JOHN LEWIS STAMP DEBUTS JULY 21

By Rosaland Tyler

Editor

Associate

New Journal and Guide

A postal stamp that honors Georgia Congressman John Lewis recently became one of more than 100 stamps that honor deceased African Americans.

Recently, Congressional members from both political parties unveiled the new postal stamp during a June 21 ceremony in Statuary Hall at the Capitol. The new stamp shows Lewis’ photo. It was snapped by a Time Magazine photographer in 2013.The price of a Forever stamp never changes once it is purchased. The official dedication ceremony for the John Lewis Forever stamp is scheduled for July 21 at Morehouse College in Atlanta.

Other tributes to Lewis will include an August renaming ceremony at the main post office in Atlanta. It will be named after Lewis, who died at age 80 in 2020 of Stage 4 pancreatic cancer.

The stamp’s recent debut follows a two-and-a-half year, behind-the-scenes lobbying effort launched by the John and Lillian Miles Lewis Foundation, which is named after Lewis and his late wife, who was 73 when she died in 2012.

“The Foundation reached out to the postal service a couple of weeks after Lewis’ passing in July 2020 because we saw it as an appropriate and great honor to place John Lewis on a commemorative forever stamp,” said Linda Earley Chastang, president and CEO of the John and Lillian Miles Lewis Foundation.

Lewis’ new forever stamp aims to underscore his lifelong commitment to civic participation. Lewis often used the term ‘“good trouble” to describe his involvement in the 1960s Civil Rights Movement. He served as an Atlanta City Council member from 1981-86. He served 33 years as a U.S. congressman before he passed on July 17, 2020.

Lewis’ new postal stamp is one of a hundred or more postal stamps that honor high-profile African Americans including Frederick Douglass, George Washington Carver, Paul Lawrence Dunbar, Harriet Tubman, the Rev. Dr. Martin L. King Jr., Duke Ellington, and Maya Angelou.

“I am looking forward to my next career at The Virginia Air & Space Science Center,” Smith said in a recent statement.

“As the site of the nation’s first Air Force Base and first NASA research center, Hampton has a special connection to advances in flight and space discoveries. The opportunities here are

Smith has received numerous awards including the 2019 Peninsula Humanitarian Award from the Peninsula Chapter of the Virginia Center for Inclusive Communities (February 2019). He was named the Region II Superintendent of the Year and the 2020 Virginia Superintendent of the Year. He was named as one of four national finalists for the 2020 AASA National Superintendent of the Year Award. Additionally, he is the recipient of the 2020 Mary Peake Award for Excellence in Education Equity (School Leadership) and was recognized as the 2022 Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Leader by the Urban League of Hampton Roads. He is also the recipient of the 2022 Virginia PTA Power Partners Award. He is married to the former Lorianne Samuel of Caroline County, a public school educator. They have two children, a daughter who is a graduate of Christopher Newport University and Eastern Virginia Medical School. His son is a graduate of Bridgewater College.

Newport News Vice Mayor Receives Alumni Award: One of “40 Under 40”

NORFOLK

Members of Old Dominion University Alumni Association recently honored Newport News Vice Mayor Curtis Bethany.

Bethany, a 2014 Old Dominion University graduate, was sworn into office by Newport News City Council on Jan.10, 2023. Recently, he was elected vice mayor for a two-year term. At 31, he is the youngest Black to hold an elected office in Newport News. Now in its third year, the ODU Alumni Association’s recognition program was established “to honor graduates who have achieved exceptional feats and have created an indelible legacy all before the age of 40,” the organization noted in a

Vice Mayor Curtis Bethany recent statement.

“I’m honored to be recognized with my fellow 2023 40 under 40 classmates,” Bethany said in a recent statement. “Learning about all of the amazing things our alumni are doing across the world is truly inspiring.”