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EGACY Yesterday. Today. Tomorrow.

WEDNESDAYS • Feb. 20, 2019

Richmond & Hampton Roads

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Between 1914 and 1920, roughly 500,000 black southerners, including the family pictured, packed their bags and headed to the North, fundamentally transforming the social, cultural, and political landscape of cities such as Chicago, New York, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, and Detroit. - Read more on page 13

Celebrating Black History Month and the ‘Black Experience’

The LEGACY

2 • Feb. 20, 2019

News

VCU to a discussion about racism in Virginia Following Virginia’s governor and attorney general’s blackface scandals, the Richard T. Robertson School of Media and Culture at Virginia Commonwealth University will host a panel discussion, titled “Blackface, the Scandal and the Media: A Discussion About Racism in Virginia,” that will feature Richmond-area journalists and VCU faculty members. The event will be held from 5 to 6:30 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 25, at the University Student Commons

“In the Robertson School, we’re strongly committed to diversity and inclusion and we are very excited and proud to welcome a distinguished panel to discuss this important and timely topic with the university and Richmond communities,” said Hong Cheng, Ph.D., professor and director of the Robertson School in the College of Humanities and Sciences. Dr. Hong Cheng Moderating the panel discussion will be Clarence Thomas, Ph.D., Theater, 907 Floyd Ave. The event associate professor of broadcast will be free and open to the public. T:10.25”

journalism in the Robertson School. Panelists will include: · Michael Paul Williams, columnist, Richmond Times-Dispatch; · Samantha Willis, freelance journalist and editor; · Mechelle Hankerson, reporter, Virginia Mercury; and · Jeff South, associate professor of journalism in the Robertson School and director of the VCU Capital News Service. The event is part of the Robertson School’s ongoing speaker series.

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Feb. 20, 2019• 3

Convicts leased to harvest timber in Florida around 1915.

Exploiting black labor after the abolition of slavery The U.S. criminal justice system is riven by racial disparity. The Obama administration pursued a plan to reform it. An entire news organization, The Marshall Project, was launched in late 2014 to cover it. Organizations like Black Lives Matter and The Sentencing Project are dedicated to unmaking a system that unjustly targets people of color. But how did we get this system in the first place?, noted Kathy Roberts Forde, chair, associate professor of the Journalism department at the University of Massachusetts and

Bryan Bowman, undergraduate journalism major, at the University of Massachusetts Amherst Amherst, in a piece they wrote. “Our ongoing historical research project investigates the relationship between the press and convict labor. “While that story is still unfolding, we have learned what few Americans, especially white Americans, know: the dark history that produced our current criminal justice system.” If anything is to change – if we are ever to “end this racial nightmare, and achieve our country,” as James

Baldwin put it – we must confront this system and the blighted history that created it. During Reconstruction, the 12 years following the end of the Civil War and the abolition of slavery, former slaves made meaningful political, social and economic gains. Black men voted and even held public office across the South. Biracial experiments in governance flowered. Black literacy surged, surpassing those of whites in some cities. Black schools, churches and social institutions thrived. As the prominent historian Eric

Foner writes in his masterwork on Reconstruction, “Black participation in Southern public life after 1867 was the most radical development of the Reconstruction years, a massive experiment in interracial democracy without precedent in the history of this or any other country that abolished slavery in the nineteenth century.” But this moment was short-lived. As W.E.B. Du Bois wrote, the “slave went free; stood a brief moment in the sun; then moved back

(continued on page 4)

The LEGACY

4 • Feb. 20, 2019

(from page 3)

The exploitation of black convict labor by the penal system and again toward slavery.” industrialists was central to History is made by human actors southern politics and economics of and the choices they make. the era. It was a carefully crafted According to Douglas Blackmon, answer to black progress during author of “Slavery by Another Reconstruction – highly visible Name,” the choices made by and widely known. The system Southern white supremacists benefited the national economy, too. after abolition, and the rest of the The federal government passed up country’s accommodation, “explain one opportunity after another to more about the current state of intervene. American life, black and white, Convict lease ended at different than the antebellum slavery that times across the early 20th century, preceded.” only to be replaced in many states Designed to reverse black by another racialized and brutal Juvenile convicts at work in the fields, 1903. Library of Congress/JL Spivak method of convict labor: the chain advances, Redemption was an organized effort by white gang. merchants, planters, businessmen crimes enumerated in the Black Of those black Americans caught Convict labor, debt peonage, and politicians that followed Codes, state laws criminalizing in the convict lease system, a few lynching – and the white Reconstruction. “Redeemers” petty offenses and aimed at keeping were men like Henry Nisbet, who supremacist ideologies of Jim Crow employed vicious racial violence and freed people tied to their former murdered nine other black men in that supported them all – produced state legislation as tools to prevent owners’ plantations and farms. The Georgia. But the vast majority were a bleak social landscape across the black citizenship and equality most sinister crime was vagrancy like Green Cottenham, the central South for African-Americans. promised under the 14th and 15th – the “crime” of being unemployed – figure in Blackmon’s book, who was Black Americans developed amendments. which brought a large fine that few snatched into the system after being multiple resistance strategies and By the early 1900s, nearly every blacks could afford to pay. charged with vagrancy. gained major victories through the southern state had barred black Black convicts were leased A principal difference between civil rights movement, including citizens not only from voting but to private companies, typically antebellum slavery and convict Brown v. Board of Education, the also from serving in public office, on industries profiteering from leasing was that, in the latter, the Civil Rights Act and the Voting juries and in the administration of the region’s untapped natural laborers were only the temporary Rights Act. Jim Crow fell, and the justice system. resources. As many as 200,000 property of their “masters.” On one America moved closer than ever to The South’s new racial caste black Americans were forced into hand, this meant that after their fulfilling its democratic promise of system was not merely political and back-breaking labor in coal mines, fines had been paid off, they would equality and opportunity for all. social. It was thoroughly economic. turpentine factories and lumber potentially be let free. On the other, But in the decades that followed, a Slavery had made the South’s camps. They lived in squalid it meant the companies leasing “tough on crime” politics with racist agriculture-based economy the conditions, chained, starved, beaten, convicts often absolved themselves undertones produced, among other most powerful force in the global flogged and sexually violated. They of concerns about workers’ longevity. things, harsh drug and mandatory cotton market, but the Civil War died by the thousands from injury, Such convicts were viewed as minimum sentencing laws that devastated this economy. disease and torture. disposable and frequently worked were applied in racially disparate How to build a new one? For both the state and private beyond human endurance. ways. The mass incarceration Ironically, white leaders found a corporations, the opportunities for The living conditions of leased system exploded, with the rate of solution in the 13th Amendment, profit were enormous. For the state, convicts are documented in dozens imprisonment quadrupling between which ended slavery in the United convict lease generated revenue of detailed, firsthand reports the 1970s and today. States in 1865. By exploiting the and provided a powerful tool to spanning decades and covering Michelle Alexander famously calls provision allowing “slavery” and subjugate African-Americans and many states. In 1883, Blackmon it “The New Jim Crow” in her book “involuntary servitude” to continue intimidate them into behaving in writes, Alabama prison inspector of the same name. as “a punishment for crime,” they accordance with the new social Reginald Dawson described leased Today, the U.S. has the highest took advantage of a penal system order. It also greatly reduced state convicts in one mine being held incarceration rate of any country predating the Civil War and used expenses in housing and caring on trivial charges, in “desperate,” in the world, with 2.2 million even during Reconstruction. for convicts. For the corporations, “miserable” conditions, poorly fed, behind bars, even though crime convict lease provided droves of clothed, and “unnecessarily chained has decreased significantly since A new form of control cheap, disposable laborers who could and shackled.” He described the the early 1990s. And while black With the help of profiteering be worked to the extremes of human “appalling number of deaths” and Americans make up only 13 percent industrialists they found yet a new cruelty. “appalling numbers of maimed of the U.S. population, they make way to build wealth on the bound Every southern state leased and disabled men” held by various up 37 percent of the incarcerated labor of black Americans: the convict convicts, and at least nine-tenths forced-labor entrepreneurs spanning population. Forty percent of police lease system. of all leased convicts were black. the entire state. killings of unarmed people are black Here’s how it worked. Black men – In reports of the period, the terms Dawson’s reports had no men, who make up merely 6 percent and sometimes women and children “convicts” and “negroes” are used perceptible impact on Alabama’s of the population, according to a – were arrested and convicted for interchangeably. convict leasing system. 2015 Washington Post report.

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Feb. 20, 2019• 5

Rep. McEachin hosts forum on African-American Cultural Heritage and Environmental Justice In honor of Black History Month, Congressman A. Donald McEachin (D-4th District) last week led a forum with members of the House Committee on Natural Resources to openly discuss the countless contributions the African-American community has made to the environmental and conservation movements. The members of Congress, including Chair Raúl M. Grijalva, representatives Steven Horsford and Ed Case, joined panelists to discuss the important roles the African-American community plays in protecting the natural and cultural resources, including preserving historical sites, combatting climate change, supporting renewable energy development, and addressing environmental injustices. “Since its creation less than 50 years ago, Black History Month has been a time to recognize the remarkable achievements of the African-American community, and to reflect on the work that remains to be done to ensure equity and

Congressman Donald McEachin recently led a Democratic forum on the countless contributions the African-American community has made to the environmental and conservation movements in honor of the 2019 Black History Month.

Congressman Donald McEachin

inclusion,” said Congressman Donald McEachin. “I am elated that we were able to have this forum today as it is acutely important – given the urgency of addressing and mitigating the impacts of climate change – that this forum juxtapose the preservation of black history and culture with the forceful call for environmental justice and climate action. “For generations, the AfricanAmerican community has been foundationally important to the environmental and conservation movements. Today we were able to make that clear.” “Today we had a productive and

necessary conversation with African American community leaders about justice, equity, inclusion, and the preservation of our American story,” said Grijalva (D-Ariz.). “Unfortunately that story today, for too many African Americans, is about disproportionate impacts from climate change. “Bold, meaningful solutions to our climate crisis have to be informed by an awareness of that injustice. I’m grateful for the work of Representative McEachin and members of our committee championing environmental justice, not just during Black History Month but every day in everything we do.”

6 • Feb. 20, 2019

Op/Ed & Letters

The LEGACY

Black boys need rites of passage programs

ROGER CALDWELL 2019 is important to African American men because the opportunities are boundless and amazing. If you can conceive it, you can achieve it. The only barriers holding black men back are preparation, knowledge and education. The challenge for black men is black manhood. There are many different definitions of manhood, but to be black and a man is a unique and special position in the United States and the world. Black men come in different sizes and shapes, with individual skillsets, mindsets, ideas, thoughts, visions, and beliefs. Our The LEGACY NEWSPAPER Vol. 5 No. 8 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

diversity is our gift to the globe — and we will be first, not last. The power and fear of the black man will no longer be curtailed or controlled by racism. Racial bias is being fought in the courts, businesses, sports and entertainment in America and around the world. When black men start loving each other and working together, communities will change and they will take leadership roles in families, America and the world. There are black role models in the communities and the black media has a responsibility to tell positive and powerful stories of black men and women who are making a positive difference every day. The emphasis for black men is to bring attention on the necessity for mentors, to help black boys narrow the achievement gap in the country. The fundamental problem for black boys raised in America is that 70 percent of black families are run by a single parent: a woman. African Americans make up about 35 percent of all children raised in the bottom 1 percent of the income level and distribution. From the very beginning of life, black males start with a financial disadvantage and 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

one out of every three ends up in prison. The system is set up for black males to fail, and it is extremely difficult to climb from the bottom to the top. “It’s not just being black but being male that has been hyperstereotyped in this negative way, in which we’ve made black men scary, intimidating, with a propensity toward violence,” said Noelle Hurd, a psychology professor at the University of Virginia. In 2019, there is a call to action for all black men to be fathers to all black boys in the communities. “Black boys and young adults who face an opportunity gap but have a mentor are 55 percent more likely to be enrolled in college than those who did not have a mentor. In addition, mentees are 46 percent less likely than their peers to start using illegal drugs and 27 percent less likely to start drinking,” said Dr. Brian Agard, My Brother’s Keeper Lead and Minority Achievement Office – Orange County Public Schools. Black men can no longer wait for the system and the schools to educate black boys, they must be engaged and involved from the very

beginning. The only way black boys will learn to be black men is that they must be taught by black men. The ultimate goal for black boys to become black men is through months and years of studying the rites of passage. The ultimate goal of the rites of passage is to develop greater leadership roles for the youth and the younger black boys in the black communities. By teaching black boys critical thinking and to understand themselves and the world around them, they will determine what it means to be a man and a leader. Through an intensive process of self-reflection, community and global analysis and understanding of their individual beliefs and goals, black boys will become men. As older young brothers have completed the rites of passage, they will help recruit younger back boys and instead of black boys/men killing each other they will start working to improve their community and spread love. Caldwell is president/CEO of On Point Media Group, a marketing and public relations firm in Orlando.

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Feb. 20, 2019• 7

P.T. Hoffsteader, Esq.

Putting to task

Trump won the presidency by claiming he wants “to make America great again.” So far he has faced a lot of opposition. What does this imply? Does those politicians, citizens, educators, justices, and executives not want America great again? Some feel like America was at its greatest when blacks were enslaved, and knew their place. Most people were not even born except those who grew up during jim crowe. I say it is time to put these politicians, executives, educators, justices, and citizens to task. You would think and hope that educated, trained people and those vying for office would have an inkling of what is going on. Unfortunately, it seems that this is not always the case. Why would all of these seasoned leaders allow the government to ‘shut-down’; it controls and oversees regulations, inspections, enforcement, reinforcement, security, and maintains, shutting down out of spite, malice, ineptitude, and hatefulness? This is unfounded. What makes

everything so bad is that Americans continue to support the people who only contributes to the above, and some of these people barely care for the people who vote for them, you know they do not care about those who do not and children Certain things must be held sacred. The courtroom, bench, church, classroom, family, friendship, oaths, promises, memberships, office, and God. This is all to be honored and those who hold steadfast admired. Most of us had the chance to learn, if only the basics. Even these basic fundamentals can be implemented in achieving higher. I can't emphasize more the need for unselfishness, under(over)standing, and especially uncompromising ones principles, rather distinguishing and defining the quality quantifyingly impacting the greater good. This is how social evolution through leadership nourishes humanity. In putting leadership to task. This is what must be considered. Thanks for reading and H.A.N.D. Patrick Christian

Raising pump prices

U.S. crude oil production just surged to an all-time high of 11.3 million barrels per day. Natural gas production is also setting records. This energy bonanza is creating tens of thousands of new jobs and dramatically reducing Americans’ gasoline and utility bills while boosting New Mexico’s economy and making it the third largest oil producer in the nation. Unfortunately, the energy boom

could soon collapse. Constructing new pipelines and wells is becoming prohibitively expensive due to the Trump administration’s tariffs on steel and aluminum. Without continued investment in energy infrastructure, America will never achieve energy independence. It’s time for the administration to rescind these counterproductive taxes. In March, President Trump imposed a 25 percent tariff on imported steel and 10 percent tariff on imported aluminum. The levies have hit American energy companies hard. A recent survey by the Dallas Federal Reserve found that twothirds of energy firms are negatively affected by the tariffs on steel. That’s because steel makes up about 10 to 15 percent of the cost of an oil or gas well. And nearly 80 percent of pipes and other products used by oil and natural gas companies are made with highly customized imported steel that cannot be domestically sourced. For example, the Houston-based Plains All American Pipeline, which handles five million barrels per day of crude oil and natural gas liquids, projects that the steel tariffs will raise the price of a new pipeline system from the Permian Basin region by $40 million. The lack of pipeline capacity has made it harder for oil and natural gas to get out of the Permian and to other parts of the domestic market or to the Gulf Coast for processing or export. At least the higher costs for energy companies have meant higher

revenues for American steel and aluminum companies, right? Actually, no. Plains All American sought out domestic suppliers, but “American mills either did not bid” or “submitted alternative specifications” that failed to meet standards, according to CEO Willie Chiang. In other words, the tariffs aren’t necessarily boosting revenues for domestic steel and aluminum companies. In fact, some of the largest domestic producers of aluminum and steel, such as Nucor and U.S. Steel, have lost value in the stock market this year -- a sure sign that the tariffs aren’t working as intended. The tariffs aren’t just hurting companies -- they’re bad news for regular Americans, who ultimately pay the increased metal costs in the form of higher energy prices. Rob Thummel, managing director of energy-investment firm Tortoise, explains that oil and gas companies can only eat the higher metal costs for so long. Eventually, “those costs will have to be consumed…more than likely by the consumer.” Workers are poised to suffer too. The oil and gas industry supports about 10.3 million jobs and contributes more than $1.3 trillion to the American economy. Making energy exploration and production more expensive means fewer new jobs. The Trump administration’s tariffs are backfiring. It’s time to rescind them and deliver much-needed relief to American energy producers and consumers. Paul Gessing

8 • Feb. 20, 2019

The LEGACY

Free tax preparation assistance Virginia State University (VSU) accounting majors are working in cooperation with the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to provide income tax preparation and filing

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which is being coordinated by Mr. Lester Reynolds, assistant professor of accounting at VSU and a former IRS employee and Dr. Hari Sharma, chair of the Department of Accounting and Finance in the Reginald F. Lewis College of Business. The students’ participation is among the requirements of the federal income tax course. The Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) site will be in Singleton Hall, Room 333 on the campus of VSU. The site will be staffed two days a week from 12:30

p.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. through April 13. The service will be closed during VSU Spring Break, March 3-10. Those desiring help in preparing and filing their tax returns should bring with them all essential records – W2 forms, SSA – 1099, if appropriate, etc. Free electronic filing will be done for individuals who are required to use IRS forms 1040A or 1040EZ only. IRS E-File for individuals is the easy alternative to filing paper returns.

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Feb. 20, 2019• 9

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Strong Men & Women in Virginia History

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S THESE STRONG MEN AND WOMEN rose to positions of leadership in their fields and communities, they brought others along with them: The writer who became a publisher to boost his fellow writers ... the mentor who ran for public office to speak up for children who had no voice ... the math genius who worked within a team to achieve a tech breakthrough ... ministers, an educator, and a judge who all created opportunities for others. Dominion Energy and the Library of Virginia are proud to honor 2019’s Strong Men & Women in Virginia History. Each one has proved that when we use our talents to lift each other up, the resulting sum is greater than its parts. We all benefit when we rise together. The Strong Men & Women in Virginia History program is sponsored by Dominion Energy and the Library of Virginia to honor the contributions of influential African-American leaders. The program also helps prepare future leaders by sponsoring an annual student writing contest with awards to students and their schools. To learn more about the program, its honorees, and available resource materials, visit lva.virginia.gov/smw.

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Highlights of 2019 Honorees Kwame Alexander — writer & youth advocate, Fairfax County

After fighting to publish his award-winning novel in verse, The Crossover, he established his own imprint to publish unconventional works in children’s literature. Today, the Northern Virginia poet, playwright, and performer advocates for literacy and literature throughout the world.

Lawrence A. Davies — minister & civic leader, Fredericksburg

As an ordained minister and Fredericksburg’s first African-American mayor, he helped create low-income housing and an affordable bus system. His advocacy increased access to mental health treatment and ensured a new hospital was built in the city limits.

Fannie W. Fitzgerald* — educator & elementary school supervisor, Prince William County

After teaching in segregated schools, she became one of four courageous African-American educators who pioneered the desegregation of public education in Virginia. As a learning disabilities specialist, she supervised special needs programs as well as integration.

Deanna Reed — mayor & mentor, Harrisonburg

She founded mentoring programs for young people, growing concerned about overcrowded schools. No women would take on Harrisonburg’s all-male city council, so she ran — becoming the city’s first African-American woman council member and first to become mayor.

William T. Stone* — judge & civic leader, Williamsburg

A businessman and founder of Williamsburg’s first integrated law firm, he mentored young people and advocated for African-American and women’s rights. He rose to become the first African-American judge in Williamsburg, Virginia.

Gladys B. West — mathematician & educator, King George County

Admired by her colleagues for her skill in calculating complex equations, the mathematics pioneer excelled in computer programming. She was an integral part of the team that developed the modern Global Positioning System and other technological achievements.

Andrew J. White Sr. — minister & community activist, Petersburg

The ordained Baptist minister served the Petersburg community as well as his congregations. He fought for adoption of the federal food stamp program, helped expand local access to health care, and spearheaded construction of a new public library. *honored posthumously

10 • Feb. 20, 2019

The LEGACY

Inside the Kingdom of Hayti, ‘the Wakanda of the Western Hemisphere’ MARLENE DAUT Marvel’s blockbuster “Black Panther,” which recently became the first superhero drama to be nominated for a Best Picture Academy Award, takes place in the secret African Kingdom of Wakanda. The Black Panther, also known as T’Challa, rules over this imaginary empire – a refuge from the colonialists and capitalists who have historically impoverished the real continent of Africa. But fans of the box-office hit might not realize that they don’t need to look to the make-believe world of the Black Panther to find a modern-day black kingdom that aspired to be a safe haven from racism and inequality. The fictional kingdom has a real-life corollary in the historic Kingdom of Hayti, which existed as a sort of Wakanda of the Western Hemisphere from 1811 to 1820. The Haitian Revolution led to the creation of the first free black state in the Americas. But the world was hardly expecting a former enslaved man named Henry Christophe to make himself the king of it. Media accounts An April 1815 issue of The Gazette from the Royale details how the Kingdom era, some of of Hayti foiled France’s attempt which I’ve to reconquer its former colony. collected in a digital archive, serve as a window into a brief period of time when the kingdom stood as a beacon of black freedom in a world of slavery. Yet, like Wakanda, the Kingdom of Hayti wasn’t a utopia for everyone.

(continued on page 11)

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Feb. 20, 2019• 11

(from page 10) A new kind of kingdom On Jan. 1, 1804, an army led by former enslaved Africans in the French colony of Saint-Domingue staved off France’s attempt to bring back slavery, and declared themselves independent and free forever. The leader of the revolutionaries, General Jean-Jacques Dessalines, had defeated Napoleon’s famous army and made himself emperor of the newly-renamed Haiti. But in October 1806, Dessalines was assassinated by political rivals, leading the country to be divided into two separate states: General Henry Christophe named himself president of the northern part of Haiti, while General Alexandre Pétion governed a completely separate republic in the southern and southwestern part of the country.

In March 1811, President Henry Christophe surprised everyone when he anointed himself King Henry I and renamed the northern republic, the Kingdom of Hayti. Henry I soon had a full court of nobles that included dukes, barons, counts and knights to rival that of royal England. Haiti’s first and only kingdom immediately attracted the attention of media outlets from around the world. How could there be a republic on one side of the island and a monarchy on the other, they wondered? Was the new black king trying to mimic the same white sovereigns who had once enslaved his people, others asked? The edicts establishing the royal order of Haiti were immediately ‘I am reborn from my ashes’ was translated into English and printed the motto of Henry I, the former in Philadelphia, while many American and British newspapers slave who became king. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA T:9.75”and magazines ran celebrity profiles

of the Haitian king. One newspaper described him as “the elegant model of an Hercules.” Another described him as “a remarkably handsome, well-built man; with a broad chest, square shoulders, and an appearance of great muscular strength and activity.” The ‘First Monarch’ of the ‘New World’ In 1813, construction of the opulent Sans-Souci Palace – meaning literally “without worry” – was completed. The palace was partially destroyed by an earthquake in 1842; today, its remains have been designated a world heritage UNESCO site. During its heyday, the palace dazzled. There were the elegantly manicured gardens and a unique, domed cathedral. The structure was flanked by a dramatic double staircase leading to the entryway and two

(continued on page 17)

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12 • Feb. 20, 2019

The LEGACY

America’s always had black inventors – even when the patent system explicitly excluded them America has long been the land of innovation. More than 13,000 years ago, the Clovis people created what many call the “first American invention” – a stone tool used primarily to hunt large game. This spirit of American creativity has persisted through the millennia, through the first American patent granted in 1641 and on to today. One group of prolific innovators, however, has been largely ignored by history: black inventors born or forced into American slavery. Though U.S. patent law was created with color-blind language to foster innovation, the patent system consistently excluded these inventors from recognition. Shontavia Johnson, associate vice president for Academic Partnerships and Innovation, Clemson University, notes that as a law professor and a licensed patent attorney, she understands both the importance of protecting inventions and the negative impact of being unable to use the law to do so. “But despite patents being largely out of reach to them throughout early U.S. history, both slaves and free African-Americans did invent and innovate,” she said. Why patents matter In many countries around the world, innovation is fostered through a patent system. Patents give inventors a monopoly over their invention for a limited time period, allowing them, if they wish, to make money through things like sales and licensing. The patent system has long been the heart of America’s innovation policy. As a way to recoup costs, patents provide strong incentives for inventors, who can spend millions of dollars and a significant amount of time developing a invention. The history of patents in America is older than the U.S. Constitution, with several colonies granting patents years before the Constitution was created. In

1787, however, members of the Constitutional Convention opened the patent process up to people nationwide by drafting what has come to be known as the Patent and Copyright Clause of the Constitution. It allows Congress: “To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries.” This language gives inventors exclusive rights to their inventions. It forms the foundation for today’s nationwide, federal patent system, which no longer allows states to grant patents. Though the language itself was race-neutral, like many of the rights set forth in the Constitution, the patent system didn’t apply for black Americans born into slavery. Slaves were not considered American citizens and laws at the time prevented them from applying for or holding property, including patents. In 1857, the U.S. commissioner of patents officially ruled that slave inventions couldn’t be patented. Slaves’ inventions exploited by owners During the 17th and 18th centuries, America was experiencing rapid economic growth. Black inventors were major contributors during this era – even though most did not obtain any of the benefits associated with their inventions since they could not receive patent protection. Slave owners often took credit for their slaves’ inventions. In one welldocumented case, a black inventor named Ned invented an effective, innovative cotton scraper. His slave master, Oscar Stewart, attempted to patent the invention. Because Stewart was not the actual inventor, and because the actual inventor was born into slavery, the application was rejected. Stewart ultimately began selling

the cotton scraper without the benefit of patent protection and made a significant amount of money doing so. In his advertisements, he openly touted that the product was “the invention of a Negro slave –

thus giving the lie to the abolition cry that slavery dwarfs the mind of the Negro. When did a free Negro ever invent anything?”

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The great migration The Great Migration would reshape black America and the nation as a whole. Black southerners faced a host of social, economic, and political challenges that prompted their migration to the North. The majority of black farmers labored as sharecroppers, remained in perpetual debt, and lived in dire poverty. Their condition worsened in 1915–16 as a result of a boll weevil infestation that ruined cotton crops throughout the South. These economic obstacles were made worse by social and political oppression. By the time of the war, most black people had been disfranchised, effectively stripped of their right to vote through both legal and extralegal means. Jim Crow segregation, legitimized by the Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) Supreme Court ruling, forced black people to use separate and usually inferior facilities. The southern justice system systematically denied them equal protection under the law and condoned the practice of vigilante mob violence. As an aspiring migrant from Alabama wrote in a letter to the Chicago Defender, “[I] am in the darkness of the south and [I] am trying my best to get out.” Wartime opportunities in the urban North gave hope to such individuals. The American industrial economy grew significantly during the war. However, the conflict also cut off European immigration and reduced the pool of available cheap labor. Unable to meet demand with existing European immigrants and white women alone, northern businesses increasingly looked to black southerners to fill the void. In turn, the prospect of higher wages and improved working conditions prompted thousands of black southerners to abandon their agricultural lives and start anew in major industrial centers. Black women remained by and large confined to domestic work, while men for the first time in significant numbers made entryways into

Feb. 20, 2019• 13 the northern manufacturing, packinghouse, and automobile industries. Anxious white southerners claimed that northern labor agents lulled unsuspecting black southerners to the North and into a life of urban misery. But, to the contrary, the Great Migration was a social movement propelled by black people and their desires for a better life. The Chicago Defender, which

circulated throughout the South, implored black people to break free from their oppression and take advantage of opportunities in the North. Even more influential were the testimonials and letters of the migrants themselves. Migrants relied on informal networks of family and friends to facilitate their move to the North. Individuals would often leave to scout out conditions, secure

a job, and find living arrangements, then send for the rest of their family. Word of mouth provided aspiring migrants with crucial information about where to relocate, how to get there, and how best to earn a living. This sense of community eased a black migrant's transition to city life. Southern migrants did not always find the “promised land” they envisioned.

Skiffes Creek Connector Project James County Willingess to Hold a Public Hearing

Find out about the proposed Skiffes Creek Connector road that will relieve congestion and provide connectivity between Pocahontas Trail (Route 60) and Merrimac Trail (Route 143) in James City County. Come and see the proposed project plans to construct a new .95 mile two-lane connector road from Route 60 to Route 143, starting at the Green Mount Parkway intersection and ending near the VDOT maintenenance facility on Route 143. The project will also include the addition of culverts/bridge and new intersections. Review the project information and the Environmental Assessment (EA) at the VDOT Hampton Roads District Office located at 7511 Burbage Drive, Suffolk, VA 23435, 757-956-3000, 1-800-367-7623, TTY/TDD 711, or at the VDOT Williamsburg Residency Office, 4451 Ironbound Road, Williamsburg, VA 23188, 757-253-5138. Please call ahead to ensure the availability of appropriate personnel to answer your questions. If your concerns cannot be satisfied, VDOT is willing to hold a public hearing. You may request that a public hearing be held by sending a written request to Mr. John Harman, Virginia Department of Transportation, 7511 Burbage Drive, Suffolk, VA 23435 on or prior to March 4, 2019. If a request for a public hearing is received, notice of date, time and place of the hearing will be posted. In compliance with the National Historic Preservation Act, Section 106 and 36 CFR Part 800, information concerning the potential effects of the proposed project on properties listed in or eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places is provided in the environmental documentation. VDOT ensures nondiscrimination and equal employment in all programs and activities in accordance with Title VI and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. For more information or special assistance for persons with disabilities or limited English proficiency, contact VDOT’s Civil Rights Division at 757-9563000 or TTY/TDD 711. State Project: 0060-047-627, P101, R201, C501

Federal Project: STP-5A03(455)

UPC: 100200

14 • Feb. 20, 2019

The LEGACY

How Jackie Robinson’s wife helped him break baseball’s color line Jackie Robinson, who would have turned 100 on Jan. 31, is often remembered for his courage, athleticism, tenacity and sacrifice. By confronting Jim Crow – both as a baseball player and as a civil rights activist – he changed America. “Back in the days when integration wasn’t fashionable,” Martin Luther King Jr. said of Robinson, “he underwent … the loneliness which comes with being a pilgrim walking through the lonesome byways toward the high road of freedom. He was a sit-inner before sit-ins, a freedom rider before freedom rides.” I’ve written three books about Robinson, in addition to dozens of columns and articles. I used to wonder how Robinson persevered in the face of so much hate and ugliness. He was certainly as tough a competitor as any athlete who ever lived, and he had an unwavering religious faith. But he couldn’t have achieved what he did without his wife, Rachel, whose spirit was as formidable as his own, notes Chris Lamb, professor of journalism at IUPUI. Sure, he had his mother, Mallie; his minister, Karl Downs; Brooklyn Dodgers’ president, Branch Rickey, who signed him; and sportswriter Wendell Smith, who served as his ghostwriter and confidante. Rachel, however, was the only constant. “She was not simply the dutiful wife,” Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Roger Wilkins said about Rachel. “She had to live through Jackie and Rachel at their home in Stamford, Connecticut, shortly the death threats, endure the vile after he was voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962. AP Photo screams of the fans and watch her husband get knocked down by pitch Jim Crow laws of the South, where after pitch. … She was beautiful and Brooklyn Dodgers President Branch Rickey signed Jackie to play for blacks who challenged segregation wise and replenished his strength the organization’s top minor league risked jail, injury or death. and courage.” team, the Montreal Royals. Rachel knew she and Jackie could Rachel Isum met Jackie Robinson Two-and-a-half weeks after the not react to every racial epithet at UCLA when she was a freshman wedding, the Robinsons left the hurled their way. But she wasn’t and he was a senior. Jackie was a averse to quiet forms of resistance. four-letter athlete and “a big man on relative comfort of Los Angeles to go to spring training in Florida. When their plane stopped in New campus,” as she described him. Robinson would have to confront Orleans on their flight to Florida, They married five years later on both baseball’s color line and the Rachel saw something she had never Feb. 10, 1946, a few months after

seen before: separate restrooms for “white women” and “colored women.” She defiantly walked into restroom marked “white women.” During that first spring training, segregation laws prohibited the Robinsons from staying in the same oceanfront hotel in Daytona Beach with his white teammates. Nor could they eat in white restaurants. They stayed with a black family and ate their meals in a black restaurant. Robinson, feeling the weight of representing millions of black Americans, struggled during the beginning of spring training. He had trouble hitting, and he hurt his throwing arm so badly that he could barely lift it. Rachel calmed Jackie every night in their small room, massaging his sore arm as he raged against the indignities he faced on and off the field. She also learned she was pregnant while they were in Daytona Beach, but decided not to tell him. “There was such an incredible amount of pressure, it might have driven two people apart,” she told Sports Illustrated in 2013. “But it had the opposite effect on us, it pushed us together.” At some point, as Rachel later told Robinson biographer Arnold Rampersad, Jackie began to refer to himself not as “I” but as “we.” Jackie and Rachel were united as civil rights activists; they knew, as Rachel put it, “that the issue wasn’t simply baseball but life and death, freedom and bondage, for a lot of people.” As the spring progressed, Jackie’s arm improved and so did his confidence. He played the 1946 season with the Montreal Royals before being promoted to the Dodgers the next spring. He established himself as one of the best players in the National League. But the racist epithets continued to rain down on him from the stands

(continued on page 15)

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Feb. 20, 2019• 15

(from page 13) wealth and become one of the

Jackie and Rachel, two weeks after their wedding in February 1946. PHOTO: AP FILE/Ed Widdis

(from page 14 and the dugouts of opposing teams. Rachel was determined to make their home a refuge from that malevolence, whether the Robinsons were living in Montreal, New York City, or later, in Stamford, Connecticut. “We had a pledge to each other that we were going to try to keep the house a haven,” she said. “Someplace safe. Someplace we didn’t have to replay the mess outside.” Rachel raised their three children while her husband was playing baseball and crusading for civil rights. After earning her master’s degree, she worked as a nursetherapist and researcher at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York. She then taught

nursing at Yale University while she served as director of the Connecticut mental health center. After Jackie died, Rachel created the Jackie Robinson Foundation, which has provided scholarships for 1,400 college students. When the Jackie Robinson biopic “42” was released in 2013, Brian Helgeland, the film’s writer and director, asked Rachel what she thought of the film. “I loved how much we kissed,” Helgeland recalled Rachel telling him. “And then she got emotional,” he continued. “It was the only thing she ever said to me about the finished film. And it hit me: Her take-away from the whole thing was that she got to see her husband one more time.”

Reaping benefits of own inventions The answer to this question is that black people – both free and enslaved – invented many things during that time period. One such innovator was Henry Boyd, who was born into slavery in Kentucky in 1802. After purchasing his own freedom in 1826, Boyd invented a corded bed created with wooden rails connected to the headboard and footboard. The “Boyd Bedstead” was so popular that historian Carter G. Woodson profiled his success in the iconic book “The Mis-education of the Negro,” noting that Boyd’s business ultimately employed 25 white and black employees. Though Boyd had recently purchased his freedom and should have been allowed a patent for his invention, the racist realities of the time apparently led him to believe that he wouldn’t be able to patent his invention. He ultimately decided to partner with a white craftsman, allowing his partner to apply for and receive a patent for the bed. Some black inventors achieved financial success but no patent protection, direct or indirect. Benjamin Montgomery, who was born into slavery in 1819, invented a steamboat propeller designed for shallow waters in the 1850s. This invention was of particular value because, during that time, steamboats delivered food and other necessities through oftenshallow waterways connecting settlements. If the boats got stuck, life-sustaining supplies would be delayed for days or weeks. Montgomery tried to apply for a patent. The application was rejected due to his status as a slave. Montgomery’s owners tried to take credit for the propeller invention and patent it themselves, but the patent office also rejected their application because they were not the true inventors. Even without patent protection, Montgomery amassed significant

wealthiest planters in Mississippi after the Civil War ended. Eventually his son, Isaiah, was able to purchase more than 800 acres of land and found the town of Mound Bayou, Mississippi after his father’s death. A legacy of black innovators The patent system was ostensibly open to free black people. From Thomas Jennings, the first black patent holder, who invented dry cleaning in 1821, to Norbert Rillieux, a free man who invented a revolutionary sugar-refining process in the 1840s, to Elijah McCoy, who obtained 57 patents over his lifetime, those with access to the patent system invented items that still touch the lives of people today. This legacy extends through the 21st century. Lonnie Johnson generated more than US$1 billion in sales with his Super Soaker water gun invention, which has consistently been among the world’s top 20 best-selling toys each year since 1991. Johnson now owns more than 80 patents and has since developed different green technologies. Bishop Curry V, a 10-year-old black inventor from Texas, has already applied for a patent for his invention, which he says will stop accidental deaths of children in hot cars. Black women are also furthering the legacy of black inventors. Lisa Ascolese, known as “The Inventress,” has received multiple patents and founded the Association for Women Inventors and Entrepreneurs. Janet Emerson Bashen became the first black woman to receive a patent for a software invention in 2006. And Dr. Hadiyah Green recently won a $1 million grant related to an invention that may help treat cancer. True to the legacy of American innovation, today’s black inventors are following in the footsteps of those who came before them. Now patent law doesn’t actively exclude them from protecting their inventions – and fully contributing to American progress.

16 • Feb. 20, 2019

The LEGACY

Calendar

COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES & EVENTS

2.23, 10:30 a.m.

Saturdays are for fun and learning, according to the Black History Museum of Virginia in Richmond, 00 Clay St. Bring your children to the BHMVA on Saturdays in February as the museum launches its new program complete with fun activities. A museum tour and books will be included in each program. Once they come the first time, they’ll want to come back again, notes the museum. Dr. Jill Bussey will read and share lots of cool stuff about being a dentist. She was the first African-American female full time Assistant Professor at VCU/MCV School of Dentistry and the current owner of Beautiful Smiles. Programs are free and are suitable for 4 - 9 years olds, but all children are welcome. Registration is requested.

2.26, 6 p.m.

How to get the best price for your home in the shortest amount of time will be among the subjects of a free seminar for home sellers offered by Virginia Credit Union. Participants will learn about the home selling process, practical tips, and common pitfalls to avoid. The seminar will be offered at Virginia Credit Union, 7500 Boulder View Drive in the Boulders Office Park, Richmond. To register to attend, call 804323-6800 or visit www.vacu.org/ seminars.

Ongoing

Racial violence and radicalism among topics explored in upcoming UR events Conference and Teach Institute look at historical significance of the year 1919 The University of Richmond School of Arts & Sciences will host a series of programming March 1-2 focusing on the year 1919. The two-day event, “1919 and its Legacies: Race, Nation, and Conflict,” explores the larger historical significance of events that took place in 1919 and the long-term legacies for both the City of Richmond and for racial justice on a national and global stage. “From the Red Summer and the Red Scare in the U.S. to the anticolonial revolts and nationalists uprisings around the world, the year 1919 was a critical moment in the history of racial violence, radicalism, state suppression, and nationhood,” said Patrice Rankine, dean of the School of Arts & Sciences. “It’s been 100 years and is perhaps more important than ever to continuing fostering these conversations.” Programming includes: March 1: 1919 and Its Legacies: Race, Nation, and Conflict Conference This conference, which is open to the public, includes panel sessions, a lecture by American University’s Ibram X. Kendi, and a dance concert. March 2: 1919 and its Legacies Teacher Institute Led by UR history department faculty and curriculum specialists from Richmond-area schools, this teacher institute provides Richmond-area high school teachers with both content and instructional training. The institute focuses on how to incorporate the events of 1919 into the classroom while introducing topics that correlate to SOL topics in Virginia and U.S. history. Participating teachers will be offered certificates for recertification points. A detailed schedule of events and registration details are available online. Registration for both events are required. This event is part of the School of Arts & Sciences 2018-19 themed programming, “Contested Spaces: Race, Nation and Conflict.”

Richmond-Henrico Turnpike/ Meadowbridge Road will be closed at the Henrico-Hanover county line for repairs through Sunday, March 31. The Henrico County Department of Public Works (DPW) notes that a section of the road suffered extensive damage during Tropical Storm Michael last October. Northbound traffic will be detoured from Richmond-Henrico onto Azalea Avenue, Carolina Avenue and East Laburnum Avenue to Mechanicsville Turnpike, which connects to Meadowbridge via Atlee Road. Southbound traffic will be detoured from Meadowbridge onto Atlee.

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Ongoing

GRASP (GReat Aspirations Scholarship Program, Inc. provides free, college financial aid assistance on Wednesdays from 6-8 pm at the Belmont Library, 3100 Ellwood Ave., Richmond. Assistance includes help with FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) completion and information about the overall financial aid process. Call 804 5277772 to make an appointment. For more information, visit the website www.grasp4va.org.

Submit your calendar events by email to: editor @legacynewspaper.com. Include the who, what, where, when & contact information that can be printed. Deadline is Friday.

Feb. 20, 2019• 17

www.LEGACYnewspaper.com

(from page 11)

Too good to be true?

arches detailed with etchings and inscriptions. One acknowledged Henry, rather than Jean-Jacques, as the country’s “founder.” There were also two painted crowns on the principal palace façade, each of which stood at 16 feet tall. The one on the right read “To the First Monarch Crowned in the New World.” The one on the left said “The Beloved Queen Reigns Forever Over Our Hearts.” King Henry lived in the palace with his wife, Queen Marie-Louise, and his three children, Prince Victor Henry, and the princesses, Améthyste and Athénaire. Newspapers around the world reprinted articles from the monarchy’s official newspaper, the Gazette Royale d’Hayti, detailing the royal family’s lavish dinners, replete with bombastic speeches and lengthy toasts to famous contemporary figures such as King George III of England, U.S. President James Madison, the King of Prussia, and the “friend of humanity,” the “immortal” British abolitionist Thomas Clarkson. The Gazette also recounted the decadence of Queen Marie-Louise’s August 1816 official birthday celebration, which lasted for 12 days and had 1,500 people in attendance. On the final day of the party, 12 cannons fired after the Duke of Anse toasted the queen as “the perfect model of mothers and wives.” A free island in a sea of slavery There was much more to King Henry’s reign than luxurious parties. On March 28, 1811, King Henry installed a constitutional monarchy, a move lauded by many in the British elite. The famous British naturalist Joseph Banks championed Henry’s 1812 book of laws, titled the “Code Henry,” calling it “the most moral association of men in existence.” “Nothing that white men have been able to arrange is equal to it,” he added. Banks admired the code’s detailed reorganization of the economy, from one based on slave labor to one – at least in theory – based on free labor. This transformation was wholly

Illustrator Mahlon Blaine depicts King Henry on the cover of the 1928 book ‘Black Majesty.’ @paulclammer/Twitter fitting for the formerly enslaved man-turned-king, whose motto was “I am reborn from my ashes.” The code provided for shared compensation between proprietors and laborers at “a full fourth the gross product, free from all duties,” and it also contained provisions for the redistribution of any land that had previously belonged to slave owners. “Your Majesty, in his paternal solicitude,” one edict reads, “wants for every Haytian, indiscriminately, the poor as well as the rich, to have the ability to become the owner of the lands of our former oppressors.”

Henry’s stated “paternal solicitude” even extended to enslaved Africans. While the Constitution of 1807 had announced that Haiti would not “disturb the regimes” of the colonial powers, royal Haitian guards regularly intervened in the slave trade to free captives on foreign ships that entered Haitian waters. An October 1817 issue of the Gazette celebrated the Haitian military’s capture of a slave ship and subsequent release of 145 of “our unfortunate brothers, victims of greed and the odious traffic in human flesh.”

Yet life in the Kingdom of Hayti was far from perfect. Henry’s political rivals noted that people frequently defected to the southern Republic of Haiti, where they told stories of the monarch’s favoritism and the aristocracy’s abuse of power. Worse, Henry’s famous fortress, the Citadelle Laferrière, was, according to some accounts, built with forced labor. For this reason, Haitians have long debated whether the imposing structure, which was restored in 1990, ought to symbolize the liberty of post-independence Haiti. Henry’s dreams of a free black kingdom would not outlive him. On Aug. 15, 1820, the king suffered a debilitating stroke. Physically impaired – and fearing a fracturing administration plagued by the desertion of some its most prominent members – Haiti’s first and only king killed himself on the night of Oct. 8, 1820. Despite some questions about living conditions in the Kingdom of Hayti, its ruler can still be recognized as a visionary. Even one of his most ardent rivals from the south, Charles Hérard Dumesle, who often referred to Christophe as a “despot,” nonetheless praised the remarkable “new social order” outlined in the Code Henry. Dumesle appeared to lament that the king’s “civil laws were the formula for a social code that existed only on paper.” For all those who still dream of black liberation, strong – if ultimately flawed – leaders, like both the King of Hayti and Black Panther, have always been central to these visions. King Henry was even depicted as a sort of superhero in his time. As one article from 1816 noted of Henry, “History demonstrates that no people has ever done anything great entirely by themselves; it is only ever in collaboration with the great men who become elevated in their midst that they raise themselves up to the glory of accomplishing extraordinary deeds.”

The LEGACY

18 • Feb. 20, 2019

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COMPLIANCE MANAGER We are currently seeking an experienced Compliance Manager! For more information and to apply, please visit www.RAAEMS.org.

The LEGACY is looking for a reliable, highlymotivated, 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: Proven experience with print (newspaper) and/ or digital (website) advertising sales; Phone and one-on-one sales experience; Effective verbal and written communication skills, professional image and; Familiarity with Richmond and/or Hampton Roads areas. Compensation depends on experience and includes a base pay as well as commission. The LEGACY is an African-American-oriented weekly 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.

For additional information, see our web page at http://www.hampton.gov/bids-contracts Includes Interne

A withdrawal of bid due to error shallreview be in the accordance with any Section Please proof, make neede 2.2-4330 of the Code of Virginia. All forms relatingistonot these solicitations If your response received by dea may be obtained from the above listed address or for further information call; (757) 727-2200. The right is reserved to reject any and all responses, to make awards in whole or in part, and to waive REMINDER: Deadline any informality in submittals. Minority-Owned, Woman-Owned and Veteran Businesses are encouraged to participate. Karl Daughtrey, Director of Finance

HEALTH/PERSONALS/MISCELLANEOUS IF YOU HAD HIP OR KNEE REPLACEMENT SURGERY AND SUFFERED AN INFECTION between 2010 and the present time, you may be entitled to compensation. Call Attorney Charles H. Johnson

1-800-535-5727 Resource Information Help for the Disadvantaged and Disenfranchised (RIHD) P.O. Box 55 Highland Springs, Virginia 23075 (804) 426-4426 NEW Email: rihd23075@gmail.com Website: http://www.rihd.org/ Twitter: @rihd

Feb. 20, 2019• 19 ads@legacynewspaper.com

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PUBLIC AUCTION of Unclaimed Vehicles

AUCTIONS ATTN. AUCTIONEERS: Advertise your upcoming auctions statewide or in other states. Affordable Print and Digital Solutions reaching your target audiences. Call this paper or Landon Clark at Virginia Press Services 804-521-7576, landonc@vpa.net EDUCATION/CAREER TRAINING AIRLINES ARE HIRING – Get FAA approved hands on Aviation training. Financial aid for qualified students - Career placement assistance. CALL Aviation Institute of Maintenance SCHEV certified 877-204- 4130 FOR SALE MANUFACTURING EQUIPMENT AUCTION. Tues, Feb 19 – Thurs, Feb. 21 at 11 a.m. Online Bidding for CNC Machines, Lathes, Grinders, Welders, Milling Machines, Horizontal Presses, Drill Press and more! Item location: Charlottesville, VA. www.Motleys.com | 877-MOTLEYS HOMEOWNERS WANTED! Kayak Pools looking for Demo Homesites to display new maintenance free Kayak Pools. Save thousands of $$. Unique opportunity! 100% financing available. 1-888-788-5464 HELP WANTED / DRIVERS NEED CDL Drivers? Advertise your JOB OPENINGS statewide or in other states. Affordable Print and Digital Solutions to reach truck drivers. Call Landon Clark at Virginia Press Services 804-521-7576, landonc@ vpa.net

175+/- IMPOUNDED AUTOS, LIGHT TRUCKS & MOTORCYCLES SOUTHSIDE PLAZA DRIVE-IN

Monday, March 11, 2019 Gates open at 9:00 AM Auction begins at 10:00 AM Auction will include the vehicles listed below plus many others: 2004 CHRYSLER SEBRING 1C3EL65R74N260884 2018 SPRINT GATOR LLPVGBAK8J1A20595 2006 CHRYSLER SEBRING 1C3EL46X06N174238 2003 KIA SEDONA KNDUP131X36451168 1995 MAZDA PROTÉGÉ JM1BA1415S0140126 2002 HONDA ACCORD 1HGCG56632A172801 1993 GMC TOPKICK C6H042 1GDE6H1PXPJ509530 2003 BUICK LESABRE 1G4HP52K034129004 1997 NISSAN PATHFINDER JN8AR05Y6VW172647 2006 CADILLAC STS 1G6DC67A160148454 2002 BUICK LESABRE 1G4HP54K32U260729 2001 ACURA TL 19UUA56671A009525 2006 PONTIAC GRAND PRIX 2G2WP552961224477 1998 HONDA CIVIC 2HGEJ6679WH520309 1997 HONDA ACCORD JHMCD5633VC018755 2007 TOYOTA CAMRY 4T1BE46KX7U116900 2001 HONDA ACCORD 1HGCG66851A029094

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Thank you for your interest inIncludes applyingInternet for plac opportunities with The City of Richmond. Please review the proof, make any needed chan To see what opportunities available, If your responseare is not received please by deadline, refer to our website atOkwww.richmondgov.com. X_________________________ EOE M/F/D/V

Ok with changes X _____________

REMINDER: Deadline is Frid

SEIBERT’S is now accepting vehicles on consignment! Reasonable Seller’s Fees.

REAL ESTATE FOR SALE ATTN. REALTORS: Advertise your listings regionally or statewide. Print and Digital Solutions that get results! Call Landon Clark at Virginia Press Services 804-521-7576, landonc@vpa.net SERVICES DIVORCE-Uncontested, $395+$86 court cost. No court appearance. Estimated completion time twenty-one days. Hilton Oliver, Attorney (Facebook). 757-490-0126 Se Habla Espanol. BBB Member. https:// hiltonoliverattorneyva.com.

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NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN THAT THE CITY OF RICHMOND BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS Will hold a Public Hearing in the 5th Floor Conference Room, City Hall, 900 East Broad Street, Richmond, VA on March 6, 2019, to consider the following under Chapter 30 of the Zoning Code: BEGINNING AT 1:00 P.M. BZA 04-2019 (CONTINUED FROM JANUARY 2, 2019 MEETING): An application of Nancy and Ernest Bush, Jr. for a building permit to construct a new single-family attached dwelling at 900 NORTON STREET. BZA 08-2019: An application of McKenna Brown for a building permit to construct a second story addition onto an existing accessory building at 3019 STONEWALL AVENUE. BZA 09-2019: An application of 2202 4th Avenue Series of the Affordable Housing Association for a building permit to construct a new single-family detached dwelling (No. 2204) at 2202 4th AVENUE. BZA 10-2019: An application of Kurt Engleman for a building permit to construct a masonry wall at 2308 IDLEWOOD AVENUE. BZA 11-2019: An application of 604 St James Street, LLC for a building permit to re-establish the nonconforming use rights to a retail use and convert the building to a two-family dwelling at 604 SAINT JAMES STREET. Roy W. Benbow, Secretary Phone: (804) 240-2124 Fax: (804) 646-5789 E-mail: Roy.Benbow@richmondgov.com

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