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WEDNESDAYS • March 6, 2019

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How secrecy is killing our HBCUs J.L. CARTER Perspective

More than 70 percent of the nation’s historically black colleges and universities are accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC). Recently, Bennett filed a federal lawsuit against SACSCOC. A judge prevented SACSCOC from cancelling Bennett’s accreditation pending further judicial review. This is a difficult blow for the HBCU community, and not for the obvious reasons like losing a second campus in two years and being at the forefront of other closures which will be coming in the next few years. For more than a decade, we have seen this coming and pretended as if a combination of willpower and faith without good works would be enough to save our most vulnerable schools. Other options Bennett has many paths from which it can choose to survive as an accredited four-year campus. It can sue SACSCOC in order to maintain its accreditation through legal action. It can apply for accreditation through another organization, or it can merge with another institution. These are paths that could and should have been taken years ago. All of us who have long been paying attention to higher education as an industry knew that after spending the better part of a decade on SACSCOC warning or probation for financial instability, Bennett’s survival would ultimately be tested and eventually succumb to the harsh reality of the changes. But seemingly, most of the families who care deeply for Bennett were not aware of her great struggle, mostly because campus leaders never

could very well cease to exist. This secret and silent suffering is what is killing our HBCUs. The unwillingness of leaders to be honest about enrollment and finance, the lack of instinct from most boards of trustees and the severe unawareness of students and alumni leaves many of our schools to live and die based upon the work of a few people with all of the information, who inevitably turn to the community when their ideas and luck inevitably run out. SACSCOC’s decision is not a cruel death blow to an undeserving school. This is the most severe symptom of the kind of struggle that with or without accreditation could lead Bennett and HBCUs like it to suddenly close their doors, and to displace employees and students who would have no alternative for their lives and careers.

Bennett College President Phyllis Worthy Dawkins waves a towel with Bennett College alumni after announcing the college had raised more than $8 million through an aggressive fundraising and Our best efforts social media campaign after learning in December 2018 that Bennett Bennett as an institution and College had been removed from membership in the SACSCOC, last an idea deserves to live, but it month. PHOTO: H. Scott Hoffmann/News & Record also deserved our best efforts in preserving both. Our leaders failed fully disclosed the great scope of not have the wealth or the network to inform us, and we as stakeholders danger to the public. to pull the college from the depth failed to demand the information. Millions secured over the course of its own debts and obligations. Several HBCUs throughout the of a month were not enough to save The city of Greensboro does not country will face a similar fate in Bennett in the eyes of SACSCOC – have a financial stake in the college short order. If we wish to save them, a reflection of the same judgment surviving, as much as it has in being passed down over the years by a college town with thriving campuses it is time to stop waiting on leaders to do what is best. We must demand students who chose other campuses and growing industries around them. that we see what the plan for the best for enrollment, donors who chose looks like, along with details about other charities for giving, and Information kept secret finances and leadership decisions. Bennett campus leaders who made In the weeks where it appeared A national campaign wasn’t choices beyond cutting budgets to national goodwill would empower enough to save Bennett. Heaven meet enrollment challenges. Bennett to do the impossible, that help every other school which will Bennett is not and has not been goodwill built against the tragic have to raise even more money from able to survive under the power irony that the one thing which a goodwill-weary public which will of its own mission; that is, as a gave this historic and important wonder if it is still worth even trying four-year campus dedicated to the institution a fighting chance at life to save these black colleges if their education of black women. Bennett’s was the threat of imminent death. leaders can’t be trusted to tell us ranks of gloriously dedicated and It was the only time that the public that they need to be saved. accomplished alumnae simply do had any inclination that Bennett

The LEGACY

2 • March 6, 2019

News

Assembly awards $500,000-plus for wrongful conviction KATE BREED A bill to compensate a man who was wrongfully accused unanimously passed the General Assembly. The bill, SB 147, was Introduced by Sen. Creigh Deeds, D-Bath. It provides compensation of $520,163 to Gary Linwood Bush, 69, who spend 11 years in prison for a crime he did not commit. “I was proud to carry the legislation,” Deeds said. In 2006, Bush was convicted for two bank robberies and sentenced

to 12 years in jail. Bush had an alibi lot of catching up to do and you have and no physical evidence connecting to rebuild your life, so this money him to the bank robberies. His should help towards that,” Deeds conviction was based on the said. testimony of four witnesses, Deeds In 2018 Bush was granted two said. writs of actual innocence. He In 2017 another man, Christian was released from the Virginia Amos, 65, came forward and Department of Corrections and the confessed to the robberies in guilty verdict was vacated, Deeds Petersburg and Prince George said. County. Amos didn’t know that “There is no way you can someone has been convicted for his compensate someone for living in a crime, Deeds said. Amos is now in penitentiary all those years,” Deeds prison serving a 12-year sentence. said. T:10.25” “You lose 11 years and you have a The bill not only would give Bush

$520,000 but also it would allow Bush to receive up to $10,000 in career and technical training from the Virginia Community College System. Bush would receive 20 percent of the compensation; the rest would be given in annual increments. “Mr. Bush, we extend our greatest apologies to you, and I know that the monetary compensation can’t replace those years, but that’s the best we can do,” Sen. Thomas Norment, R-Williamsburg, said before the Senate Finance Committee.

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March 6, 2019• 3

Panel: Blackface scandal shows need for diversity News coverage of the blackface scandal embroiling Virginia has underscored the need for greater newsroom diversity and a more nuanced understanding by the media of race and racism, a panel of Richmond-area journalists said last week. “I think some things go right past a lot of journalists and they don’t think twice,” said Mechelle Hankerson, a reporter with Virginia Mercury. “They’re like, ‘This isn’t racist, they didn’t use the n-word.’ There is no understanding of the nuance of racism in the vast majority of newsrooms. And so our job of holding people accountable when they do something wrong, we’re just not performing that well when it comes to racism as the press.” The panel discussion, “Blackface, the Scandal and the Media: A Discussion About Racism in Virginia,” was organized by the Richard T. Robertson School of Media and Culture in the College of Humanities and Sciences. Moderating the discussion was Clarence Thomas, Ph.D., associate professor of broadcast journalism in the Robertson School. Thomas’ first question for the journalists: How did the media miss during the 2017 election that Gov. Ralph Northam’s medical school yearbook page displayed a photo of someone wearing blackface and another wearing Ku Klux Klan robes? Jeff South, a former newspaper reporter and editor who is an associate professor of journalism in the Robertson School and who directs VCU’s Capital News Service program, said that question has prompted much debate among Virginia journalists. One answer, he said, is likely that newsroom layoffs diminished the press’ ability to investigate fully. “It’s clearly a failing of journalists to vet people who were running for high public office,” he said. “I mean,

The panel discussion, “Blackface, the Scandal and the Media: A Discussion About Racism in Virginia,” was held in the University Student Commons Theater. PHOTO: Joshua Smith that is the role of accountable media, to hold institutions up [to scrutiny] and to drill into folks who want to represent us. So clearly it’s been a failing.” Why, Thomas asked, did the media immediately focus on the person wearing blackface on Northam’s yearbook page and all but ignore the person wearing Ku Klux Klan robes? “Of course this whole notion of blackface is hurtful and it is insulting,” he said. “But the Ku Klux Klan is a domestic terrorist organization that has killed people. … They lynch people. And here we are making a big deal of blackface. Why wasn’t there an outcry [like], ‘My God, here’s a Klansman next to a picture of you in your yearbook?’” Hankerson suggested that the answer lies in a lack of diversity in media, particularly among editors.

“When you look at the people who lead newsrooms, they are overwhelmingly white males,” she said. “And I think when we saw that picture in the media, what drives a lot of coverage is what do people not understand? What do we need to explain? And for white males, I think the question was, ‘Wait a second, why is this blackface thing so bad?’ We all know about the Klan, but I think in the eyes of most newsroom leaders that didn’t need an explanation and so it didn’t get the attention it deserved.” Michael Paul Williams, a columnist with the Richmond Times-Dispatch, agreed that more newsroom diversity would help the media cover race and racism with more nuance, sensitivity and historical context. “Who’s in the newsroom and who’s making decisions in the

newsroom reflects the priorities of the newsroom, the sensitivities of the newsroom, the awareness of the newsroom,” he said. “If it never occurs to you that something is wrong or a ‘thing,’ you’ll never investigate it. You’ll never have reporters pursue it. So, I think, most certainly, how you process the blackface story, if there are no people of color in the room, it’s totally different.” The news industry once had grandiose ambitions for newsrooms to reflect the diversity of the communities they cover, but much of that has fallen away amid economic downturns and newsroom cutbacks. “We lose all credibility in trying to attack institutions that don’t have diversity and that are racist when our newsrooms so poorly reflect

(continued on page 5)

The LEGACY

4 • March 6, 2019

Northam signs law to reduce eviction rates Gov. Ralph Northam has signed a series of measures aimed at reducing eviction rates in Virginia. These bills , according to his office, support the governor’s affordable housing priorities, which he set forth in Executive Order 25 signed in November 2018. The legislative package includes House Bill 1898, sponsored by Del. Jennifer Carroll Foy and Senate Bills 1445 and 1448, sponsored by Sen. Mamie Locke. The bills are meant to provide additional opportunities for low-income Virginians to submit unpaid rent and fees prior to an eviction judgement. House Bill 1922, sponsored by Del. Jeff Bourne and Senate Bill 1627, sponsored by Sen. George Barker, reduce the timeline for a tenant

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Sen. Mamie Locke to receive a hearing in an eviction proceeding and reduce the number of legal actions a landlord may file in court against a tenant. Additionally, House Bill 2054, sponsored by Del. Betsy Carr and Senate Bill 1676, sponsored by Sen. Bill Stanley, require landlords to provide tenants with mutually-

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agreed upon written leases and set forth certain provisions that must be included in the written lease. Collectively, these bills are aimed at reducing the likelihood of an eviction and are based on policy recommendations from the Virginia Housing Commission. Virginia localities have some of the highest eviction rates in the nation and Northam has made expanding access to affordable housing a priority of his administration. “Increasing the quality, availability, and affordability of housing ... is critical to ensuring that all Virginians have an equal opportunity to lead healthy and productive lives,” said Northam. “These measures establish important consumer protections, help to improve housing stability for vulnerable populations, and represent a fundamental step forward in addressing Virginia’s disproportionately high eviction rates.” The General Assembly unanimously Carroll Foy’s bill, which will give tenants who can’t afford to pay their rent on time extra time to ‘pay and stay’ by allowing them up until two days before the

sheriff’s eviction to pay the full amount owed to the landlord. “When families are evicted, they lose more than just their dwelling— children can lose weeks of school, parents miss work, and everyone loses the connections and support systems they have built in their communities,” said Carroll Foy. “This commonsense bill helps tackle one of the most pressing problems that has been plaguing our Commonwealth for too long.” Locke said housing eviction rates in Virginia are a disgrace. “It is no secret that the laws and regulations around eviction in Virginia are intentionally vague and disproportionately target our most vulnerable communities,” said Locke. Carr said the root causes of most evictions are many and varied: poverty, an inadequate supply of living wage jobs, a lack of affordable housing. And Stanley added that fair housing, and more importantly fair dealing in contracts between the landlord and tenant, have been accomplished by this “landmark” legislation package developed by the Virginia Housing Commission.

www.LEGACYnewspaper.com

March 6, 2019• 5

(from page 3) the communities that they cover,” Williams said. Samantha Willis, a freelance journalist and editor, said she has been frustrated by an emerging narrative in the national media that Northam has been forgiven. That narrative is being driven by polls, such as a Washington Post-Schar School Poll that found 48 percent of white Virginians said Northam should step down, while 37 percent of black Virginians said he should step down. “[This narrative says] Virginians largely — and especially African Americans — have forgiven Gov. Northam. Calling us out like, ‘Look, the black people say it’s OK, so he must be all right to stay,’” she said. “I am one of the people who says there is no way we can move forward with a real effort at reconciliation, reconciling our very ugly and very real racist history that continues to impact our public policies that continue to have detrimental impacts on people of color, with someone who just fundamentally does not understand the needs and the histories of those communities as governor.” Willis said the media should stop relying on polls to serve as a temperature gauge for the entire black community. “We are tired of being referred to as a monolithic block,” she said. “‘All the black community all across Virginia. They just forgive Northam.’ We don’t feel that way. We don’t feel the same on a variety of issues.” The issue of blackface is far bigger than just Northam’s yearbook or Attorney General Mark Herring acknowledging that he wore blackface at a college party in 1980, Thomas said. It has been found in college yearbooks across the country, including at VCU, he said. And USA Today, he noted, last week found a “stunning number” of published images of blatant racism on campus in a review of 900 yearbooks at 120 schools across the country. “Most universities would be hard-

Jeff South, associate professor of journalism in the Robertson School and director of the VCU Capital News Service; Mechelle Hankerson, reporter, Virginia Mercury; Clarence Thomas, Ph.D., associate professor of broadcast journalism in the Robertson School; Samantha Willis, freelance journalist and editor; and Michael Paul Williams, columnist, Richmond Times-Dispatch. PHOTO: Joshua Smith pressed to find a yearbook without some sort of blackface or racist image from the past. And that doesn’t let anyone off the hook. I think that means we need to have a very serious conversation as a state, as a culture and society, about what we do now to make sure that we have truly moved past this, and that we have helped the people who are hurt by this heal, and to make sure it doesn’t happen again,” Hankerson said. “I love VCU, but Virginia has the history that it has, even in recent history, unfortunately, and this is part of it.” South pointed out that Megyn Kelly lost her NBC show last fall after she defended wearing blackface as a Halloween costume. “That’s 2018. And so the stereotypes, the racism that is ingrained in people, it’s not just the 1980s. It’s now, of course,” he said. “And the fact that you have national media personalities who see nothing wrong with this is truly disturbing.” Willis said she wasn’t surprised by Kelly’s lack of racial understanding, as it reflects a widespread unwillingness to try to understand the country’s deep racial history and racial and cultural issues. “I think there are a lot more

Megyn Kellys than people realize,” she said. “And I think there were a lot of editors who are approving or disapproving the content that the Megyn Kellys and other reporters are blasting into our homes and in our newspapers and in our magazines. I think there are a lot of editors with these same mindsets, [who] have no understanding of the historic and contemporary effect of these racist symbols and racist imagery.” Willis added that the media’s coverage of the blackface scandal has demonstrated a lack of sensitivity too. “I’m sure I’m not the only black journalist — I know that I’m not, because I’ve talked to many across the state — but I’m just so tired of blackface. I have to say that emphatically,” she said. “Another thing that we have to remember as journalists, and as media organizations, is that while we are reporting these stories about blackface, there’s a certain amount of trauma that comes along with viewing those images over and over for members of the descendant community.” The media as a whole, Hankerson said, needs to be more courageous in

calling racist things racist. “We need to do better about calling out racism where we see it, and explaining to people what is racism,” she said. “Because so much of what we see that is racist is not the KKK. It’s not violently and purposely malicious racism. And I think that’s where we fall into things like finding a blackface photo decades after it was taken and someone throwing his hands up and being like, ‘Sorry,’ and thinking that’s enough.” In light of the blackface scandal, Thomas asked the panel how, or if, Virginia might move forward. Williams said we “can’t resign our way out of this problem.” “This is not a Virginia problem and it’s not a blackface problem,” he said. “We’ve had patently racist policies being promulgated by our General Assembly. The refusal to give people health care is a racist policy. It mostly affects people of color. On the national level, border wall. That’s a racist policy. Patently racist policy. We don’t call it that because, I guess, we’re trying to promote some sort of false evenhandedness but it’s racism, simply and plain.” By focusing on blackface, he said, we run the risk of missing the bigger problem of the racial context and implications of government policy. “If we get caught up on blackface, I think we miss then a lot of what passes for government policy [that is] patently racist. And having people resign because they put a little shoe polish on their face isn’t going to resolve that,” Williams said. “Because there’s always going to be something else. And those policies, frankly, have real, probably greater, impact than those yearbook photos.” The panel discussion was part of the Robertson School’s ongoing speaker series. In January, author Emerson Brooking gave a talk on “The Weaponization of Social Media.” On March 25, Kristen Cavallo, CEO of the Martin Agency, will discuss “Female Leadership in the Age of #MeToo” at 5 p.m. in the University Student Commons Theater. - VCU News

6 • March 6, 2019

Op/Ed & Letters

The LEGACY

400 years and we still ain’t clear

JULIANNE MALVEAUX According to some historians, Afrodescendents first entered these united states in 1619 off the coast of Virginia. If we believe that narrative, Afrodescendents have been in this country for 400 years. If the people who were kidnapped and brought here had to tell the story, would they tell the same one? Would they say that we came before Columbus? That some of us might have been here even longer? There were captured Africans that came from the mother continent in 1619, but also, thanks to the transatlantic slave trade, Africans here who had come from Bermuda, Jamaica, and other places. Why is this relevant? Because there is this misguided group The LEGACY NEWSPAPER Vol. 5 No. 10 Mailing Address 409 E. Main Street 4 Office Address 105 1/2 E. Clay St. Richmond, VA 23219 Call 804-644-1550 Online www.legacynewspaper.com

of Afrodescendants, who are throwing shade at those who are not “American descendants of slaves” ADOS. Their shade is an odd version of the “am I black enough for you” game that some folks ran against President Barack Obama, and are now running against presidential candidates Kamala Harris and Corey Booker. What is black enough, when we, Afrodescendant people, all have enslavement in our background? Let’s make it plain. Europeans went to the African continents, kidnapped people (sometimes with African acquiescence), brought them to the Western Hemisphere, and sold us. Goods and people flowed between England (or New England, the Americas, and Africa), including sugar, tobacco, 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

manufactured products, guns and humans. Understand that everyone in the triangle was affected and that enslaved people were freely traded between the United States and other parts of the Americas! I am not sure what kinds of warped brains dreamed up the realities of enslavement and the ways that a minority in the South was able to control a majority. The laws that managed enslavement included laws that prevented literacy, ownership, and much else. The laws often detailed the terms of punishment if restrictive conditions were breached. A North Carolina law said, “teaching slaves to read and write, tends to excite dissatisfaction in their minds, and to produce insurrection and rebellion.” Disobeying this law was punishable by 39 lashes or imprisonment for a free black person, or a fine of $200 then, or about $5000 now. People violated the laws, of course, but the warped sensibility that prohibited the dissemination of knowledge is the basis for many sick stereotypes, such as “if you want to hide something

from a black person, put it in a book.” Fast-forward 400 years, or even two. Why are teachers in Louden County, Virginia, forcing fifth and sixth-grade students to simulate enslavement with an obstacle course they called “The Underground Railroad”? Why were many of these students Afrodescendents? Why are the leaders of the school silent about the discipline that was ordered on the rogue teachers who took it upon their ignorant selves to construct such an exercise? Why has David Stewart, the principal of the Madison Trust School in Louden County, sent out a vapid apology for a “culturally insensitive” exercise, and not a more strongly worded condemnation of the racism implicit in this nonsense. We have been here at least 400 years, and still, some folks aren’t clear about the ways enslavement has shaped our nation. In Virginia, where both the governor and the attorney general (two of the top three elected officials in the state) have admitted to masquerading in Blackface, albeit 30-odd years ago,

(continued on page 7)

www.LEGACYnewspaper.com

March 6, 2019• 7

P.T. Hoffsteader, Esq.

End the federal war on marijuana now!

The Boston Globe’s Naomi Martin and James Pindell report that all of 2020’s formally declared “major party” presidential candidates say they support legalizing marijuana at the federal level. Yes, that includes President Trump. Great idea! But why should the nearly 2/3 of Americans who want marijuana legalized spend the next 20 months listening to these candidates promise to make it happen? At least eight of them are in a position to get the job done now. Cory Booker (D-NJ), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Kamala Harris (D-CA), Amy Klobuchar (DMN), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) are U.S. senators. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) is a U.S. Rep. Any or all of them could introduce and sponsor/co-sponsor bills to legalize marijuana. Donald Trump is the president of the United States. Any time he cares to pick up the phone and summon the Republican Party’s congressional leaders, or maybe just U.S. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY)

and U.S. Rep.Justin Amash (R-MI) over to the White House, he can lean on them to get a bill moving for the same purpose, then sign it when it passes. There are opportunities here for all of these politicians. The first one to make a big move would get the most credit for ending the federal war on marijuana. The others could earn some brownie points for joining in. We could enjoy a rare “bi-partisan” love-fest where political opponents come together for the good of the country. Of course, the candidates who don’t really mean it when they say the favor legalization would be put on the spot. They’d have to either follow through or look like the liars they are. That’s a feature, not a bug. Let this issue winnow the field of candidates who thought they could run the clock out on it and then go back to business as usual. So far, 10 states have defied the federal government’s ban on marijuana and outright legalized it for recreational use, while another 13 have “decriminalized” it instead of treating it as a serious offense. It’s legal for medical use in 33 states and the District of Columbia and another 13 states have relaxed restrictions on one of its most useful ingredients, CBD. Marijuana legalization is an unstoppable parade. Time for the presidential candidates to run for the front of that parade instead of just standing in the crowd hoping the voters will throw them some candy. Thomas L. Knapp

The 2019 General Assembly Session has adjourned “Sine Die”

If all goes as expected we will have agreed to a budget that includes fully funding the state share of a 5 percent raise for K-12 teachers; increased funding for the Housing Trust Fund by $3 million, bringing the annual allocation to $7 million a year; providing $15 million for the expansion of broadband to rural and underserved communities; allocating $1.3 million for additional legal aid and housing eviction prevention attorneys; supplying $12 million to increase funding for school counselors in support of my bill SB 1406; furnishing an additional $21 million for my “at risk. Add on” budget amendment to support students in school divisions with high levels of poverty; increasing student financial aid at Virginia public universities by $15.5 million more than current levels; $480,000 for Virginia State University and $3.5 million for Virginia’s community colleges. We will also be assigning an additional $300,000 for the graduate engineering program at Virginia State; allotments of $234,000 for two agricultural education instructors to enhance the agricultural education programs offered at Virginia State; an additional $1 million in operating support for the Commonwealth Center for Advanced Manufacturing in Prince George County and budget language for decriminalizing the simple possession of marijuana. Sen. Rosalyn Dance

teachers don’t see anything wrong with subjecting black students to a reenactment of enslavement. Oh, they said they were teaching “teamwork.” Really. We have been here at least 400 years, and our nation is not yet clear about its flawed foundations. There would be no house at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, which should not be called the White House, but the House that enslaved people built, were it not for the labor of kidnapped people and their descendants. There would be no banking system if enslaved people were not used as collateral for European devilment. There would be no insurance industry were it not for the enslaved. But in our collective ignorance allows us, all of us, African Americans, European Americans, and others, to live in denial, pretending that there is fairness is a racist, patriarchal, predatory, capitalist society. We have been here at least 400 years, but we still aren’t clear about the nonsense and exploitation that affects and infuses our very foundation. Our entire nation needs to go back to school to learn some history. But there is a special place in hell for teachers in Louden County, Virginia who think that enslavement is some kind of game! Malveaux is an author and economist. See juliannemalveaux.com for more.

8 • March 6, 2019

The LEGACY

Faith & Religion Movement against proposed gas pipeline inspires Virginia Episcopalians’ environmental advocacy ENS - Episcopalians in Virginia are joining a movement to block a proposed mid-Atlantic gas pipeline that they say will disrupt and pollute minority communities and increase American dependence on fossil fuels at a time when the church and others are pushing for greater reliance on renewable energy sources. The proposed multibillion-dollar Atlantic Coast Pipeline would carry natural gas underground 600 miles from West Virginia through Virginia and deep into North Carolina. The pipeline’s opponents drew new attention to their concerns this week at a rally that featured former Vice President Al Gore and the Rev. William Barber II, one of the leaders of the Poor People’s Campaign. The Episcopal Church is one of the many partners in the Poor People’s Campaign. “It’s been miraculous to see people come together,” the Rev. Weston Mathews, rector of Grace Episcopal Church in The Plains, Virginia, said in an interview. He was among the hundreds who attended the recent rally in a school gymnasium in Buckingham, Virginia. The Episcopal Church’s interest in such issues focuses on both creation care and environmental racism, Mathews says. The rally was held in the mostly black community of Union Hill, which would bear a large part of the pipeline’s negative impact. Dominion Energy and its partners want to build a compression station there, which opponents warn would spew toxic pollutants into the air. “The pipeline should be canceled,” Gore said, according to a published report. “It’s an environmental injustice, and it’s not too much

to say environmental racism is located in this historically black community.” Union Hill was founded by former slaves who were freed after the Civil War. The companies’ website lists jobs, lower energy costs and tax revenue among the benefits of a new underground pipeline, which it calls “the safest form of energy transportation in the country.” Mathews participated in the rally as a member of The Episcopal Church’s Task Force on Care of Creation and Environmental Racism, which was established in response to General Convention resolutions related to the environment. One focus of the task force is on changing government policies that result in “disproportionate health or environmental impact on those living closest to the land in subsistence cultures, ethnic minorities or poor communities.” Another goal is to study practices aimed at “supporting humanity’s transition from industrial life to sustainable life.” The threat of climate change looms large over that mission. Fossil fuel infrastructure projects like the Atlantic Coast Pipeline are “the building blocks of our climate crisis,” Mathews said, so activists feel an urgency in stopping new construction. Episcopalians in his own congregation and others around the Diocese of Virginia are supportive of such advocacy and generally committed to conservation of Virginia’s natural beauty, he said. He also is working on these issues through the Interfaith Alliance for Climate Justice, a nonprofit he founded a year ago with a fellow Virginia Episcopalian, Robert

Dilday, who is now a seminarian at Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria. Dilday told ENS that environmental advocacy comes down to Episcopalians living out their baptismal covenant to “strive for justice and peace among all people and to respect the dignity of every human being.” “That’s the overarching criteria by which we come to this environmental justice movement. The ways in which creation is being degraded is not only a way in which God’s gift is lost,” Dilday said, “but also, people who are most impacted by it tend to be marginalized communities.” The Episcopal Church has taken a stand against environmental racism at least since 2000, when General Convention passed a resolution supporting efforts to “eliminate the practice of locating polluting industries disproportionately near neighborhoods inhabited by people of color or the poor.” Episcopalians have been particularly active in recent years in supporting demonstrations against

pipeline projects that could pose a threat to the environment and to minority communities, from the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation in the Dakotas to the Great Lakes. The Interfaith Alliance for Climate Justice, one of numerous organizations opposing the pipeline project, is focused on raising money to support nonviolent civil disobedience and direct action on environmental and conservation issues. Its current work is in Virginia, mainly because Mathews and Dilday are based there, but they are leaving the door open to expanding their work beyond the state in the future. Much of the success in opposing pipeline projects is measured by victories in court or with regulatory agencies, but for residents who live in the path of such proposals, Episcopalians often can serve them by “just being with people and meeting with them and helping them keep their morale up,” Mathews said. “That’s the good, slow work of environmental justice organizing.”

www.LEGACYnewspaper.com

March 6, 2019• 9

Preserving a historic black legacy CAITLIN MORRIS By documenting the neglect and restoration of East End Cemetery, 1708 Gallery’s “The Afterlife Of Jim Crow” examines the way racism continues to affect black communities — even after death. On the border of Henrico County, minutes from Interstate 64, sits Richmond’s formerly abandoned East End Cemetery. Neglected for decades, tangles of English ivy now coat pathways and graves alike. The surrounding forest has reclaimed the land, with oak and walnut trees growing straight up from burial sites. For almost six years, volunteers and community members have been working to reclaim East End Cemetery — and its history. Among East End’s clean-up volunteers are Brian Palmer and Erin Holloway Palmer, members of the Friends of East End Cemetery. The Palmers have brought their background in journalism, photography, and research together to create a contemporary art exhibit focused on the history of East End. “The Afterlife of Jim Crow” is currently on display at 1708 Gallery, in Richmond’s Arts District. “I’ve tried to express both sides of what we’ve found at East End Cemetery,” Palmer said. “There’s the tragedy of neglect, but the tragedy does not define the place. This is a sacred site and this is an outdoor archive of the black, the Richmond, the American experience. All of that is here, it may be buried under vines and, in some places, illegally dumped trash, but there is beauty, there is love expressed in these headstones, on the inscriptions — and there is a tremendous amount to learn.” Blacks founded East End Cemetery in 1897, when they were often forbidden from burying their dead in white cemeteries. An

estimated 17,500 people are buried at East End, some born into slavery, others into reconstruction and the era of Jim Crow laws. Among the graves are people of various stature, some prominent: doctors, bankers and business owners. Others are less distinguished farmers, cooks and tailors. There are veterans like Clarence Hubbard, who was one of the first African Americans to join the Marine Corps, and free people of color like Josephine Johnson, who was marked among the “Free Inhabitants” of Richmond on the 1850 census. Johnson has the earliest death date in the cemetery: 1882, 15 years before the cemetery was established. The Palmers first visited the cemetery in 2014, while working on a documentary. That documentary, “Make The Ground Talk”, focused

on a black community in the Williamsburg area that was evicted through eminent domain; as part of the documentary, the Palmers obtained permission from the government to visit the cemetery where Brian Palmer’s great-grandparents are buried. This project ultimately led them to another black cemetery that had also suffered decades of neglect: East End Cemetery. During a lull in the filming process, Holloway Palmer found herself drawn into the cleanup efforts. “Since [Erin] wasn’t shooting or anything, she dropped down on her knees and started volunteering with the Boy Scouts who were working there,” Palmer said. That was the beginning of their work with the cemetery. “She just got it,” Palmer said.

“And she encouraged me to put my camera down the next time we visited. And I kind of got it — the idea of doing with our hands what we were doing with our heads … we could help reclaim African American history with our hands, and that was a pretty darn powerful thing to be able to do.” In the gallery space, elevated photos scatter the hardwood floor like grave markers. Photos show broken and abandoned grave sites — like one of a headstone, barely visible in a sea of orange lilies. “It mimics the feeling of stepping through the stones at the cemetery,” Holloway Palmer said. Park Myers, the 1708 Gallery curator, said the walk through the photos was designed to demonstrate the Palmers’ experience “when

(continued on page 17)

10 • March 6, 2019

The LEGACY

Review: ‘Tyler Perry’s a Madea Family Funeral’

Madeayonce?

The cast of “A Madea Family Funeral”. Editors note: Spoilers ahead! Madea’s loyal fans have two choices. They can say goodbye to their eccentric Aunty by attending her touring play or wish her adieu at a movie theater. Judging by what’s on screen in this anemic family comedy, the live performance is a better bet. It’s more thoughtful and a hell of a lot funnier. Before the grande dame makes her final entrance, her folks are gathered at a posh Atlanta house to celebrate the 40th wedding anniversary of a matriarch Vianne (Jen Harper) and her husband Anthony (Derek Morgan). The home is aflutter with relatives: Vianne’s daughter Sylvia (Ciera Payton) and her husband Will (David Otunga) are the hosts. Sylvia’s handsome little brother Jessie (Rome Flynn), who has just announced his engagement to his fiancée Gina (Aeriél Miranda), is there. Sylvia’s other bro AJ (Courtney Burrell) is on his way, though his wife Carol (KJ Smith) is already on premises. The odd person out is a family friend named Renee (Quin Walters) who is also late. Madea’s crew (Greek chorus) is about to make the three-hour trek

to the festivities. At the wheel of the car is the very academic and debonair Brian (Perry). The backseats are filled with her frisky older brother Joe (Perry), Aunt Bam (Cassi Davis) and the very wacky Hattie (Patrice Lovely, Boo! A Madea Halloween). That’s a whole lot of characters to keep track of, but over time differentiating them becomes easier. Perry’s script relies on infidelity, rivalries, bawdy language, lust and the usual dollop of betrayal. In other circumstances, the turmoil would be funny and engaging. Not so much here. Too many scenes (especially in the house) are long-winded and stagnant. It’s as if the script didn’t know what to do with the bevy of characters and the director didn’t know how to choregraph their placements or movements. This is a movie, not a play, yet Perry is relying on boring theater staging, and it doesn’t work. The lack of exterior shots adds to the visual boredom. Sometimes the sheer amount of humor enlivens the pace of Perry’s movies. But, considering that this is a comedy, the dearth of physical pranks is puzzling and a huge

misstep. The one interesting running joke is about a dead man and his appendage that still reaches for the sky, even though he’s in a casket. It’s the editor’s duty to cut scenes to the nub and move things along, even if he has to override the director to get the job done. Either editor Larry Sexton was asleep at the wheel or someone didn’t let him do his job effectively. What’s onscreen never has the makings of a great comedy, but finetuning the pacing and shortening sequences would have helped. The production design (Paul Wonsek) and costumes (Crystal Hayslett) are decent and don’t get in the way, which is the kindest thing that can be said for a film that looks like a TV show. Philip White’s musical score is played very delicately in all the wrong places and sounds cheap. None of the new actors stand out. It’s as if they answered a casting call for extras for a film’s Atlanta crowd scene. Even though this is a feeble movie, an ambitious and talented thespian would take this opportunity to steal scenes. None do. Davis and Lovely are up to the same banter and antics that worked much better for them in Boo! A Madea Halloween. Perry plays four characters (add in an amputee named Heathrow), which spreads

his talent way too thin. He looks like he’s having fun, but that doesn’t translate into any real belly laughs or solid comic acting. There are a lot of people who think Perry’s characters, like Bam and Hattie, are nothing more than buffoons or minstrels. They get that reputation because they spend so much time trying to make big laughs out of little shallow scripts. Their failings are more acute and obvious on TV and movie screens. But somehow onstage the over-the-top antics and broad humor play much better. The actors get a chance to connect with the audience and play off of them. It’s a better experience. “Boo! A Madea Halloween” is hands down the best film in the Madea filmography. It was funny, kinetic and had lots of action and exterior shots that made it feel more like a well-developed horror/comedy; something in the realm of Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein. Though “A Madea Family Funeral” delves into the culture surrounding black funerals and the sometimes overwrought mechanics, the jesting is not biting enough to be hilarious satire. The jokes and shtick are overly repetitive. The constant stream of infidelities and upheavals grows old fast. Perry is a very rich and successful entrepreneur and filmmaker. If you had a wish for him, it might be to slow down, maybe partner with a cowriter and spend more time on each project until they are well-developed entities. Too much of this film looks like a 15-minute “Saturday Night Live” sketch stretched into a one hour 49 minute movie — warts and all. This had the potential of being the best Madea outing ever. Instead it’s just another middling entry. The best way to say goodbye to Madea is to go see her and her family live—on a stage.

www.LEGACYnewspaper.com

March 6, 2019• 11

Virginia’s ‘cotton situation’ is a matter of dispute Virginia first lady Pam Northam did not focus on black students as she handed out raw cotton during several back-to-back presentations on slavery at the Executive Mansion, several participants and their parents said in recent interviews. “Nobody was singled out,” said state Sen. Chap Petersen (D-Fairfax City), whose teenage son took a tour of the mansion with others serving as pages in Virginia’s General Assembly. Petersen was reacting to allegations made this week by a state employee whose daughter was in the page program. She alleged in a letter that Northam singled out three black students in a group of about 20 as she handed out cotton bolls and talked about imagining slavery. The mother’s account quickly drew national and even international attention — the BBC ran a story

headlined “Virginia’s first lady in cotton-picking race row” — because Gov. Ralph Northam (D) and Attorney General Mark R. Herring (D) have been embroiled in scandals involving their use of blackface as young men. In all, about 100 legislative pages visited the mansion on Feb. 21 for a reception. They broke into smaller groups to tour the 200-year-old main house as well as an adjacent cottage that once served as a kitchen. Stationed in the kitchen, Northam handed out tobacco leaves and raw cotton bolls to each group and asked the students to imagine how hard it must have been for the enslaved workers to handle those rough agricultural products all day. A cotton boll includes the hard, sharpedged protective case inside of which

(continued on page

Celina Harris, 13, of Chesapeake, Va., participated in the General Assembly's page program and in a tour of the Executive Mansion led by first lady Pam Northam. She said she had no problem with the T:9.75” 13) way Northam explained slavery. PHOTO: Family

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12 • March 6, 2019

The LEGACY

GRASP receives $25K Grant from Dominion Energy Thanks to a $25,000 grant from the Dominion Energy Charitable Foundation, GRASP (Great Aspirations Scholarship Program, Inc.), a college access organization, can continue its financial aid services and mentoring to high school students in Bath County, Brunswick County, Buckingham County, Sussex County and the cities of Hopewell and Staunton. “GRASP provides guidance that makes a real difference for Virginia students looking to make their higher education goals a reality,” said Hunter A. Applewhite, president of the Dominion Energy Charitable Foundation. “We are pleased to help support their mission to make higher education accessible for every student, regardless of their financial or social circumstances.” Ken Barker, GRASP CEO, expressed his gratitude for the grant saying, “GRASP services to students and families are valuable in that they help families understand the costs of various options for education after high school and how to pay for the desired education option. This support from Dominion Energy underscores the importance of GRASP services for students.” He added, “Every student deserves opportunities to learn beyond high school.” GRASP, a Virginia non-profit, implements its services via advisors who provide free, confidential, one-on-one counseling to students seeking financial aid and scholarships for continuing education after high school – whether that is technical school, community college or a four-year university. GRASP advisors now serve students and families in 79 Virginia high schools, from the greater Richmond and tri-cities area, to Highland County in the west, to Lancaster County in the east, and to Mecklenburg County in the south. The highly trained, GRASP advisors are adept at navigating the maze of the college and post-secondary education financial aid process. They also have a passion for helping today’s youth grasp infinite opportunities. GRASP was co-founded in 1983 by Senator Walter Stosch and Dr. Ray Gargiulo. GRASP advisors work one day per week at each school. Appointments, which are free of charge, can be made through the schools’ counseling offices. More information about GRASP is available at the website, www.grasp4va.org.

www.LEGACYnewspaper.com

March 6, 2019• 13

First black female CMSgt, Air Force pioneer Retired Chief Master Sergeant Dorothy Holmes blazed many trails during her three decades in the Air Force. She was the first black woman to reach the Air Force’s highest enlisted rank. She was the first woman to retire with 30 years of continuous service in the Air Force. And she was the first female chief master sergeant to be assigned to the Air Force Academy. But a friend, retired Army Master Sgt. George Smith, remembers her as a wonderful person who was fun to be around — but one with little patience for nonsense, who could

grab people’s attention with her commanding voice. “She would tell it like it is, and whether you would like to hear it or not, she would tell it,” Smith said. “She Dorothy Holmes had a lot on the ball.” Smith, who worked with “Dottie” Holmes at The Retired Enlisted Association in the 1980s, remembered how they would visit

lawmakers on Capitol Hill to urge them to introduce or vote for pieces of legislation that would help seniors and veterans. And, he said laughing, if one of those lawmakers seemed dismissive of their concerns, Holmes would put him in his place. “Sometimes, that congressman would say, ‘Well, you know, that thing is not important,'” Smith said. “And she would hop on something like that — ‘What do you mean it’s not important?’ And you’d find that congressman kind of crawfishing a little bit: ‘Well, er, um, I didn’t mean it that way, Ms. Holmes.’ Later, when we’d get back together,

(from page 11)

News), have praised the student “for her courage in speaking out when a lot of times African Americans have not always had the opportunity to confront offenses in this way.” Petersen, whose son was in the same tour group as Walker’s daughter, said he pressed his son for details when he picked him up after a band concert Thursday night. “ ‘Did the first lady pass you out cotton balls?’ ” Petersen recalled asking him. “He explained it, ‘Everybody touched it. She made a point that it had prickers.’ ‘Were any people singled out?’ He said, ‘That did not happen.’ He could not have been more adamant.” In all, 10 pages gave their accounts either directly or through their parents, most of whom did not permit their 13- and 14-year-olds to be interviewed because of their age. In four of those cases, the pages were in the same tour group as Walker’s daughter. The other six visited the kitchen with different groups on the same day. In all 10 cases, the pages or their parents insisted that the first lady — a former science teacher — conducted their tours with sensitivity and with no special focus on the black pages. “She didn’t pick out anything or anybody,” said Celina Harris, 13, of Chesapeake, a page who was in a different tour group from Walker’s daughter.

Gov. Ralph Northam, accompanied by his wife, Pam, speaks during a news conference in the Executive Mansion in Richmond on Feb. 2.

the cotton develops. “Mrs. Northam then asked these three pages (the only African American pages in the program) if they could imagine what it must have been like to pick cotton all day,” Leah Dozier Walker, who oversees the Office of Equity and Community Engagement at the state Department of Education, wrote to lawmakers and the office of the governor. “I can not for the life of me understand why the first lady would single out the African American pages for this — or — why she would ask them such an insensitive question.” When the letter became public last week, Northam’s office said the first lady did not single out the African American students and simply handed out the cotton to the students who were standing closest to her. Walker said she stood by her daughter’s “perception of what occurred in the moment.” “I do not expect for non black students or parents to understand the pain and suffering African Americans associate with cotton — or of being asked to relive the horrors associated with the racist institution of American slavery — even in a historical context,” she wrote in an email Friday night. Some legislators, including Del. Marcia S. “Cia” Price (D-Newport

Celina, who is African American, said Northam passed around raw cotton bolls and tobacco leaves for the whole tour group to touch. In the case of her tour — one of perhaps four Northam led for pages that day — the first lady handed the cotton to a white page. “When it came to the cotton part, she handed it to the nearest page and passed it around the room to everybody, and explained that the slaves had to pick cotton, and it was difficult for them because it was sharp,” Celina said. “She asked us to feel around the cotton. It wasn’t normal cotton balls that we use today. It was hard and prickly. . . .

we would laugh about it, how it appeared that she was just a little kind lady, but when her time comes to talk, she wouldn’t hesitate." Holmes passed away on Feb. 17 at the age of 91, and a memorial service will be held for her Saturday in Colorado Springs, Colorado. She was born in Philadelphia on Aug. 1, 1927, and joined the Air Force in May 1949, according to her obituary. She began her career in Texas, but spent time in places such as Germany, Japan, Thailand, Puerto Rico, Louisiana, Washington, D.C., and South Dakota over the next three decades.

It was interesting. I didn’t see any problem with it at all. I don’t think learning about our history should be counted as offensive in any way. And it’s not like she purposely looked at me while talking about it, or any of the other black pages in the room.” Resisting calls to resign over the blackface controversy, Northam has pledged to focus on racial reconciliation in his remaining three years in office. But the criticism over the first lady’s presentation about the house’s slave history — something she has long highlighted — shows what a minefield that territory can be. - WaPo

14 • March 6, 2019

The LEGACY

Scientists at UVA discover secret making immune cells better cancer killers Scientists at the University of Virginia School of Medicine have discovered a defect in immune cells known as “killer T cells” that explains their inability to destroy cancer tumors. The researchers believe that repairing this defect could make the cells much better cancer killers. Further, they predict their discovery could be used within three to five years to help identify patients who will best respond to cancer therapies. The finding could be a significant

boost to the burgeoning field of immunotherapy, which aims to harness the body’s immune defenses to defeat cancer. The discovery could also let doctors better predict and assess how well a patient responds to treatment. “For a long time, the presence of immune cells in cancer has been associated with a better outcome in patients, but it’s not really been clear why the immune cells haven’t been able to control the cancer. What is the cancer doing?” said researcher Timothy Bullock of the Medical researchers Lelisa Gemta, left, and Timothy Bullock discovered that a defect in some immune cells may make them less effective in combatting cancer. UVA Cancer Center. “This [finding] gives us plenty of opportunity to come in with interventions to invigorate these T cells and level the playing field substantially so they’re much more competitive.” Despite their fearsome moniker, “killer” T cells often become inactive in solid tumors. UVA’s new research sheds light on why. Bullock and his team determined that these sluggish soldiers suffer from a dysfunctional enzyme, enolase 1. Without it, they cannot use a vital nutrient, glucose. “There is a functional defect in this enzyme that is preventing the cells from breaking down glucose and using it in such a way that they can proliferate and become functional,” researcher Lelisa F. Gemta explained. “They don’t process it well, and that’s what we’ve been digging into: to find out why do these cells take up glucose, but fail to break it down.” By amping up the effectiveness of the enzyme, the researchers believe they can make the killer T cells much better at killing cancer. The sluggish soldiers would become much more formidable fighters. The researchers also believe that doctors will be able to examine the enzyme to predict how well a patient will respond to an immunotherapy treatment. “I think that there is an opportunity

to actually use this enzyme as a read-out for the quality of the T cells that are in the tumor, so that when a physician comes in with a clinical trial, we can theoretically analyze how the T cells metabolically compare within the tumor,” said Bullock, of UVA’s Department of Pathology. “It’s almost a biomarker of immune function and fitness within the tumors.” The research is part of UVA’s aggressive efforts to advance the field of immunotherapy. For example, it is conducting a leadingedge clinical trial of an experimental immunotherapy for pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia that has resisted other forms of treatment. The approach, known as chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy, takes a child’s own immune cells and genetically modifies them to make them better at killing cancer. By confronting the defect they have discovered and making these T cells fitter, Bullock hopes that his new discovery will complement such emerging treatments and make them more effective. The finding, he notes, also might be put to use one day to dampen excessive immune responses, such as are seen in autoimmune disorders. Bullock and his team have published their findings in the journal Science Immunology.

www.LEGACYnewspaper.com

March 6, 2019• 15

NOTICE TO THE PUBLIC OF AN APPLICATION BY VIRGINIA ELECTRIC AND POWER COMPANY FOR APPROVAL TO MODIFY EXPERIMENTAL COMPANION TARIFF, DESIGNATED SCHEDULE RF CASE NO. PUR-2019-00016 On February 1, 2019, pursuant to § 56-234 B of the Code of Virginia and Rule 80, 5 VAC 5-20-80, of the State Corporation Commission’s (“Commission”) Rules of Practice and Procedure (“Rules of Practice”), Virginia Electric and Power Company d/b/a Dominion Energy Virginia (“Company”) filed with the Commission an application (“Application”) for approval of modifications to the Company’s experimental and voluntary companion tariff, designated Schedule RF, Environmental Attributes Purchase From Renewable Energy Facilities (Experimental) (“Schedule RF”), which was approved by the Commission in Case No. PUR-2017-00137, and available to eligible existing and new commercial and industrial customers. The Application states that under Schedule RF, participating customers execute a Renewable Facilities Agreement (“RFA”) with the Company setting forth the general terms and conditions of each such customer’s commitment to enhance the cost-effectiveness of one or more renewable generation facilities to be constructed and operated by the Company as system resources. The RFA requires the customer and the Company to execute a confirmation providing for the pricing and certain other terms and conditions of the customer’s commitment in exchange for the transfer of environmental attributes, including the renewable energy certificates (“Environmental Attributes”) associated with one or more specific new renewable generation facilities. Schedule RF also provides that the Company shall be the exclusive provider of electric service for participating customer accounts. The Company states that the proposed modifications will make Schedule RF available to additional customers. The Company proposes three modifications to the existing Schedule RF language. First, the Company proposes to make Schedule RF available as a companion tariff to all customers who are concurrently subscribed to any of the Company’s nonresidential tariffs. The Company states that currently, customers who are subscribed to one of the Company’s market based nonresidential rate schedules are not eligible to participate in Schedule RF. Second, the Company proposes to eliminate the requirement that any customer wishing to apply for service under Schedule RF must be adding new load in the Company’s Virginia service territory of at least 30,000,000 kilowatt-hours annually. As modified, participating customers would be required instead to commit to purchasing at least 2,000 Environmental Attributes annually. Finally, the Company proposes to include a provision in Schedule RF to permit a customer to assign or otherwise delegate the Schedule RF commitment to an affiliate, subsidiary, or tenant, subject to reasonable requirements and upon the Company’s written approval. The Company states this modification will enable affiliates, subsidiaries, or tenants of the Company’s customers who consume electricity supplied by the Company but are not themselves customers to also support the cost effectiveness of renewable generation facilities by purchasing Environmental Attributes from new renewable facilities at a fixed price. The Commission entered an Order for Notice and Hearing that, among other things, scheduled a public hearing on June 18, 2019, at 10 a.m., in the Commission’s second floor courtroom located in the Tyler Building, 1300 East Main Street, Richmond, Virginia 23219, to receive testimony from members of the public and evidence related to the Application from the Company, any respondents, and the Commission’s Staff. Any person desiring to testify as a public witness at this hearing should appear fifteen (15) minutes prior to the starting time of the hearing and contact the Commission’s Bailiff. The Company’s Application, as well as the Commission’s Order for Notice and Hearing, are available for public inspection during regular business hours at each of the Company’s business offices in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Copies also may be obtained by submitting a written request to counsel for the Company, Lisa S. Booth, Esquire, Dominion Energy Services, Inc., 120 Tredegar Street, Richmond, Virginia 23219. If acceptable to the requesting party, the Company may provide the documents by electronic means. Copies of the Application and other documents filed in this case also are available for interested persons to review in the Commission’s Document Control Center located on the first floor of the Tyler Building, 1300 East Main Street, Richmond, Virginia 23219, between the hours of 8:15 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding holidays. Interested persons also may download unofficial copies from the Commission’s website: http://www.scc.virginia.gov/case. On or before June 11, 2019, any interested person wishing to comment on the Company’s Application shall file written comments on the Application with Joel H. Peck, Clerk, State Corporation Commission, c/o Document Control Center, P.O. Box 2118, Richmond, Virginia 23218-2118. Any interested person desiring to file comments electronically may do so on or before June 11, 2019, by following the instructions on the Commission’s website: http://www.scc.virginia.gov/case. Compact discs or any other form of electronic storage medium may not be filed with the comments. All such comments shall refer to Case No. PUR-2019-00016. On or before April 19, 2019, any person or entity wishing to participate as a respondent in this proceeding may do so by filing a notice of participation. If not filed electronically, an original and fifteen (15) copies of the notice of participation shall be submitted to the Clerk of the Commission at the address above. A copy of the notice of participation as a respondent also must be sent to counsel for the Company at the address set forth above. Pursuant to Rule 5 VAC 5-20-80 B, Participation as a respondent, of the Commission’s Rules of Practice, any notice of participation shall set forth: (i) a precise statement of the interest of the respondent; (ii) a statement of the specific action sought to the extent then known; and (iii) the factual and legal basis for the action. Any organization, corporation, or government body participating as a respondent must be represented by counsel as required by Rule 5 VAC 5-20-30, Counsel, of the Rules of Practice. All filings shall refer to Case No. PUR-2019-00016. On or before May 9, 2019, each respondent may file with the Clerk of the Commission, and serve on the Commission’s Staff, the Company, and all other respondents, any testimony and exhibits by which the respondent expects to establish its case, and each witness’s testimony shall include a summary not to exceed one page. If not filed electronically, an original and fifteen (15) copies of such testimony and exhibits shall be submitted to the Clerk of the Commission at the address above. In all filings, respondents shall comply with the Commission’s Rules of Practice, including 5 VAC 5-20-140, Filing and service, and 5 VAC 5-20-240, Prepared testimony and exhibits. All filings shall refer to Case No. PUR-2019-00016. All documents filed with the Office of the Clerk of the Commission in this docket may use both sides of the paper. In all other respects, all filings shall comply fully with the requirements of 5 VAC 5-20-150, Copies and format, of the Commission’s Rules of Practice. The Commission’s Rules of Practice may be viewed at http://www.scc.virginia.gov/case. A printed copy of the Commission’s Rules of Practice and an official copy of the Commission’s Order for Notice and Hearing in this proceeding may be obtained from the Clerk of the Commission at the address above. VIRGINIA ELECTRIC AND POWER COMPANY

16 • March 6, 2019

The LEGACY

Calendar 3.9, 9 a.m. - 1 p.m.

Newport News is partnering with the Virginia Department of Health to offer a free rabies vaccination clinic next month. Citizens can bring their dogs or cats to the Peninsula Regional Animal Shelter at 5843 Jefferson Ave. to receive the vaccination. No appointment is necessary, and the clinic is open to everyone. Vaccines will be available while supplies last. Wayne Gilbert, superintendent of Animal Services for Newport News, said, “The best way to protect your pets and your family from the rabies virus is to have your dogs and cats vaccinated. While the majority of rabies cases occur in wildlife, pets can acquire the disease from wildlife and potentially transmit it to humans. We strongly encourage everyone to vaccinate their pets against rabies.” All dogs and cats must be on a leash or in an animal carrier and must be 12 weeks or older to receive the vaccine. Owners should bring proof of the pet’s current rabies vaccination if requesting a three year booster; otherwise pets will receive the one year vaccination. Materials on how to prepared pets for disasters and other emergencies will be on hand, and Newport News residents can also purchase their 2019 animal licenses while at the clinic.

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COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES & EVENTS

School Breakfast Week observed Schools across Virginia are celebrating National School Breakfast Week through March 8 to strengthen awareness among families about the healthy choices available for school breakfast. No Kid Hungry Virginia is using the week to highlight the importance of Breakfast After the Bell, a program that increases access to school breakfast by making breakfast a part of the school day. More than 1,000 Virginia schools have Breakfast After the Bell programs. Research indicates that eating breakfast at school helps children improve classroom performance, attendance and promotes healthy habits. One in seven children in Virginia live in families that struggle with hunger. Research shows that hunger has long-term ramifications on children, including lower test scores, weaker attendance rates, and a higher risk of hospitalizations and chronic diseases. No Kid Hungry Virginia and its partners focus on Breakfast After the Bell as a critical way to end childhood hunger in Virginia. Traditional school breakfast programs often have barriers that prohibit students from eating breakfast before school, such as: Transportation: The school bus doesn’t arrive in time for kids to get breakfast in the cafeteria. Busy mornings: Regardless of their socioeconomic status, many families are rushed in the morning and don’t always have time for breakfast at home. Stigma: There is often stigma associated with eating breakfast in the cafeteria before school starts; therefore, children avoid it, especially middleand high-school students, for whom social status and the perceptions of their peers loom large. Lack of resources: For low-income families, there simply may not always be enough food at home for kids to have a healthy breakfast. Breakfast After the Bell models include: Breakfast in the Classroom; Grab and Go, where students pick up breakfast from mobile service carts and can eat in their classroom before and after the bell has rung; and Second Chance, where students eat breakfast during a break in the morning, often between first and second period. “We know Breakfast After the Bell programs help end childhood hunger while improving academic performance,” said Claire Mansfield, No Kid Hungry Virginia state director. “This School Breakfast Week, we’re grateful for the personnel in schools across Virginia that help make Breakfast After the Bell happen every school day.” No Kid Hungry Virginia and its local partners’ support of Breakfast After the Bell programs could not be done without the generous help of the following Virginia sponsors: Amazon, Kellogg’s, Nestlé and Smithfield Foods. Visit va.nokidhungry.org for more information about No Kid Hungry Virginia’s work and Breakfast After the Bell.

3.14, 6 p.m.

Virginia Credit Union will offer a free seminar with practical steps for identifying and prioritizing debt, reducing expenses, and accelerating the repayment of debt. The “Strategies for Eliminating Debt” seminar will be offered at Virginia Credit Union in the Boulders Office Park, 7500 Boulder View Dr. in Chesterfield County. To register, call 804-323-6800 or visit www.vacu.org/seminars .

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Ongoing

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.

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.

March 6, 2019• 17

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(from page 9) they’re unearthing and uncovering and reclaiming these histories.” In the background of the gallery, the sounds of the cemetery play lightly — volunteers stepping through piles of dried leaves, vines being pulled and torn away from headstones. Myers finds strength in the duality of the images and sounds. “You’re able to focus on the images and somehow the sound kind of falls to the background,” Myers said. “Then when you’re not (focused on the images), the sound becomes very present.” In the main gallery space, the bare walls pull your eyes to the back of the room, where a projector displays an important part of the restoration project — a new interactive website. Holloway Palmer describes the new website as “a community asset.” “It was … important to make sure it was collaborative,” said Jolene Smith, the website’s developer. The website, which is split into three parts, allows for community contributions. The first part, “People,” identifies the known gravesites from East End Cemetery. So far, 245 burials have been identified on the website. “Whenever we find a headstone, we try to find out whatever we can about a person,” Holloway Palmer said. “What we’re able to find really varies.” Profiles for the deceased are assembled with information from Ancestry.com and other sites that track historical documents. Old newspapers are also of value, specifically the Richmond Planet, a black newspaper that ran from 1883 until 1996. Despite the resources, the Palmers and Smith still need community contributions to complete and contextualize the stories of these individuals. People who know of family members buried in East End Cemetery are encouraged to contribute photos, information and stories. They can fact-check

Photos by Brian Palmer and Erin Holloway Palmer, via 1708 Gallery information the Palmers have come across, and contribute missing elements. The other sections of the website, “Places” and “Context,” are dedicated to the history of the African American community in Central Virginia. “You’re getting a sense of not just the individuals, but also the institutions they created; businesses, schools — and also places they were excluded as African Americans,” said Holloway Palmer. A map takes the website visitor on a tour of important locations in African American History; places like the First African-American Baptist Church, which opened in 1841, and the tobacco factories of downtown Richmond, where the website states many of those buried at East End worked. With inspiration from the website, the cleanups, and the exhibit, Brian Palmer wants communities to reconnect with their forgotten histories.

“There are hundreds of these places around the country — historic black cemeteries, native American cemeteries, paupers’ cemeteries,” Palmer said. “Stories are in these

places that help us understand ourselves. We just have to look. “The Afterlife Of Jim Crow” is on display at 1708 Gallery, at 319 W. Broad St., until Saturday, March 23.

The LEGACY ads@legacynewspaper.com

18 • March 6, 2019

Classifieds

Ad SizeFOR 3.4 inches - 1 column(s) X 1.7 inches) LEGAL, EMPLOYMENT, ANNOUNCEMENTS, SALE, SERVICES 1 Issue - $37.40

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We gratefully appreciate your continued support of our goals to help others. We have opened an additional office in Newport News, and making plans to operate an additional office in Saluda, where we’ve been offered office space, a four bedroom house and double wide trailer on 10 acres of land for transitional housing for formerly incarcerated person. It is our vision to offer housing, job readiness training, employment the Commonwealth of Virginia for a second chance at life “To Get It Right” For more information: Richard Walker, 804 248-6756

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TRACTOR TECHNICIAN

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PRINT & DIGITAL AD SALES EXECUTIVE

Please support Bridging The Gap In Virginia's efforts to continue to provide reentry services to returning citizen “Overcoming Barriers” that they face in life. We are asking that you make tax deductible donation to our organization.

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.

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

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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

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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 Former Martin’s Grocery – Liquidation Auction! Online Bidding for A/C Units, Shelving, Displays, Safes, Lighting and more. Items Located: Midlothian, VA. Sale ends Tues, March 12 at 1 p.m. Learn more at www.Motleys.com or call 1-877-MOTLEYS. 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 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 804521-7576, landonc@vpa.net 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.

March 6, 2019• 19

156- Procurement 301 HAMPTON SOLICITATION CITY OF HAMPTON Tuesday, April 02, 2019 2:00 p.m. EST – ITB 19-45/TM Grounds Maintenance For additional information, see our web page at http://www.hampton.gov/bids-contracts A withdrawal of bid due to error shall be in accordance with Section 2.24330 of the Code of Virginia. All forms relating to these solicitations 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 any informality in submittals. Minority-Owned, Woman-Owned and Veteran Businesses are encouraged to participate. Karl Daughtrey, Director of Finance

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