Vol. 123, No. 37 | $1.50
September 14, 2023 - September 20, 2023
Serving Norfolk, Portsmouth, Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Suffolk & The Peninsula Publishing since 1900 ... that no good cause shall lack a champion and evil shall not thrive unopposed. www.thenewjournalandguide.com
Thirty-two!!
That is the number as of noon Monday, Sept. 10, of the number of victims of gun violence who lived in the city of Norfolk alone.
Last year according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), 220 people died of gun violence in the seven major cities of Hampton Roads. Norfolk had 63 incidents, the highest with Portsmouth coming in a close second at 42.
Last year The Level I trauma program at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital treated a record 541 patients for gunshot wounds, resulting in 69 deaths. 474 of the gunshot victims (88 percent) were Black males between the ages of 20 and 64. Ninetynine of those same victims (18 percent) were between 15 and 19 years old. There is a total of 541 gunshot victims compared to 530 patients in
2021 and 466 in 2020.
There are four months to go in 2023, and Norfolk Police officials and civic and political leaders hope the city’s gun violence body count does not near the one set in 2022. Over the recent Labor Day weekend, at least three gun-related incidents were reported. Three people died as Norfolk highlighted the carnage in the region.
On September 2, NSU
student Jahari Gorge, 20, was shot and killed off campus. The following day, a Norview Junior High Student Amir Burnette, 14, was killed.
On the Sunday before Labor Day on Church Street NPD officers arrived and found 24-year-old Precious McClendon dead at the scene and a 51-year-old man suffering from serious but non-life-threatening injuries. see Guns, page 5A
NNPA NEWSWIRE
Coco Gauff has etched her name in tennis history as she clinched the U.S. Open singles title, becoming the youngest player since Serena Williams’ historic victory in 1999 when she was just 17 years old. Gauff’s remarkable triumph came after an intense three-set battle against Aryna Sabalenka, with a final score of 2-6, 6-3, 6-2.
Amidst the crowd’s roar and the flashbulbs of countless cameras, Gauff stood on the iconic Arthur Ashe Stadium, her trophy shining brightly, and her victory speech filled with a sense of readiness for the fame that will undoubtedly come her way.
“I’m ready,” Gauff proclaimed, her youthful confidence evident. “I embrace it. I know how to keep my peace but also embrace all of this around me.”
As Gauff accepted her winner’s check of $3
million, she took a moment to graciously thank tennis legend Billie Jean King, who stood alongside her on the stage. The gesture highlighted Gauff’s perspective, humor, and charm that has set the stage for American sports’ next global superstar.
“She is so humble,” said Pere Riba, Gauff’s coach, in the post-match interview. “Her work ethic is so strong, so professional, and she has very good manners. Put all of that together, and she will only get better. She can handle it all.”
Gauff has long been earmarked as one of tennis’ next superstars. Her maturity on and off the court, intelligence, and ability to articulate herself have endeared her to the American public and the global tennis community. see Coco, page 7A
NNPA NEWSWIRE
As students return to campuses nationwide, Vice President Kamala Harris is embarking on a monthlong college tour, rallying young people to champion fundamental freedoms and rights.
The ambitious initiative, dubbed the “Fight for Our Freedoms College Tour,” will see Harris crisscrossing a dozen campuses in at least seven states, uniting thousands of students in high-energy, large-scale events. The whirlwind tour will put a spotlight on critical issues disproportionately affecting young Americans.
From reproductive freedom and gun safety to climate action, voting rights, LGBTQ+ equality, and the banning of books, the vice president aims to engage and empower the next generation to be at the forefront of these
battles. “This generation is critical to the urgent issues that are at stake right now for our future,” Harris emphasized in a statement issued by The White House. “It is young leaders throughout America who know what the solutions look like and are organizing in their communities to make them a reality. My message to students is clear: We are counting on you, we need
you, you are everything.”
The “Fight for Our Freedoms College Tour” will encompass historically Black colleges and universities, Hispanicserving institutions, community colleges, apprenticeship programs, and state schools. During her visits, the vice president will not only highlight the accomplishments of the Biden-Harris Administration
for young people but also outline the forthcoming work required to safeguard these crucial liberties.
The White House said she will engage “directly with students who are leading the charge in these pivotal fights, encouraging them to register to vote, use their voices, and remain actively involved in shaping their future.”
see V-P Harris, page 7A
By Leonard E. Colvin Chief Reporter New Journal and GuideSenior Pastor Sandi Brandon Hutchison was awakened from her sleep in the early morning hours of August 28 three years ago and told the church she pastored was burning to the ground.
This year on the morning of September 10, she stood in the pulpit preaching a sermon highlighting the Resurrection of the Gabriel Chapel A.M.E. Zion during the first gathering in the church’s new sanctuary in Chesapeake’s historic Cuffeytown community,
Along with long-time parishioners, the new pews were filled with also with political and civic leaders from around Hampton Roads, including Congressman Robert Scott, and Senator Louise Lucas.
The former Gabriel Chapel A.M.E. Zion was destroyed by fire after lightning struck the historic sanctuary.
After the fire brigade finished working to save it, the dawn’s early light revealed sections of red brick walls.
Hutchison told a local news outlet then that her knees buckled under her as
firefighters worked to save the building. Shortly thereafter, Hutchison and her congregation began working to resurrect the 165-year-old church.
As Easter approached in 2022, Hutchison told the GUIDE that the church had received a permit to rebuild. The city approved it with reservations because, it said, if the building were restored, it would be at risk again because of a lack of reliable water sources for fire and other factors.
The original church was a wooden structure that was years later wrapped in brick. This may have hastened the intensity of the destructive force of the fire. see Church, page 7A
During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the virus impacted underrepresented communities, including people of color in urban communities, at a higher rate.
Not only were the infection rates high among these demographics, but the death rate was too.
The federal and state healthcare network found itself scrambling to determine why and how to respond.
This created a critical delay in determining what resources were needed and how they could be deployed to communities to reduce the infection and mortality rates.
Dr. Marie St. Rose
During the last two months, state and federal healthcare officials have detected a rise in infections and hospitalizations, due to the latest COVID variant. The nation’s healthcare network is developing strategies and manpower to ensure it is ahead of the curve to respond to a potential new wave of infections.
The legendary Battle of the Bay had NSU racing out to a early 7-0 lead over HU which the Spartans managed to keep to escape Armstrong Stadium with a 31-23 victory.
see page 1B
The disparity in access to healthcare caused varied chronic health issues which made people vulnerable to the virus, and the initial lag in directing viable resources were two key factors attributing to the high rate of infections and deaths it was revealed.
One of them is a $73-million effort by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). see HBCU, page 5A
Last year, according to the FBI, 220 people died of gun violence in the seven major cities of Hampton Roads.Vice President Kamala Harris Photo: Courtesy Coco Gauff etched her name in tennis history as she clinched the U.S. Open singles title, becoming the youngest player since Serena Williams’ historic victory in 1999. Photo: Courtesy
This newly constructed church was a welcomed sight for members and well-wishers who worshipped together last Sunday.The new Gabriel Chapel A.M.E. Zion Church in Chesapeake. Photo: Courtesy
Jesse Johnson, a Black man wrongfully convicted for a 1998 murder, was released on Sept. 7, following a reversal of his conviction by the Oregon Court of Appeals two years ago. The case highlighted long-standing racial bias within the justice system.
The Oregon Innocence Project, which handled Johnson’s appeal, strongly criticized the state’s handling of the case, branding it a “heinous injustice.” The Marion County District Attorney’s office finally sought to dismiss the charges against Johnson after citing the unavailability of critical evidence and the extended passage of time. A judge granted the motion, allowing Johnson to finally walk free.
Johnson, who steadfastly maintained his innocence, rejected plea deals over the years, and a video captured outside the jail showed the jubilant man, clad in gray sweats, walking beside a deputy, his face lit with a broad smile while supporters showered him with hugs.
“I’m happy and excited and ready for the next phase now. Been a lot of years for something I didn’t do,” Johnson proclaimed, according to Oregon Public Broadcasting.
Initially sentenced to death in 2004, Johnson’s case took a significant turn when former Gov. John Kitzhaber imposed a moratorium on executions in 2011. Then, in 2022, Gov. Kate Brown commuted all 17 of the state’s death sentences and ordered the decommissioning of the execution chamber.
The Oregon Innocence Project had pointed out the role racism played in Johnson’s wrongful imprisonment. They asserted that Johnson’s trial lawyer failed to interview crucial witnesses, including one who observed a white man fleeing the scene.
The neighbor in question, Patricia Hubbard, revealed she witnessed a white man entering Thompson’s residence shortly before the murder occurred. She also recounted hearing screams, a thud, and then an eerie silence. Hubbard claimed that the responding detective made racially
damages, according to attorneys on both sides of the case.
– Johnson proclaimed, according to Oregon Public Broadcasting
charged remarks, indicating a predetermined bias. “A Black woman got murdered, and a Black man is going to pay for it,” Hubbard said a detective told her.
The Oregon Court of Appeals underscored the failure of Johnson’s defense team to interview Hubbard, a critical oversight that led to the reversal of his conviction in October 2021. Further, requests for additional DNA testing, which might have unveiled alternative suspects, were met with resistance from the state.
“For 25 years, the State of Oregon has fought to defend their deeply flawed case against our former client, Jesse Johnson,” declared Steve Wax, the legal director of the Oregon Innocence Project. “There can be no more heinous injustice imaginable than for Mr. Johnson to have heard a sentence of death
pronounced against him all those years ago ... and to then waste away for years on death row.”
In asking the judge to dismiss the case finally, prosecutors admitted to the absence of any identified alternate suspect in Thompson’s murder despite ongoing investigations. Wax said Johnson, now a free man, finds himself with nothing, not even the customary release funds because of the dismissal.
A GoFundMe campaign launched on Johnson’s behalf garnered over $10,000 in support as of Thursday. Johnson’s release coincides with the exoneration of a New York man, who was officially cleared of a 1976 rape conviction, marking the longest-standing wrongful conviction overturned based on new DNA evidence in U.S. history, as stated by the Innocence Project.
The city of Windsor recently reached a settlement agreement that imposes no monetary fine for the two Windsor police officers who pepper-sprayed a soldier of color during a routine traffic stop in 2020, but the agreement requires the town to obtain accreditation from the Virginia Law Enforcement Professional Standards Commission.
According to the 11-page court order that Judge H. Thomas Padrick signed on Sept. 7, the city of Windsor is also required during a 90-day span to provide more officer training, hold officer training exercises twice a year and submit to the Isle of Wight Commonwealth’s Attorney any allegations of excessive force or misconduct against its officers.
Former Democratic Attorney General Mark Herring launched an investigation after Caron Nazario, a Black and Latino Army lieutenant, filed a lawsuit. A video showed the two officers drawing their guns, pointing them at Nazario, who was in uniform, and told him he was “fixing to ride the lightning” when he didn’t get out. Nazario held his hands in the air outside the driver’s side window and continually asked why he was being stopped. The officers pepper-sprayed him and knocked him to the ground. He was not arrested during the December 2020 traffic stop.
Nazario’s lawsuit sought $1 million in damages. But in January, a federal jury in Richmond awarded the soldier a total of $3,685. The jury also found former Windsor police officer Joe Gutierrez liable for assault and awarded Nazario $2,685 in compensatory
The jury also awarded Nazario $1,000 in punitive damages after Windsor police officer Daniel Crocker illegally searched Nazario’s SUV, the attorneys said. A federal judge already ruled last year that Crocker was liable for the search.
After investigating the traffic stop, Herring said his agency found it was part of a larger departmental problem that included a pattern of Blacks being disproportionately stopped.
While about 22 percent of Windsor’s population is Black, they accounted for about 42 percent of the department’s traffic stops between July 1, 2020, and Sept. 30, 2021. The department also searched more vehicles driven by Black motorists than by white drivers. Over the past seven years, Windsor officers used force 20 times in 23,000 encounters. Six of those encounters involved African-Americans, one of which led to a valid complaint, according to the town.
Current Republican Attorney General Jason Miyares, who defeated Herring, signed the recent settlement agreement with the town of about 3,000. It is located about 70 miles (112 kilometers) southeast of Richmond.
“What we all saw in the shocking traffic stop video involving Army Lt. Caron Nazario was an egregious and unjust use of power,” Miyares said in a recent statement. “I join the hundreds of thousands of good and decent law enforcement officers who stand against the kind of police misconduct we witnessed.” Windsor officials said the town signed the agreement to “avoid further unfair and unjustified financial impositions placed upon the citizens of Windsor by the Office of the Attorney General.”
September 14, 1946
Edition of the Guide
Lone Youth Inducted; Immediately Exempted
NNPA News Service
BALTIMORE, MD.
The lone Colored youth scheduled to be inducted into the Army at Fort Meade on Tuesday of last week was exempted under a blanket War Department order cancelling all inductions and enlistments of Colored men indefinitely, according to Colonel Henry Stanwood, Director of Selective Service in Maryland and Lt. Colonel Phillip K. Moisan on the Command of the Induction Center at Fort Meade.
The exemption of Colored youth was conformity with a policy by General Wilard S. Paul in charge of the personnel division of the Army General Staff that the Army would not call for any Colored men through Selective Service until the number of Colored soldiers is reduced to the percentage that Colored people represent in the general population.
WILLIAMSBURG
George Taliaferro, the stellar Indiana halfback who is playing with Camp Lee’s interracial football team, set a precedent here last Saturday when he participated in a scrimmage game with the William and Mary Football eleven on the local college campus.
Camp Lee opposed William and Mary in a full-scale tuneup game and Taliaferro saw considerable service in the contest, This marked the only occasion on record when a Negro grid star played against a Virginia team on the Virginia college’s home campus.
Taliaferro is reportedly injured this week at Camp Lee. He may be out of action for a week or two.
Gary, Indiana Closes Segregated schools
Associated Negro Press GARY, IND.
Special schools for local Negro Children will disappear with the opening of the new 1947 Fall term.
city’s public school system by the Gary Board of Education came prior to school here Tuesday in an unprecedented policy that outlawed the longstanding policy of special schools for Negroes.
All children may attend schools in their immediate vicinity which means that Negro children no longer be compelled to go out of their school zones to attend Froebel, East Pulaski and Roosevelt Schools.
The board’s new antidiscrimination policy is a radical reversal of current policy that brought about a series of school strikes here by 1,000 white Froebel High School students on September 17, 1945, as a protest to the presence of 800 Negro Students at the schools.
Hospital File on Woodard Case Is Military Secret WASHNGTON, D.C.
The hospital file of Isaac Woodard, veteran who was blinded by a beating with a Blackjack given to him by police at Batesburg, S.C., is a military secret, so far at the Veterans Administration (VA) is concerned
Asked whether Woodard’s hospital record shows he has been under the influence of liquor, the VA said Woodard’s record was confidential and declined to disclose the information.
Woodard was taken to a Veterans Hospital in Columbia, S.C. the next morning after he had been beaten unconscious by policemen in Batesburg. Police Chief L.L. Shaw of Batesburg said Woodard was drunk and resisted arrest.
NORFOLK
Added to the numerous expressions of appreciation and honors that have come to the Booker T. Washington High School band local and otherwise, it has recently received an honor by being invited to compete in a tristate (North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia) contest at the homecoming football game of WinstonSalem (N.C.) Teachers College, Nov. 2, according to Principal Winston Douglass as revealed this week.
A heavy financial outlay will be necessary for the band to accept the
invitations and to appear in the competitions in a massive effort benefiting the school and the Norfolk Public, Douglas explained.
“For instance,” he said, “in order that the band is well dressed and compares favorably with other similar groups in the forthcoming contest, we are in negotiation for the delivery of $1,300 worth of new uniforms for players and majorettes and an additional $700 will be needed for transportation.”
Continuing, Douglas said, “Many encouraging comments on the fine appearance and performance of our high school band have been forthcoming from the Norfolk public over the past two years. Indeed, the popularity of the organization has been statewide and Norfolkians were modestly pleased at the Booker T. Washington Armstrong football game where they performed a unique flashlight parade routine between the halves.
“While all of the plaudits are highly placed there is another angle to the subject with which the public is to be acquainted, to make this fine showing and to continue to offer this worthy opportunity of growth to our students requires a tremendous outlay of money on the part of the school. Despite the fact that the school board cooperates splendidly in supplying the music and basic instruments, the cost of uniforms and transportations for the 85-piece band is staggering.”
NEWPORT NEWS
Interpreting rules for application for the Golden Anniversary Queen contest here which had no reference to race means any unmarried girl under 16 years of age was eligible. So, two Negro Youth Council members filed their applications as contestants and received congratulations letters in reply only to learn later that the contest was open only to “White Girls.”
Both Edward Wheeler, Chair of the Finance committee for the anniversary, and Lt. Comm Raymond B. Bottom explained when contacted on the matter that the contest was open only to White girls.
The Youth Council
members accompanied by the nominees Shirley Hundley and Doris Binns, June graduates of Huntington High School, attended the meeting of the contestants at the YWCA West Avenue after the young ladies had received the customary congratulatory letters sent to all would-be contestants.
The Secretary gave them a seat and Wheeler said they were told the contest was “For White girls only.” He further explained that he was instructed by the central committee that only White girls would be permitted in the Queen phase of the Golden anniversary celebration.
Veerland Thompson of the Youth Council asked permission for the four colored youth to sit in on the meeting rather than expose the young ladies further undue humiliation and was told the Negroes were not permitted to the Y building because of segregation laws on private property in these areas.
Upon leaving the YWCA, after a brief humiliating 15 minutes, the four youths, including Edgar B. Holt, President of the Youth Council, went to the home of Commander Bottom on the Boulevard. Bottom told him that Negroes would be permitted in participate in the anniversary but not in the queen contest.
NEWPORT NEWS
Down by the riverside the followers of Bishop C. M. “Daddy” Grace, founder of the House of Prayer of All people, joined in a mammoth religious demonstrations Sunday. A parade and banquet followed the baptismal rites held
at Board Harbor near Old Lincoln Park.
Bishop Grace also led his flock in the observance of the 10th Annual Convocation of the House of Prayer. The annual event is held each year on the Sunday preceding Labor Day.
The baptizing which was scheduled for 10 a.m. did not actually get underway until noon. Before “Daddy” Grace arrived on the scene, hundreds of curious observers milled aimlessly about the beach front.
Something about the huge gathering reminded me of one of the atmospheres which prevail at a carnival. White spectators seemed as anxious to see the noted Bishop as were the Colored. All mixed freely together with the same anxious anticipations waiting for the main event.
Makeshift tables and stands offering soft drinks and sandwiches for sale, men on scooter bikes hawked their wares.
Offshore several children in bathing suits were having a hey-day splashing, swimming and playing in the shallow waters. Spectators were not only milling on shore, but many were on boats offshore.
When “Daddy Grace” arrived on the scene in a small amphibious vehicle known as a “Duck” jeep, he spoke to the crowd in a voice carried loud and clearly through the microphone. He addressed and mingled with the crowd and gave instructions to the Fox Movie to News cameraman who made pictures of the baptismal service.
The celebrants concluded activities for the day with a gala song and shout feat and banquet at the House of Prayer located at 11th Street and Ivy Avenue.
I’m happy and excited and ready for the next phase now. Been a lot of years for something I didn’t do.”
By objective measures, Americans are doing much better economically than they were nearly three years ago when Joe Biden took office. Yet, according to polls, 58 percent of Americans say the economy is worse, and Biden’s policies are the reason.
“There’s been this unprecedented gap between what the data shows us is going on in the economy and what people think is going on in the economy,” said the nonpartisan Economic Policy Institute president.
“There’s this disjunction between reality and perception that’s as large as I’ve ever seen in my career,” said an economist at the University of Michigan.
What’s going on here?
Let’s look at some of the numbers. In January 2021, the beginning of Biden’s term, the economy was problematic.
Donald Trump’s tax cuts, which benefited the wealthy and not the poor and middle class, created an explosive rise in the national debt of 39 percent. It made a similar 39 percent rise in estimated annual deficits.
During Donald Trump’s four years as president, the economy lost 2.9 million jobs, and the unemployment rate increased by 1.6 percent to 6.3 percent. Of course, some of this was because of the effects of the COVID epidemic, which was made worse by Trump’s inattention to it. The number of people lacking health insurance rose by three million.
Now, in the summer of 2023, the economy is thriving. Biden’s first two years in office were the strongest two years of job growth in U.S. history. The economy added 10.7 million jobs in Biden’s
first two years, putting the total 1.2 million higher than before the pandemic. Inflation has decreased for 11 straight months from a high of 9.1 percent in June 2022 to 4.0 percent in May of this year. Unemployment has been at its lowest level in about 50 years, at 3.5 percent for the past 18 months. And the Black unemployment rate reached historic lows under Biden, currently at 5.3 percent.
Real wages (meaning adjusted for inflation) are rising. Consequently, despite lingering inflation issues, personal spending continues briskly.
Yet, in a recent CNN poll, nearly a quarter of Democrats said Biden’s policies have worsened economic conditions, while 91 percent of Republicans thought so. Incredibly, a recent survey from ABC News and the Washington Post found that 54 percent of Americans said former President Donald Trump did a better job handling the economy when he was in office than Biden has done.
Why do we have this disconnect between perception and reality?
Although inflation has slowed, it is still a factor in Biden’s economic approval ratings, said the director of the Surveys of Consumers at the University of Michigan. She added, “We track people who have heard negative news about inflation ... Over the past year, that number has been much higher than in the 1970s and 1980s,
when inflation was so much worse.”
Democratic operatives provide a variety of explanations for why voters do not credit Biden for the economy. They include inflation remaining elevated and interest rates making home buying difficult. One observer said, “There is evidence that voters’ views on the economy are shaped as much by their political views as by personal experiences.”
It is becoming increasingly important to understand how some political views are influenced. Rightwing politicians and radio and television personalities feed the public a continual diet of right-wing propaganda. They exemplify an old comedian’s joke, “Who will you believe, me or your lying eyes (and experiences)?
Unfortunately, this propaganda war is onesided. Democrats and liberals tend to think people arrive at their political positions independently through their beliefs and thoughts. However, these beliefs and ideas are influenced by what their favorite media tells them.
Right-wing operatives know that if you want someone to know something, you tell them. And you tell them over and over (whether true or not). And you do it year-round. The other side, i.e., liberals, should realize this and not just depend on Biden to make the argument during an election campaign. That is a losing prescription.
“In the face of persistent, systemic discrimination against Black people and all people of color arising from our country’s long history of racism, Ed Blum and his recentlycreated front group are bent on dismantling programs bene fi ting the Black community. They seek to kneecap any effort to undo entrenched racial inequalities and further cement the status quo of inequitable market access.” – Damon Hewitt, President and Executive Director of Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.
In recent years, women entrepreneurs of color have started companies at more than four times the rate of the overall population.
In 2021, 17 percent of Black women were in the process of starting or running new businesses, compared to 10 percent of white women, and 15 percent of white men.
While Black women represent 14 percent of the female population, they
account for 42 percent of net new women-owned businesses.
Black women business owners who apply for funding are rejected at three times the rate of white business owners. Only 3 percent of Black womenowned companies mature and survive longer than fi ve years. Last year, only 0.1 percent – one tenth of one percent – of venture capital funds went to Black and Latino women founders.
Anti-racial justice activist Edward Blum, backed by wealthy, dark-money foundations, contends the system is rigged – in favor of Black women.
Blum has filed suit against the Fearless Fund, a venture capital fi rm that has awarded $26 million in investments and $3 million in grants in the
the system is rigged – in favor of Black women.
last four years to more 40 businesses led by women of color.
Blum, who was behind the lawsuit that resulted in the U.S. Supreme Court decision that ended affi rmative action in college admissions, is on a well-funded and increasingly successful crusade to preserve systemic racial inequities and the advantages they afford people like himself and his backers.
As if to add insult to injury, he is suing under a post-Civil War law intended to protect Black Americans from racial discrimination. His lawsuit – like his many others – makes a mockery of both the law and the very idea of racial equity. see Morial, page 5A
Like many of our sisters who are doing their very best to do the right thing, I’ve had my fill of threats, too – one as late as the past week. Mine was simply a telephone call, but the person on the call let me know he knows who I am, what I represent, and how to reach me at home. It doesn’t bother me that the caller has my telephone number, but what is the point of all this sudden harassment of Black women? We’ve listened to what our sister District Attorney Fani Willis, has to endure
Dr. E. Faye Williams, Esq.
as she tries her best to do her job. As she follows the law faithfully, she is facing scared small-minded men who try to change the laws to fit their purposes and try to frighten her so that she will
(TRICEEDNEYWIRE.COM)
The federal minimum wage has been stuck at $7.25 an hour since 2009.
Several states have a higher minimum, but a predictable few, including Mississippi, Tennessee, Louisiana, South Carolina, and Alabama, are stuck at that low minimum. If the minimum wage kept up with inflation, it would be at least ten dollars an hour today.
However, twenty-two states are stuck on exploitation and refuse to raise their minimum wage.
Restaurant workers get even shorter shrift. The minimum wage for tipped workers is $2.13 an hour, which means they are expected to earn up to the minimum wage or more with their tips. But tips are discretionary and arbitrary; sometimes people tip the expected 15 to 20 percent, and sometimes they don’t.
How can they eke out a living wage on other people’s arbitrary judgment? Were they likable? Friendly? Kind? It doesn’t matter. Did you get your food? Was it hot and delivered in a timely way?
If I had my way, I’d charge enough for food to pay
Given these massive (CEO) paychecks and massive profits, why can’t we raise the federal minimum wage, and why can’t we pay workers more?
to settle for paltry 2 and 3 percent annual increases when food and gas prices are rising by 5 and 6 percent.
The outrageous CEO to worker pay ratios suggest that companies benefit from paying so little. Will workers revolt? Can they?
allow obvious criminals to go free.
As she works to uphold the laws of our land, she has to contend with the Jim Jordans of the Congress using his platform to try to harass her for doing her job. She has to contend with a person who never should have been President in the first place. We must speak up and speak out for her protection full-time, and Black male law enforcers should be volunteering to be on her security force around the clock until these scared men get off her back.
workers properly. Tipping is a practice that harkens back to enslavement. People should be paid for their work and not have to skin and grin to make a living wage.
In the wake of Labor Day, though, it makes sense to consider how workers experience exploitation and what we must do about it.
Workers around the country are resisting exploitation, whether it is Hollywood writers or on university campuses.
As of this writing, the United Auto Workers is on the cusp of a strike, which will have significant repercussions for our economy. A United Parcel Service Strike was narrowly averted, and it, too, would have weakened the economy. With labor productivity up, workers are unwilling
There seems to be no willingness to increase wages to keep workers “even,” and President Biden, with his “Bidenomics” seems to see the big picture, but not the small one. People are hurting, and employers are pocketing profits and exploiting workers.
The Institute for Policy Studies released a report, Executive Excess 2023, in which they highlight the 100 companies that have the lowest pay and the greater ratio of CEO pay to median worker pay. Some of these companies have federal contracts, which means when they offer low pay to workers, they also get subsidies from the rest of us, the taxpayers who support food stamps, medical care, and other amenities that workers who earn little qualify for.
The report shows that
the ratio between CEO and median worker pay is 6031. The average CEO in the Low Wage 100 earned $15.3 million a year, while the average worker earned a scant $31,672 a year. The most significant offender was Live Nation Entertainment. CEO Michael Rufino earned $139 million, 5414 times more than the average worker who earned $25,673 a year. Amazon, a large federal contractor, is among the most exploitative. But they aren’t alone. Too many companies rip their workers off and also enjoy federal largesse.
Given these massive paychecks and massive profits, why can’t we raise the federal minimum wage, and why can’t we pay workers more? Predatory capitalism suggests that employers must extract surplus value from workers. That means that, despite rising worker productivity, employers should attempt to pay as little as they can.
Too many workers are frightened to strike. They need their jobs and their unions may not have sufficient strike funds to allow them to be out for a long period of time. Do they need their jobs with exploitative terms and conditions of work? Must they work with unfair pay?
Is it time for workers to unite?
What would happen if you went to your morning coffee shop to find no one there?
Waited for a bus to find no driver, no bus? Managed to get to work to find no coworkers? Wandered to lunch to find no one serving? Tried to stop at a supermarket heading home to find no one working and no food available?
We depend on workers but we don’t want to pay them. We agree with their labor actions but don’t want to manage inconvenience. We thought about Labor Day, but we don’t think about workers. When will we raise the federal minimum wage?
Dr. Julianne Malveaux is an economist, author and educator.
Why should she have to write a 9-page letter to the likes of Jim Jordan about invoking congressional authority to intrude upon and interfere with an active criminal case which she is more than qualified to handle. She warned him to deal with reality or reality will deal with him. She lets him know he is out of his league since he is not a lawyer and that he should read the laws. She went on to give him the price of a law book. She suggested he contact the Dept. of Justice about stopping threats against her staff and her and stop trying to obstruct criminal proceedings in the Trump case.
Who is this Mary McCord, who criticizes D.A. Willis about how she responded to Jim Jordan when it’s about time he gets the wrath of all Black people? When a Black woman has had enough, she’s had enough, and it’s time DA Willis has put him in his place!
New York A.G.Trish James has had more than her share of threats and craziness. Hon. Keisha Lance Bottoms has had her share. The list of threats on Black women must stop.
Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson had to endure the foolishness of members of the U.S. Senate like Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee when she was being questioned to become a Member of the Supreme Court. Thanks for Senator Cory Booker for speaking up. see Haters, page 5A
The list of threats on Black women must stop.
Right-wing operatives know that if you want someone to know something, you tell them. And you tell them over and over (whether true or not).Julianne Malveaux
Now that Gabriel Amo has won Rhode Island’s recent special primary election, he may join Virginia Congresswoman Jennifer McClellan and Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock, both Democrats, who assumed office after they won special elections in Virginia and Georgia in late 2022 and early 2023.
Amon, a former aide to former President Barack Obama and President Joe Biden will run against Rhode Island Republican Primary winner Gerry Leonard in the upcoming November election. Amon triumphed over nearly a dozen other Democrats and won 35.5 percent of the votes after 90 percent of the ballots were counted.
Four women sought the post. Rhode Island has never elected a Democratic woman to Congress.
In February, McClellan, D-Richmond won Congressman Don McEachin’s former seat in a special election. She defeated Republican pastor Leon Benjamin in a landslide
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The National Urban League has joined in filing an amicus brief in the case, along with Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, National Action Network, NAACP, National Coalition on Black Civic Participation, and LatinoJustice PRLDEF. As the brief explains, Section 1981 of the Civil Rights Act of 1866 was explicitly designed to further the aims of the Thirteenth Amendment by creating a
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Why does VP Kamala Harris have to take the abuse she is faced with daily as she speaks out on issues that matter to Black people?
How can Texans allow Ted Cruz to get on television and spew vulgarity, telling people to kiss parts of his body nobody I know would even want to see, and still have the people of Texas vote for him?
How do Floridians allow Ronald DeSantis to remain in office with the
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election. She became the first Black woman to be elected to Congress from Virginia. Warnock, meanwhile, won a full term in the U.S. Senate in December after he defeated Republican football legend Herschel Walker. Warnock is the first Black to represent Georgia in the Senate, and the first Black Democrat elected to the Senate from a southern state. He was reelected to a full term in late 2022, defeating Republican nominee Herschel Walker. Warnock’s victory gave Democrats a 51-49 Senate majority.
“It’s not lost on me that I stand on the shoulders of giants,” Amo said in his recent victory speech. He would become the fi rst person of color from Rhode Island to represent the state if he triumphs in November.
According to news reports, Amo, the son of two West African immigrants – from Ghana and Liberia, is expected to win in this safely Democratic district. The winner of the November general election will fill former Democratic Rep. David Cicilline’s seat.
remedy for discrimination against Black people that hampered their ability to enter into contracts and fully participate in the nation’s economy. Programs like Fearless Fund, which strengthen Black Americans’ rights to equal participation in the marketplace, are indisputably authorized under federal law.
Fearless Fund founders
Ayana Parsons and Arian Simone, both Black women with deep experience in business, estimated they took 300 meetings with potential investors before getting their first $5 million in funding. Blum and his extremist backers apparently don’t think 300 is enough.
ignorant things he comes up with to injure Black people, and take away their opportunity to learn the truth about slavery, about Black History and advise them to be against wokeness on every subject he wants to hide?
When will Donald Trump go where criminals go so these otherwise probably decent people are no longer led to do stupid things on his behalf?
How can you have respect for anybody who doesn’t even do the right thing to respect our laws and our democracy?
Dr. E. Faye Williams, President of The Dick Gregory Society (and United Nations Peace Ambassador.
Last weekend, 58-yearold Kenneth Perry was the latest victim on Jubilee Street in the Southside in Berkley.
Last week, a non-profit organization called Auntie Advocate held a vigil and rally at the Royal Farms Convenience Store, Gas Station on Virgnia Beach Boulevard in Norfolk to support the families of the Labor Day weekend victims Norfolk’s Fourth Ward City Councilman John “J.P.” Paige attended the gathering with leaders of the group and representatives of people seeking to combat gun violence in the city and region.
He said the three Labor Day shootings created “an atmosphere of tension” because of the potential of retaliatory violence.
He said he has talked with the families of each of the young victims.
Paige said that although he was personally touched by all of the incidents, the one involving the NSU student occurred near his neighborhood near the HBCU.
Paige said that as a member of the council and community leaders, he is seeking answers to citizens’ questions about what the police and city officials are going to do to stop the violence.
He said that he was pleased to report that two of the three incidents that occurred over the Labor Day period have been resolved, with the arrest of an assailant.
People all across the city have come to realize that these incidents are not restricted to one area of the city and that everyone is impacted, he noted.
He said he was also encouraged by the work of the various Anti-Gun Violence Groups working to discourage teens and adults from committing acts of gun violence.
Clay Marquez is one of the leaders of the Stop the Violence – Put the Guns Down” group, which he formed about five years ago.
They have put up big signs in Huntersville, Palr Place, off Chesapeake Blvd., and other sites noting their aims.
Marquez formed the group
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Funds are allotted under the Public Health Informatics & Technology Workforce Development Program to train 5,000 people across the country in Public Health Informatics and Technology (PHIT).
PHIT analyses public health data, including information derived from health records, economic conditions of people
On Sept. 16 at the Huntersville Park field, Marquez said his organization will host the first annual “Peace and Reunion” gathering from 2 to 7 p.m.
after a stretch in prison for drug-related activity in a neighborhood he knows well – Huntersville – where he was born and raised.
“At one time I was part of the problem,” said Marquez. “Now I want to be part of the solution. I know the streets and I know the people who are the shooters and the ones on the verge of committing violence. Our goal is to get to them and talk about the consequences of the violence.”
Councilman Paige said he is encouraged by the work of Marquez and an affiliate group of his organization called Violence Interrupters.
They were formed with the help of the Newark (New (Jersey) Community Street Team.
Councilwoman Danica Royster, (Super Ward 7), in collaboration with the City Manager’s Office, reached out to the group last year after a spate of gun violence that rocked the city, highlighted by incidents on Granby Street.
The group which has worked across the country worked with city officials, police, anti-violence groups and other groups. They trained representatives of these local groups in tactics
living in each zip code or neighborhood, and their access to resources such as fresh food, to develop strategies to improve healthcare outcomes.
Norfolk State University (NSU) and nine other institutions are recipients of this funding to create a PHIT degree program.
ONC awarded the funds to 10 recipients including Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU), Hispanic-serving institutions, and Asian-American and Native-American Pacific Islander-serving institutions through the American Rescue
and strategies to address the issue.
The training created the Interrupters who are now trusted voices in the urban core of Norfolk. They are now working strategically and quietly without much attention.
Marquez says they have “street cred and trust.”
Marquez said the Violence Interrupters work to detect and intercede to prevent potential outbreaks of violence between individuals and groups in the designated neighborhoods.
If they should fail and an incident occurs, Marquez said the Interceptors often arrive at the scene before police and secure it.
“We understand that the police cannot do it by themselves,” said Marquez. “We are public safety officers, too. We know the landscape of the community and we have a ‘License to Operate’ (LTO), and people know who we are and have to trust us.”
These Interceptors are not volunteers. The city has funding to provide some compensation for their work. Marquez and Paige say despite the recent highprofile shootings over Labor
Plan, which also has a goal of improving COVID-19 data collection.
Dr. Marie St. Rose is the Director of Allied Health in the Department of Nursing and Allied Health as well as a professor at NSU. The university has received over $5 million to establish a Master of Health Informatics (MHI) degree program administered by the Department of Nursing and Allied Health in the College of Science, Engineering, and Technology.
NSU’s program is a collaboration with the Virginia Department of
Day, they have managed to make a dent in the number of incidents over the long hot summer.
Also, with his organization being a proactive force, Marquez said his outfit has provided funding for the cost of funerals of gun violence victims.
Marquez that he and his colleagues are frequently engaging youth who are acutely aware of actual and potential violence of all kinds in their communities.
“I talked to one young man who said he hears gun fi re all the time,” Marquez said. “Many of the 13 and 14-year-olds are traumatized by witnessing shootings fi rsthand and can sit and talk about them like it’s a video game or movie.”
Marquez said he has convinced many young men to turn over their guns to him rather than use them in a fit of violence.
On September 16 at the Huntersville Park field, Marquez said his organization will host the first annual “Peace and Reunion” gathering from 2 to 7 p.m.
For more information, call (757) 907-2050.
Health and the Hampton Roads Community Health Center.
NSU will be the first public HBCU in Virginia to offer the MHI degree program. According to Dr. St. Rose, the degree program has begun this fall by training almost 60 students, and they will train 100 students by the end of the grant in 2024. The Master of Health Informatics requires 33 credit hours, including the internship. The program is offered entirely online except the internship. see HBCU, page 6A
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved updated COVID-19 vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech in response to the surge in cases and hospitalizations. Both manufacturers have reported that their vaccines demonstrate effectiveness against the currently dominant EG.5 strain in the United States.
The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, an independent expert group advising the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), will now assess the safety and efficacy of these updated vaccines and provide recommendations for their deployment. Following approval by the CDC director, the vaccines will be available
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“The formation of a consortium with the Virginia Department of Health and Hampton Roads Community Health Center will help to share best practices, pool resources, increase the exposure and credibility of the Master of Health Informatics as a signature program., as well as meeting mutual goals that are beneficial to Virginia’s local and state communities,” said Dr. St. Rose.
The degree program will address the health informatics needs of local and state public health organizations through key approaches in consortium and curriculum development which includes training, a paid internship, career placement, community of practice and sustainability.
The internship will provide students an opportunity to apply what they have learned in the coursework.
The internship provides an experiential academic component to enhance a student’s skillset while working with preceptors in healthcare settings. Since students in the degree program are practicing skills learned in the program, prior internship experiences cannot be applied in place of this requirement. The internship will require a minimum of 240 clock hours.
NSU will now join institutions with established programs such as Bowie State University; California State University, Long Beach Research Foundation; Dominican College of Blauvelt, Inc.; Jackson State University; Regents of the University of Minnesota; University of Texas Health Science Center; University of Massachusetts at Lowell; University of California, Irvine; and University of the District of Columbia.
Dr. St. Rose said that apart from providing a pathway to a career in PHIT, it will be a means of culturally and racially diversifying a growing and key segment of the healthcare workforce in the region, the commonwealth, and nationally.
Hassan Rabbani is one of the students in the inaugural NSU PHIT class. Rabbani said he is passionate about addressing the health disparities prevalent in our society and believes that it is only through educating ourselves that we can address the challenges of tomorrow.
He graduated Summa Cum Laude from Norfolk State University with an undergraduate bachelor’s degree in health services management. With the guidance of his professors, he decided to take his education further by pursing the MHI program.
Rabbani, 42, and his family arrived from Pakistan 23 years ago, with $1170 “fresh off the boat” and began to pursue the American dream.
He said he was keenly aware of the aims of the new career which involves collecting information from
for administration. The advisory group plans to convene immediately, suggesting that the vaccines may soon be accessible at select pharmacies and healthcare facilities. Health authorities have emphasized the urgency of vaccination once the shots become available. The new release coincides with a late summer surge in COVID-19 hospitalizations and growing concerns over the potential impact of respiratory viruses, including COVID-19, influenza, and respiratory syncytial virus, in the upcoming fall and winter seasons.
Dr. Peter Marks, director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, underlined the importance of vaccination in protecting against severe COVID-19 consequences.
“The public can be assured that these updated vaccines
have met the agency’s rigorous scientific standards for safety, effectiveness, and manufacturing quality. We very much encourage those who are eligible to consider getting vaccinated,” Marks stated in a news release.
Dr. Dan Barouch, director of the Center for Virology and Vaccine Research at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, noted that despite an increase in infection rates and hospitalizations, the rates of severe disease, hospitalizations, and death are still significantly lower than in previous years.
Albert Bourla, CEO of Pfizer, highlighted the significance of this decision, especially with COVID-19 cases on the rise again. He said that nearly all individuals aged six months or older in the U.S. are eligible for this season’s COVID-19 vaccine, even if they have not been previously vaccinated.
the needs then allocate the right number of resources excluding cultural and racial bias inherent in the American makeup.”
He said that the varied socio-economic disparities affect the lives of the nation’s underserved communities, and he sees the PHIT program as his way to make a positive difference.
The updated vaccines are approved for individuals 12 and older, with emergency use authorization for those aged six months to 11 years. The bivalent Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines are no longer authorized for use in the United States.
According to the FDA, babies and young children from six months to four years who have not been vaccinated can receive three doses of the updated Pfizer/BioNTech shot or two doses of the updated Moderna booster. Those who have been previously vaccinated will follow specific dosage guidelines. For those five and older, a single dose of the updated vaccines is recommended at least two months after their last COVID-19 shot, irrespective of previous vaccination.
Stéphane Bancel, CEO of Moderna, emphasized the critical role of updated
the correct resource for that,” explained Rabbani.
Rabbani says it is important to him to be part of delivering better health outcomes to the most vulnerable.
vaccines in protecting the population during the peak respiratory virus season. “COVID-19 remains a leading cause of death in the U.S. and poses a significant threat to vulnerable populations, particularly as we enter peak respiratory virus season,” Bancel stated.
The FDA anticipates that COVID-19 vaccine compositions may need annual updates, similar to seasonal influenza vaccines.
Under the Affordable Care Act, most insurance plans cover the total cost of
vaccines, eliminating co-pays for insured individuals. The uninsured or underinsured can access the vaccine at no cost through the CDC’s Bridge Access Program, a temporary initiative set to conclude by December 2024. Officials noted that this is the first instance of vaccines being provided through the commercial market. According to CNN, during a Pfizer investor call in October, officials estimated a potential list price of $110 to $130 per single dose for adults.
Fall Intern 2023
New Journal and Guide
September is Prostate Cancer Awareness month and it’s time for Black men to get tested and learn the symptoms.
varied sources to determine the efficient applications of resources “to identify
“Good decisions come from good data, and I think that’s the best way to give back to the community –knowing where something is needed the most so you actually, effectively deploy
“Ultimately, we’re as strong as the weakest one amongst us,” Rabbani said. “I’ve been here 23 years, and you get to see how the area has changed, how the demographics have changed, and how many of the things have still remained the same for the people who actually need them to change the most.”
Age, race, and family history are risks factors associated with prostate cancer. Men should start getting tested at age 45, according to he American Cancer Society. After age 50 men have a higher chance of getting prostate cancer, so yearly screenings are recommended for early detection.
Prostate cancer affects Black men more commonly than all other races. It’s important for men with a family history of prostate cancer to get tested and know the symptoms.
Prostate Cancer screenings offer two types of tests prostate- specific antigen (PSA) and digital recital exam (DRE). PSA testing measures the amount of protein produced by the prostate gland. DRE testing is rectal exam that checks for an abnormal prostate size, shape, and texture. Your health care provider may choose to perform one or both tests. Symptoms vary from incontinence, blood in urine or semen, pain or numbness in limbs or back, and erectile disfunction. Early prostate cancer often has no symptoms at all.
For more information about prostate cancer talk to your healthcare provider or visit the American Cancer Society website at www. cancer.org, or call 1-800227-2345.
VIRGINIA BEACH
The Virginia Beach History Museums will present “The Abolitionists’ Museum,” a one-act play written and directed by Sheri Bailey on September 22 and September 23.
Bailey, an acclaimed Hampton Roads playwright also heads the awardwinning organization, JuneteenthVA.
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Also, the church did not have a fire insurance agreement to “replace” the facility but instead had a “face value” policy. So, Hutchison and her followers had to organize a fundraising effort.
Hutchison said that the church is still some $400,000 short, but fundraising ideas like selling stained glass windows to congregants and supporters have been a source of income. Her contractor has been a sympathetic and reliable one; experienced in rebuilding churches.
To meet the city’s building code requirements, the new
building now has a skeleton of mostly steel and is outfitted with other fire-resistant materials and features to bring it up to state and city building codes to prevent future fires.
During its rebuilding period, Hutchison said the business of operating the church continued. The congregation met mostly virtually.
Now that the church has
been resurrected, it will continue as a fixture of Cuffeytown, a free Black community before the Civil War that created business, educational, and religious institutions, such as Gabriel A.M.E. for its inhabitants.
Rev. Hutchinson told the GUIDE last year as the church was being rebuilt, “When members drive by or walk through, they see bricks laid and work done, which gives them hope. Their faith is strengthened to believe their church home will soon be restored. This gives us all the faith and strength to see it all through.”
“We have a lot of faithful members,” she said. “We have people in their 90s whose parents were married and baptized in the old sanctuary. They know the church is coming back and they are supportive and patient.”
“Faith is powerful,” she said.
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The tour builds upon the vice president’s recent travels and follows her Summer of Action, which encompassed visits to 17 states. In 2023 alone, Harris has already graced 11 college campuses, following 14 schools visited in 2022.
The Vice President’s “Fight for Our Freedoms College Tour” includes the following stops:
• Hampton University in Hampton, VA on 9/14
• North Carolina A&T in Greensboro, NC on 9/15
• Morehouse College in Atlanta, GA on 9/26
• University of Wisconsin-Madison in Madison, WI
• College of Southern Nevada in Las Vegas, NV
• Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, AZ
The White House said further campus visits and additional details will be unveiled in the coming days.
The performances are produced by the Rouge Theatre and will take place at 7 p.m. on September 22 and at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. on September 23 at the Virginia Beach History Museums’ Lynnhaven House.
The Abolitionists’ Museum has been performed for audiences of all ages at multiple sites throughout Virginia. Tackling an issue faced by many museums throughout the world, how can you tell the story of history truthfully, especially when some of it is difficult?
Playwright and director Sheri Bailey follows the storyline of historical characters Harriet Tubman, Abraham Lincoln, Sojourner Truth, John Brown, Nat Turner, Frederick Douglass, Harriet Beecher Stowe, and David Walker – wax figures in a museum – as they carry on a debate on a sensitive topic. The characters seek to determine whether or not to burn the Confederate flag recently hung in their place of residence, a museum exhibit.
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Even prominent fi gures in the political arena couldn’t contain their excitement.
President Joe Biden took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to congratulate the young champion.
“Congrats to U.S. Open Champion Coco Gauff,” he tweeted. “You electri fi ed Arthur Ashe stadium and the entire nation – the fi rst of more to come and proof that anything is possible if you never give up and always believe. You’ve made America so proud.”
Former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama, who cheered Gauff during her fi rst-round match against Laura Siegmund, also extended congratulations.
“We couldn’t be prouder of you on and off the court –and we know the best is yet to come,” Barack Obama
The actors, producer and director will host a thoughtful guided discussion and Q&A with the audience after the show.
Before and after the show, guests may take an exclusive opportunity to tour the Lynnhaven House which is currently an active restoration project. See the interior architecture and restoration in progress. Learn why this performance is particularly significant for this site. Also, the Colonial Education Center at the site will offer screenings of JuneteenthVA’s short film archive and connect with our production partner, Rouge Theatre and promotional partners, the Princess Anne County Training School/Union Kempsville High School Alumni & Friends, Tidewater African Cultural Alliance, and Virginia African-American Cultural Center.
This program connects with content in the Virginia Beach City Public Schools’ 5th-12th Grade Social Studies courses. Questions about the event? Call (757) 3855100, or email vbhistory@ vbgov.com.
This event takes place at the Lynnhaven Colonial Education Center at 4409 Wishart Road, Virginia Beach, VA 23455.
Advanced ticket registration is encouraged. Tickets are $10.00 for ages 12+ and $5 for children 3-11.
wrote.
The former First Lady paid tribute to Gauff’s “hard work and grit” and shared a cherished photo of their meeting after that memorable fi rst-round match.
Former President Bill Clinton joined the chorus of praise, describing Gauff’s victory as “incredible” and expressing optimism for the future of American tennis. Serena Williams, whom Gauff credits for inspiring her dreams, shared her excitement on Instagram, writing, “Ahhhhh!!!! Amazing!!!!”
Gauff re fl ected proudly on her victory. “My dad took me to this tournament, sitting right there, watching Venus and Serena compete, so it’s really incredible to be here on this stage,” she stated.
(In a television recap, Gauff cited her unwavering faith and said she had been “dreamin and believin” in the phenomenal outcome she experienced.)
HAMPTON
Norfolk State raced out to a early 7-0 lead and managed to shut down HU’s offense at critical junctures during the game to escape Armstrong Stadium with a 31-23 victory on a rainy evening in the annual Battle of the Bay. NSU quarterback Otto Kuhns completed 15 of 20 passes for 199 yards and 3 TDS. He was named the MEAC offensive
player of the week. NSU defensive back Joseph White was named the HBCU national player of the week. White had 5 tackles (3 solo), 3 pass breakups and a interception late in the game that sealed the victory for the Spartans.
NSU rushed for 141 yards. NSU head coach Dawson Odums said, “This was a great team win and I am extremely proud of our football team for bouncing back after last week’s loss.” NSU travels to Temple next week for a 2 p.m. contest.
HAMPTON ROADS
The International Black Women’s Congress (IBWC) will host its 39th Annual Conference Sept. 22 to Sept. 24 at the Wyndham Oceanfront in Virginia Beach, Virginia. This year’s theme is “The Time For Reframing Is Now.” For 40 years, Dr. La Francis
Rodgers-Rose, founder and President of IBWC, has led the African centered organization for Black women. IBWC’s mission is to build bridges that unite women of African descent, while combating the growing challenges of poverty and negative stereotypes in the 21st century.
The stated vision revolves around creating an African-centered model of womanhood, one that embraces and uplifts the multifaceted roles Black women play in their families, communities, and societies. You may register at www.ibwc.us/ annual-conference.
NORFOLK
The Norfolk Chapter of the NAACP will host its second annual Family and Friends Day on Sunday, September 24 from 1-4 p.m. at Poplar Hall Park on Curlew Drive. This event is aligned with the Branch’s Strategic Plan Priority #3: Internal Cohesion, Organization and Teamwork. The theme for the event is “Put Down Your Electronics for Three
Hours!” The event will provide free food and games and will be distributing our
“You Make a Difference Community Award!” The award was developed to honor people making significant contributions to their community through their careers, talents, time, actions, and dedication to serving others or their neighbors. The public is encouraged
to come out and enjoy time with other community members, organizations and volunteers. Contact the Norfolk Branch NAACP to volunteer or become a sponsor for this event at (757) 828-7914. Email at norfolkbranchnaacp@ gmail.com. Become a member by signing up via the website at www. norfolkbranchnaacp7098. com
CHESAPEAKE
The Chesapeake NAACP will host its Annual Freedom Fund Fundraising event on Sept. 23, 2023 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at New Galilee Missionary Baptist Church, 1765 South Military Highway, Chesapeake, VA 23320.
The 2023 Theme is “Remembering Our Lineage And Supporting Our Legacy.”
During the event The Freedom Fund Honoree Award will be given to residents in the city of Chesapeake that have supported the NAACP values, mission, and vision and
made a significant contribution to Chesapeake and willing to support equality and justice for all. Honorees are Sen. Lionell Spruill, Mayor Rick West, LaValette Boney, Del. Cliff Hayes, Jr., Brenda Andrews, March Cromuel (posthumous), Helena L. Dodson, Alan P. Krasnoff, Bishop Kim Brown, Dr. Rebecca Adams, and Dr. Jared Cotton
The ticket is $50 which covers your lunch voucher and designates $30 to be used by the branch for community activism. For tickets and more information, visit NAACPChesapeakeVP1@gmail.com.
To discover one’s truest potential and destiny, we must be open to possibilities and probabilities. We must also have the confidence in our abilities and our most important of our capabilities, our availability.
Forty-one years ago, I travelled to Charleston, West Virginia, and signed my full basketball scholarship offer to the NAIA school on the Kanauha River across from the West Virginia Capitol building.
Once back home, my new head coach at the University of Charleston called and presented me with a lifealtering decision. He stated he was leaving U. of C. and going to become an Assistant Coach at Division I, University of St. Louis. Choice #1 (as he laid it out for me) was to keep the fouryear scholarship I had just signed and prove myself to the new incoming coach who would be replacing him. That new incoming coach did not recruit me and most likely would eventually want to populate his program with his style of players, that he had hand-selected and recruited himself.
Choice #2 was to not turn in the formal scholarship paperwork contract that tied me to the U of Charleston for the four-year full ride. Coach stated he could not take me with him to St. Louis as they didn’t have any scholarships left to offer me. He offered to set up a couple of play-in visits to two of the nation’s Top-10 all-time Junior Colleges in Missouri. He knew both of those coaches very well and had great success sending multiple players to those JUCO’s over the years. He said, “Sean, those JU-CO’s play 35-40 games every year and send numerous players on to the Division I level. You go there and prove yourself, again, on their court, with their players, and you’ll be able to earn your full fouryear ride once done there on the 2-year JU-CO level.”
Since I knew the danger of playing for someone who did not recruit or want a player Coach set up a visit to the nation’s all -time #1 winning Junior College in Moberly, Missouri. I asked to go to the top school first,
All roads do not lead to the same place. Taking the “road less travelled” can and often does make all the difference.
reasoning when I went there and proved my game’s worth (by winning and dominating), I would be playing with and against the best players who would help me become my best and fastest.
Failure was never a consideration in my mind. When I won all seven games stopping and shutting down their then JU-CO All-American bigger 6’6”
Gerald Wilkens (Dominique Wilken’s brother.) They offered me my two-year JUCO scholarship on the spot. I had repeatedly earned this through the previous twelve years of hard-core workethic application of my will. Gerald later played twelve years in his NBA career.
I signed with Moberly, won a Missouri NJCAA Region XVI championship, played for two Hall-of-Fame coaches and for a Final Four Coach, played with six AllAmericans and the 1982-83 NJCAA Player of the year. The level of play at that top JU-CO level then paved the way for my NAIA scholarship to Grand View College, located in Des Moines, Iowa.
I completed my four-year college playing career in Iowa’s capitol city, trading the Des Moines River and another golden capitol building for the one I missed out on in West Virginia.
Had I been timid, scared or not completely confident in my game, I would have taken the sure thing, the four-year scholarship. I felt a two-year commitment was better (at the time) than a four-year long decision. By not being afraid to challenge myself, I never had any regrets about “what could have been.”
The second JU-CO play-in visit trip was never taken after being set up. We beat them and their NBA Naismith Hallof-Fame head coach, Gene Bess, with 1,300 wins, who
was inducted into the HOF this past weekend of 2023. By taking off the sure thing – “points on the board,” – I bet everything on myself. This past week I travelled back to Charleston, WV, and explored the city, campus, and area, looking at everything with new eyes and thinking about just what might have been.
It’s so important for all young players to remember that it is never about how great a player you think you are. All that matters is finding a coach who deeply believes in your playing skills and ability. Finding that coach who wants to invest his championship-winning time, energy, passion, and efforts in you as a player/student/whole person is the key. All roads do not lead to the same place. Taking the “road less travelled” can and often does make all the difference. For me, being a part of Moberly’s #1 all-time JU-CO history has more than made my championship-winning banner-hanging basketball journey worthwhile and complete. Sometimes when we do decide to “take points off” the (sure) scoreboard, we score even bigger and better then we even imagined.
Sean C. Bowers has written the last 25 years, as a WhiteQuaker Southern man, for the nation’s third oldest Black Newspaper, The New Journal and Guide, of Norfolk, Virginia, about overcoming racism, sexism, classism, and religious persecution. Some of his latest NJ&G articles detailing the issues can found by searching “Sean C. Bowers” on the NJ&G website. Contact him directly on social media at Linkedin.com or by email V1ZUAL1ZE@aol. com NNPA 2019 Publisher of the Year, Brenda H. Andrews (NJ&G 35 years) has always been his publisher.
Anyone who speaks openly of Christ soon discovers an interesting contrast. Many people are genuinely interested, open, and receptive. Some, however, are closed and defensive when the subject of salvation comes up, even though they may be churchgoers.
Why such a difference?
The primary reason is a difference in philosophies. Those who place their faith in external good works to gain God’s favor could be described as having a humanistic religion. Its emphasis on human accomplishment can span the spectrum from grand philanthropic gestures to something as simple as regular Sunday school attendance.
A diametrically opposed philosophy is that of divine regeneration in this way of believing, the basis of acceptance from God is not in climbing a ladder of good works; rather, it’s in acknowledging the fact we are sinners, incapable of pleasing Him in our unregenerate state. Salvation comes only
as an undeserved gift of God. The emphasis, then, shifts from one of human accomplishment to one of God’s grace. For some, that’s a pretty hard concept to swallow. And sometimes it seems that the more religious people are, the more they choke on the thought.
Today, we are going to see Jesus confront a religious teacher who held a humanistic philosophy. The dialogue that emerges from the discussion proves to be one of the most poignant in all scripture.
Unexpected Conversation: A Pharisee and Jesus. The clandestine encounter is found in John 5 (vv. 1-2). From these verses we find out two things about Nicodemus – he was a Pharisee and a ruler of Jews. If we look down to verse 10, we also learn that he was teacher of Israel. William Barclay provides some important background regarding this prominent religious teacher. Nicodemus was a Pharisee. In many ways the Pharisees were the best people in the whole country. There were
never more than 6,000 of them; they were what was known as a Chaburak or brotherhood.
There’s one other thing we learn from the passage. He came at night. Nicodemus come with questions, questions that have probably kept him up nights as his conscience tossed and turned. Could the miracles possibly be genuine? Could the whispered rumors be true? Could this man be the Messiah?
Christ’s reply is terse and to the point. He cuts through the protocol and, with rapier precision, opens the man’s heart to the stringent realities of God’s Kingdom. Jesus’ meaning? Just as physical birth from our mother’s womb ushers us into the physical world, so spiritual birth is necessary to bring us into the spiritual world (see 1:12-13).
Underscore the word cannot in 3:3. It implies incapability rather than prohibition. Just as a tadpole is incapable of leaving the world of water to live in the world of air, so the natural man is incapable of entering the spiritual kingdom unless a metamorphosis takes place. And that the point of the “born again” metaphor.
Jesus explains that one must be born of “water and the spirit.” To a Pharisee, water was associated with cleansing, since it was used in the numerous ceremonial rides of cleansing. The content and construction of the sentence in Greek suggests that the “and” linking water and spirit should be translated “events:” “unless” one is born of water, even the spirit, he cannot enter into
the Kingdom of God.”
In other words, Jesus is saying that in order to be born again there must be an inward cleansing brought about by the Holy Spirit.
Jesus then gives two illustrations you would think even a child could understand – one of physical birth (vv. 6-7) and one of the presence of wind (v. 8). But by now Nicodemus is scratching his head (v. 9).
Three issues are at stake in Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus. One has to do with response. There are only two ways we can respond to what Jesus has said – in belief or in unbelief (John 3:16). The second issue that hangs in the balance has to do with destiny. Again, there are only two alternatives –eternal life or eternal death, Salvation or judgment, deliverance or destruction (vv. 17-18). The final issue of importance relates to choice. We must either receive the gift God offers or reject it. There is no middle road on the highway to heaven. Jesus is the only way (14:6). Like Nicodemus, we can either take a step of faith to follow Him or turn and walk away. Nicodemus chose to follow. When, we don’t know. Or where. But in John 7:44-52, he makes a defense on Jesus’ behalf. Then when Jesus is crucified, Nicodemus finally steps from the shadows with Joseph of Arimathea to make sure the Savior has a respectable burial.
Rev. Dr. Archie L. Edwards, Sr., is an Associate Minister at Second Calvary Baptist Church in Norfolk.
The Phyllis Young Ministries Inc. will host an empowerment conference for women titled “There Is A Queen In You” on September 28-30, 2023. The event will be held at the Holiday Inn Virginia Beach Norfolk Hotel and Convention Center, 5655 Greenwich Road, Virginia Beach. Included in the day’s offerings are breakfast, lunch and brunch.
The conference theme is “Journey to Wholeness” with scripture from
Jeremiah 29:11. Host and Conference Founder Apostle Phyllis Young plans to bring amazing praise and worship, powerful speakers, empowerment workshops and a panel discussion. To learn more and to register go to www. phyllisyoungministries. org. Free van transportation will be available from Norfolk International Airport to the hotel. For more information, call Elder Des. Kimberly Style at (516) 384-7869.
One drop. That’s all they said it took to determine someone’s race. Just one drop, the tiniest of amounts, and everything changed: no access, no rights, no cold drink from a fountain on a hot day, no freedoms. No safety. No say in the matter. And in the new novel, “One Blood” by Denene Millner, no way to change it, but time.
The first night Grace saw her Maw Maw catch a baby, she had a mess of feelings: a little sick, scared, but mostly awed at what Maw Maw called a miracle. Grace was small then, but she paid attention. One day, Maw Maw promised, Grace would be the one catching babies.
Just days after her own mother died, though, the sheriff came for Maw Maw, who’d falsified a birth certificate to protect a newborn from a white man not its father. The sheriff beat Maw Maw and dragged her off, and Grace was spirited away north to Brooklyn, to safety, to be cared for by an Auntie who didn’t want her.
Hattie made no bones about that.
She treated Grace no better than a common maid, and she warned that a country gal like Grace had no business
$29, 432
in Brooklyn society. Hattie didn’t want the embarrassment of an illegitimate child around, either, and so when Grace got pregnant, Hattie tricked her into losing her baby to adoption.
Lolo never told Tommy the truth because she knew he wanted children.
She’d been terribly mutilated down there when she was younger, so she let him think he was the cause of their infertility. She didn’t want children anyhow, but she became a mother with the adoption of a boy first, then a girl, and she didn’t tell either of her children.
On a sunny day when she was thirteen, Rae learned a truth about herself, and she kept it close.
She loved her mother, she appreciated Lolo’s sacrifices and didn’t want to hurt her. But as she grew into a woman with the same troubles she’d seen in her mother’s life, Rae wondered where her blood came from ...
Here’s some advice: if you’re not completely immersed in “One Blood” by page ten, you might want to get yourself checked out. There could be something wrong with you.
Covering just a matter of decades, author Denene Millner introduces readers to a family of women, each of whom leave an unknown legacy for the next generation. They do it while dealing with the issues of the day, racism, violence, classism, and infidelity, and with a little help from the ethereal connection they share –all of which dip and soar throughout this fourpart tale. Millner is a great teller, sharing each woman’s story with brutal reality, the kind that can shock you emotionless, but also with a lightness that feels like skipping.
It’s a mix you can’t miss.
Readers who want a novel that includes a little bit of last-century history and current events will eat this book up. “One Blood” is a book you’ll drop everything to read.
Norfolk State junior quarterback Otto Kuhns was named the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Football Offensive Player of the Week, presented by Coca-Cola. Morgan State senior defensive back Jordan Toles earned Defensive Player of the Week honors, while Morgan State freshman Shane Messenger was named Rookie of the Week. Howard’s Da-Metrius Weatherspoon received Offensive Lineman of the Week accolades, and North Carolina Central punter Juan Velarde was named Specialist of the Week.
Kuhns (QB, 6-3, 194, Jr., Carroll, Ohio) connected on 15 of 20 passes for 199 yards with three touchdown passes of 41, 38, and 9 yards in a 3123 win against Hampton. He also rushed four times for 15 yards.
Toles (DB, 6-1, 209, Sr., Baltimore, Md.) collected two key interceptions during the Bears’ upset bid against the Akron Zips. He also recorded five tackles, two solo, a part of the Bears’ defense that garnered a shutout in the third quarter.
Messenger (P, 6-0, 200, Fr., Alexandria, Va.) averaged 35.2 yards on six punts, including one downed inside the 20
yard-line. He recorded a game-high 46-yard kick.
Weatherspoon (OL, 6-7, 335, r-So., Clarion, Pa.) graded out on 91-percent of his blocking assignments as he aided Howard to 613 yards of total offense against Morehouse. He recorded three pancake blocks without giving up any sacks and no penalties.
Velarde (P, 5-10, 200, Jr., Anderson, S.C.) averaged 43.8 yards per boot, placing four punts inside the 20-yard line, including two at the 3-yard line in the victory against North Carolina A&T State.
OTHER TOP PERFORMERS
Kasey Hawthrone (HOW) rushed for 110 yards on five carries with two touchdowns against Morehouse. He also caught two passes for 21 yards.
Carson Hinton (HOW) recorded a game-high nine tackles, six solo, in the victory over Morehouse.
Jayden Flaker (NCCU) registered nine tackles, four solo, including a strip sack and fumble recovery to set up an Eagle score against North Carolina A&T.
Davius Richard (NCCU) amassed 222 total yards, including 95 yards and two touchdowns on the ground.
Da’Quan Thomas (NCCU) recorded a blocking grade of 82 percent with four pancake blocks as NCCU amassed 345 yards of total offense, including 218 rushing yards and four touchdowns on the ground.
Joseph White (NSU) notched five total tackles, with three solo, including an interception in the final minutes of the games to seal the victory over Hampton.
