NJG-Volume-123_No-43_Oct_26_2023

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Vol. 123, No. 43 | $1.50

October 26, 2023 - November 1, 2023

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GAZA CRISIS: THE EQUIVALENT SANCTITY OF LIFE

By Julianne Malveaux News Analysis

TRICEEDNEY WIRE I must join others in condemning the bombing in Tel Aviv that killed more than 1,200 people. Those killed were mothers and fathers, children and grandparents. They were soldiers and civilians, people simply attending a concert. They had no idea they had breathed their last breath when they died. They were going about their business, possibly blissfully clueless about the next moment. Their deaths, horrible deaths, must be mourned.

There are also as many as 200 hostages, some American citizens.

Brutally, some of the hostages have been paraded about. Some families have no idea whether

their loved ones are dead or alive.

Barbarism is associated with taking hostages, mainly innocent civilians, and it must be condemned, with the hostages released soon. But Netanyahu’s assertion that he will not bargain with Hamas, the group that took the hostages, does nothing to facilitate hostage release.

Israel is justifiably enraged and has vowed to retaliate. And the retaliation has begun with bombing attacks on Gaza. These ruthless attacks have hit mothers and fathers, children and grandparents, soldiers and civilians, and people living their lives. They had scant warning of their coming slaughter. They were going about their business, possibly blissfully clueless about the next moment. Thousands in Gaza are dead, and their horrible deaths must

the West Bank between the last

Israeli lives must be valued, and so must (2008) and now, not including the conflict. There have been Palestinian lives. Human life is equivalent, current 6407 Palestinian fatalities and Israeli fatalities. Where have but the media does not reflect it. Can’t we all 306 world voices, now united against Hamas brutality, been in the face of stand with life?

Palestinian fatalities exponentially be mourned.

Tens of thousands of others are affected by Israel’s blockade of Gaza, which has restricted the availability of food, water, and medical supplies.

The Bible says something about an eye for an eye, but an eye for an eye leaves everyone blind. I fear that we in the United States have been blinded long ago.

There is no excuse for the carnage Hamas imposed on Israel.

Period. There is also no excuse for

starving people to death or removing tens of thousands from their homes, forcing them to leave everything behind. When President Biden says, “We stand behind Israel,” already sending military equipment and asserting a strong presence, what is he speaking to the Palestinian people?

The United Nations Office for Humanitarian Affairs (https://www. ochaopt.org) has documented the loss of human life in Gaza and

greater than any Israeli fatalities?

Without excusing Hamas (because their cruelty is inexcusable), cannot one understand Palestinian frustration and, perhaps, brutal action?

Hamas didn’t do the Palestinian people any favors.

Israel’s retaliation has left as many as a million displaced. But I think of the Harlem Renaissance poet Claude McKay, whose 1919 poem, “If We Must Die,” spoke of armed resistance against racism. ...see Gaza, page 5A

PROGRAM WILL HONOR 38 WHO NJG Presents BEACH’S SCHOOLS Impacting Lives ByDESEGREGATED Leonard E. Colvin Reunion Ceremony Chief Reporter New Journal and Guide

NORFOLK NJG Publisher Brenda H. Andrews graciously accepts a beautiful bouquet of flowers presented by her Assistant Desmond Perkins from her NJG Team and Friends. ...see pages 4B and 5B

The first AfricanAmerican students to desegregate two all-white public schools in Virginia Beach in 1962 will be honored for the first time this Saturday, October 28.

An event planned and hosted by the Centerville Historical Society will be held at the Mt. Bethel Baptist Church, 4636 Indian River Road, at 1:30 p.m. In 1963, many of the students lived in that community.

The exposure of their school desegregation story results from the efforts of Virginia Beach Historian Hendrix, whose Photo: Randy Singleton Edna dedicated research has shed light on other previously ignored Black figures and events in Virginia.

Hendrix said much of the information she unearthed about the timeline leading up to the 38 Black students walking into the two white schools and the aftermath

was found in the pages of the Norfolk Journal and Guide.

Also critical were the recollections of many of the 38 students and their family members.

Hendrix said that up to 26 of the 38 students will be on hand at the commemorative event and will receive a certificate for their contributions.

Also, a plaque with the 24 students who were enrolled at one of the schools, Woodstock Elementary School, will be placed at the school. The other school that was the first to be desegregated was Kempsville Junior High (now Kempsville Middle).

In the June 30, 1962, edition of the GUIDE, seven days of news from across the globe were detailed in the National, Peninsula, Portsmouth, and home sections of the GUIDE. Nationally, on the front page, a group of White Congressmen called for an investigation into the business affairs of civil

rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. King welcomed the probe he said in the article.

The state’s anti-boycott laws were on the verge of taking effect to weaken Black resistance to Jim Crow segregation.

Virginia’s Jim Crow public seating laws were being threatened by the courts.

The short desegregation article was found on the Peninsula section and on the bottom of the Home Edition. ...see Students, page 7A

STUDENTS WHO DESEGREGATED VIRGINIA BEACH SCHOOLS IN 1962 WOODSTOCK ELEMENTARY Shelton Sheppard Ruby R. McCoy Patricia Jones Denice K. McCoy Marjean Russell Thornton E. Russell Theodore O. Wilder Valerie Gills Andrew Lee Gills Andrea L. Gatlin Carolyn A. Wilder Angela McCoy Michael E. McCoy Jerry McCoy Carroll E. McCoy Sylvia M. Gilchrist Dwight A. McCoy Robin Towns Mary Stephenson Jerry Jones

Vernice V. Sanderson Gale Sanderson Michael W. Melvin Earl Smith Samuel L. Stephenson Earl E. Stepheson Sandra McCoy Cynthia McCoy Robert A. Fentress Tyrome W. Fentress Gerald A. Bridgers Ronald E. Barrington Roxanna Stephenson Angelia Smith KEMPSVILLE JUNIOR HIGH Earnestine Hodnett Sylvia A. Fentress Jean A. McCoy Franklin Melvin

WHY DEMOCRATS CAN’T SAVE Georgia’s Fani Willis And Ignoring REPUBLICANS FROM THEMSELVES Receiving Threats; Pressing On

By Stacy M. Brown

By Rosaland Tyler

Senior National Correspondent @StacyBrownMedia NNPA NEWSWIRE Rep. Jim Jordan’s repeated failure to garner the necessary 217 votes, even within his own party, to win Speaker of the House’s crucial position has left the GOP in disarray.

Jordan, a prominent conservative and election denier, faced fierce opposition from a faction within the Republican caucus. At least 22 Republicans were relentless in their refusal to back Jordan, especially after the Ohio legislator and his supporters allegedly made threats against them and their families.

Meanwhile, across the aisle, Democrats remained united. Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries garnered unanimous support from all 212 members of the Democratic caucus.

As Jeffries aptly noted, the GOP is amid a civil war, the ramifications of which are felt within their ranks and reverberate throughout the halls of Congress. While the refusal of a substantial faction of Republicans to endorse their chosen Speaker candidate paints a stark picture of a party grappling with internal strife,

Associate Editor New Journal and Guide

Photo: Courtesy

Meanwhile, across the aisle, Democrats remained united. Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries garnered unanimous support from all 212 members of the Democratic caucus. an intriguing question emerges: Why haven’t Democrats leveraged this rift within the GOP to their advantage?

Jeffries could have clinched the Speaker’s gavel with just five additional votes from across the aisle.

“It may seem as if it should be easy for the Democrats to peel off five votes from the Republicans in the House of Representatives to elect Hakim Jeffries speaker. ...see Dems, page 3A

Annual Indigenous Peoples Celebration Machicomoco State Park is hosting its annual Indigenous Peoples Celebration on November 4, 2023. Learn about local tribes, experience traditional dance and drums. ...see ... see page 8A

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis said that even though a Russian website posted her address and other confidential documents online, she still refuses to back down.

“To threaten me is a waste of time,” Willis said at the Revolt World Festival in Atlanta earlier this month.

“It’s a waste of time,” said Willis, who describes herself as an “equal opportunity prosecutor” seeking accountability and justice no matter the violator’s name.

To date, Willis has extracted guilty pleas from four of the defendants in the election interference case she is trying that centers around former President Donald Trump.

As of Tuesday, October 24, Willis had garnered guilty pleas from three of Trump’s former attorneys:

D.A. Fani Willis Jenna Ellis, Kenneth Chesebro, and Sidney Powell. Powell could be a key witness for Willis due to her proximity to Trump.

Scott Hall, a former bail bondsman, pled guilty early on in the case.

House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), who recently failed to get his party to elect him the next House Speaker, tried unsuccessfully to disparage Willis. ...see Willis, page 8A

INSIDE: Part Two: “How Jim Crow Destroyed The Thriving Black Community Of Sugar Hill”

...see page 7A

New Journal and Guide

2A | October 26, 2023 - November 1, 2023

OP-ED:

EARLY PROSTATE CANCER DETECTION SAVED ME – CONGRESS CAN REMOVE BARRIERS TO SCREENINGS

By David Ford

Unfortunately, Black people generally have lower Twice. rates of cancer screening, likely due to factors such as That is how many times I have had to battle cancer. having less access to care, lower likelihood of doctor I still consider myself very fortunate, although recommendation and medical mistrust. Out-of-pocket surviving a disease that is expected to kill nearly costs can also be a barrier to accessing screening.

609,820 Americans this year is not a matter of luck.

The fact is that cancer screenings can help save lives.

When I was diagnosed with prostate cancer, I thought my prospects were dire. According to the American Cancer Society, prostate cancer incidence among Black men is more than 70% higher than in White men, and Black men are more than twice as likely to die from prostate cancer than White men. In fact, Black men have the highest death rate for prostate cancer of any racial or ethnic group in the U.S. Thankfully, my prostate cancer was detected early.

Three years prior, a tumor ruptured my colon, which is how I learned I had colorectal cancer. Had I heeded my doctor’s recommendation to undergo a colonoscopy months before, I could have had the tumor removed and prevented it from causing additional damage.

I learned that early detection is key to surviving cancer, so I prioritized my physical exams and cancer screenings. In 2018, elevated prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test results signaled the potential for prostate cancer, and a biopsy confirmed it. I started my radiation treatment right away. Today, I am in remission.

Prostate cancer accounts for more than a third of all new cancers in Black men.

Now this is what I want you to remember: when prostate cancer is found early, the 5-year survival rate is nearly 100 percent. However, the likelihood of survival drops to 32 percent when it is found in its advanced stages.

This means that a future generation with zero deaths from prostate cancer is not a dream but an attainable goal IF the people who need cancer screenings can get them. It also means that more lives can be saved if the disease is detected and treated early when treatment is more

NEW JOURNAL AND GUIDE P.O. Box 209, Norfolk,VA 23501 Phone: (757) 543-6531 Fax: (757) 543-7620 PUBLISHER AND EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Brenda H. Andrews CHIEF REPORTER: Leonard E. Colvin ASSISTANT TO THE PUBLISHER: Desmond Perkins ASSOCIATE EDITOR: Rosaland Tyler PRODUCTION: Tony Holobyte

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effective and less expensive.

Unfortunately, Black people generally have lower rates of cancer screening, likely due to factors such as having less access to care, lower likelihood of doctor recommendation and medical mistrust. Outof-pocket costs can also be a barrier to accessing screening.

As a prostate cancer survivor and member of the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network’s (ACS CAN) Board of Directors, I believe that everyone should have a fair and just opportunity to prevent, detect, treat, and

survive cancer. I know that having equitable access to screening is critical to reducing prostate cancer deaths and saving more lives, especially in the Black community.

That’s why I’m glad to see that there’s a bill before Congress that would help remove cost barriers to prostate cancer screening for men at high risk for the disease, the ProstateSpecific Antigen Screening for High-risk Insured Men (PSA Screening for HIM) Act. Introduced by Representatives Larry Bucshon, M.D. (R-IN) and Yvette Clarke (D-NY) and

Senators Cory Booker (DNJ) and John Boozman (R-AR), this bipartisan bill would waive cost-sharing requirements for prostate cancer screenings for men with the highest risk of prostate cancer, focusing on Black men and those with a family history of the disease.

If the bill is passed, this means that men at high risk of being diagnosed with prostate cancer would be able to get prostate cancer screenings without outof-pocket costs, such as deductibles, copayments, or coinsurances.

Our elected officials play a vital role in helping

reduce the cancer burden and persistent disparities by advancing public health policies that improve access to prevention and early detection services. As part of ACS CAN’s Leadership Summit and Lobby Day, I traveled to Washington, D.C. this week to meet with members of Congress to urge them to support the PSA Screening for HIM Act. Passing this legislation is a crucial step to saving more lives from prostate cancer.

It would also help address the unjust and unacceptable cancer disparities in the Black community. Everyone at high risk for prostate cancer who has made an informed decision with their doctor to get screened should have access to that screening without costsharing posing an obstacle.

My plea to all men – Black men in particular – is to get your regular checkups, talk to your doctor about

the benefits and limitations of PSA screening, and urge your Congressional representatives to support the PSA Screening for HIM Act. If health is wealth, consider this practice part of your legacy.

David Ford is a dedicated cancer advocate and currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors of the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN), the advocacy affiliate for the American Cancer Society. Ford has served on the American Cancer Society’s Board of Directors for the Los Angeles area and has championed local and national efforts to advance health equity. He is also the government relations manager at Southern California Edison, managing relationships with government municipalities and promoting awareness of a clean energy future.

Two HBCUs Among World’s Top Music Business Schools

By Stacy M. Brown

Senior National Correspondent @StacyBrownMedia Howard University, the renowned historically Black college in Northwest, D.C., finds itself in esteemed company alongside institutions such as the Abbey Road Institute in London, the Berklee College of Music in Boston and Spain, and the Liverpool Institute for the Performing Arts in Liverpool, England.

These distinguished higher education establishments have earned a spot on Billboard’s prestigious list of the best schools

for music business degrees.

Of note, Howard University is one of only two historically Black colleges and universities recognized on the list, the other being Tennessee State University in Nashville.

Billboard’s selection process, which refrains from ranking the institutions, is based on a comprehensive evaluation that includes executive recommendations, alum feedback, information furnished by each school, and a decade’s worth of reporting on music business programs. Publishers said the decision not to rank the schools stems

from Billboard’s acknowledgment of widespread criticism surrounding conventional college ranking practices.

Howard’s remarkable achievement is underpinned by the establishment of the Warner Music/Blavatnik Center for Music Business in 2021, made possible by a generous $4.9 million donation. Billboard highlights the center’s one-year fellowship program, which offers invaluable coaching, mentorship, and real-world industry exposure through collaborations with partner organizations. The program is specifically designed to combat

the underrepresentation of Black executives and professionals within the music and entertainment sectors.

According to Billboard, one of Howard’s standout offerings is the course “The History of the American Music Industry: What Isn’t Black Music.” This unique perspective aims to give students a comprehensive understanding of the industry’s roots and evolution.

Billboard’s methodology emphasizes more accessible public colleges and universities, focusing beyond the traditional music capitals of New York, Los Angeles, and Nashville.

From The Guide’s Archives

Archives taken from the pages of the (New) Journal and Guide October 25, 1942 Edition of the Guide WWI Veterans Disenfranchised In Alabama BIRMINGHAM Around 17,000 Negro World War I Veterans who are exempt from the poll tax payment are disenfranchised in the state of Alabama and also denied legitimate connection with the American Legion which was created by an act of Congress.

It is estimated there are 18,000 Negro servicemen in Alabama of which approximately 80 are members of the Britton McKenzie Post No. 150 Tuskegee.

About the middle of September 15, members of the Birmingham unit of the McKenzie Post were suspended for reasons not yet clear. The suspended members had filed a mandamus petition in circuit court two months earlier seeking to compel the American Legion to give them a post charter of their own.

Several, if not all of the Negro vets who attached their names to the petition, (were) told the Birmingham group had overstepped its boundaries by electing Melton H. Gray delegate to the National convention of the veterans, which was held in Kansas City.

In 1934 Negro Vets were regular delegates to the state convention held in Huntsville, Alabama.

They were seated in (Jim Crow seating areas) of the balcony of the convention gall but were allowed to participate.

WWII was emphasized this week by the announcement that United States soldiers have arrived in the Negro Republic of Liberia.

The announcement also said that Royal Air Force Patrols are using Liberia as a base for hunting Nazi submarines along the bulge of West Africa.

The dispatch did not say when the troops arrived and included Negro troops.

However, it was reported that President Roosevelt’s representatives had left Monrovia after extensive discussion with President Edwin Barclay.

Liberia is 750 miles from Dakar which the Germans insist is being threatened with Allied invasion.

Flood, Fire Fail to Stop Great Singer, Marian Anderson

HAMPTON INSTITUTE Neither flood nor fire crossed the path of Marian Anderson in fulfilling an engagement here at Ogden Hall Sunday night, opening the annual series of the Musical Art Society.

The distinguished contralto accompanied by her accompanist Franz Rupp and her traveling manager were compelled to suffer much inconvenience when along with hundreds of other passengers forced to stay aboard the R. F. and P train between Washington and Richmond from 8 a.m. until 9:30 p.m.

Saturday. When the train finally reached Richmond, it was delayed 10 hours by raging flood waters which paralyzed traffic by rail and motors. It was 1 a.m.

Sunday when the Singer and her party reached the campus here.

U.S. Soldiers, Including The train she traveled on Negro Troops Invade was crowded with civilians, Liberia soldiers, and defense workers, and unable to get WASHINGTON Pullman accommodations.

The growing importance She good-naturedly of the African theater in accepted the predicament

she faced with the same understanding heart and persona charm that has made her a goddess of the concert hall.

Sunday night as Anderson was about to conclude the spiritual “Tramping” – the next to last number of her program – the first alarm sounded on the campus and echoed in Ogden Hall. The students stirred wonderingly, but kept their eyes on calm and quick-thinking Major Walter R. Brown, Dean of Men, while Dron A. Davis, Chairman of the Musical Art Society, kept his eyes focused on Anderson.

The alarm grew louder and not a single person left the Auditorium until Anderson completed the spiritual then amidst resounding applause, the singer gracefully retired from the stage for a brief spell. Some of the students hurried outside; Anderson returned to the stand and closed with “Honor, Honor.” She accepted another tremendous ovation, gave autographs and retired to the mansion house for an after-event reception.

The fire was located in Cleveland Hall across from Ogden.

October 23, 2002 Edition of the Guide State NAACP To Meet In Norfolk

By Leonard E. Colvin

Chief Reporter New Journal and Guide The past two weeks have been hectic for King Salim Khalfani and his small staff who work out of the suite of offices that serves as the headquarters of the Virginia State Conference of the NAACP in Richmond.

Khalfani and his mostly volunteer staff have

been putting the final touches on the plans for the 67th annual state convention of the NAACP from October 31 – November 3 at the Norfolk Marriott Conference Center.

As the Executive Director of the State Conference, Khalfani has fielded an endless stream of phone calls and faxes.

He has been sifting through and absorbing information to coordinate plans for the event with local leaders specifically in Norfolk, the host city this year.

But early last week Khalfani was not only answering calls relating to that event, but he was also fielding calls from people seeking help.

Hundreds of state employees were receiving pink slips as part of Governor Mark Warner’s effort to trim the state budget because of falling revenue.

According to Khalfani, many of the calls were from Black state employees who felt that their dismissals had more to do with their skin color and some racist conspiracy against them that state budgetary shortages.

While there is little Khalfani could do about the complaints of the large calls to his office many calls did point up an ironic fact about the current state of the NAACP, the nation’s oldest civil rights organization.

Most of the NAACP organizations across Virginia and nationally have seen a fall in membership.

With protective laws fought for and achieved during the height of the civil rights movements in the 60s.

African-Americans, women, and other minority groups experienced profound economic and political advances.

However, they are still encountering systemic acts

of economic and social discrimination.

October 20, 1945 Edition of the Guide Marines Complain of Policy

By Harry McAlpin Navy Correspondent

ENIWETOK, MARSHALL ISLANDS The hardships of war can’t be summed up in fatalities, broken limbs, and impaired vision. Perhaps the heartrendering experiences of the war for which no Purple Heart or other medal can be awarded have been the lot of the 51st Marine Defense Battalion of all Negroes except the Commissioned officers.

These men, over 1,300, have spent 21 months on overseas duty on two islands both of which were desolate wastelands in the middle of the Pacific Ocean for the last 13 months they have been on Einwetok.

This piece of coral rock sits on the top of squashy sod. Over half of it is 200 yards wide. There are no trees, natives... no women.

Except for four USO shows in the past year or more the men have seen no civilians until Lester Granger Matthew Bullock and their correspondents dropped out of the sky as members of the Secretary of Navy’s inspection tour group.

War reporters for metropolitan daily papers and wire services have visited the isle on occasion to interview the commanding officer and the White Marines and sailors stationed there but the Black Marines were ignored.

Despite the fact these men are about to be sent home there was a touching appreciation noticeable on their faces, attitudes, and from their words for the visit of someone to whom they felt they could tell their desperate story.

New Journal and Guide

October 26, 2023 - November 1, 2023 | 3A

Virginia’s Two Black Astronauts Celebrated Dems Continued from page 1A

By Rosaland Tyler Associate Editor New Journal and Guide

Virginia astronauts Leland D. Melvin and Dr. Robert L. Satcher were recently honored at a twoday event sponsored by the Virginia Museum of History & Culture and the University of Richmond on Oct. 25 and Oct. 26.

Satcher grew up in Hampton. Melvin grew up in Lynchburg. Both astronauts delivered keynote speeches at the recent event that included a book signing and a reception.

They are among a total of 350 NASA astronauts who have traveled into space. To date, 15 African-American astronauts have journeyed to space.

The recent events highlight ongoing space exhibits currently on display at the university and the museum. Melvin is the

Astronaut Leland D. Melvin signature ambassador for the Apollo: When We Went to the Moon exhibition at the VMHC, which is on display until Dec. 31.

During the program, both astronauts recalled their trips to outer space at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 25 at the Virginia Museum of History & Culture. Later, a book signing ceremony was held for ticket holders.

Melvin signed copies of his books, “Chasing Space” and the “Chasing Space

Astronaut Dr. Robert L. Satcher Young Readers’ Edition.”

Both books were available in the VMHC Museum Store.

A school program for students was held at 10 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 26.

Satcher, who is a Hampton native, graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard Medical School.

He is an associate professor at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, as

well as the first orthopedic surgeon to travel into space.

Melvin was born in Lynchburg, graduated from Heritage High School and attended the University of Richmond on a football scholarship. He is a 1986 University of Richmond graduate and a 1991 University of Virginia graduate.In 1998, Melvin was selected into the NASA Astronaut Corps. He flew into space twice, in 2008 and 2009.

NEW YORK MUSEUM HEAD TROUBLED BY HUMAN REMAINS TAKEN FROM GRAVES Special to the Trice Edney News Wire from Global Information Network (TRICEEDNEYWIRE.COM/ GIN) Sean M. Decatur, recently appointed to head the American Museum of Natural History, is well aware of the obstacles that could await him in his new job.

It’s clear from an essay he wrote for the Chronicle of Higher Education titled “The Cost of Leading While Black.”

“If you are a Black person in America, you can measure with an egg timer how long it takes for an intense disagreement to lead to the invocation of racist tropes,” he wrote.

“The dynamics of race in America are fractal: They can be observed at all scales, from the paths of power in Washington to the gravel paths of bucolic Gambier, Ohio.”

His current challenge will be to move forward with all due speed on the disposition of skeletons of indigenous and enslaved people taken from their graves and the bodies of New Yorkers who died as

Sean M. Decatur recently as the 1940s.

The museum is facing questions about the legality and the ethics of its acquisitions.

“Figuring out exactly what we have here is something that is important to do moving forward,” Decatur said.

“Human remains collections were made possible by extreme imbalances of power,” Decatur noted in a letter sent to staff members this week. “Moreover, many researchers in the 19th and 20th centuries then used such collections to advance deeply flawed scientific agendas rooted in white supremacy – namely the identification

of physical differences that could reinforce models of racial hierarchy.”

Currently, the museum has three people involved in repatriating remains, although Decatur said part of his initiative is to focus more resources in this area.

Decatur discussed the desecration of the cemetery for enslaved people in his letter to the staff. The cemetery most likely dated back to colonial times and was excavated during construction in the Upper Manhattan neighborhood of Inwood. A photo from that time displays the skeletons that had been pulled from the ground.

Workers formed a pyramid with the skulls.

In an interview, Decatur said he found the treatment of the bodies disturbing.

In his staff letter, the president said of the remains, “Identifying a restorative, respectful action in consultation with local communities must be part of our commitment.”

Recently, John Jay College professor Erin Thompson learned about the New York museum’s “medical collection”

while conducting research into the ethical and legal questions that surround its holdings of remains. She was surprised to see the collection included New Yorkers who had died as recently as the 1940s.

Efforts to more fully research those remains were stymied by the museum, she said, which denied her access to its catalog.

Human remains currently on display in the museum range from skeletons to instruments and beads made from, or incorporating, human bones.

“None of the items on display,” Decatur said in his letter, “are so essential to the goals and narrative of the exhibition as to counterbalance the ethical dilemmas presented by the fact that human remains are in some instances exhibited alongside and on the same plane as objects.

“These are ancestors and are in some cases victims of violent tragedies or representatives of groups who were abused and exploited, and the act of public exhibition extends that exploitation.”

But in fact, such a scenario is absolutely impossible,” said William S. Bike, a political historian and author of the book “Winning Political Campaigns, a how-to guide on all aspects of political campaigning.”

“And it has been impossible since 1994, when Republican House member Newt Gingrich changed our politics from a skirmish between the parties to an allout war,” Bike stated.

He said his book details Gingrich’s memo leading up to the 1994 campaign, “Language Matters,” where he urged the GOP to use words to describe opponents such as “sick,” “pathetic,” “traitors,” “corrupt,” and “selfish.”

“This is a far cry from the days up until then when politicians may have criticized each other fairly in public but then gone in the back room and cut a political deal, and then headed out to play poker or have a drink together at night,” Bike wrote in an email to the Informer.

Lindsey Cormack, an

associate professor of political science in the School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences at the Stevens Institute of Technology in New Jersey said Democrats have reached across the aisle but to no avail.

Cormack also pointed to a Capitol Hill press conference with Jeffries and other House Democrats where they stressed a bipartisan strategy to manage the House effectively.

“The obstacle lies in the fact that the current House Republicans are hesitant to defy party allegiance by voting for Jefferies,” Cormack noted.

“Congressional Republicans are acutely aware that such an action would almost certainly prompt a challenge from within their party in the next primary election and result in a loss of support from the broader Republican Party in all subsequent elections.

“Moreover, if the Republican leadership ultimately prevails, these members risk losing their committee assignments.

Essentially, current Republicans voting for Jefferies seems feasible only if they completely change their political party affiliation.”

MSNBC’s Michael Steele Hosting Lecture Series At Howard University WASHINGTON, D.C. In his new endowed position at Howard University, former Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael Steele began hosting a lecture series at Howard University on Oct. 5.

Steele has held multiple history-making posts including the chair of the Republican National Committee, a role he held from 2009 to 2011. Earlier, in 2003, he became Maryland’s first African-American lieutenant general.

In his new post as the 2023-2024 Gwendolyn S. and Colbert I. King Chair Endowed Chair in Public Policy, he will host lectures on several topics including politics, voting, policy making, and civil service.

“It is such an honor to have been selected to hold the King Chair and to be a part of the Howard University community,” said Steele, who earned his law degree at Georgetown University.

Michael Steele Steele is a political analyst for MSNBC. His work has appeared in several publications, including the Wall Street Journal, the Root, and the Grio.

“Since its founding, the story of America has been about what we aspire to be. I see this as a unique opportunity to challenge and be challenged by students and faculty on what that means in the 21st Century and why it is important to defining how we govern ourselves and understanding what it means to be an American,” he said.

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Election Day in Virginia is November 7, 2023. The polls are open at 6 a.m. - 7 p.m.

GET OUT AND VOTE!

New Journal and Guide

4A | October 26, 2023 - November 1, 2023

Lawsuit Challenging Virginia Governor’s Arbitrary Denial of The Right To Vote Is A Step Toward Justice

PROFESSOR EMERITUS OF SOCIOLOGY VIRGINIA TECH

OUR RETREAT FROM DEMOCRACY

The Global Freedom Index gives each country a score ... America’s score of A long-held belief in the United States was that 83 was lower than that of every other American institutions and processes were superior to established democracy, like Canada, other nations. This idea was so strong that the public Italy, France, Germany, Japan, Spain, would not accept practices from abroad. I can remember and the United Kingdom.

By Wornie Reed, Ph.D.

politicians losing favor after suggesting that the United States adopt some idea or practice from a European country.

In showing how the United States is experiencing minority rule, Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt, in their new book, Tyranny of the Majority, describe some of our institutions and practices as the culprits.

In other words, these institutional practices are the reasons for our relatively low “democracy grade.” These chickens—problematic American institutions--have come home to roost.

The Global Freedom Index indicates our retreat from democracy. Freedom House, a nonprofit organization located in Washington, D.C., tracks the health of democracies.

The Global Freedom Index gives each country a score between 0 and 100, with 100 meaning the most democratic. In 2015, the United States scored 90, in line with countries like Canada, Italy, France, Germany, Japan, Spain, and the United Kingdom. But by 2021, the U.S. score had declined to 83.

America’s score of 83 was lower than that of every other established democracy, and it was equal to the score of troubled democracies like Argentina, the Czech Republic, and Lithuania.

Geography and racism have created a new political alignment in the country.

First, the rise of cities in the twentieth century changed politics. What began as a small-state bias became a rural-state bias and later a partisan bias. Before the civil rights movement, rural voters in the South were overwhelmingly Democratic. After the civil rights revolution, the White

rural South moved into the Republican Party, pulled substantially by Richard Nixon’s Southern Strategy (playing the racism game).

On top of these changes, our institutions have become more problematic. Levitsky and Ziblatt described the recent anti-democratic workings of four key American institutions— the Electoral College, the Senate, the Supreme Court, and the Electoral System.

I have written previously about the anti-democratic Electoral College and the U.S. Senate.

The Electoral College system, based on its slaveis-three-fifths-of-a-person rule and its overvaluing of small states, has always been problematic for democracy; however, this harmful potential was dormant throughout the 20th century.

Until 2000, every president who won the White House won both the popular vote and the Electoral College. Since 2000, both Republican presidents who won the White House won the Electoral College but not the popular vote.

This same anti-democratic representation works in the Senate. In the 21st century, every time Republicans have controlled the Senate, they have represented a minority of the population.

Like the Electoral College, the anti-democratic nature of the Senate has always existed. Still, it did not systematically favor one party over the other until the recent geographic political party realignment.

Democrats and Republicans used to win Senate seats in big and small states at comparable rates, but the shift of rural voters toward the GOP has turned the Senate’s

overrepresentation of rural areas into a clear Republican advantage.

The Supreme Court is the third of this quartet of problematic institutions.

As a result of the antidemocratic operation of the Electoral College and the U.S. Senate, four of the current Supreme Court members were selected by a Republican president who was not elected by a majority of American voters and was then confirmed by a U.S. Senate whose Republican majority was elected by a minority of American voters. The result is a Court whose rulings are at odds with the majority opinion of the American people.

The fourth problematic institution facilitating minority rule is the electoral system, which produces artificial majorities and permits political parties that win fewer votes to control legislatures.

Democrats often win a majority of the statewide vote. Still, since their voters are concentrated in overwhelmingly Democratic districts while Republicans win more closely fought races, Republicans can win legislative majorities while winning fewer votes overall.

When we add to this list of anti-democratic institutions and practices the current spate of voter suppression and gerrymandering, the United States democracy score might be gratuitous.

As Levitsky and Ziblatt state, “Opinion surveys make clear that a majority of Americans hold broadly inclusive values and embrace the principles of liberal and multiracial democracy. But our institutions are frustrating that majority.”

We have minority rule.

A TRUE HERO

By Dr. E. Faye Williams, Esq. (Ret.)

(TRICEEDNEYWIRE.COM) It’s football season again! Let’s talk about the best of sports. It’s Historically Black Colleges & Universities Sports! Being a graduate of Grambling University, I’m obviously a football fan! I attended Howard University Law School, but that’s another story when it comes to sports! At Grambling, we’ve had so many great athletes on great teams whether baseball, basketball, football, etc.! I could never talk about the successes of Grambling without remembering the one and only Coach Eddie Robinson who was a dear friend for many years.

Because we’ve had so many greats, we at Grambling have no problem honoring those who played well on other teams.

There’s something about Historically Black Colleges and Universities that allows us to cheer for other athletes from our competitors. This week I’ve had the honor of spending time with two former football players from Florida A&M University – Rick Anderson, Florida A&M Sports Hall of Famer, and Henry Lawrence, former Raiders offensive tackle.

Dr. E. Faye Williams, Esq. (Ret.) We kid each other about our great college victories over them, and they occasionally have a time they can do the same with those of us from Grambling. We never have differences about Grambling’s legendary head football coach, Eddie Robinson.

No matter where men play, even players of other races who neither attended Grambling nor Florida A&M loved and admired Coach Robinson.

I had the wonderful opportunity to visit with one of Henry’s former teammates with the silver and Black Raiders. The teammate we visited is The Honorable Burgess Owens of Utah, and despite his being a member of another party, he’s still one of us, and I was happy to meet him. Ordinarily, we Democrats know who new Congressmen and Congresswomen are as

... one in 19 Black Americans of voting age is disenfranchised, a rate 3.5 times that of all other Americans.

By Marc H. Morial

He’s not called a hero just because he played football, but because he’s a servant for the good of all people. soon as one of us comes to Washington because we almost always know the struggles they’ve had before winning a Congressional race.

Congressman Owens is a hidden jewel. Representing Utah may have been a bit misleading, but I want you to know him. He allowed me to wear his championship ring in a photo op at his office!

Having run for Congress myself and coming up short by less than ½ percent, I can identify with those who’ve been the best candidate by far, not only for the community in which we grew up, but for everybody, yet didn’t have enough support from those who rule even if we were in the same political party.

That, too, was the case for Henry Lawrence from Palmetto, Florida after his football days were over. ...see Hero, page 6A

(TRICEEDNEYWIRE.COM) “The right to vote is the cornerstone of our democracy and should be accessible to every eligible resident. It has been proven that participating in the civic process reduces recidivism, and individuals take pride in their communities when they can fully contribute to Virginia.

True democracy does not deprive individuals of participation based on the whim of one individual. It’s time to correct the wrongs of our 1902 Constitution and leave the power to one succinct process that cannot be modified by a single person’s emotions in the moment.”

– Sheba Williams, Executive Director, Nolef Turns ◆◆◆ Felony disenfranchisement is undeniably rooted in white supremacy.

In order to be admitted to the Union after the Civil War, the former Confederate states were required to ratify the 14th Amendment, which guaranteed the privileges of citizenship – including the right to vote – to formerly enslaved Americans.

Prohibited by federal law from barring Black voters, southern states quickly enacted measures known as the Black Codes, establishing severe penalties for minor and vaguely-defined crimes like vagrancy. At the same time, these states rushed to prohibit anyone with a felony

Marc H. Morial conviction from voting.

As a result of this racist legacy, one in 19 Black Americans of voting age is disenfranchised, a rate 3.5 times that of all other Americans.

While many states have revised their laws and policies regarding felony disenfranchisement over the last three years, Virginia is the only state that places the voting rights of all residents with felony convictions at the sole discretion of a single individual, Governor Glenn Youngkin. That soon could change, thanks to a lawsuit filed by Fair Elections Center on behalf of Nolef Turns, Inc., a non-profit dedicated to helping individuals with felony convictions, and two disenfranchise Virginians, Gregory Williams and George Hawkins.

A federal judge last week denied Youngkin’s request to dismiss the case. The National Urban League applauds U.S. District Judge John A. Gibney’s decision, and condemns Youngkin’s actions which made the lawsuit necessary.

Under the three governors who proceeded Youngkin,

Virginia used specific, objective, and neutral criteria to restore rights to people with felony convictions – criteria such as sentence completion, or release from incarceration.

“In this way, they used their authority under the Virginia Constitution to remove arbitrary decision-making from the process and create a uniformly administered, non-discretionary restoration system,” the plaintiffs wrote in their complaint.

But Youngkin threw out this policy and grabbed the power to deny individuals’ voting rights for himself.

As of October 2022, more than one in 20 Virginians with felony convictions remain disenfranchised even after completing their full sentences including parole and probation – the sixth highest rate in the nation.

To be clear, the lawsuit does not call for Virginia to restore voting rights for all those with felony convictions – a policy that the National Urban League would endorse.

It merely asks that Virginia set clear rules governing decisions on restoring voting rights, rather than leaving the decision to the whim of the Governor without explanation or justification. ...see Youngkin, page 6A

The High Price of Police Misconduct

By David W. Marshall

Police misconduct cost (TRICEEDNEYWIRE.COM) Each year during the cities millions month of October, the of dollars each National Faith and Blue Weekend is held in year in legal communities throughout the nation. The purpose fees, settlements of this community and judgements. engagement initiative is to use local faith-based Despite these organizations as a means significant to develop relationships David W. Marshall between police department financial costs, officials, residents, it often gets overlooked. businesses and community there is little groups.

The various Daniel Hahn, who served Faith and Blue events as Sacramento’s first Black accountability gives members of the police chief, never wanted for officers community, particularly to be a cop. Growing up in those who may be skeptical the Oak Park, a historically responsible for workingof law enforcement, the Black, opportunity to see police class neighborhood of the misconduct. officials in an entirely different and nonthreatening light. The bond between the police and the residents they are sworn to serve and protect will also be critical based on the fact that one side will always need the other. If a person holds the position of serving the people, how can you effectively do so if there is little or no understanding of the people? Robert Contee was an assistant Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department of Washington D.C. at the time he stated, “I think we’ve gotten smarter about things, in terms of the way that we deal with the communities that we serve.

We’ve learned that you can’t arrest your way out of problems.” Two years earlier, D.C. police began enrolling every recruit in a 10-hour curriculum at the National Museum of African-American History and Culture. “Officers coming here need to understand not just the city, but the people in this city.” Contee says.

Individually, there are police officers who are making a difference and

Sacramento, his early interactions with the police were largely negative.

“Officers weren’t held in high regard in my neighborhood,” Hahn said in an interview.

The racial tensions which are common between the Black community and the police presents a unique challenge for the Black police officer who has to navigate between two worlds: a Black world and then the blue world.

Many Black officers want to “be the change agent,” and then realize they fighting against an entrenched police culture with a legacy of racism, protected by police unions and resistant to selfexamination and change.

There are approximately 18,000 law enforcement agencies nationwide, the most common are smalltown police departments with 10 or fewer officers.

Every law enforcement agency, large or small, is fixture within their respective community.

As a result, any form of racism which is a part of society will spill over into the police’s blue code of silence. Jacinta Gau,

an associate professor of criminal justice at the University of Central Florida, said Black police chiefs are often hired because they are seen as “reformers” who can “clean things up and alleviate or eliminate racial tensions.” Black police chiefs are believed to able to bridge two communities historically at odds with one another. In reality, while cultural competency and bias training are being instituted in departments nationwide, the necessary changes will not be institutionalized if the institution itself is committed more to individuals who discriminate.

The substantial financial loss a local jurisdiction ultimately pays for police misconduct has not been an effective reason to embrace the level of cultural changes needed within police departments.

“Behavior is more likely to conform to culture than rules,” stated the 2015 report from President Barack Obama’s task force on 21st-century policing. ...see Police, page 6A

New Journal and Guide

Police Continued from page 4A While police misconduct can devastate the lives of victims, their families and residents of the community, the misconduct can be a major financial price for cities and taxpayers to pay.

Police misconduct costs cities millions of dollars each year in legal fees, settlements and judgements. Despite these significant financial costs, there is little accountability for the officers responsible for the misconduct. In many cases, officers who engage in misconduct are not disciplined, and may even continue to serve on the police force. It is rare for settlements to include any form of admission of guilt or wrongdoing. Not long after the National Faith and Blue Weekend, Baltimore’s Board of Estimates panel approved a $48 million settlement to three men who were wrongfully convicted of murder as teenagers and spent 36 years in prison. It becomes another example of why

October 26, 2023 - November 1, 2023 | 5A there remains a lack of trust between law enforcement and the communities they serve.

Baltimore is not alone. The city of Minneapolis paid $27 million to the family of George Floyd. The family of Breonna Taylor’s family was paid $12 million.

Aside from high profiles cases, most claims of police misconduct are resolved quietly and with smaller sums. Local justifications say payments to resolve misconduct allegations, ranging from excessive force to illegal search and seizures, are more cost-effective than fighting the lawsuits in courts.

The amount paid by cities along with the identity of the officers are often hidden from the public even though their taxes are covering the cost. The professional men and women in blue who serve and represent their department with dignity are often forgotten when all of the attention goes to the “bad apples.”

David W. Marshall is founder of the faith based organization, TRB: The Reconciled Body, and author of the book “God Bless Our Divided America.”

He can be reached at www. davidwmarshallauthor.com

Gaza Continued from page 1A

The poem begins, “If we must die, let it not be like hogs, hunted and penned in an inglorious spot.”

McKay continues, “If we must die, O let us nobly die,” and concludes, “Though far outnumbered, let us show us brave, and for their thousand blows deal one death blow,

Youngkin Continued from page 4A The Virginia NAACP this week announced it will sue Youngkin for public records detailing how he makes decisions on voting rights restoration requests. He has withheld the records since the organization requested them in May.

what though before us lies the open grave like men we’ll face the murderous, cowardly pack, pressed to the wall, dying but fighting back.”

It’s a powerful poem, written in response to the carnage of the Red Summer of 1919, where random packs of whites attacked Black people for next to nothing, slights real or imagined, protests to our very presence, even as Black men had returned from World War I.

Many will find the comparisons between Palestinian insurgents and Black freedom fighters to be false or untimely. I understand. I especially realize that McKay was not writing about killing women and children or putting them in danger. I cringe at the notion that human lives, especially children’s, are considered “collateral damage.” Yet, who bombs hospitals and educational institutions for “revenge.”

Israeli lives must be valued, and so must Palestinian lives. Human life is equivalent, but the media does not reflect it. There were protestors outside the White House saying they stood with Palestine.

Can’t we all stand with life? Until we embrace the equivalency of life, this conflict will continue, and an eye for an eye leaves all of us blind.

Dr. Julianne Malveaux is an economist and author. www.juliannemalvaux.com

“Black Virginians are more overly represented in our correctional facilities.

So, it impacts Black Virginians more so than any other ethnic group,” Virginia NAACP President Robert N. Barnette, Jr., said.

“We want to make sure that if people have done their time and have applied for the rights to be restored, that either they are given a reason or their rights have been restored.”

The case also could have

implications for Kentucky, where Governor Andy Beshear restored voting rights via executive order to most individuals with state felony convictions.

But those with out-of-state, federal, and non-qualifying state felony convictions still are subject to the arbitrary decision of the governor “with no rules, laws, or criteria governing these restoration determinations.”

As a relic of Jim Crow white supremacy, felony

disenfranchisement is inconsistent with the principles of fairness and democracy we claim to hold dear as a nation. While Fair Election Center’s lawsuits won’t restore the voting rights of people on felonylevel probation or parole in the 26 states that still deny them, or to the individuals who have successfully fulfilled their sentences in 11 states that still deny them, they are a step toward justice.

Hero Continued from page 4A We know; however, we still have a responsibility to continue succeeding in whatever we do. In Henry’s case, after his days in professional football were over, he returned home to Florida and is a hero to those who know him. He’s not called a hero just because he played football, but because he’s a servant for the good of all people.

Although as a player, Henry was known by his teammates as “Killer,” he’s one of the nicest guys you could ever know who played for the Silver and Black! I would add “one of the nicest guys you

could know anywhere.” Even John Madden said Henry was like a son to him! Henry and John appeared to have had mutual admiration. About Madden, Henry said, “He was a guy that could relate to the little guy and the big guy.”

Henry had the honor of doing a musical tribute to his coach at his service.

Henry is a very talented musician and a loyal member of the Florida A&M Family.

Among his many honors, he’s received the Jesse Owens Achievement Award for his athletic excellence, but I find him to be so much more than an athlete. He’s a wonderful human being!

Dr. E. Faye Williams, Esq. (Ret.) (President of The Dick Gregory Society; and President Emerita of the National Congress of Black Women.

6A | October 26, 2023 - November 1, 2023

New Journal and Guide

New Journal and Guide

October 26, 2023 - November 1, 2023 | 7A

PART TWO: SUGAR HILL

How Jim Crow Destroyed Black Portsmouth Community

By Leonard E. Colvin

Virginia joined southern states imposing Jim Crow laws Chief Reporter to isolate Blacks in underserved neighborhoods. Sugar New Journal and Guide Hill was one of them.

The October 5-12 edition of the GUIDE ran the first of a series on “How Jim Crow Destroyed Thriving Black Community” of Sugar Hill in the city of Portsmouth, from the late 19th century until recent years.

City, state, and federal machinery was applied via seizures for tax debt, eroding of land value, the building of highways through the community, and nuisances, such as, dumping and neglect to achieve it.

Dr. Cassandra Newby Alexander, a noted NSU History professor and author, unearthed this history and revealed it during a special presentation to Portsmouth City Council.

Dr. Alexander’s research and presentation were contracted at the request of Councilman Mark Whitaker who expressed concern about how a once thriving Portsmouth Black community was destroyed by actions orchestrated by the city. ◆◆◆ By the end of the 19th century, Pinner’s Point and its Sugar Hill community provided housing and a workforce for rail and shipping operations sitting along the Elizabeth River.

The area was a destination for Black and White migrants from rural North Carolina and Virginia, seeking employment and housing.

From the early 19th to the early 20th centuries, Sugar Hill evolved from a rural

farming community into a suburban neighborhood, of Black families.

Much of Pinner’s Point was originally owned by white farmer David Culpeper in the early 1800s.

After he died in 1825, he willed the land to his daughters. They sold fortyfive acres on Scott’s Creek to Edward and Lovey Ellet (later spelled Elliott), a free Black family, in 1840.

The Ellets left their farmland to their daughters, Emeline and Mary, and to their son William who owned a farm. The Ellet land would be the formative foundation of Sugar Hill.

In 1894 the Ellet land was sold to a group of white businessmen to pay off the family’s debts.

That began the parceling of large tracts of land in Sugar Hill that would be sold for white business development.

Further, at the time was the rewriting of the state’s Constitution, enacted in 1902. Virginia joined southern states imposing Jim Crow laws to isolate Blacks in underserved neighborhoods and weaken their ability to fight for equal treatment legally.

Sugar Hill was one of them.

Southern Railway had gained access to Pinner’s Point where Sugar Hill existed in 1896, using 151 miles of the Atlantic Coast tracks that included the Norfolk and Carolina Railroad. With deep-sea terminals constructed, four

years later, the railroads formed the Chesapeake Steamship Company while the railroad consolidated into the Atlantic Coastline Railroad.

In a decade these transformed Sugar Hill from a residential suburb to a “worker’s town.”

While Blacks and whites in Pinner’s Point had access to employment, homes, and some commerce, Blacks were denied citysponsored recreational activities.

Using Jim Crow policies first crafted by Norfolk in 1917, Portsmouth in 1925 adopted a plan barring Blacks and whites from moving into each other’s neighborhoods.

In the early 1920s, there was a proposal by the city of Portsmouth to invest in the infrastructure of Pinner Point and Sugar Hill, which was majority Black. In 1925 influential whites pressured the city council to abandon the plans and invest in their areas instead.

To erase housing shortages, in 1932 the Hoover administration created the Federal Home Loan Bank, to provide low-interest loans.

A year later the Roosevelt Administration created the Homeowners Loan Corporation (HOLC) and the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) to assess the risk of such loans.

None of the federal agencies helped urban and rural Blacks. In fact, these agencies created the

concept of “redlining” and other devices declaring Black areas too risky to be beneficiaries of loans and economic development.

Educated Black professionals spoke out and organizations such as the Virginia Commission in Interracial Cooperations (VCIC) were formed with the help of progressive whites.

When the Eisenhower administration introduced its massive interstate highway project that built 41,000 miles of highways across the nation, the impact was felt in many majority Black communities.

A good example in

Portsmouth was the construction of I-264 and the construction of the Downtown and Midtown Tunnels connecting Norfolk to Portsmouth and a commuter way to Virginia Beach and Suffolk.

In 1962 the 4,194-feet Midtown Tunnel was built through land in Sugar Hill which became part of the Portsmouth International Terminal at the end of the decade.

From 1968 onward to 2019, low-cost land purchases, eminent domain, and tax lines chipped away at the remaining residential land of Pinners Point and Sugar Hill, despite several instances of protests from Black landowners.

In 2005, the Greater Portsmouth Development Corporation (GPDC) was formed as a private arm of the City of Portsmouth and

was used to erode private land ownership in Sugar Hill for development by and for white business interests, according to N e w b y - A l e x a n d e r ’s research.

The GPDC acquired properties and buildings using government grants.

In a partnership with the Portsmouth Redevelopment and Housing Authority (PRHA), GPDC purchased properties at bargain prices, and sold them to developers, to produce revenue split between the two.

N e w b y - A l e x a n d e r ’s research concluded it was these partnerships and devious efforts between government and white business interests that resulted in the once thriving Black community of Sugar Hill being destroyed.

I am not surprised that this story has never been fully told or the Continued from page 1A students recognized. This is why we must tell our story. This is indeed one It read: “To Schools Nearest Homes; State of the great ones. It will no longer go Board Approves 38 Princess Anne Transfers.” untold.”

Students

Some years before, the Pupil Placement Board was established to screen and evaluate Black students applying to enroll in allwhite schools. It approved 38 students to enroll in Woodstock Elementary School and Kempsville Junior High School (now Kemspville Middle School).

Virginia, said Hendrix, was still using its “Massive Resistance” policies to slow its compliance with the 1954 U.S. Supreme Court’s Decision declaring segregated public schools illegal.

Actually, according to Hendrix, there were 56 applicants, but the board denied 18.

An organization called the Princess Anne County Parents and Citizens League submitted the applications in the spring of 1962, according to the GUIDE. The Princess Anne County Schools 38’s entry into the history books reached this point without the noticeable drama and intrigue leading up to the February 1959 entry of the Norfolk 17 into six previous all-white schools.

There were no drawn-out legal battles between the NAACP and segregationists and or threats of violence to defend Massive Resistance to the court’s 1954 Brown Decision Unlike Norfolk, the state did not close the all-white Princess Anne County schools targeted for desegregation by the Black Parents’ applications to enroll their children in Woodstock Elementary and four in Kempsville Junior High School.

On page 17 of the September 29, 1962, Home Edition of the GUIDE, the images of 32 of the 38 students appeared in three separate photographs under the article “Princess Anne Civic Organizations Find There’s Strength in Unity.”

But while the public atmosphere was relative free of violence and legal resistance by whites before the 38 students enrolled in the two schools, once in the classrooms, the students did experience violence and humiliations, they reported in an interview with WAVY-TV 10 reporter Regina Mobley,

– Edna Hendrix, historian

According to Mobley’s story which aired recently, Thornton Russell described in detail how he was attacked by classmates while playing soccer.

“I was trying to fight them off,” Russell said.

“I couldn’t fight those big boys and I ran to the sideline and my teacher was standing right there with her arms folded and they ran back laughing…

There was physical pain and emotional pain,” Russell said.

Earnestine Hodnett told Mobley, “Each morning, I was faced with dogs being set up after me.”

When Mobley asked her “How were you treated once you were in the building,” Hodnett said, “Just as bad on the bus.”

Hendrix said getting all of the names of the first students and other information was not to be found in any of the Virginia Beach City Public Schools records.

Hendrix said she scoured the pages of white newspapers and that virtually nothing about the identification of the 38 students was found.

“I had to travel all the way to Richmond to the Library of Virginia to find all of the names of the students,” Hendrix told the GUIDE recently.

“All of the records were in Box 49 related to Princess Anne County.

All of the names were in the records of the Virginia Pupil Placement Board from 1957 to 1966.”

News of how the Black families convinced the State Board to agree to the initial 38 was based on various GUIDE articles written by staff reporters at that time.

As the other convincing arguments, the Black community used the premise that segregated school facilities used by Black and White students were indeed “separate but not equal.”

According to Hendrix, parents in the New Light and Centerville sections of the county were angered over the inadequate service and condition of the busses transporting their children to the “colored” Bettye F.

Williams Elementary and Union Kempsville High schools.

Hendrix said the old buses would not start on cold mornings or shut down along the route or in front of the school buildings.

According to the June 30, 1962 article in the GUIDE, Junius L. Gillis, President of the Parents-Citizens League of Princess Anne County, launched its desegregation effort when the organization did not receive an adequate response from the allWhite School Board or the administration on the issue.

The GUIDE reported how the Citizens-Parents League expressed relief that there were no violence or biter court battles similar to one witnessed in Norfolk leading up to the February 1959 entry of the Norfolk 17 into the six previous all-white schools.

Gillis said that the Placement Board decision was “indeed gratifying,” and there was no discussion on protesting the denial of the 18 applicants from the various other groups involved in the effort.

Thirty-four of the students would be allowed to attend Woodstock Elementary and four to Kempsville Junior High School.

According to the organizers of the upcoming event, this will be the first public recognition of “Princess Anne Count 38’s” entry into the chapter of the state’s history book on locales complying with the U.S. Supreme Court’s Brown Decision declaring segregated schools illegal.

Norfolk had a series of events observing the contributions of the Norfolk 17 sixty years after they made history.

The city has erected a monument highlighting their entry into the state’s history books.

“I am not surprised that this story has never been fully told or the students recognized,” said Hendrix. “This is why we must tell our story. This is indeed one of the great ones. It will no longer go untold.”

New Journal and Guide

8A | October 26, 2023 - November 1, 2023

A Celebration of Life

FOR MR. CHARLES EVANS

By Leonard A. Slade, Jr.

C

harles Evans, a spiritual giant, had a zest for life and great love for his wonderful family and genuine friends in North Carolina, Virginia, and Maryland, among other beautiful places in America. All of us, Charles believed, must stress the spirit, something Ralph Waldo Emerson said was “beyond and absolute toward which man and Nature are always tending.” ◆◆◆ Charles celebrated life with great enthusiasm and lived the word of God. He questioned, for he was always curious. He treated his beautiful wife, Dr. Jeanette Evans, like a queen. He was her cheerleader and best friend.

But not only that, he was a secure man who had no problem with his wife having a title. This was because he strongly believed, by the way he lived, that the spirit is an essence that is God, and the spirit is God in man, in all of us. This material world, he felt, is the incarnation of God. We are, Charles thought, always tending toward the spiritual. Like Emerson, he asked, who can set bounds to the possibilities of man, for man has access to the entire mind of the

Creator, through spirit. ◆◆◆ Perhaps these were reasons that Charles believed in living deeply and spiritually; he was friendly to everyone he met and never met a stranger. I believe he will be the life of the party in Glory. He loved everyone, and everywhere he went, there was a sweet spirit with Christ in his heart; he shared that spirit with us, and it made all of us better.

We shall never see anyone like him again. It is imperative that we follow his example, love one another, and remember, as he did, that we must shine our light of love to all. We shine when we are kind, as he was, when we are warmhearted, compassionate, and forgiving to others. We shine our brightest when we use our unique talents that God gave us to help make our world a better place. ◆◆◆ Perhaps Charles heard the voice of Isaiah near the end of his life: “Arise, shine; for your light has come and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.”

In Case You Missed It: Robert De Niro Delivers Powerful Anti-Trump Message In New York

By Stacy M. Brown

De Niro’s central message was clear: Trump is not merely a bad person; he is, in De Niro’s words, “evil.”

Senior National Correspondent @StacyBrownMedia NNPA NEWSWIRE Hollywood legend Robert De Niro delivered a forceful and unmistakable message at The New Republic’s “Stop Trump Summit” in New York City, condemning the twice-impeached, four-timesindicted former President Donald Trump without ambiguity.

Even though De Niro could not attend the event due to his ongoing recovery from COVID-19, he entrusted exTrump administration official Miles Taylor to read his excoriation of the 2024 GOP presidential frontrunner.

De Niro’s central message was clear: Trump is not merely a bad person; he is, in De Niro’s words, “evil.”

Drawing upon his extensive career playing various hoodlum characters and his real-life encounters with individuals of questionable moral character, De Niro offered a stark assessment of the former president, whom a civil jury found responsible this year for sexually assaulting a journalist.

“I’ve spent a lot of time studying bad men,” De Niro began. “I’ve examined their characteristics, their mannerisms, the utter banality of their cruelty. Yet there’s something different about Donald Trump. When I look at him, I don’t see a bad man. Truly. I see an evil one.”

De Niro went on to distinguish Trump from even the most notorious gangsters, remarking that while criminals often have some semblance of a moral code, Trump lacks any sense of right or wrong, ethics, or empathy for others. “He’s a

Robert De Niro wannabe tough guy with no morals or ethics. No sense of right or wrong. No regard for anyone but himself,” DeNiro said.

Drawing from his experiences as a New Yorker, De Niro attested to the city’s firsthand knowledge of Trump, whom he characterized as unfit for leadership. He pointed out that New Yorkers had already tried to warn the world about Trump in 2016, but their concerns went unheeded.

De Niro then highlighted the consequences of Trump’s presidency, including the divisive impact on America and the failures in responding to the early 2020 crisis, referring to the COVID-19 pandemic, where Trump’s actions resulted in a significant loss of life.

The actor likened Trump’s leadership to an abusive father ruling through fear and violence. He emphasized that Trump should not be underestimated and dismissed as a fool, as the danger of his impact on the nation was real and menacing.

He emphasized the urgency of the situation and called on Americans to take action, asserting that democracy’s survival depended on unity and collective effort to

prevent the return of what he described as a “wannabe dictator.”

He appealed to those who still supported Trump, urging respectful outreach rather than condemnation, and encouraged discussions centered on right and wrong, humanity, kindness, security, and decency.

“From this place where Abraham Lincoln spoke – right here in the beating heart of New York – to the rest of America: This is our last chance,” DeNiro asserted.

“Democracy won’t survive the return of a wannabe dictator. And it won’t overcome evil if we are divided. So what do we do about it? I know I’m preaching to the choir here.

What we’re doing today is valuable, but we have to take today into tomorrow – take it outside these walls. We have to reach out to the half of our country who have ignored the hazards of Trump and, for whatever reason, support elevating him back into the White House.”

In a rousing call to action, De Niro left the audience with the following challenge: “We won’t get them all, but we can get enough to end the nightmare of Trump, and fulfill the mission of this ‘Stop Trump Summit.’”

DEADLINE: OCTOBER 31 LAST CALL FOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS TO APPLY FOR DISNEY ACADEMY (LAKE BUENA VISTA, FLA.) America’s teens have until October 31 to try to dream big next year at Walt Disney World Resort. On October 31, applications close for Disney Dreamers Academy, a fourday career workshop designed for Black teens and students from underrepresented communities.

Anyone interested in applying or nominating a student can do so now at www.

DisneyDreamersAcademy.com.

Students selected for the program next spring will attend in-depth workshops in a variety of disciplines led by wellknown celebrities, educators, business executives, community leaders, and Disney cast members. These workshops introduce Disney Dreamers to diverse career paths within business, entertainment, sciences and more, including career opportunities

within The Walt Disney Company, as well as provides them with valuable life tools, leadership skills, effective communication techniques and networking strategies.

“We’re gearing up to bring the next generation of big dreamers to Walt Disney World for this life-changing program that has been inspiring students across America to reach for their dreams and providing with some of the tools they need to make those dreams a reality,” said Disney Signature Experiences vice president Tracey D. Powell, who is the program’s executive champion.

The 100 selected students will receive an all-expense-paid trip along with one parent or guardian to Walt Disney World Resort in Florida.

For more information, visit DisneyDreamersAcademy.com, or follow on social media.

Willis Continued from page 1A Jordan sent two formal letters to Willis. In his letter dated Sept. 27, he said Willis had a “hostile response” to his request to turn over documents related to her prosecution of former President Trump.

Jordan sent his first letter to Willis in late August – just hours before Trump surrendered to the Fulton

County Jail – he asked her to turn over all records related to her work on the 2020 election interference case.

He also asked if she had communicated with special counsel Jack Smith, who has also brought charges against Trump over his efforts to remain in power after losing the 2020 election.

Willis responded swiftly to Jordan. In addition to “attacking his “basic understanding of the law, its practice, and the ethical obligations, she urged him

to investigate the numerous threats she has faced since bringing the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) case against Trump and 18 co-defendants.

On Sept. 29, Scott Hall, one of the 18 defendants charged along with former President Donald Trump, became the first defendant to enter a guilty plea in the case, according to news reports.

Hall pleaded guilty to five misdemeanor charges and will be sentenced to five years’ probation.

INDIGENOUS PEOPLES CELEBRATION AT MACHICOMOCO STATE PARK, NOV. 4 GLOUCESTER, VA Machicomoco State Park is hosting its annual Indigenous Peoples Celebration from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. at the Interpretative Area on November 4, 2023.

Learn about local tribes, experience traditional dance and drums and interact with the exhibitors at this unique event.

“This event provides a great opportunity for our guests to immerse themselves in the culture and history of the Indigenous Peoples of Virginia,” said Machicomoco State Park Manager Terry Sims. “The park is rich in culture and visitors can take part in hands-on demonstrations while they learn about traditional plant uses and the wildlife and natural resource management used by the Virginia Indians. Our goal is that visitors will continue to explore and learn about the Indigenous Peoples of Virginia and their story of persistence.”

The celebration will include dance performances at 10:30 a.m., noon, and 1:30 p.m. by the Rappahannock Native American Dancers & Maskapow Drum Group. The performances will be held at the Demonstration Circle of the Interpretive Area.

The event gathers diverse community educators from across sectors including Virginia Tribes to celebrate and acknowledge Indigenous history, culture, and persistence in the Commonwealth. Educational vendors will be spread out

through the interpretive trails for a more interactive experience. There will be demonstrations of flint knapping, cordage twisting, dugout canoe burning and fishnet tying that provide a fun opportunity to learn new skills.

“This year we have more exhibitors, and we appreciate the participation from the community as they see the importance of bringing

this event to the public,” said Machicomoco State Park Chief Ranger Josh Mazzatenta. “We are excited to share this event with the public and support the stories of the Indigenous Peoples in Virginia.”

The event is free, but there is a $5 parking fee.

For more information about the event or the park, call Machicomoco State Park at (804) 642-2419.

New Journal and Guide

October 26, 2023 - November 1, 2023 | Section B

SECTION B

COMMUNITY & MORE ...

SCENES FROM IMPACTING LIVES CEREMONY – A REUNION EVENT ...see page 4B and 5B

NSU CELEBRATES ITS 2023 HOMECOMING THIS WEEKEND

NORFOLK Norfolk State University welcomes students, alumni and friends to the campus for its 2023 Homecoming this week, October 22-29, 2023.

The theme is “There’s No Place Like Home.” Highlights of the week include a step show, golf tournament, parade, football game, and much more.

Each year over 20,000 alumni, students, friends and community partners come back to participate in this multifaceted celebration that has fostered a long legacy of fellowship, entertainment and Spartan pride.

Alumni activities at the Norfolk Division of Virginia State College (VSC) began on November 28, 1949 when the Norfolk Division of Virginia State College Alumni Association was formally organized. At that

Lavoris Pace time, one game during football season was designated as Homecoming and this concept has become increasingly successful as time passed.

This year’s Ms. Alumni is Alisia D. Smith-Rucker of Alexandria, Va., a business professional and consultant.

She is a 1994 graduate of NSU with a Bachelor of Arts in

Psychology. Currently, she is in her second term as President of the NSUAA’s 2023 Chapter of the Year (35+) award recipient, the Alumni Cheerleaders Chapter. She also serves as Vice President of the Greater Northern Virginia Spartan Foundation and is former First Vice President of the NSUAA. The annual Homecoming Parade is Saturday morning, October 28 at 8 a.m. Grand Marshal for 2023 is NSU ’87 alumnus and City of Norfolk Deputy City Manager LaVoris Pace.

The parade will begin at Booker T. Washington High School at Park Avenue and Virginia Beach Boulevard and move east on Virginia Beach Boulevard. It will then make a right turn on Merrimac Avenue, heading south; right on Corprew Avenue, heading west; and will conclude at near

Corprew and Park Avenues, at Gate 4. The Viewing Stand will be in front of the NSU Police Building, which is located on Corprew Avenue.

Other NSU Homecoming activities are as follows: Thursday, October 26, NSUAA 28th Annual Alumni Classic Golf Tournament; and Spartan Spiritfest, Spartan Greens (Outside) on Friday, October 27 from noon to 6 p.m.

SpiritFest is a time for students, alumni and friends to reunite and rekindle old friendships while developing new ones in a spirited atmosphere. There will be food, art and cultural vendors, music, performances, and NSU exhibits.

The Homecoming football game kicks off at 2 p.m. on Saturday at the William “Dick” Price Stadium.

New Journal and Guide

2B | October 26, 2023 - November 1, 2023

MOMENTS of MEDITATION

By Rev. Dr. Archie L. Edwards, Sr.

GOD IS LIGHT Read: 1 John 1 With this lesson we begin a study of four of the seven New Testament letters which, since early in the Christian era, have been referred to as “general epistle:” 1, 2, 3 John and Jude.

In this week’s lesson we shall look at 1 John 1. But before doing so, we shall consider several questions about the writer. Who was he? Why did he write this letter? What is unique about his style of writing?

The Writer. This epistle differs from all the other New Testament letters except Hebrews in that it does not include the name of the writer. However, most commentators think that the letter was written by the Apostle John. They believe it was written late in his life and that it was intended for circulation among the churches of the Roman province of a sin.

His Purpose. To find out why John wrote this letter, we need only read what he himself said about his purposes in writing. One of these appears clearly in the letter: that its recipients may have fellowship with the writer, just as he has fellowship with the Father and His Son (1 John 1:3). A second reason for the letter was to instruct believers

in truth so that they would not be led astray by some who were propagating false doctrine (2:26).

Finally John summarizes his intention as being “that you may know that you have eternal life” (5:13).

In addition to these stated purposes, there are two emphases that permeate the entire letter, one theological and one practical. The theological emphasis is on the nature of Christ.

The other emphasis is on the kind of life a believer should live because of his or her faith in Christ.

His Style. The principle stylistic characteristic of 1 John is the absence of a sequential organizational scheme. This is not to say or imply that the letter is incoherent or unintelligible.

Actually, it contains the most profound ideas presented in deceptively simple language. These ideas sometimes crop in unexpected places, but they lend a unifying aura to the whole.

John recorded – under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit but in his own unique manner – significant and indispensable insights into many aspects of Christian doctrine and behavior. His letter reflects not only the wisdom of an aged Apostle,

but also the enduring council of God for His church.

The Message Proclaimed.

We notice from 1 John 1: 1-4 how John begins his letter with a statement about the person of Jesus Christ, which he makes as an eye witness: He was both God and man. Some Greek philosophy taught that matter was evil and Spirit was good. If this were true, then the ideas that God made Himself human in the person of Jesus Christ could not be accepted without some modification, for God (who is Spirit, and thus good) could not exist in the body of a human being (which is matter, and thus evil). This led to two ways of explaining the nature of Christ: 1. The body of Jesus was not a real physical body, but simply an appearance or manifestation of the Christ, who is spirit. 2. The body of Jesus, though a real physical body, served only as a temporary vehicle for the Christ, we entered it at baptism and departed from it before the crucifixion.

John, however, taught that the incarnation – the embodiment of God in human flesh in the person of Jesus Christ – in no way made Him any less God than when He was “with the Father” (v. 2), “in the beginning” (John 1:1). It is to this God-Man, Jesus Christ, that John is bearing witness. He is doing this so that the recipients of his letter may have fellowship with him, just as he has fellowship with God the Father and Jesus Christ, God’s only Son (1 John1: 3). ...see Light, page 6B

REBECCA’S WELL BY REV. DR. REBECCA R. RIVKA

MAJOR BIBLE PRAYER TITLES FROM GENESIS TO REVELATION PT. 2 Prayer in the Old Testament is in contrast with prayer in the New Testament in two respects.

In the OT, prayer was based on God’s Covenant with His people or a revealed aspect of His Character as merciful, gracious, almighty, everlasting and so-forth. Old Testament prayers were commonly those asking for protection from enemies, prayers for procreation or demonstrations of God’s mighty power. In contrast, NT prayers embodied requests for instruction on living the good life, doctrine on prayer, petitions for mental and physical healing, forgiveness for self and others, and inner spiritual growth and power.

(Scofield pg. 957) In the New Testament, the basis of prayer is relationship.

Jesus instituted this new revelation on the doctrine of prayer when He taught His disciples to say “When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in Heaven ...”(MT 6:913) (Lk 2:1-13). This is the often called Lord’s Prayer because Jesus gave it to His disciples. Jesus is not praying Himself. The NT reveals prayer as a child’s petition to an all loving, all wise and all-powerful Father God, whose Heart

Rev. Dr. Rebecca R. Rivka glows with all affections toward those who love and believe on His Precious Son Jesus Christ (MT 6: 25-32; 7: 9-11). The Lord’s Prayer is the incomparable model for all prayer. It teaches that right prayer begins with worship that acknowledges the power and glory of God before merely personal interests and petitions and accepts before hand the Father’s Will, leaving the future to His care and love. This is what I call a “Thy will be done prayer.” We don’t pray this way in a petition prayer when we have a cutoff notice from the water department and no money to pay the electric bill.

Finally, The Lord’s Prayer is based upon legal, not church ground. We are forgiven by Divine Forgiveness as we forgive others who are indebted to

us. This is Divine Law and opposite of Divine Grace in which ( Ephesians 4:32 ) is exactly the reverse of the law – “And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ sake hath forgiven you.”

Therefore, used as a form, the Lord’s Prayer is dispensed theologically as The Divine Ordering of Worldly Affairs. It is not a prayer in the Name of Jesus, wherein Jesus says“And whatsoever ye shall ask in My Name , that I will do that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My Name, I will do it.” (John 14:1314). Jesus presses His point – “Verily,verily, I say unto you, whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in My Name, He will give it to you ... Ask and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.”

(John 16: 23-24) Prayer should be definite , specific and not discouraged by delayed answers.

Remember, Daniel’s prayers for his beloved Israel were held up by the adversary for 21 days.

(Daniel 10:1314) Preachers call this colloquially (informal conversation or speech) – “Delayed but not denied.”

Blessings and Shalom ... to be continued

Got Church News? Send Us An Email at njguide@gmail.com

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New Journal and Guide

October 26, 2023 - November 1, 2023 | 3B

LOCAL VOICES Missy Elliot Donates $50,000 To Help FOX NEWS’ Guttfield’s Gutter War Portsmouth Families The Right is now the party that

By Sean C. Bowers

Doubt me, Sean C. Bowers, New Journal & Guide “Local Voice” the past 26 years with over 440 published offerings?

Please set the table for this week’s offering below with some general background perspective from a much more famous more widely read writer’s CNN published work.

Google this: “What violent threats against the Jim Jordan holdouts tell us about the GOP,” an Opinion by John Avlon. (Updated October 21, 2023 at 6:03 p.m.)

Even though the Right uses art-form gerrymandering and (boa constrictor) voter restriction, and they also have the huge advantage of the Electoral College, they still can’t win elections and they know it. They won’t evolve, grow, and offer better more mainstream, more electable candidates to match where the country is evolving towards.

Now they openly want violence and a war HERE, on United States’ streets.

They want the majority of those they oppose (and don’t represent) to surrender their rights. Surely this is not American. Voting is the only reasonable alternative, opposed to violence.

The FOX NEWS supposed comedy show host recently offered a ‘call to violence because the vote doesn’t work.’ What a clear dog whistle admission of a loser platform! Want to stop being a loser? Change your platform, don’t pick up a gun. Violence is the fastest way to no rights for anyone.

Trouble is, the Right sees everything through their White Confederate (8 times wealthier than the average Black family) Lens. They always have.

Photo: Randy Singleton This group will always want Mayor Glover and Missy Elliott in Portsmouth in October 2022. to maintain an advantage.

PORTSMOUTH Kayla Hale and her children expect to remain in their Portsmouth home, thanks to a recent $50,000 donation that Portsmouth native and Grammy award-winning singer Missy Elliot made to the Portsmouth Redevelopment and Housing Authority for families facing eviction.

Elliot’s recent donation comes on the heels of Gov. Glenn Youngkin recognizing Oct. 17, 2022, as Missy Elliott Day in Virginia. The event included a renaming ceremony and parade to rename McLean Street to Missy Elliott Boulevard, which 3,600 people attended at Manor High School. Elliot received another honor this past May. She became the first female hip-hop artist to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

Of Elliot’s recent donation that was announced on the

second anniversary of Missy Elliot Day in Virginia, Hale said, “I am just grateful. It will help me out a whole lot.”

Elliot, who grew up in a single-parent home in Virginia, said, “I felt like I could relate to being in a place where you don’t know where you are going next.”

Elliot added, “I wanted to give back.”

Portsmouth Mayor Shannon Glover said, “It was an opportunity for someone who has been through a lot in life (to) give something back to the community that gave her so much. What it meant to the families here in the city of Portsmouth is hope.”

Alisa Winston, executive director of the Portsmouth Redevelopment and Housing Authority, said of Elliot’s recent donation, “This will help 26 of our families who are past due on their rent remain in their homes.”

embraces and celebrates violence.

Sean C. Bowers The “LEVERAGE,” control over, special considerations, more rights, and the ability to subjugate others; Blacks, all non-whites, women, LGBTQ members, and anyone whom they deem a “threat.”

When you admit wrongdoing (or are caught) and you cheat to win, lie to win, and still lose, what does that tell you about your issues?

What does it say about your platform, choices, candidates, psychosis, (choices of) media content consumption, misinformation intake, and redissemination?

The choice to promote any violence from the shrinking White majority, (59 percent of America’s White total population) is their lastditch effort before the final cliff (suicide death throw) jump of total futility. The Right loses on: more voters, reproduction-(both making babies and being pro [baby] life), gun reform, climate change, the Rule of Law, and the entire 246-year-old voting representative democratic systemic processes of our Democratic Republic.

Smart people, scammers, brilliant people, scoundrels, con-men, and flimflammers are direct descendants of our pasts- their pasts. Today’s White RITER’S, QaNon, extreme MAGA 45’ers and election deniers are the 4-way branded berating worst of

the internet’s digital bowels capabilities when channeled and focused directly back on us, from within. They are standing on the racist, sexist, classist, religious persecuting shoulders of their past Confederate/NAZI heroes (only in their minds) whose intolerance they aspire to emulate and they revere.

Once slavers, they were forced to give up that in the 1860s. Making all citizens equal was going too far for them in the 1960s Civil Rights era. Now they still want to run things (big White) business as usual and for others to not have the very advantages they stole from the Native Americans and worsened on the backs of slavery’s evils.

Defying the law is no longer a move of the Left or their “go-to” move. The Right is now the party that embraces and celebrates violence. They are the (after) party the of lawless riots and (WASPY) gatherings like Charlottesville and January 6th. This is their Old Southern ancestorial utterances and unrepentance’s unleashed.

On every occasion the Left promotes restraint, tolerance, peace, understanding peace and democracy.

What does the Right have on tap for the future? What is their vision? They only offer more complaints, “culture wars” conjectured concocted controversies, conspiracy theories, and endless White grievance-triggerings.

The Right has no leaders, no ideas, no goals, no platform, no orientation, no seeming morals, no scruples, and no bottom that they won’t willingly take us all down to experience firsthand

(unwillingly) for ourselves.

The Right’s platform is violence: to first hold political hostages, then rebrand them kill them as terrorists, mainline them as threats, and, as an end goal, enslave them and us again.

Potential Solutions: Option 1: VOTE! Option 2: Evolve.

Option 3: Compromise, don’t promise division. Option 4: Fix the holes in your souls.

Option 5: DISMANTLE or Only TRUST news source broadcast platform networks that feeds that don’t feed lies full force to their own viewers’ faces night and daily or pay nearly two-billion-dollar settlements FOR KNOWING LYING FOR AND LIKE THEIR REPUBLICAN POLITICIANS DO, HAVE DONE, ARE DOING! Option 5: Peace. Option 6: All of the above.

America does not have to continue to become total gutter balls. Exit Guttfield and FOX NEWS, LEFT!!!

BEFORE NOTHING IS LEFT!!!

Sean C. Bowers has written the last twenty-five years, as a White Quaker 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.

New Journal and Guide

4B | October 26, 2023 - November 1, 2023

Scenes from Impacting Lives T

he New Journal and Guide hosted “Impacting Lives, A Reunion,” its first in-person event since COVID-19, at the Murray Center on Saturday, Oct. 21. Three hundred guests turned out to help the newspaper celebrate the 9th Annual Impacting Lives Breakfast that recognizes persons who are making a significant impact on the community. Since 2014, more than 80 people have received the New Journal and Guide’s award, and many were on hand for the reunion.

Two new community members – Mr. Al Alexander, President

of the New Chesapeake Men for Progress Foundation, and Mrs. Margie W. Coefield, a retired educator, historian, and community volunteer, received their awards from 2021 that were not presented at that time due to the pandemic.

Serving as Community Host was Rev. Dr. James Edwards, who along with NJG Host Brenda H. Andrews, Publisher, kept the program moving from 9 to noon.

Providing steel drum music was Dr. Anthony Hailey, CEO and Founder of the Mosaic Steel Drum Orchestra.

All Photos by Randy Singleton

Burning Bush Worship Center

(L-R): Mayor Kenneth Alexander, Barbara Ciara, Barbara fiance and Lavoris Pace (L-R): Bonita B. Harris, Margie W. Coefield, “Cadillac” Harris, Margie daughter’s Sonya

Co-host: Brenda H. Andrews and Rev. Dr. James Edwards Ms. Andrews

Mayor Alexander

Oronde Andrews

Rev. Dr. Keith Jones

New Chesapeake for Progress with Congressman Bobby Scott

Norfolk Councilman J.P. Paige,VB Councilwoman Jennifer Rouse,VB Councilwoman Dr. Ameila Ross-Hammond, Ms. Andrews, Congressman Scott, Chesapeake Councilwoman Dr. Ella P.Ward, Mayor Alexander, Delegate Aaron Rouse

New Journal and Guide

October 26, 2023 - November 1, 2023 | 5B

Ceremony - A Reunion Event

Dominion Energy members with Hampton Roads political leaders Congressman Scott

(L-R): Chloe Jones, Al Alexander and Rev. Edwards Senator Louise Lucas and Ambassador Bismarck Myrick

Sean Bowers and friends

Chief Reporter Leonard Colvin

Margie W. Coefield is awarded Members of Team New Journal and Guide

Tory Ward, Councilwoman Ella P. Ward and Congressman Scott

Returning honorees Julius McCollough and Anne Boone arrive

Al Alexander is awarded

Team Andrews

New Journal and Guide

6B | October 26, 2023 - November 1, 2023

BOOKWORM REVIEW

By Terri Schlichenmeyer

The Vice President’s Black Wife: The Untold Life of Julia Chinn The deed to the house will be yours, free and clear, very soon.

Once the mortgage is paid off, yep, the house and the land are yours. Follow the paperwork, and there are many things you can outright own: a bike, a truck, a dog or cat, but unlike the story you’ll find in “The Vice President’s Black Wife” by Amrita Chakrabarti Myers, that doesn’t extend to a spouse.

In the late 18th century, when America was merely a teenager, “Kentucky was the frontier,” says Myers, with great stands of trees between “vast swath[s] of rich, fertile land.” Robert Johnson was a surveyor in that area, and he liked what he saw. He and his wife arranged to buy several thousand acres of the best farmland around.

This made Johnson a wealthy man and, by extension, his oldest son would never want for a thing.

And so when young Richard, born in 1780, was all grown up but still unmarried, his parents gave him a plantation and a hundred slaves to run it.

One of them was Julia Chinn.

Fourteen years old, Julia was pretty, smart, and capable; in fact, Richard’s mother chose her to run his house while he was away in Washington, particularly because of her intelligence

same time, so very interesting, history books would like us to “The Vice President’s Black believe and that, surprisingly, Wife” proves that there are a extended to Julia Chinn. It’s lot of things about history left truly eye-opening. to learn.

Still, this book is chilling in Starting with Julia’s the what-ifs – perhaps even mother, author Amrita more so because Julia was Chakrabarti Myers begins in well aware of them and so are a commonplace place – the readers. These possibilities lives of enslaved women and will leave you shaken with children – but she departs the twist in the story at the end from the norm by telling of the book, which will send tales with a large dash of you racing back to re-read the feminism. In many ways, preface. Or you might just reas she shows, women both read it all because “The Vice white and enslaved often President’s Black Wife” is and her management abilities. had much more power than that kind of book, indeed.

It didn’t take long for Richard to notice Julia, or for him bed her, then wed her.

Myers hints that spite made Richard do it, or that he was flaunting social mores.

It surely wasn’t illegal to sexually assault one’s female slaves; in Kentucky, it wasn’t illegal to marry someone of another race, either. Was there affection in the marriage or, as Myers suggests, was it a business transaction, with Julia trading her freedom for their daughters’ future?

We may never know.

Richard didn’t sell Julia and he never freed her, though his girls received manumission.

But after his service as Vice President of the U.S. and his death at a ripe old age, his brothers conspired to erase the family he loved ...

Sometimes uneven, sometimes repetitive, but at the ... answers to this week’s puzzle.

FUN PUZZLE FOR YOUR LEISURE

Light Continued from page 2B John is proclaiming not only that the Word of life has appeared, but also that God, who was embodied in the person of Jesus Christ, is light, totally so, without any darkness at all. Everything about God – and thus about Jesus Christ – is holy and right, good and true, Christians, knowing the God who is light, must then walk in that light. It is to this application of the message that John turns in the rest of this chapter.

The Message Applied.

With verse 6, John introduces a series of five “if” clauses, which are intended to show that a person who claims to have fellowship with the Father through faith in Jesus Christ must be concerned about the kind of life he or she is living. Some claimed that since matter was held to be evil and Spirit was thought to be good, since the maternal body would someday be destroyed while the Spirit

would endure eternally, one need not be concerned about the body and its behavior.

This teaching, of course, contradicted the Christian doctrine of the resurrection and continuing existence of the body as well as the standards of behavior that Jesus and the Apostles taught. Genuine fellowship with God also means fellowship with believers (v. 7), for the horizontal and vertical dimensions of fellowship are inseparable (see v. 3).

John speaks plainly to those who claim either that they have no sin in their nature (v. 8) or that they are no longer guilty of specific sins (v. 10). He is characteristically blunt in saying that “if we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us” (v. 8).

So faith in Jesus Christ, God manifest in the flesh.

Means not only that we experience forgiveness of sin when we first came to Him, but that we must continue to walk in the light of His will.

Rev. Dr. Archie L. Edwards, Sr., is an Associate Minister at Second Calvary Baptist Church in Norfolk.

CLASSIFIEDS REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS

REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS CONTRACT ID #: C00116201DB126 I-81 CIP EXIT 143 TO EXIT 150 WIDENING

The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) is seeking Statements of Qualifications for the I-81 CIP Exit 143 to Exit 150 Widening designbuild project from qualified and experienced respondents with design and construction experience of highway facilities. The Project is located along Interstate 81 between approximately Mile Marker 143.0 in Roanoke County and approximate Mile Marker 151.7 in Botetourt County Virginia. The project adds a third lane to northbound and southbound I -81 beginning near the Exit 143 interchange and ending north of the Exit 150 interchange. The total project length is approximately 8.7 miles. Project improvements include, but are not limited to, the following: an additional lane on both northbound and southbound Interstate 81; two bridges replaced over Route 1836 (Belle Haven Road); two bridges replaced over Route 648 (Reservoir Road); two bridges replaced over Tinker Creek and Norfolk Southern Railway; two bridges replaced over US Route 220 (Roanoke Road).

The work includes, among other things all work required to support the design and construction of: (a) roadway; (b) survey; (c) structure and/ or bridge; (d) resurfacing of existing asphalt pavement; resurfacing, repairing, rehabilitating (rubblizing, unbonded overlay), and/or removing of existing concrete pavement; (e) environmental (f) geotechnical; (g) hydraulics; (h) stormwater management; (i) traffic control devices; (j) transportation management plan; (k) right-of-way; (l) utilities; (m) public involvement/relations (n) quality assurance and quality control; (o) Intelligent Transportation Systems; (p) railroad; (q) construction engineering and inspection; and (r) overall Project management.

Questions/clarifications regarding the Request for Qualifications (RFQ) should be submitted to Joseph A. Clarke, PE, DBIA (joseph.clarke@vdot. virginia.gov).

Copies of the RFQ and additional submittal requirements can be found on Bid Express (bidexpress.com) The Department assures compliance with Title VI requirements of nondiscrimination in all activities pursuant to this advertisement.

INVITATION FOR BIDS

INVITATION FOR BIDS NANSEMOND PARKWAY/BENNETTS PASTURE ROAD INTERSECTION IFB # 24024-JS

City of Suffolk, VA, will accept bids until 3 p.m., December 7, 2023 from qualified firms for the Nansemond Parkway / Bennetts Pasture Road Intersection Improvement project. Sealed Bids are to be delivered to Purchasing Office, Suffolk City Hall, 442 W. Washington St., Suffolk, VA 23434.

This contract may be funded with state monies and is subject to all related requirements, policies and procedures.

Questions concerning this project and the related documents should be directed to Jay Smigielski, Purchasing Agent, jsmigielski@suffolkva.us (757) 514-7523

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