CONGRESSIONAL MEDAL OF HONOR SOUGHT FOR HENRIETTA LACKS

By Rosaland Tyler Associate Editor New Journal and Guide

If Henrietta Lacks were still alive, the Roanoke native could be traveling to the White House to pick up a Congressional Gold Medal bearing her name.

But Lacks died of cervical cancer at age 31 on Oct. 4, 1951 after she was unsuccessfully treated at Baltimore’s Johns Hopkins University Hospital. Now some federal lawmakers are trying to make sure that her legacy continues.

Members of The Black Congressional Caucus: Maryland Congressman Kweisi Mfume and U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, recently introduced legislation that honors Lacks. Meanwhile, civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump said at the recent press conference held at the U.S. Capitol that a lawsuit is pending to garner financial restitution for Lacks’ descendants.

Mfume said at the recent press conference regarding pending legislation that aims to honor Lacks, “I would urge all of my colleagues in the House and the Senate to move forward with” the passage of this statute, he told reporters.

Congresswoman Shelia Jackson Lee said at the recent press conference, “I’m hurt today, filled with joy but hurt. To this family, I want to simply, publicly apologize. This should have never happened.”

CBC Chairman Steven Horsford, D-Nev. said, “It is the highest honor that we can bestow on a citizen from the U.S. Congress. [It] has only been awarded to a few people in our nation’s history and even fewer Black people,” he explained, adding, “The CBC believes Ms. Lacks deserves this posthumous honor.”

Lacks died in Johns Hopkins Hospital in 1951 from a malignant tumor on her cervix. But before her death, some of her cells were harvested and given to Dr. George Gey, a researcher who had been attempting to grow human cells in his lab for decades.

Lack’s cells were discovered to have the miraculous ability to divide and replicate indefinitely outside the body. Today, 72 years later, Lack’s cells are still reproducing themselves.

Called the HeLa Cells, scientists all over the world have used her cells to pursue and secure medical breakthroughs in the polio vaccine and treatments for cancer, HIV, and Parkinson’s disease.

However, while biomedical firms have made billions of dollars on the outcomes of their research using the HeLa cells, the descendants of Henrietta Lacks have never reaped any financial benefits. They did not even know until 1973 that the cells were being used.

Attorney Ben Crump recently told TheGrio that he and his legal team are involved in an ongoing case to seek financial justice for Lacks’ family.

“We’re in litigation in the federal courts in Baltimore,” Crump said. “We know that Thermo Fischer [a pharmaceutical company] is the defendant now, but we anticipate there will be more defendants, and we believe every ounce of justice that is due to Henrietta Lacks is going to take place.”

Crump said the legal case “will be unprecedented.”

Chief

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Dai, who began researching procedural justice a decade ago while working on his dissertation at the University of Cincinnati, said theory suggests that the use of procedurally fair behavior by police officers will lead to broad positive outcomes in police-citizen relationships.

“Procedural justice focuses on the actions of officers following proper procedure during interactions,” Dai said. “Theoretically, we know that if a citizen feels they are treated fairly during a stop by police, they are more likely to accept the outcome. In the long run, this could result in better relations between the community and police.”

To demonstrate how seriously the NPD took this initiative, the first of three stages of the study was an eight-hour seminar given to every member of the department on the four principles of procedural justice - giving citizens a voice in the process or allowing them to tell their story; remaining neutral in interactions; treating individuals with respect, and demonstrating trustworthiness of motive.

Boone said in 2017, “This project supports my efforts in 21st-century policing, encouraging trust and legitimacy, not only with procedural justice, but also through transparency, accountability, and honest recognition of avenues for improvement.”

Boone said that when he was Norfolk Police Chief, the candidates in NPD’s Academy were taught the art of procedural justice which was designed to deescalate tensions during the policecitizens interactions.

He said that the ODU Department of Public Administration, conducted an analytic review of a similar

Elections

Continued from page 1A turn out in Chesapeake was confusion or ignorance of the city’s precincts due to the newly drawn 18th District. in an uphill battle against Black Republican A.C. Cordoza in the 86th House District. police-citizen interaction study based on body cam footage from NPD Officer cams. He said both officers and citizens were allowed to tell their stories of what happened during the interaction.

The political analysis said voters should be prepared to see an onslaught of TV, radio, and social media ads, mailers, and possibly automated calls or texts if they live in any of these districts.

What made the primary races the most dramatic and heated were the newly redistricted House and Senate districts.

It caused a large number of political veterans in the Senate and the House to bow out of the primary races because they were drawn out of their districts into clashes with fellow party incumbents.

Black voters have complained that the two parties and the state and local election officials did a poor job of indoctrinating the voters on the location of the new precincts.

To break down the numbers despite the low 9 percent turnout in Chesapeake, Spruill won the total ballots count in that city. He also won the election day tally in Chesapeake, and the early mail votes.

He lost by less than .1 percent of the early in-person votes from Chesapeake.

Williams Graves, of Norfolk, won the Senate District 21 election against Norfolk Councilperson Andria McClellan, 7,931 to 4,810.

According to the 2017 ODU article, “No one interaction between police and citizen will erase the suspicion and mistrust that have built up over many years in some communities across the United States.

“But if we use procedural justice properly, the belief is it will change the interactions from that point forward,” Kenter said.

Boone told the GUIDE that along with the utterance of the first 45 words, an officer’s demeanor plays a part in deterring an escalation of tension.

He said that when officers apply procedural justice, including being fair, telling drivers why they were stopped, and not dominating the conversation, trust can be built and tensions deescalated that could lead to negative outcomes.

The most intense one was for the 18th Senatorial District which was redrawn after redistricting. It pitted Black political power Democrat Louise Lucas of Portsmouth who had represented the 18th District before redistricting for over 30 years against Lionell Spruill of Chesapeake, another political power whose 5th District seat was moved out of Hampton Roads, putting him also in the new 18th District.

Lucas collected 9,566 votes compared to Spruill, 8,454 -- a 1,112 vote difference.

Sixty percent of the new Senate 18th District is in Chesapeake which tends to vote Republican. Spruill was optimistic that Chesapeake voters would turn out to keep him in the Senate and defeat Lucas.

In fact, according to the numbers released by the Virginia Department of Elections, Spruill may have been hurt by the low turnout in the city: 9 percent compared to the 15 percent turnout in Portsmouth which helped Lucas.

One factor that may have contributed to low voter uuu

Lucas, with the support of her loyal voter base in Portsmouth, won the election day tally by 1,918 votes in that city; she won the election day voter count, had 808 more early “in-person” votes and 544 more votes via the mail than Spruill.

Lucas is expected to have an easier race against Republican Tony Goodwin, a small business owner in Portsmouth.

Five incumbent senators across the state lost to challengers. The shakeups included the ousting of far-right “Trump in hills” Republican Sen. Amanda Chase and Democratic Senators Chap Petersen and George Barker. Barker’s defeat means that he will not be in line for the powerful Senate Finance Committee, where he is Vice Chair now.

The crown of chairperson for that powerful panel could now rest on the head of Lucas who is now the most senior member.

It is chaired currently by retiring Democratic Senator Janet Howell.

Lucas is sure to be in the thick of things as the legislators and Youngkin try to finalize a state budget.

State Delegate Angelia

Before she ascended to the House, Graves was on Norfolk City Council, where she represented half the city of Norfolk in Ward 7 and McClellan represented the other in Ward 6. There were 12,741 votes cast in this race, which lacked the barbs and testiness of the Lucas-Spruill dust-up.

Graves’ opponent will be Giovanni Dolmo, who has entered the Senate District race as an independent candidate. He previously ran for office against 93rd House District Delegate incumbent Jackie Glass, who had no primary challenger. She will face Republican John Sitka in the November election.

In the Senate District 17 race Democrat Clinton Jenkins, who did not have a primary challenger, will face Republican Emily Brewer. This is an open seat and one of the four Senate seats deemed competitive by political analysis. Senate District 22, an open seat, will see Senator Aron House, who represents the 7th Senate District, now run against Black Republican Kevin Adams in the General Election this fall. uuu

So far as the House races in Hampton Roads, in the 84th House District Democrat Nadarius Clark will face Republican Michael Dillender. That district includes Suffolk, Franklin and Isle of Wight.

Democrat Jarris Taylor is

Karen Jenkins, a Democrat, will face Republican Baxter Enis in the newly drawn 89th District.

Democrat Cliff Hayes will take on Republican Jay Leftwich in the new 90th House District.

Bonita Anthony, who won the 92nd House District race in Norfolk, is unopposed after defeating Kim Sudderth in the June 20th Primary.

Democrat Phil Hernandez will face Republican Andy Pittman in the 94th District, which is partially in Norfolk and Virginia Beach.

African American Michael Feggans will face Republican Karen Greenhalgh in the race for the New 97th House District race in Virginia Beach.

The political analysis defines it as a competitive district.

House Democrats Marcia Price of the 85th House District, Jeion Ward of the 87th District, Don Scott, who is the Democratic House minority leader, and Alex Askew will not face November challengers this fall.

Democratic Party women and the abortion issue helped Lashrecse Aird defeat incumbent Sen. Joe Morrissey in the Democratic primary for Senate District 13.

Morrissey is the lone Democrat who opposes abortion and his party leader feared he would support the GOP’s effort to roll back abortion rights if he had won this race.