But once William’s uncle introduced him to heroin, the desire to better his socioeconomic status dissolved into a desire to get more heroin. “I’d seen these people living in abandoned houses, and I had a house to go home to and a car, but I’d rather be with them than go home,” William said.

Pruitt’s addiction caused her to value the substance over her own life. “I definitely thought I was gonna die, but I just felt like, whatever.”

Pruitt’s story of upper-class suburban addiction might seem like an outlier in comparison to the stories told in dramas like The Wire, but it’s a fast-growing trend. A research study in JAMA Psychiatry

found that there has been an increase in heroin abuse throughout the country — especially in white suburban areas.

Mike St. Germain, a middleclass family man from the Atlanta suburbs, struggled to help his daughter Tori as she struggled with substance use disorder during her high school years. Her grades started to drop, her mood became more volatile, and the little girl that once happily roamed their house was erased by substances. Like William and Pruitt, Tori’s addiction affected everyone in her life.

“The addiction takes everything around it and sinks these little hooks into it, and just pulls it all the way towards itself,” Mike St. Germain said.

Once a person becomes dependent, life revolves around two things: the substance, and the money to afford it. Another man at the Healing Place, Sean, said, “We live to use and use to live — it’s a vicious cycle.”

Family, friends, work, and the future suddenly lose their significance, and the top priority becomes the substance. “Our stories may vary, but the disease of addiction does not discriminate,” he said.

Pruitt felt isolated from everyone she cared about. At her lowest point, many of her friends wouldn’t even speak to her, and she had nowhere to stay. St. Germain’s daughter’s addiction got so bad she gave up her child. “She was in such a bad place she actually signed guardianship over to me and my wife,” St. Germain said.

Nearly a year went by before Tori returned to see her baby girl. Today her daughter is five years old and has a two-year-old sister. Both girls live with their grandparents; just when St. Germain and his wife were expecting to retire, they found themselves becoming parents again.

“I have a lot of conflicting emotions about it because I love my grandkids, I do,” St. Germain said. “But I don’t

want to be a parent again.”

Tori is currently in recovery and living with her parents. St. Germain and his wife have done everything they can to help her, and are hopeful that Tori will continue to improve her life. That hope is a common theme for the people who suffer, the people who love them, and the people who work with them in recovery.

“That’s the secret sauce of what works about collegiate recovery, is that you infuse hope,” said Thomas Bannard, Program Coordinator of VCU’s Rams in Recovery. “You give this long-term treatment approach, which is especially necessary with opioids, but is true of all drugs.”

While centers like Rams in Recovery and the Healing Place share a focus on creating a community to serve and support people in recovery, they approach the issue with different models and foundations. Rams in Recovery is a VCU-based support group for students struggling with substance use, while the Healing Place is a recovery treatment center created

by CARITAS, a relief organization with an abstinence-based peer-topeer recovery program. Both centers strive to create an environment of hope for people in recovery, and give them a place to go as they cope with the physical, mental, and social aspects of that process.

“People that have substance use disorders have a marginalized, stigmatized health condition,” Bannard said. “That makes it really challenging to seek help.”

Stories from Healing Place residents in recovery demonstrated the sheer strength it took for these men to get where they are. Arnold, a resident who only used his first

name, said, “I had enough. Enough killing myself, enough going in and out of jails. I decided I had to do something different, make a change.

My kids were getting older, and I wanted to be there for them — and definitely be there for my grandkids.”

Recovery is a trying experience, requiring hope and support from a community that cares. “You don’t just get recovered. There is nobody who has been an addict, and is recovered, and everything is fine,” Pruitt said. “I know people that are 50 years old and have been clean for 10 years. [They] tell me they still think about it every day.”

Recovery isn’t impossible, but it’s frequently punctuated by relapse.

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, 40 to 60 percent of those with the disorder experience a relapse. However, what is important is an individual’s ability stay committed through those relapses.

“Relapse is a part of recovery,” said Albert. “What’s important is that when we fall we get back up and keep trying.”

Despite significant relapse rates, all of the individuals we spoke with are succeeding in recovery. Pruitt is currently attending VCU and is working towards a degree that she once thought she wouldn’t live to see.

Tori and her children are currently living with St. Germain and his wife, as Tori attempts to rebuild her life.

And after two years at the Healing Place, William believes he is finally ready to leave.

“Bad days don’t exist no more,” William said. “I wake up every day and find something to be grateful for — the smallest things. Because I don’t have to wake up and roll over to no dope.” © RVA MAG

www.LEGACYnewspaper.com

April 25, 2018 • 5

Virginia High School Student Voter Registration Week Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam recently issued a proclamation to officially recognize April 22-28, as Virginia High School Student Voter Registration Week. During this week, high school students, teachers and administrators across Virginia are encouraged to conduct voter registration drives at their schools.

Former Gov. Terry McAuliffe announced the first annual High School Voter Registration Week in 2016.

“It is critical that we reach young people as soon as they are eligible to vote in order to encourage a lifetime of civic engagement and participation in the democratic process,” Northam said. “Making voting more accessible is essential to preserving our shared democracy and ensuring that voters

are able to make their voices heard at the polls.”

Virginia law allows 17-year-olds to register to vote, as long as they will be 18 on or before the next general election. They may also vote in any intervening primary elections.

“With this third annual High School Voter Student Registration Week, we aim to inspire even more high school students to register to vote,” said Secretary of Administration Keyanna Conner. “By reaching out to Virginia’s students now, we hope to inspire them to become involved, informed, and eager to have their voices heard at the ballot box.”

Secretary of Education Atif Qarni said a central facet of the state’s

51 new jobs in Henrico County New jobs are coming to Henrico County. UDig, a consulting firm that develops technology business solutions, has invested $1.6 million to expand its IT headquarters operation in the county.

The company purchased the 23,000-square-foot Page building located in the Forest Office Park.

Virginia successfully competed against Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, and Washington, D.C. for the project, which will create 51 new jobs.

UDig helps companies turn big ideas into actionable plans and measurable results. By providing a practical, technology agnostic approach to projects centered around digital, data, and engineering initiatives, the company connects strategy with solutions that work.

UDig’s diverse team of experts is small enough to provide personal service, yet large enough to execute enterprise initiatives. Based in Henrico County, UDig serves its client base throughout the MidAtlantic region with consultants engaged on client sites across the country.

County and state officials agree that UDig recognized that Virginia is an ideal place for technology companies looking to grow.

Additionally, Henrico County and the Commonwealth has become known to offer competitive operating costs, outstanding infrastructure, and a strong higher education system that provides a pipeline of talent.

UDig’s Founder and Chief Executive Officer Andy Frank said UDig was founded in Henrico County and the space signifies an important milestone in the company’s history, enabling it to provide a more collaborative, flexible work space for its teams to better serve clients.

The Virginia Economic Development Partnership will support UDig’s job creation through its Virginia Jobs Investment Program (VJIP). VJIP provides consultative services and funding to companies creating new jobs or experiencing technological change to support employee training activities.

As a business incentive supporting economic development, VJIP reduces the human resource costs of new and expanding companies. VJIP is statefunded, demonstrating Virginia’s commitment to enhancing job opportunities for its citizens.

“We’re thrilled that UDig is expanding and putting down new roots in Henrico,” said Frank J. Thornton, chairman of Henrico County Board of Supervisors. “They’ve successfully tapped into the robust tech workforce of the Richmond area and cultivated a strong client base across the country. Their newly renovated space will allow them to bring their talented team under one roof and support their next phase of growth. We look forward to seeing the innovative ways they push technology solutions and partnering with them in their continued success.”

Secretary of Administration Keyanna Conner work in K-12 education is to make sure students are prepared to becoe engaged and thoughtful citizens.

The Secretaries of Administration and Education, the Department of Elections and the Department of Education are continuing their partnership with non-profit, non-partisan voter registration organizations like the League of Women Voters of Virginia and Inspire Virginia in order to continue this important work.

Resources are available on the Department of Elections website to aid students and teachers in planning and conducting voter

registration efforts. Contact information for partnering organizations and local voter registration offices that may be able to provide support is also available on the site.

Virginians can apply to register online at the Department of Elections Citizen Portal, at elections.virginia. gov/citizen-portal/index.html.

Registration is also available at the Department of Motor Vehicles, at local voter registration offices and at voter registration drives.

The deadline to register to vote in the June 12 Primary Elections is Monday, May 21.

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6 • April 25, 2018

Op/Ed & Letters

The LEGACY

‘Ungrateful, non-voting Negroes’ ignore bloody war for black voting rights JEFFREY L. BONEY “I’m just one vote.”

“My vote won’t matter.”

“Them white folks gone do what they wanna do anyway.”

These are some of the many excuses given by some African Americans when it comes to exercising their right to vote; a right fought for by many people in this country—both black and white—that has cost so many people so much; even their very lives.

Obtaining the right to vote was a major part of the civil rights history of African Americans in this country.

However, many black people have turned a blind eye to the struggle that it took to obtain the right to vote, flippantly taking it for granted today.

From 1880-1965, there was an allout assault on preventing African Americans from voting by having their right to vote deemed invalid.

Those who sought to disenfranchise black people knew the importance of voting. They knew that voting had a profound impact on representation, political outcomes and critical decisions that needed to be made concerning major issues.

Many southern states knew that the Fifteenth Amendment prohibited blatant disenfranchisement on the basis of race or prior enslavement, those states came up with a slew of new and innovative alternative techniques to disenfranchise African Americans.

The traditional techniques of violence, such as with the Ku Klux Klan, and voter fraud relative to vote counting, welcomed new friends to The LEGACY NEWSPAPER Vol. 4 No. 17 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

the game as these new methods were introduced to American politics.

Poll taxes restrict the black vote After the ability to vote was extended to all races by the enactment of the 15th Amendment, many southern states enacted a poll tax as a means of restricting black people from voting. A poll tax was a flat-rate tax levied on all members of a population, often as a prerequisite to voting, which often included a grandfather clause. This grandfather clause allowed any adult male whose father or grandfather had voted in a specific year prior to the abolition of slavery to vote without paying the tax. Of course, this was problematic for black people, because no black person had the right to vote prior to the abolition of slavery and, therefore no black person could qualify.

Whites used impossible literacy tests to bar blacks from the polls The first formal voter literacy tests 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.

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were introduced in 1890. Literacy tests were used to keep black people from voting and were administered at the discretion of the officials in charge of voter registration. Whites did not have to take the literacy test, if they could meet the alternate requirements that systematically excluded blacks. These included demonstrating political competence in person, which black people tried to adhere to, or falling under the Grandfather Clause. If the official wanted a person to pass, he could ask the easiest question on the test.

The same official would require a Black person to answer every single question correctly, in an unrealistic timeframe, in order to pass.

Southern states abandoned the literacy test only when forced to do so by federal legislation. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 suspended the use of literacy tests in all states in which less than 50 percent of votingage residents were registered as of Nov. 1, 1964, or had voted in the 1964 presidential election. After the passage of the Voting Rights Act, black voter registration in the South increased significantly.

Much has been given The names of individuals who lost their lives in the struggle for freedom during the modern Civil Rights Movement from 1954 to 1968 are inscribed on the Civil Rights Memorial in Montgomery, Ala. Those unsuspecting victims became martyrs, killed because of their focus on securing voting rights and fighting for the civil rights of Black people in this country.

On Aug. 13, 1955 in Brookhaven,

Miss., Lamar Smith was shot dead on the courthouse lawn by a White man in broad daylight while dozens of people watched. The killer was never indicted, because no one would admit they saw a white man shoot a black man. Smith had organized blacks to vote in a recent election.

Rev. George Lee, one of the first black people registered to vote in his county, used his pulpit and his printing press to urge others to vote.

On May 7, 1955 in Belzoni, Miss., white officials offered Lee protection on the condition he end his voter registration efforts, but Lee refused and was murdered.

On Sept. 25, 1961, Herbert Lee, who worked with civil rights leader Bob Moses to help register black voters, was killed by a state legislator in Liberty, Miss., who claimed self-defense and was never arrested. Louis Allen, a black man who witnessed the murder, was also killed.

Jonathan Myrick Daniels, a white Episcopal Seminary student in Boston, had come to Alabama on Aug. 20, 1965, to help with black voter registration in Lowndes County. He was arrested at a demonstration, jailed in Hayneville and then suddenly released.

Moments after his release, he was shot to death by a deputy sheriff.

On Jan. 10, 1966 in Hattiesburg, Miss., Vernon Ferdinand Dahmer, a wealthy businessman, offered to pay poll taxes for those who couldn’t afford the fee required to vote. The night after a radio station broadcasted Dahmer’s offer, his home was firebombed. Dahmer died later

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April 25, 2018 • 7

P.T. Hoffsteader, Esq.

On morality In America and much of the world, progressives are doing violence to the moral order in many ways.

Opponents often are dedicated to single issues, such as the pro-life movement, or campaigns to stop pornography, the corruption of children, sex trafficking and assaults on religious liberty.

The left is effective because its various elements work together.

They see their causes as related.

What could bring people who believe in traditional values together in a similar fashion? The answer may lie in uniting people behind opposition to what the left calls “comprehensive sexuality education.”

This insidious program, spawned

by Planned Parenthood, is being instituted in virtually every public school and in many private schools.

It promotes immoral practices of all stripes.

Parents are largely kept in the dark about its graphic elements and evil agenda. When they learn about the gravity of the threat not only to their children but to the maintenance of our freedoms – especially religious liberty – they unite in opposition. All it takes is connecting the dots.

Bishop E.W. Jackson

No to boycott Starbucks has proven to be one

of America’s most responsible corporate citizens. In 2014 following the shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown in Ferguson, MO, by Officer Darren Wilson, then Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz took action when other corporations remained silent.

Starbucks launched its national “Race Together” campaign that encouraged Starbucks’ baristas (workers) to write “race together” on customer coffee cups to spur conversations about race within Starbucks locations. Months later in 2015 following the shooting of Walter Scott, Starbucks CEO Howard D. Schultz was again venturing into the arena of race relations while appearing on stage at Spelman College-a historicallyblack women’s institution-as part of a panel discussion on the book titled, “Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?”

Again and again, Starbucks has been at the forefront of corporate America when it comes to cultivating a society where all people matter.

As president and CEO of ONUS, Inc.-a national organization committed to Resolving Longstanding Problems that Seem Too Big to Fix, I firmly believe in the power of boycotts. Following the killing of Michael Brown, ONUS conducted one of the most effective and longstanding boycotts in Ferguson, MO, against Sam’s Club and Walmart.

Both stores routinely called upon Ferguson Police to arrest Black men who verbally challenged managers’ decisions. Unlike Starbucks, Walmart, Inc. doubled-down in support of its employees’ hateful actions and made no apology for saddling good citizens, who happened to be black men, with unwarranted police records. Walmart then relied

upon its deep purse to vigorously defend its deplorable actions.

Starbucks is no Walmart. While I firmly embrace boycotting as an effective tool of free speech, boycotting cannot and should not be black America’s one retort to offensive acts carried out by individual employees representing what has proven to be a good corporate citizen. I do not mean to imply that Starbucks is perfect; I surmise that Starbucks still has internal issues related to race and diversity.

Nonetheless, I appreciate the steps Starbucks’ CEO and Board of Directors have and are taking in response to the incident in Philadelphia, such as the swift issuance of a public apology, public rebuke of the offending employees’ actions and the planned shutdown of Starbucks outlets nationwide for diversity and customer service training. Starbucks is demonstrating that its promise to do better is far more than a mere gesture designed to quiet a public uprising.

Starbucks has earned what millennials refer to as “street cred.”

Consequently, the Corporation deserves grace when employees make missteps or engage in discriminatory actions rooted in personal perspectives. While I am confident Starbucks will make right with the young men who were wrongfully arrested in Philadelphia, I urge its leaders to again take the corporate lead by helping to revamp policing in America nationwide.

The Uniform Reporting Law Enforcement Improvement Act (URLEIA) is the solution to America’s policing problem and will effectively revamp policing from the ground up.

Jerroll Sanders

from severe burns.

Jimmie Lee Jackson was beaten and shot by state troopers on Feb. 26, 1965 in Marion, Ala., as he tried to protect his grandfather and mother from a trooper attack on civil rights marchers. His death led to the Selma to Montgomery march and the eventual passage of the Voting Rights Act. Much is required There is so much at stake in this country for black people during this upcoming midterm election.

As things continue to play out in the news concerning issues like the highly-argued Affordable Care Act, Voter ID laws and criminal justice reform, African Americans have a real opportunity to let their voices be heard at the ballot box so that all issues impacting the black community are thrust to the forefront of America’s conscience.

So many other groups in this country have taken the Civil Rights Movement playbook, crafted by black activists, and used it to advance their causes and improve their situations.

The question now is, will black nonvoters continue to take their precious voting rights for granted, or will they embrace the unwritten obligation that each black person has to ‘pay it forward’?

Time will tell. June nominations and November will be here before we know it.

But black non-voters need to register to vote now. There are no excuses. Time to stop being ungrateful negroes.

Boney serves as associate editor and is an award-winning journalist for the Houston Forward Times newspaper. Follow Jeffrey on Twitter @realtalkjunkies.

8 • April 25, 2018

Faith & Religion

The LEGACY

Churches make a drastic pledge in the name of social justice: To stop calling the police STAFF AND WIRE Churches like Second Presbyterian note that its memebers and leadership is called to feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, welcome the stranger, visit the prisoner, and care for the sick.

Second Presbyterian, in Virginia’s capital city, has long been engaged in what it calls “ministries of compassion”.

“As followers of Christ, we are also called to work in the public realm to build a more just society, seeking to eliminate the root causes of poverty, violence, injustice and inequality,” it notes.

Similarly, First Congregational Church of Oakland shares a neighborhood with many homeless people who often come to the church in times of mental health crises.

Sometimes church members feel unequipped to deal with the erratic behavior: The most heart-wrenching scenes, volunteer leader Nichola Torbett says, are the times when the church is closing for the day, and a person with nowhere else to go absolutely refuses to leave the building.

At least once or twice a month, at their wits’ end, the church members call 911.

Now, the church has joined a small handful of like-minded congregations with a radical goal: to stop calling the police. Not for mental health crises, not for graffiti on their buildings, not even for acts of violence. These churches believe the American police system, criticized for its impact especially on people of color, is such a problem that they should wash their hands of it entirely.

“Can this actually be reformed, when it was actually created for the unjust distribution of resources or to police black and brown bodies?”

Torbett asked. For her and for her fellow church members, the answer is no — the police don’t just need reform. The police need to be

In this file photo, retired Richmond Presbyterian pastor, Ray Inscoe, protests recent Trump travel bans. abandoned altogether.

The churches call their drastic approach “divesting” from policing.

They say that one headline after another about policing around the country shows that divestment is necessary — most recently, events include a notorious call to police about two African American men at a Philadelphia Starbucks and the fatal shooting of Stephon Clark, shot eight times as he was holding an iPhone, not a gun.

The project of divesting is organized

by Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ), a nationwide organization that tries to get white Americans working on behalf of racial justice.

The four Unitarian and Protestant churches that have joined so far

include three in the Bay Area and one in Iowa City. The Northern California Nevada Conference of the United Church of Christ has signed on to recruit from among its member churches, and the Bay Area churches are talking to more congregations in their area, from denominations including the Disciples of Christ and the Presbyterian Church (USA).

“It’s a challenging ask,” acknowledged the Rev. Anne Dunlap, a United Church of Christ minister who leads SURJ’s outreach to faith communities. “It’s a big ask to invite us, as white folks, to think differently about what safety means. Who do we rely on? What is safe? For whom?

Should our safety be predicated on violence for other communities?

And if not, what do we do if we’re confronted with a situation, because we are, as congregations? … How do we handle it if there’s a burglary?

How do we handle it if there’s a situation of violence or abuse in the congregation?”

Those are hard questions. The churches that commit to ending their use of police resources are training members in alternate responses to danger. Torbett said at First Congregational, church leaders have invited experts from several nonprofits to train members on deescalating mental health crises, and on self-defense in the case of a violent person at the church. “Our goal is to never call the police,” she said.

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(from page 8) As members discuss self-defense, they’ve also decided that they will not arm anyone at the church with any weapon.

The leaders involved in the SURJ effort say that they are not asking churchgoers not to call police in their lives outside of church, though they hope that some will choose to refrain.

Many of the churches that SURJ approached were not interested. “I had some hard conversations with pastors and members,” Dunlap said. “These were progressive congregations that had participated in our work in the past — hung Black Lives Matter banners and had them vandalized. They said, ‘We appreciate our relationship with the police. We don’t want to put that at risk.’”

But to Dunlap, resisting policing is among her religious obligations.

“You’re talking about state violence against communities. You have to speak up and take a stand about that. There’s not a nice way to just play in the middle,” she said.

“There’s not a way to reform our way out of police violence but to dismantle policing as a system.”

She envisions instead a form of local accountability, in which neighbors get to know one another and defend their own communities.

Chuck Wexler, the executive director of the Police Executive Research Forum, which conducts studies on improving policing, said churches can and should take on some tasks themselves instead of calling police, like providing assistance to a person who is drunk or sick. But he cautioned that churches would be foolhardy to try to take the place of police in a violent situation — especially if the aggressor has a gun, in a tragic case like the church shootings in Charleston, S.C., and Sutherland Springs, Tex. Moreover, Wexler believes clergy can use their moral influence to make police departments better. “I understand where these folks may be coming from. They’re saying we have issues. But if you have issues, you shouldn’t cut yourself off from such an important institution in the community.

Communities only have one police force. If they’re not doing what you want them to do, you should be engaged with them,” he said, pointing to examples of clergy in

Marchers gathered at First Baptist Church in Williamburg to participate in one of several social justice marches over the recent past.

Los Angeles, Boston and Chicago who worked with officers on reducing gang violence and other community priorities. “It’s disappointing to hear when a community or religious organization decides they’re not going to engage with the police anymore.

Police need the church. They need an active clergy. They rely on them.”

Dunlap said that even in a case of criminal behavior, she would ideally like to see churches not call police, because she doesn’t trust the criminal justice system to deliver a

fair outcome.

“In the case of interpersonal violence, for the survivors as well as the perpetrators, we want to look at transformative justice,” she said.

“Would a punitive police and legal system actually bring us the desired outcome for everyone involved?

What are our actual values? What do our traditions teach us about redemption?”

That’s a controversial position that members are discussing in each church. Sarah Pritchard, a co-pastor at another Oakland church that has signed on, Agape Fellowship, said while the pledge not to call the police applies to the churches, not to individual members, the hope is the training at church will inspire some members when they go home as well.

When it comes to police and prisons, Pritchard uses an old word to describe a still-radical stance: “abolitionist.”

10 • April 25, 2018

The LEGACY

Ask Alma

A deal breaker in the marriage Dear Alma,

Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis becomes youngest 2-time world champion PERRY GREEN Gervonta “Tank” Davis became the youngest two-time world champion after beating former champion Jesus Cuellar to earn the WBA Super Featherweight title on April 21 at the Barclays Center in New York.

Davis, 23, earned a TKO victory over Cuellar as referee Benjy Esteves was forced to stop the fight near the end of the third round after the Baltimore City native connected with several hook shots to the head of a cornered Cuellar. The Argentinian boxer (28-3) had just been dropped by Davis earlier in the round after a huge right hook to the body, but got up after an eight count; he also went down from body shots in the second round.

“A focused Tank is a DANGEROUS TANK!!! 2x Champion,” tweeted Davis after the fight.

“Gervonta is the most exciting fighter in the entire sport! Flat

out!!!!” Leonard Ellerbe, CEO of Mayweather Promotions, tweeted after the fight.

Davis advanced his pro boxing record to a perfect 20-0 with 19 knockouts. He said the championship victory put his career back on the fast track after a mishap during his last title reign.

The 130-pound champion was forced to forfeit his IBF Featherweight championship after failing to make weight in a title defense bout last year.

“I got focused and now I’m champion again,” Davis said during a post fight interview with Showtime’s Jim Gray. “There’s always bumps in the road on the way to being successful.”

Davis fought on the undercard of former welterweight champion Adrien Broner’s main event bout with Jessie Vargas. Broner went the distance and the fight was ruled a draw.

Five years into my marriage my husband moved himself into the downstairs bedroom. The initial reason given was, “He didn’t want to disturb the babies” (including a newborn) with his late-night arrival, and early departures for work. Some months later, after a “marriage check-up” with our pastor, he confessed to me out of euphoria! He admitted that he had started smoking, you know; one of those things I never wanted in my life! Smoking is one of those “THINGS,” you know, those things you list as true deal-breakers, with regard to dating and relationships…

FROM THE START! He admitted that he knew how strongly I felt about this, but he figured it was no longer a dealbreaker since we are married!

On the one hand, I don’t see using this makes me feel as a justification for divorce. On the other hand, I feel betrayed, belittled, devalued, and bullied into being with someone I would NEVER had been with, if given the choice of him as a smoker.

Signed: He has made a liar out of me!

Dear He has made a liar out of me, Holy hot water hose, you’re infuriated! I can see the flames flickering from your email. Luckily, I’m here to distinguish this dilemma. Lawd knows what would happen, had you not reached out for help. Quick, duck, here comes a splash of reality–this ain’t about you, it’s about him. Him and his habit, he owns an addiction.

I know you feel betrayed tossed and lost in the hot sauce, but the reality is, we’re talking about a serious dependency, a desire that requires you to fully satisfy by any means necessary. Do you wanna know how I know? I smoked for over 20 years before I could quit. Your body craves for the nicotine. That’s why people stand outside in a cold, snow, icy rain to take a smoke. As a non-smoker, what you don’t know is, smoking can be soothing, a stress reliever, it relaxes you. If you’ve never struggled with a compulsion, you just don’t get it.

It’s his choice to make. He won’t win unless he’s all in. So, encourage your husband to make up his mind to quit smoking because it’s the healthy thing to do. Remind him you’d like for him to be around a long time for you and the kids, blah, blah, la-dee-da…you know what I’m talkin’ bout. Ask your doctor for brochures and suggested websites to share with him. Tell him you want him back upstairs, now! Yes, you’re right, smoking is a game changer, but you two can commit to get through this. Stop, read that again, I said you two. Handle your husband’s addiction with patience and tolerance. Don’t nag him, offer support. This will take time.

I recall a conversation I had with a loved one who had battled a drug problem. During her last days, I asked, “why didn’t you ever just quit?” Her answer, “for every time you think I didn’t, I did times a million.” I assure you he’s trying, that’s what many smokers do, more than you and the rest of us nonsmokers will ever know.

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April 25, 2018 • 11

Icon Grace Jones shines in lackluster “Bloodlight and Bami” documentary DWIGHT BROWN Grace Jones is a pioneer, an androgynous model who became a singer, actress and performance artist all rolled up into one. She well deserves a comprehensive biofilm, one that her fans can appreciate and new admirers can adore.

This unique, 10-year in the making slice-of-life documentary may not be what her most ardent followers crave. But it’s something.

Born in Jamaica (1949) and raised outside of Syracuse, New York, she was a shy, repressed daughter of a Pentecostal minister. It was no wonder that Grace rebelled—big time. By the 1960s she lived in a New York City hippie commune, was a gogo-dancer and heralded the effects of LSD. A blossoming modeling career took her to Paris in the ‘70s, where she did runway for Yves St. Laurent, appeared on the cover of Vogue and was roommates with fellow models Jerry Hall and Jessica Lang.

Jones short hair, bright lipstick and post-modern, futuristic clothes made her popular with the paparazzi and an alluring spectacle, both on and off the runway. A distinctive singing career followed with her eclectic blend of club music, rock and soul (“La Vie en Rose,” “Love is the Drug,” “Nightclubbing”). Acting gigs ensued (“Conan the Destroyer,” “A View to a Kill,” “Boomerang”).

Romances with Dolph Lundgren and her partner/photographer JeanPaul Goude, slapping a British talk show host on live TV and being notoriously late for gigs further stirred her pot of controversy and legend. It’s important for us to put her breakthroughs, insights, achievements and media storms into perspective. Why? Because, this short-sighted film never does.

Instead, documentarian Sophie Fiennes (“The Pervert’s Guide to Cinema”) prefers an unconventional creative strategy. In “Grace Jones: Bloodlight and Bami,” viewers will not see poignant, archival footage. They won’t discover her deepest darkest secrets or witness informative interviews. Nor will they learn about Jones’s impressive stats: Grammy and MTV Video Award Nominations, No. 1 Billboard

club music hits like “Pull Up to the Bumper.” Jones was dubbed the 40th most successful dance artist of all time.

This enigmatic, cinema verité look at Jones (five years’ worth of filming, five years in postproduction) plays more like an extended reality show than a biodoc. The filmmaking is intrusive, and you never feel like the camera is an inconspicuous fly on the wall. It’s as if Grace is looking in the mirror, never in a natural, guarddown state. Think Real Housewives of Atlanta, but then subtract the extreme highs and lows.

A 2016 concert demonstrates that Jones hasn’t lost much of her snarl or bewitching charm. Watching her use costumes and lighting as an integral part of her act, reminds us that, back in the day, she set worldwide fashion and performance art trends (à la David Bowie).

She is also photographed in the midst of recording her 2008 studio album “Hurricane,” with longtime music friends Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare. The new music further extends her very strongwilled persona with lyrics from the title song that go: “I am woman. I am sun. I can give birth to she. I can give birth to son. And I can be cool.

Soft as the breeze. I’ll be a hurricane.

Ripping up trees!”

Scenes shot in Jamaica depict Grace in church, the place she rebelled from for so many years.

This is when Remko Schnorr’s evocative cinematography catches traction. Pastoral shots of deep green landscapes look like paradise.

Glimpses of the musician’s mother singing are framed like a family portrait. At times Jones looks at home. At times completely uncomfortable, and the ambivalence on her face is captured by the lens, in detail. These few moments in the footage, knowing the trajectory of her mild to wild life, seem the most emotionally bare. It’s as if we are watching the last chapter in her cycle, and her exodus includes making amends with her past.

“Bloodlight” refers to the studio signal for recording. “Bami” is a Jamaican flatbread. The title of this non-fiction film seems to sum up the dichotomy that is so Grace Jones.

Grace Jones in the “Bloodlight & Bami” trailer.

Even as she approaches age 70, and within the confines of this very uncomprehensive format, it’s still

easy to see that the timid preacher’s daughter grew into a hurricane that’s ripping up trees.

12 • April 25, 2018

The LEGACY

Questions and protests for Hampton’s 40-year president RICK SELTZER IHE- Hampton University spun three celebrations together on the first day of April: Easter, the 150th anniversary of its founding and the 40th anniversary of William R. Harvey’s presidency.

Few leaders in American higher education can compete with Harvey’s four-decade tenure leading Hampton, a private, 4,600-student historically black university on the banks of the Virginia Peninsula across the harbor from Norfolk. The Harvey family has in many ways grown synonymous with the university as it has risen in prominence and prestige.

A leadership institute at Hampton bears the president’s name, and the university’s library is named after Harvey and his wife. Streets on campus were recently rechristened William R. Harvey Way. During the university’s Founding Day celebration on Easter Sunday, the Student Government Association released 40 doves to honor the president, and former university chaplain Michael A. Battle extolled

Norma Harvey receives compensation for providing services to the university as the wife of President William R. Harvey. a youthful Harvey’s command many years ago.

“This young, courageous president not only determined that he was going to stand against the tide of those who wanted to lead us in an opposite direction, but stood up and challenged the faculty and staff of the institution at that time and

simply said to them that there is a larger vision for this institution, and if you cannot stand to grow with Hampton, maybe you have a job at the wrong place, and that wouldn’t be a bad time for you to leave if you didn’t have the vision of growth,” Battle said, according to a recording of the event made by a local newspaper.

Despite the soaring rhetoric, Harvey has faced harsh questions about his leadership in recent months. Students and at least one former faculty member have openly challenged conditions at Hampton, and the Harvey family’s deep affiliation with the university has been tested to a degree rarely seen in the past.

The university took steps to assuage concerns about food quality and dormitory maintenance last month. But students continue to worry that the university is not taking the issue of sexual assault seriously enough, with some feeling uncomfortable because the president’s daughter is the university’s Title IX coordinator.

At the same time, a Hampton alumnus and former professor is offering harsh criticism of Harvey’s leadership and his past decisions, which have included building an ambitious and expensive cancer treatment center that has struggled financially.

University leaders say they take student concerns seriously and have acted upon them. Allegations against Harvey are not credible, said the chair of Hampton’s Board of Trustees. Harvey himself said in an interview with Inside Higher Ed that he doesn’t like to “get down in the mud,” referring to the allegations as a “nothingburger.”

Indeed, the Hampton president rejects the idea that the last few months have been difficult for him.

He called recent times marvelous, pointing to fund-raising successes for the university, positive local press coverage and his recent receipt of the prestigious John Hope Franklin Award at a March meeting of the American Council on Education. He

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April 25, 2018 • 13

(from page 12) cites 92 degree-granting programs put in place during his tenure and says Hampton’s endowment has grown by more than 860 percent since he took over.

Yet some students wonder whether the septuagenarian president’s aura of inevitability is cracking.

“There is something going on, bigger picture,” said Arielle Wallace, a senior strategic-communication major at Hampton.

“Hampton’s reputation is what’s perpetuating all of this,” she said. “If the reputation is broken, then change has to come.”

Criticisms spilled into the open Feb. 20, when students raised concerns during a town hall meeting. They were worried about what they saw as poor dining hall conditions, mold in dormitories and what has been described as a culture of insensitivity toward sexual assault on campus.

University leaders responded with a statement detailing Hampton’s procedures for addressing reported sexual assaults and saying administrators take the issues raised by students very seriously. Still, the town hall and university response drew attention on social media.

Anonymous users shared stories of sexual assault and harassment through an online service called Curious Cat. An account sharing the stories made 219 posts between Feb. 23 and Feb. 28, although some were comments on previously shared stories instead of new ones, and the university hadn’t necessarily been informed about the incidents.

Several days later, a group of students marched across campus to the president’s house, asking for dormitory mold, food quality and campus safety to be addressed.

They also asked administrators to be more active in fighting sexual assault on campus. A group calling itself the Independent Collective of Hampton University charged that the university “handles all of its problems by painting over them then telling us [it] is beautiful.”

The university released several additional statements detailing its responses. New hours were put in place for the cafeteria, food options have been expanded and a new dining concept is in place so students can serve themselves, said the most recent news release on the issues, which was posted in March.

A contractor inspected residence halls, finding buildings “in very good condition with very limited isolated visible mold activity.” The university pledged to uphold a policy of eliminating mold or mildew within 48 hours.

Two streets on Hampton University's campus have been renamed William R. Harvey Way. Students confirmed changes in quality of food service and room maintenance. But some remain unsatisfied, saying they are concerned about rape culture. As at many institutions across the country, they fear a campus climate permissive of sexual assault.

Rape culture has become normalized, said Kimberly Burton, a senior political science major at Hampton. Many women don’t feel comfortable reporting sexual assault on campus and might not feel anyone is advocating for them, she said. She has heard repeatedly that students who have experienced sexual assault don’t believe the university will take reports seriously.

“When there’s that culture at Hampton, you’re not going to feel comfortable,” Burton said. “You get interrogated. ‘What were you wearing? What were you drinking?’

The reality is, someone has been mistreated. Someone has been taken advantage of.”

Harvey rejected the idea of such a culture existing at Hampton. In his first year as president, he put in place a sexual assault committee, he said. It is made up of five people -- three women and two men. A woman has always been the chair.

The university has also participated in campaigns to raise awareness and educate students about sexual assault.

“There clearly is no rape culture at Hampton,” Harvey said.

“I understand the climate and culture we are in, and sometimes people just don’t take the time to try to get at the truth,” Harvey continued. “One of the things we try

to do is not to deal in falsehoods, rumors and gossip, but deal with the truth. The fact is that we have taken this seriously for a very long time, and we’re going to continue to take it seriously.”

The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights started an investigation of Hampton in August for potential violations of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 related to sexual violence. University officials say the investigation is related to a complaint a woman who was not a student lodged against a Hampton student several years ago.

The case was investigated by a former Title IX coordinator at Hampton and heard by the university’s Sexual Discrimination and Misconduct Committee in 2014, administrators say. The committee did not find a preponderance of evidence to support the claim against the student, and a university administrative appeals committee upheld that finding. The university maintains it fully followed appropriate policies and procedures and that it has cooperated with the federal investigation.

Hampton officials have repeatedly stressed that students need to report assaults.

“The way that it works at Hampton is that the Title IX office as well as the police department -- that is the Hampton University Police Department -- work in tandem to ensure that we respond,” said JoAnn Haysbert, the university’s chancellor and provost. “First and foremost, a student has to report any allegations.”

The university’s most recent

available annual security report lists several incidents of sexual violence that have taken place on or near campus. Most were reported in 2016, the most recent year for which data has been released.

Two rapes were reported on main campus property in 2016, one was reported at on-campus student housing, and one was reported on noncampus property, according to the report. One instance of fondling was reported on main campus property.

Dating violence on campus property was reported three times, and dating violence at on-campus student housing was reported twice.

Dating violence is defined as a person being threatened or subjected to physical or sexual violence by someone with whom they have shared a close romantic or intimate relationship.

No rapes or instances of dating violence are listed in the report for 2015 or 2014. One case of fondling was reported in 2014. As is typical, the report does not include information on how any of the cases were resolved.

Students have raised questions about the university’s Title IX coordinator, Kelly Harvey-Viney.

She is President Harvey’s daughter, which has prompted worries she could be caught between protecting the reputation of her father’s university and acting in students’ best interest.

A Family Affair A president’s daughter serving as Title IX coordinator does not automatically create a conflict of interest, said Erin Buzuvis, a

14 • April 25, 2018

The LEGACY

Trump wants welfare beneficiaries tested for drugs The Trump administration is reportedly considering a plan that would allow states to force food stamp recipients to undergo drug testing. That is even after evidence from previous tests already prove it is only expensive yet ineffective.

The proposal, which is based on the common stereotype that people with low-income are most likely to use drugs, is yet another move by Trump's administration to keep federal programs that help the poor within limits.

Recently, Trump signed an executive order that would allow states to restrict access to public assistance programs and would affect about 5 percent of participants in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) or food stamps.

Welfare advocates think that it is rather unnecessary, cumbersome, and disparaging.

The policy, however, has received support from GOP governors who claim that the more a state controls implementation of federal programs, the more money is saved and fewer people would become dependent.

In 2016, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, together with ten other GOP governors, requested to implement drug testing to applicants for food assistance. It pushed through even though a judge dismissed the lawsuit.

Moreover, in 2014, only 1 percent turned out to be positive for drugs in Tennessee where Republicans implemented drug testing for those who applied for welfare benefits. In

Utah, merely 12 public assistance applicants out of 466 tested positive for drugs from 2012 to 2013.

States such as Florida, Kansas, North Carolina, and Utah also implemented drug testing to welfare benefit applicants. All of those had similar results -- expensive programs with very few people who were tested positive.

Ed Bolen, a senior policy analyst at the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities think tank, said that forcing those with low-income to undergo drug testing to receive benefits would have consequences for marginalized populations.

“Are people losing their food assistance if they don’t take the test, and in that case, is that a condition of eligibility, which the states

aren't allowed to impose?” Bolen said. “And does drug testing fall into what’s allowable under a state training and employment program, which typically lists things like job search or education or on-the-job experience? This is kind of a different bucket.”

Legislators from at least 15 states have already passed the bill that requires drug-testing applicants for welfare benefits. Such states are Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Utah, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.

All of these have Republican legislative majorities. A similar policy has been introduced in Virginia.

AG Herring defends health care against Trump’s ‘attacks’ Attempts to dismantle the Affordable Care Act (ACA) are once again in action. Attorney General Mark R. Herring is joining an effort to intervene.

Texas et al. v. United States et al, a lawsuit filed in federal court to basically demoilish the ACA, imperils health care coverage and funding for all Americans, particularly more vulnerable groups like seniors, children, and people with chronic medical conditions or disabilities.

Herring, along with 15 other attorneys general, is seeking to enter the lawsuit to vigorously defend the ACA and the Virginians who rely on it for affordable care.

Joining Herring are the attorneys general of California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Kentucky, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and the District of Columbia.

“This politically-motivated lawsuit threatens the health and financial well-being of hundreds of thousands of Virginians who benefit from the Affordable Care Act, so we’re stepping up to defend them,” said Herring. “Despite continual losses in the courts, Congress, and at the

ballot box, there are still some out there quixotically trying to raise costs and rip health care away from Americans. I’m hopeful that this challenge will meet the same fate as previous ones, and Virginians can continue to rely on the important protections and benefits of the ACA.” More than 400,000 Virginians selected a plan on the ACA Exchange during the 2018 open enrollment period. Around 80 percent of Virginia consumers qualified for a tax credit averaging $586 to help them afford their insurance, reducing the average premium for those receiving assistance to just $82 per month. In addition, all Virginians with health insurance benefit from the ACA's provisions barring discrimination against those with pre-existing conditions, providing free contraception and other preventative treatments, and limiting financial exposure for medical expenses.

Herring will be fighting the Texas lawsuit, which if successful would: • Stop Medicaid expansion; • End tax credits that help people afford insurance; • Allow insurance companies to deny coverage to people with pre-existing conditions; • Take away seniors’ prescription

AG Mark Herring, left, with Secretary of Public Safety, Brian Moran. drug discounts; and • Strip funding from our nation’s public health system, including work to combat the opioid epidemic.

If the lawsuit succeeds and the ACA is terminated, Americans living in the states seeking to intervene could lose half a trillion dollars in health care funding.

The state of Texas led a coalition of states in filing the lawsuit, which alleges that the recent federal tax bill rendered the ACA unconstitutional by eliminating the penalty payment associated with the individual mandate, despite the fact that the bill did not repeal any section of the ACA, and in fact recent attempts to do so have been defeated in Congress.

In the motion to intervene, Herring

and his colleagues refute the notion that a tax law change can invalidate the entire ACA, noting that the law has been consistently upheld as constitutional, and survived nearly 70 unsuccessful repeal attempts in Congress since it was passed in 2010.

Herring previously defended the healthcare rights of Virginians by leading a multistate coalition in the Fourth Circuit and the Supreme Court of the United States in the cases of King v. Sebelius. He intervened to defend “cost sharing reduction payments” that more than 220,000 Virginians rely on to afford healthcare, and successfully sued to block President Trump’s attempts to end the no-cost contraception benefit created by the ACA.

April 25, 2018 • 15

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professor at Western New England University School of Law and cofounder of the Title IX Blog. A conflict of interest could theoretically arise if the president himself were to be under investigation for Title IX-related issues and his daughter supervised the investigation, or if the president used his authority to protect his daughter’s job, she said.

Whether a president’s daughter can be an effective Title IX coordinator is another question. If students don’t feel they can report assaults to a Title IX officer, the situation needs to be addressed, Buzuvis said via email.

“The thing about conflicts of interest is that most professionals take seriously not only actual conflicts, but the appearance of conflicts as well,” she said.

Harvey-Viney is “imminently qualified,” said Haysbert, Hampton’s provost and chancellor.

“We have never had an attorney in that office before,” she said. “We’ve had some qualified people. By far, Kelly Harvey is the most qualified we’ve had.”

Hampton’s vice president and general counsel, Faye Hardy-Lucas, also supports Harvey-Viney. The Title IX office reports to HardyLucas, so there is no conflict of interest, Hardy-Lucas said in a recent letter to the president of the National Hampton Alumni Association. The letter was an answer to a list of concerns that had been emailed by an alumna.

Hardy-Lucas has never seen more thorough investigative reports than those compiled by Harvey-Viney, she wrote.

“To stress how thorough the

investigative reports are, I have indicated to Dr. Harvey-Viney that ‘you do not have to be that thorough,’” Hardy-Lucas wrote.

Harvey-Viney’s stint as Title IX coordinator is far from the only instance of a Harvey family member being employed by the university or closely tied to it. Both of the president’s daughters have worked for the university at different times in their lives, and he has a son-in-law and daughter-in-law who currently hold university positions. Also, his son is an executive vice president at a construction and development company that has annually been one of the university’s largest contractors.

Harvey-Viney’s time working for the university can be traced back to 2003, when she started teaching broadcast journalism classes at Hampton’s Scripps Howard School of Journalism and Communications.

She had been a reporter at a local television station, WTKR-TV, until she resigned in 2003.

In 2000, the station suspended and demoted her after she ran afoul of a conflict-of-interest clause in her employment contract. She made a $1,000 contribution to then Senator Chuck Robb’s re-election campaign, which she had been reporting on as an anchor. Her father was raising money for Robb and suggested she make a contribution, she told the Daily Press at the time.

In 2005, she left her job as a Hampton professor to attend law school at the University of Pittsburgh. Today, Harvey-Viney is listed as the director “setting the agenda” for the university’s Center

for Public Policy, in addition to her position as Title IX coordinator.

Harvey’s other daughter, Leslie Cash, is married to Ataveus Cash, a former Hampton University quarterback who is assistant director for operations in the university’s athletics department. Leslie Cash also staffed Hampton’s Washington office as of September 2015, documents show. Haysbert confirmed Leslie Cash works at the office.

W. Christopher Harvey is the Hampton president’s son. In 1999, he married Valerie Harvey, a dermatologist who is currently listed as a Hampton University adjunct faculty member. She is also codirector of the university’s Skin of Color Research Institute.

Of greater note, Christopher Harvey is an executive vice president at Armada Hoffler Construction, a branch of a publicly traded development company. He joined the company in 2002. Armada Hoffler has been listed on tax forms as one of Hampton University’s top contractors in 10 out of 11 years from 2006 to 2016. The university paid the company at least $132.5 million during that time.

Armada Hoffler recently built a multimillion-dollar proton therapy institute for Hampton University.

The university is also the company’s second-largest office tenant, paying just over $1 million in annualized base rent, according to Armada Hoffler’s most recent annual report.

That’s 5.3 percent of Armada Hoffler’s office rent portfolio and 1.1 percent of its total rent portfolio.

In 2011, before it became a publicly traded company, Armada Hoffler “partly donated” to Hampton University a tower known as Harbour Centre, the Daily Press reported at the time. Hampton also paid an undisclosed sum in cash toward the building, the newspaper reported. Hampton’s recent financial documents list the 14-story building as having been acquired by donation and representing about $21 million in assets.

Hiring a family member or doing business with a firm where a relative is employed doesn’t necessarily constitute nepotism, experts say.

A university can fairly hire a president’s relative if it follows an established hiring process, evaluates multiple candidates’ credentials and ultimately picks the most qualified person for a position.

Organizational behavior must be evaluated, said Robert Jones, a professor of psychology at Missouri State University and a nepotism expert.

“In organizational psychology, we look for consistent and reliable

patterns,” Jones said. Organizational behavior and consistently hiring family can suggest a pattern, he said.

Hampton’s Board of Trustees is aware that members of the Harvey family hold different positions at the university, said Wesley Coleman, board chair. Harvey-Viney takes her job seriously, has the right background and does not report to her father, Coleman reiterated.

“There are levels between her and the president,” Coleman said. “She doesn’t go and run to him or have to report to him what she’s doing. So that’s not an issue.”

Christopher Harvey has not been involved in Armada Hoffler’s projects with the university, Coleman continued. When the company makes a presentation to the board or is a finalist for a bid, the university president openly discloses his son’s employment at the construction company.

“That is one, I can assure you, the board is fully aware of and has been assured there is not anything inappropriate going on,” Coleman said. “They still do competitive bidding. They aren’t just awarded projects without due diligence.”

Christopher Harvey echoed that, saying in a phone interview that he has worked for Armada Hoffler for 15 years but has nothing to do with Hampton. Asked whether there have been any projects he would have overseen if he did not have a connection to Hampton, he said that isn’t his role at the company.

Christopher Harvey oversees a joint venture created to develop hotel and hospitality projects, according to the Armada Hoffler’s website. He has previously been director of business and hotel development, development coordinator, and project engineer.

Earlier in his career, he worked for Pepsi-Cola of North America, published records show.

Hampton has not sought to cover up the fact that it hires members of the Harvey family. For instance, statements filed in its IRS form 990s have said the university is open to hiring employees’ family members.

Take a statement from 2005: “The university has a policy on employment of relatives and has welcomed the hiring of family members to its staff (i.e. spouses of other employees, and employees’ children working in summer programs, etc). To ensure that there is not a conflict of interest in employment, the university does not place any employee in a position that would directly or indirectly, supervise or influence a related employee’s rate of pay, promotion or

(continued on page 17)

16 • April 25, 2018

Calendar 4.27, 5:30 p.m.

The University of Richmond Bonner Center for Civic Engagement, in partnership with VCU Division of Community Engagement and Friends of East End, will share research and unveil a new digital map that is the culmination of a year-long project supporting the reclamation efforts at East End Cemetery, a historic African-American burial ground in the city of Richmond and Henrico County.

In partnership with the CCE, UR classics professor Elizabeth Baughan and biology professor Kristine Grayson launched the East End Cemetery Collaboratory in September 2017.

“Our work has included studies of demography, ecology, gravestone symbolism, medical sociology and personal histories,” Baughan said.

“We aim to produce place-based knowledge that contributes to a community dialogue about our collective past.”

One result of the Collaboratory is a website, built by UR’s Digital Scholarship Lab and the Spatial Analysis Lab, which shows a map of the cemetery and uncovered headstones. This website will serve as a public resource for locating graves and a portal to explore the history of individuals buried at this site.

Five UR and two VCU faculty connected their courses to East End Cemetery this academic year as part of the Collaboratory project.

“Even the beginning levels of collaboration on this project across institutions and communities has been inspirational,” Grayson said.

The CCE will work with faculty to continue the East End Cemetery Collaboratory next year.

The Collaboratory and Friends of East End will host a community gathering April 27 from 5:30-7:30 p.m. in the Robinson Theater located at 2903 Q Street. The event is free and open to the public.

M ...advertised here. oments &e m o r i e s

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COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES & EVENTS

5.12, 7 p.m.

The 392nd Army Band at Fort Lee Brass Quintet will perform at the General Grant’s Headquarters Unit of Petersburg National Battlefield.

The free outdoor performance will occur on the north lawn of Appomattox Plantation in the historic City Point area of Hopewell.

The concert will feature patriotic music as well as music from the 19th century.

Visitors are encouraged to bring a picnic dinner and lawn chairs.

Alcoholic beverages, however, are not permitted. Parking is available in the lot located on Cedar Lane.

Handicapped parking is available near the Eppes Plantation home, however space is limited.

The General Grant’s Headquarters Unit of Petersburg National Battlefield is at 1001 Pecan Ave. in Hopewell and is open seven days a week, every day of the year except for major holidays. Visitors can view a 15-minute video and participate in a tour of the 18th century home of the Eppes Family. The grounds are open until dark and include numerous wayside exhibits on the lawn surrounding the home and on the James River waterfront. For more information, call 804-732-3531 ext. 200.

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April 25, 2018 • 17

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(from page 15) in compensation and $52,725 in handling of confidential information.

Supervisors and administrators consider each employee, or potential employee on the basis of personal merit, qualifications and skills.

The statement went on to note that the president’s wife, Norma Harvey, was paid $31,685 in the fiscal year ending in June 2005. The pay was for services she provided as the university’s first lady and to benefit the university, it said.

It’s relatively common for colleges and universities to pay presidential spouses if they perform specific duties. However, leaders have found themselves in hot water after arranging favorable employment situations for other family members.

Recently, the new chancellor of Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, Carlo Montemagno, was accused of nepotism after he negotiated jobs for his daughter and son-in-law when he was being hired. In February he said he would pay back university-provided relocation funds he used to pay for his daughter’s household to move.

The university also launched ethics reviews. Montemagno remains chancellor.

In 2016, then University of California, Davis, chancellor Linda P. B. Katehi was placed on administrative leave amid concerns that her daughter-in-law received more than $50,000 in pay increases over two and a half years and that the program employing Katehi’s son had been placed in her daughterin-law’s department. Katehi resigned months later after the UC system found she had violated multiple university policies and exercised poor judgment. Her lawyer said the investigation found no violations in the areas of nepotism, conflicts, personal gain or financial mismanagement of funds.

Norma Harvey has regularly been paid by Hampton for her duties as first lady, a review of Hampton’s tax documents shows. She was paid $40,000 for the year ending in June 2016, the most recent for which documents are available. That was up from $30,000 the year before.

Her husband also received more from the university in 2016 than in 2015. President Harvey’s compensation totaled $889,384 for the year ending in June 2016, up from $828,420 the previous year. His base compensation rose to $432,858 from $416,150, with the rest coming from nontaxable benefits and deferred compensation.

President Harvey’s total compensation more than doubled over a decade. He received $259,728

benefits and deferred compensation for the year ending in 2006.

The Harveys have donated well over $3 million of their own money to the university, it has said.

Hampton hires for talent, according to the president.

“All you have to do is look at the facts, not look at what, perhaps, some disgruntled person might want to say,” Harvey said. “It doesn’t make any difference whether or not it’s a man or a woman, young or old, black or white, gay or straight.

If the person has talent and there is a vacancy and they want to be a part of a very dynamic, worldclass university, they will be hired.

And that’s the case with my family members. Now, I’m also aware of the fact that, with family members, there is a need to make sure that there is no conflict. So that’s always 100 percent reported to the board.”

An Attack on Leadership Alleged nepotism is just one of several issues targeted by a man who has taken eye-opening steps to criticize Harvey in recent months: William E. Lewis.

Lewis graduated from Hampton in 1976 and taught there for nearly eight years, starting in 2010, before he was fired several months ago.

He was an adjunct professor and acting pre-law adviser at Hampton late last year when he wrote an explosive letter containing a long list of allegations against Harvey.

The letter has circulated on social media. It is often raised by Harvey’s critics, with some pointing to specific allegations, like nepotism, and others saying the letter touches on some issues, like finances, that need further exploration.

It was written as a response to a letter Harvey penned early last year criticizing The Quad, a television show about a fictional historically black university. Lewis addressed his response not to Harvey but to Debra Lee, chair and chief executive officer of BET, the network on which the show runs. But Lewis says he hand delivered a copy to Harvey’s office.

Much of what Lewis wrote is criticism of Harvey, accusations and rumors about him, and allegations of poor conditions at the university.

That includes questions about financial problems, the state of the Hampton University Proton Therapy Institute, the state of the university’s physical plant and an argument that the university’s Board of Trustees has failed to oversee its administration. Lewis also complained of nepotism, depressed faculty and staff salaries, and suppression of student free speech,

among other issues.

Lewis called for leadership change at Hampton. He wrote, “It’s obvious that Harvey and everyone in his Administration needs to stepdown [sic] IMMEDIATELY!!”

Lewis delivered the letter, dated Nov. 1, and taught a constitutional law class the next day, he said. He was terminated Nov. 6.

Days later, Lewis and his daughter, a Hampton graduate, were banned from the Hampton University premises, Lewis said. Hardy-Lucas confirmed the bans, saying employees who are terminated for cause are routinely banned from campus and that university police banned Lewis’s daughter after receiving information stating she was posting threatening information on social media. Lewis has written that he was baffled after his daughter was served with a notrespassing order and referred to her ban as collateral damage.

Lewis was terminated for using the Blackboard course management system to promote a “personal agenda” not related to course instruction, according to the termination letter the university sent him. The termination letter quotes Lewis as posting an announcement saying he had “bitched and moaned for years over how to address a very sore spot as it regards my alma mater and the Harvey administration,” and Haysbert said he sent his letter to students using Blackboard. University lawyers also sent Lewis a cease-and-desist letter on Nov. 8. It demands Lewis stop making “further threats” against Harvey, stop publishing “false and defamatory statements,” and take steps to remove his letter from social media.

The next month Lewis circulated a newsletter containing personal attacks on Harvey. It used a pejorative term to refer to the president and continued to make serious allegations against him.

“And now, with [Harvey’s] daughter as the Title IX Coordinator, and the [Hampton University] Police Department serving as [Harvey’s] personal Gestapo, how can our children, our students, and women feel safe?” Lewis wrote.

Lewis will continue to pressure the Board of Trustees to make a change, he said in an interview. He believes Harvey has operated unchecked for too long.

“He doesn’t have to worry about anybody else,” Lewis said.

Lewis doesn’t fear being sued. He said he’s planning his own lawsuit for wrongful termination and wants to face off in a courtroom with Hampton and Harvey.

“If he’s going to sue me, how much more do I have to do before he comes to get me?” Lewis said.

Hampton’s general counsel, Hardy-Lucas, said Lewis was suspended from practicing law in Louisiana in 2009 after handling cases inappropriately. In November, she wrote a letter to Hampton’s administrative council saying the university must conduct more thorough background checks before hiring faculty and staff.

There are no plans to sue Lewis, Hardy-Lucas says.

“At this point, we don’t want to lower ourselves to that point and give him more of a public platform,” she said. “Why should we spend our time trying to go after someone? We wouldn’t get anything from him, and that’s what he wants. So we’re not willing to, at this point.”

Lewis responded that he is troubled his name has to be sullied because he asked questions. He acknowledged being suspended from practicing law in Louisiana for two years, saying he refused to take a private reprimand in a complex case involving clients lying.

“That doesn’t have anything to do with what I say in 2018,” Lewis said.

“The thing they try to do is discredit me.”

Hampton’s treasurer and vice president for business affairs, Doretha J. Spells, wrote a letter to Lewis in November calling his statements untruthful. She wrote favorably of the university’s cash-management practices, creditworthiness, business enterprises and financial stability.

Lewis’s letter is inaccurate, President Harvey said.

“I’m saying to you that it’s a nothingburger,” Harvey said. “He sent his diatribe to everybody. You’re the only one that’s responding.”

Harvey does not know Lewis and could not identify him, the president said, and local newspapers have not given Lewis attention.

“They know that it’s rumor,” Harvey said. “They know it’s gossip.

They know it’s lies. And that’s unfortunate, quite frankly. But I’m glad that nobody else has taken it up, because it’s one somebody that’s leading the charge, and I will say to you I have absolutely no idea why. I don’t know him. If he were to walk into my office with three other people right now, and somebody said, ‘I’ll give you $100 trillion if you could identify him,’ I couldn’t get a penny.

“I never had a cross word with him,” Harvey continued. “And I don’t get down in the gutter with him or anybody else....

Read the conclusion on legacynewspaper.com

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18 • April 25, 2018

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