NJG-Volume-123_No-45_Nov_9_2023

NEWJOURNAL & GUIDE Serving Norfolk, Portsmouth, Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Suffolk & The Peninsula

Vol. 123, No. 45 | $1.50

November 9, 2023 - November 15, 2023

Publishing since 1900 ... that no good cause shall lack a champion and evil shall not thrive unopposed.

www.thenewjournalandguide.com

WHO’S POLLING BLACK AMERICAN VOTERS?

By Rosaland Tyler

...only about 20 percent of those who actually participated in the recent NYT poll were non-white.

Associate Editor New Journal and Guide

In 2024, Black voters must turn out at the polls in huge numbers because it’s unknown how many pollsters actually ask Black voters, ‘What do you think about President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump?’

It’s impossible to tell the total number of Blacks who weighed-in on the recent New York Times and Siena Poll, which shows former President Donald Trump is leading President Joe Biden in five of six swing states – Nevada, Georgia, Arizona, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin – all of which Biden won in 2020. That poll is showing up on news accounts with

President Joe Biden

Ex Pres. Donald Trump

headiness practically giving Donald Trump a clear way to the 2024 election.

Yet, if you scroll through the recent Nov. 5, 2023 poll, a linear graph shows only about 20 percent of those who actually participated in the recent poll were non-white.

Most voters were ages 45 to 64. About 20 percent of the

respondents were college grads.

Based on this new and possibly questionable poll, some prominent newscasters continue to say almost half of all Democrats would prefer Biden hang up his Air Force One bomber jacket after one term.

However, Biden’s support

still remains strong among Black voters, who cast 89 percent of their total votes for Biden in 2020. Has that fact evaporated into thin air? Some polls say Biden’s favorability ratings among Black voters shifted from 84 percent right after he took office in 2021 to 74 percent at the end of March 2023, according to YouGov/Economist polling, but few polls substantiate these claims. ...see Polls, page 2A Photo: Randy Singleton

Popular Maryland Governor Stumps In Va. Beach State Senator L. Louise Lucas,TKO! 18th District, returns to the Virginia

Senate as a Senior Leader poised to lead the Senate Appropriation committee, another first in her lengthy political career. Shown with daughter Lisa Burke,Vice Mayor, City of Portsmouth.

DEMS CLAIM VA. STATE HOUSE!

By Leonard E. Colvin

Chief Reporter New Journal and Guide

Photo: Courtesy

VIRGINIA BEACH Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (back row center) campaigned during the closing days before Tuesday, November 7 elections with Democratic candidates in Hampton Roads, the Richmond area, and Northern Virginia in one of the most closely watched statewide races in the nation.

In Hampton Roads, he spoke in Virginia Beach before a big crowd, hosted by State Senate candidate Aaron Rouse and joined by Congresspersons Bobby Scott and Jennifer McClellan, other State House and Senate hopefuls, Hampton Roads mayors, and local city council members. ...see page 6A

Virginia Democrats won the 2023 Legislative General Election on November 7 reclaiming both the State House and keeping the Senate In unofficial results just before 7 a.m. Wednesday morning, Democrats had majorities of 21-19 in the Senate and 51-49 in the House of Delegates. All 140 legislative seats were on the ballot. Pivotal to

the House flip was won by Michael Feggans over incumbent Karen Greenhalgh in Virginia Beach.

The thin majorities will allow Democrats to keep Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin in check on issues such as abortion which may have energized Independent and Democratic voters, fearing Republicans would restrict the time a woman could undergo the procedure, from the state’s current 22 weeks. ...see Dems, page 6A

DR. LA FRANCIS RODGERS-ROSE:

A THANKFUL HEART FOR 21 YEARS

By Leonard E. Colvin

Having a heart transplant was risky, but there was a chance a suitable donor could come forth before her time and heart ran out.

Chief Reporter New Journal and Guide Twenty-one years ago, Dr. La Francis RodgersRose, the founder and leader of the International Black Women’s Congress (IBWC), was at the forefront of advocating and supporting Black women and their families on issues related to physical and mental wellness.

The Virginia native was based in Newark, New Jersey at the time, an urban center where social, economic, and health disparities were evident.

Then, as now, heart disease, various cancers, diabetes, substance abuse, and other maladies were impacting Blacks disproportionately.

Sexually Transmitted

Dr. La Francis Rodgers-Rose Diseases (STDs) were a common and historic scourge in the Black communities. But HIV, which causes AIDS, made it deadlier and people were dying left and right, she said.

“I was busy with the IBWC, my activism, and realizing that I was making a difference in lives and the life of my people,” she recalled.

She and her husband had nurtured two adult offspring who were sailing along in the early stages of their careers.

In 2002, Rodgers-Rose was in her mid-60s, was health-conscious, and avoided drinking, smoking, certain foods, and other factors that led to any impairment of her age.

But one day after flying back to her New Jersey home from Jamaica, Rodgers-Rose had to call her sister Cynthia Rodgers who lived in Chesapeake.

She recalled that while walking through the airport to her car, she could hardly

breathe.

“I told her she needed to take a rest,” said Cynthia Photo: Courtesy Rodgers, who directs the Delegate Aaron Rouse moves from the House to the programs for the IBWC. Senate as the winner in the new Senate 22nd District, “I told her that she was defeating Republican Kevin Adams, 56% - 44%. working way too hard and needed to relax more.”

Rodgers-Rose thought she had a bad case of asthma.

“My doctor looked me over and discovered I had issues with my heart ... serious ones,” she recalled.

“That was a Friday. The doctor told me if I made it to Monday, I should see a heart specialist. I did and he told me my heart was working at eight percent capacity.” ...see Thanks, page 8A

National Miss Juneteenth 2024 Is Crowned NEW ORLEANS – DeMia (Mia) Taylor of Alabama was crowned National Miss Juneteenth 2024 on October 21. Over the next year, she will serve as the see page 7A Youth Ambassador for Juneteenth nationwide and worldwide. ......see

Photo: Courtesy

Michael B. Feggans will enter the Virginia House of Delegates representing the 97th District after defeating Republican Karen Greenhalgh, 54% to 46%.

New Journal and Guide

2A | November 9, 2023 - November 15, 2023

MISSISSIPPI LEADERS ISSUE PLEA TO HONOR MEDGAR EVERS WITH MEDAL OF FREEDOM

By Stacy M. Brown

Evers unwavering dedication to equality, voting rights, and social NNPA NEWSWIRE justice culminated in his tragic M i s s i s s i p p i ’s congressional delegation assassination outside his Jackson, has called on President Joe Biden to posthumously Mississippi, home on June 12, 1963.

Senior National Correspondent @StacyBrownMedia

award civil rights icon Medgar Wiley Evers with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Senators Roger Wicker and Cindy Hyde-Smith, alongside Representatives Bennie Thompson, Trent Kelly, Michael Guest, and Mike Ezell, penned a heartfelt letter to Biden, imploring him to bestow the honor upon Evers, whose unwavering dedication to equality, voting rights, and social justice culminated in his tragic assassination outside his Jackson, Mississippi, home on June 12, 1963.

Polls Continued from page 1A As a result, many are skeptical of Trump’s alleged 2024 favorability rating, including GOP presidential candidate Asa Hutchinson, who said at the Florida Republican Party’s recent annual Freedom Summit, “As someone who’s been in the courtroom for over 25 years, as a federal prosecutor, and also in defending some of the most serious federal criminal cases, I can say that there is a significant likelihood that Donald Trump will be found guilty by a jury on a felony offense next year.”

While recent polls and news reports suggest Biden’s multi-racial base is eroding, it is unclear how many pollsters and journalists are actually ringing up Black voters, nationwide, and talking for hours about Biden and Trump On average, Biden still leads among Black voters and Hispanic voters across national surveys so far this year.

“If he wins again next year, Biden’s final act in public life could be the surest flex of Black political power in decades,” Time magazine noted in April 2023.

It appears pollsters and journalists are obviously not ringing up Black voters, although they are clearly ringing up White voters.

Further, the most recent poll’s conclusion shows Trump actually leads Biden by only five points and Vice President Kamala Harris by only three points. Four years ago, many polls showed Biden as the most electable Democrat against Trump.

Ultimately, Biden won the election.

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 New Journal and Guide (USPS 0277560/ISSN 8096) is published weekly on Thursday for $50 per year, $30 per year for six months by New Journal and Guide Publishing, Incorporated,5127 East Va. Beach Blvd., Suite 100, Norfolk, VA 23510. Periodicals Postage Paid at Norfolk, VA 23501. Postmaster: Send address changes to New Journal and Guide, P.O. Box 209, Norfolk, VA 23501. The New Journal and Guide is not responsible for any unsolicited manuscripts, photographs or related materials.

The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the highest civilian honor in the United States, recognizing those who have made an indelible mark through “an especially meritorious contribution to the security or national interests of the United States, world peace, cultural, or other significant public or private endeavors.” The President personally chooses the recipients of the award.

Throughout his toobrief life, Evers stood as a beacon of courage against the entrenched racism of the segregated South. He waged a tireless battle against the oppressive Jim Crow laws, championed the desegregation of education, and boldly probed into the horrific Emmett Till lynching.

His pivotal role as the

inaugural field officer for the NAACP in Mississippi allowed him to forge new local chapters, organize crucial voter registration drives, and lead historic protests for desegregation in public schools, parks, and the iconic Mississippi Gold Coast beaches.

Evers’ journey as a civil rights activist began with a harrowing encounter when he and five friends were forcibly turned away from a local election at gunpoint. The intensely personal experience, coupled with his service in the Battle of Normandy during World War II, drove Evers to confront the painful reality that even defending his nation did not shield him from the scourge of racism or guarantee him equal rights.

According to his

Medgar Evers official NAACP bio, following his studies at the historically Black Alcorn State University and his tenure selling life insurance in Mound Bayou, a predominantly Black community, Evers assumed leadership of the Regional Council of Negro Leadership (RCNL).

Under his guidance, the RCNL launched a successful boycott of gas stations that denied restroom access to Black patrons, distributing bumper stickers emblazoned with the rallying cry, “Don’t Buy Gas Where You Can’t Use the Restroom.” The annual conferences held

between 1952 and 1954 in Mound Bayou drew tens of thousands, underscoring Evers’ magnetic ability to inspire collective action.

The NAACP said Evers’ relentless pursuit of desegregation at the University of Mississippi Law School culminated in the landmark 1962 enrollment of James Meredith, eight years after he initiated that battle. On that fateful June 12, 1963, evening, Evers, bearing NAACP T-shirts emblazoned with the defiant slogan “Jim Crow Must Go,” was shot in the back upon entering his driveway.

He succumbed to

his wounds at a local hospital, a martyr for the cause of civil rights. His assassination, occurring mere hours after President John F. Kennedy’s historic televised address in support of civil rights, sent shockwaves through the nation.

Though Byron De La Beckwith, a member of the Ku Klux Klan, was arrested for Evers’ murder, he remained free after all-white juries twice failed to reach a verdict on his guilt. It would take three decades for justice to prevail, as De La Beckwith was finally convicted. Evers was buried at Arlington National Cemetery, honored with full military rites and in the presence of more than 3,000 mourners.

Evers’ legacy endures, echoed in the music of luminaries like Bob Dylan and Phil Ochs, and immortalized in the 1996 film “The Ghosts of Mississippi.” His family, including his wife, Myrlie Evers-Williams, and brother Charles, continued to carry forth his torch.

From The Guide’s Archives

Archives taken from the pages of the (New) Journal and Guide November 9, 1957 Edition of the Guide Resettlement Plan Aims To Embarrass Segregationist Foes ATLANTA, GA A group of white Georgia leaders who favor segregation of the races have devised a scheme which they expect to embarrass northern liberals by resettling Negro families from the South in their neighborhoods, it was declared here last week. It is reported that the plan calls for moving a Negro family near Vice President Richard Nixon’s Washington home.

State Rep A. A. Fowler Jr., of Douglasville, Ga., founder of the privately supported Americans Resettlement Foundation has denied that a home has been optioned near the Vice President’s for a Negro family.

He said the report was “without foundation as to any specific location.” He added: “A lot of negotiations are underway, and I don’t want to be out in the position of embarrassing any of our friends who have helped us.”

Fowler admitted an option has already been placed on a house in the $75,000 class in one of the finest residential neighborhoods in a northern city. He refused to identify it further.

Fowler added: “We are going to give those people who are liberal with someone else’s freedom the opportunity to practice what they are preaching. We will point up the hypocrisy and the absurdity in race relations and big-time politics “We have 50 Negro families who have applied for aid under our program with the nominal rent to be $1 a month and all resettlement expenses paid.”

Norfolk Division of VSC Football Player Dies NORFOLK Funeral services for Willie Lancaster who died of injuries received in a football game while playing for the Norfolk Division for the Virginia State College, will be held at 1 p.m. at Crestwood Baptist Church.

Lancaster, an 18-yearold freshman halfback, succumbed at 4:53 a.m. on November 4 in a Columbia, South Carolina hospital of a broken neck suffered in the Norfolk school’s contest with Voorhees Junior

College at Denmark, South Carolina October 19.

Lancaster was under the care of the best bone and nerve specialist the college could obtain and his death came as a blow to the student body and college officials.

Lancaster’s death was the first gridiron fatality in the history of the school and the first in the state this season.

Proceeds of a Willie Lancaster Day previously planned by the college will now go toward hospital and other expenses and, if sufficient money is left over, members of the grid squad hope to purchase a marker for his grave.

The Klan: How To Be A Good Member?

By Staff Writer BIRMINGHAM If you are over 21, free, white, a Protestant, and want to win friends, and influence people by getting ahead on the Ku Klux Klan, there are a few things you should know.

The “Ways and Means of the Moving up in the Klan” were pointed out here last week in the first of six trials for Kluxers charged with the sexual mutilation of a colored man.

Testimony in the trial which ended with top area Kluxer Joe P. Pritchett, receiving the maximum sentence of 29 years for the role he played can be used as a guidebook for becoming a topflight terrorist.

The testimony shows that to move ahead in the Klan one must: 1. Be ready, willing, and able at any time to go out and “scare the hell out of a Negro”; 2. Drive around in darkened areas until some likely “candidate for mayhem is sighted; 3. Use two automobiles with at least six men lest a lone colored man and his lady friend “spoil” the fun; 4. Chase the women away and drag the “candidate” into the woods; 5. Take the “candidate” to a hidden Klan Cabin in a rural area where the “fun “will not be hampered.

GOVERNOR AND MRS. HARRIMAN ENTERTAIN MRS. BATES

New York Governor and Mrs. Averell Harriman entertained Mrs. (Daisy) L.C. Bates (center) chairman of the Little Rock Chapter of the NAACP at their townhouse in New York on November 1.Tea was served as the Rev. J.C. Crenshaw, president of the Arkansas NAACP chapter, was arrested and posted bond on a charge of violating a new city ordinance, where an organization must reveal their financial and membership statements.

more, a local police official said this week in “calling the roll” of the persons, a 38-year-old woman charged with having sent them to an untimely death to collect insurance.

Her victims may include an elderly neighbor, a child of the neighborhood and a 10-month-old grandniece who are the persons Mary Perkins, a Selma seamstress, is accused of having rushed on onto the great beyond. A painstaking search of insurance records and death certificates is now underway and may add to the number of victims, officers say.

In the meantime, Selma Police Captain J.W. Baker said the woman told him “A white insurance agent would let her take out policies without the other person knowing, and that the agent did not go by and see the insured.”

The agent who is being investigated by the Alabama Insurance Commission has not yet been charged. Captain Baker said the woman had 84 policies through one company and he indicated a “major insurance scandal” Widow Insured Four is brewing.

Then Fed Them Poison Perkins first came to the attention of police officers Special to the Guide when she fired a slug from a. 32-caliber revolver into SELMA, ALA. “Right now it’s four but her chest after she returned there’s no telling how many from the burial of a 7-yearold.

Bates, who was in New York on a speaking tour, returned to Little Rock last weekend to face arrest and to fight the “politically inspired” charges against her and other officers. The NAACP failed to comply with a law giving the city the right to examine confidential files of organizations.

The trial of Bates and Rev. Crenshaw was postponed until Dec. 2. Meanwhile in the federal court, the NAACP claimed the new ordinances were unconstitutional.

Networks Bow To Southerners: You’ll hear “Darkie” WASHINGTON, D.C. Once against the southern Democrats in top positions in government are making their influence felt – this time with the result that you will be hearing such words as “darkie” again being used on the major radio and TV networks.

The chairman of the Interstate Committee Rep. Oren Harris (D-Ark) triumphantly announced this victory for the southerners while at the same time heightening the pressure along this line that can be expected in the future.

Harris said two major networks have agreed to restore the use of the term “darkie” in certain songs referring to the Negro race.

Harris revealed the National Broadcasting Company (NBC), and the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) will no longer “insist on changes in the two honored lyrics in songs by Stephen Foster.

Harris said he addressed letters to four radio and TV networks because of “numerous” complaints from members of Congress and others.”

The chairman said: “The American Broadcasting Company (ABC) and the Mutual Broadcasting System

(MBS) replied that they had no such policy.

Foster’s “My Old Kentucky Home” was adopted by the Kentucky legislature as the official state song in 1918.

“Carry Me Back to Old Virginny” is the state song that often is mistakenly attributed to Foster. But it was written by James Bland.

(Editor’s Note: Virginia no longer uses the song “Take me Back to Ole Virginny,” written by James Bland, who was Black.)

Nat Cole Show Has Been On TV For A Year HOLLYWOOD Nat King Cole marked his first anniversary as a regular NBC-TV star on his program on November 5. The show started as a quarter-hour show on November 5, 1956. It was originally scheduled to run for several weeks and was extended repeatedly. On Sept. 17 of this year, it was scheduled in its present time slot as a half-hour program.

Nat took his viewers on a behind-the-scenes trip to the making of the “St. Louis Blues,” the Paramount film on the life of W. C. Handy, in which he is currently working. This is Cole’s biggest dramatic role to date. Two of the sets from the movie were brought to the NBC studios to serve as colorful background for the musical preview.

New Journal and Guide

November 9, 2023 - November 15, 2023 | 3A

New Journal and Guide

4A | November 9, 2023 - November 15, 2023

PROFESSOR EMERITUS OF SOCIOLOGY VIRGINIA TECH

MEANWHILE,WHAT ABOUT THE VOTE

By Wornie Reed, Ph.D.

Voting in the United States has centered around who could vote and, As many of us are working and hoping therefore, who could not. Voting has to prevent Trump and his Cult from taking always been problematic in America. over and destroying our democracy, we must realize that this democracy is already shaky. One of the processes we use to put stumbling blocks in Trump’s way is voting.

A cornerstone of democracy is the right to vote. Our democracy is weak, at best, in voting. The history of America can be told by its undemocratic limits on that right. Voting in the United States has centered around who could vote and, therefore, who could not. Voting has always been problematic in America.

It cannot be true that voting is a sacred right of citizens in the U.S., as is often proclaimed. If it were, polling day would not be held on Tuesdays, when many people must work and pay costs in time and sometimes money to vote.

Countries that hold voting dear make it easy to vote. Some have elections on weekends – both days – and others declare the voting day a holiday. Some countries have voting as a civic duty and require everyone to vote. And some penalize people who do not vote.

For example, in Ecuador, citizens are required to vote or be fined. A few years ago, a colleague from that country visited my university as a

part of a university-touniversity collaboration that my department was facilitating.

An interesting discussion we had concerned what his fine might be as he was visiting us during election time in Ecuador.

In the beginning, only White male property owners could vote. Later, White, non-propertyowning men were permitted to vote, then Black men. As women gained the right to vote, African-American men and women, in effect, lost their right to vote in many areas of the country.

Voting is heralded as the primary plank of a democracy. Yet, the United States has a long history of limiting voting.

This fact has caused me to argue that the United States approached being a democracy only between 1965, the year of the Voting Rights Act, and 2013, the year the Supreme Court virtually gutted the Voting Rights Act. Political scientists Levitsky and Ziblatt write that we should democratize our democracy and align it with most other democratic nations. They would start by ensuring that every citizen has a right to vote. There is no constitutional

right to vote. So, they argue for enacting such a constitutional amendment.

I agree with their proposals to continue this democratization of our democracy by doing the following: • Establish automatic registration to vote for all citizens turning 18 years of age.

• Expand early voting and easy mail-in voting options for all citizens.

• Make Election Day a Sunday or a national holiday.

• Restore voting rights to all ex-felons who have served their time.

• Restore nationallevel voting protections by reinstating federal oversight of election rules and administration in states and localities with a history of voting rights violations.

• Replace the current system of partisan electoral administration with one in which state and local electoral administration is in the hands of professional, nonpartisan officials.

Unfortunately, to move the country toward democracy, we must overcome the current anti-democratic obstacles to voting and elect likeminded defenders of democracy.

Richard Roundtree’s Career Helped Reshape Perceptions of Black Americans With Roles In Projects Like Shaft And Roots As Roundtree said, “the image kids see of him on the screen is of a Black man who is for once a winner.”

By Marc H. Morial To Be Equal

(TRICEEDNEYWIRE.COM) “I was acutely aware of when I would go into department stores and feel the shadow of being followed.

And then I’d be recognized, and all of a sudden it would turn. I thought, ‘Oh man, there it is.’ I was acutely aware of that turn. If I were not the actor who played John Shaft, I would be trailed to the dressing room, monitored, or stripped. That’s the truth of the matter.”

– Richard Roundtree ◆◆◆ A 1972 profile of Richard Roundtree, a year after the release of Shaft rocketed him to fame, called him “a 29-year-old former football player turned fashion modelturned actor.”

Roundtree, who passed away last week at the age of 81, had intended to make football his career. A standout high school football player in his hometown of New Rochelle, New York, he won a scholarship to play at Southern Illinois University.

On the field, he said, he became addicted to applause.

A concussion on the field, however, prompted him to consider other ways to feed his habit.

So he was quick to accept when Eunice Johnson, the wife of EBONY magazine founder John H. Johnson, offered him the opportunity to model for the magazine’s Fashion Fair series. As the model for Duke hair care products, his face – if not his name – soon became familiar in Black households who knew him as “The Duke Man.” His success as a model gave him entrée to the newlylaunched Negro Ensemble Company, where he starred

Marc H. Morial as a fictionalized version of the boxer Jack Johnson in an early production of The Great White Hope.

When he arrived at his audition for Shaft director Gordon Parks, Parks showed him a tearsheet of an ad depicting the look he wanted for the title character.

The model in the ad was Roundtree.

While Shaft is among the best-known and most enduring example of the genre that became known as “Blaxploitation,” Roundtree himself rejected the term.

“I’ve always viewed that as a negative. Exploitation.

Who’s being exploited?” he said in 2019. “But it gave a lot of people work. It gave a lot of people entree into the business, including a lot of our present-day producers and directors. So, in the big picture, I view it as a positive.”

The character of John Shaft – described in the film’s theme song as “the cat that won’t cop out when there’s danger all about” and “a sex machine to all the chicks” – marked a turning point in the depiction of Black men on the silver screen. As Roundtree said, “the image kids see of him on the screen is of Black man who is for once a winner.”

Roundtree also took part in the 1977 landmark television miniseries Roots, which drew the third-largest audience in

television history and sparked a national conversation about race and history. “You got a sense of white Americans saying, ‘Damn, that really happened,’” Roundtree said in television special to mark the miniseries’ 25th anniversary.

In the late 1990s, Roundtree embarked on a campaign to raise awareness and erase the stigma surrounding breast cancer in men, having felt pressured to keep his own diagnosis and mastectomy a secret for fear of losing work.

“The industry doesn’t like sick people,” he wrote in Essence. “My mastectomy left me with a permanent scar that runs from where my left nipple used to be to way back underneath my armpit, and it ain’t pretty … I did a lot of tap dancing to hide my illness.”

He later called his diagnosis “a backhanded blessing” after fans credited his candor with saving lives.

Roundtree’s proudest work was the 1996 film Once Upon a Time … When We Were Colored, about a Black Mississippi family confronting inequality in the south. It was the first of Rountree’s films that his father, a Pentecostal minister, could be persuaded to watch.

“And at the end, he looked at Richard, and he said, ‘Well done, my son,’” director Tim Reid told NPR. “And that’s the only time that his father had ever praised him for anything that he had ever done in his life.”

MOTHER’S DAY OUR NEED TO BE TOUGH AND RESILIENT IS EVERY DAY!

By A. Peter Bailey

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

A male friend often says, “If (TRICEEDNEYWIRE.COM) For nearly 20 years, I you want to get worked almost exclusively a job done, give for women and their families which means I spent my it to a woman; if time working for our entire community, including the men you really want in our lives. Many women do to get it done as much as I do or more. Yet, we’re not always the first to be well, give it to a mentioned as worthy of honor Dr. E. Faye Williams, Esq. (Ret.) Black woman.” on a regular basis. Often men come to be rightly celebrated for their achievements, but with no mention of the role mothers play in helping them to become who they are.

When we come to Women’s History Month, many people forget the need to celebrate them. Yet, all year there seems to be, as Dick Gregory would say, goo gobs of men celebrated. There’s Dr. Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, and Former Presidents, (I won’t name them because some deserve no recognition!).

There’s not a single woman celebrated annually with a Federal Holiday. Some of us have proposed one for Mother Rosa Parks and we should all want to make that happen!

While we’re working to make just one woman have the honor of a Federal Holiday, why don’t we celebrate our own Mothers on their birthday? I’m starting with mine who made her transition a little over two years ago.

Her name is Frances LaCour Williams and her 101st birthday is November 10th.

My family and I will celebrate her birthday, and we urge you to remember your mother by celebrating hers. Just think of how many times at least one woman will be celebrated every day!

We don’t have to wait for

Congress to act to give us just one day of celebrating women, nor do we have to wait for the nationally declared Mother’s Day that was made to happen on a Sunday so that we get no holiday as we have on so many other occasions that just happen to be all males.

I want more celebrations of those who are our mothers.

On our mother’s birthday, we can start learning more about women while starting with our own. There are so many women who’ve accomplished so much, but their stories are never told. We can tell those stories for them, and the world will be better for knowing them.

A male friend often says, “If you want to get a job done, give it to a woman; if you really want to get it done well, give it to a Black woman.”

Let’s invite our brothers to be a part of this celebration of their mothers, too.

Many of us believe as Dr. George W. Carver did as he said, “It’s not the kind of clothing we wear, nor the kind of car we drive, nor how much money we have in the bank – it’s simply our service that measures our success.”

By that formula, even women who aren’t mothers deserve a celebration not just in May,

but every day! I propose that every day is Mother’s Day because it’s some mother’s birthday. Dr. Dorothy Height said, “Black women don’t always get to do what we want to do, but always do what we have to do.”

Let’s tell the story of at least one woman every day.

My favorite woman is my mother, Mrs. Frances Lacour Williams. She left us after 99 years, while still advising her children, grands, great- grands and great-great grands! She reared 9 children without the benefit of our father in our home when all of us were under 12. We always knew we were loved. We never went hungry, or without proper clothing, while getting to school every day – rain, shine, sleet, or snow.

Among the many women I cherish are Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman, Ida B. WellsBarnett, Dr. Lezli Baskerville, Nia 2X, Judge Doris SmithRibner, Melanie Greene, and Dr. Stephanie Myers.

Celebrate an amazing woman on her birthday!

Dr. E. Faye Williams is President of The Dick Gregory Society and President Emerita of the National Congress of Black Women.

(TRICEEDNEYWIRE.COM) Back in 2008, I wrote a column that included the following guidance from journalist-historian-authormaster teacher Lerone Bennett, Jr.: “Given the way we are forced to live in this society, the miracle is not that so many families are broken, but that so many are still together. That so many Black fathers are still at home. That so many Black mothers are still raising good children. It is the incredible toughness and resilience in Black people that gives me hope. That toughness and resilience should give all of us hope and provide a foundation upon which to build strong, productive, harmonious Black communities.”

Many of us, including myself, sometimes begin to feel a sense of hopelessness when seeing that way too many Black people, young and old, are basically acting as soul mates to white supremacists. That’s what they are when they create havoc in our communities.

Fortunately, however that kind of homelessness is very brief because we strongly believe in the possibilities of our people as cited by Brother Lerone.

It is an absolute requirement that Black churches, business organizations, social organizations, communications organizations, fraternities and sororities etc. begin to take a more active role in creating the type of productive unity that has been advocated by many of our ancestors.

A sound response to current events in this country is provided an individual,

We need business leaders, preachers, educators, activists, university students and people of A. Peter Bailey goodwill to engage. It’s the Thomas Penny, President of Donohoe Hospitality only way forward.

Services. Brother Thomas told me that “This past week Just think of the I visited Youth Services changes that Center (YSC). In response to the increased violence would occur in sweeping our city and many our urban Black urban centers throughout the country, I believe communities those who violently harm grandmothers, children, if the groups seniors and others need to cited by Brother be held accountable. As I moved throughout the youth Thomas were facility and witnessed Black young people as early as taking that kind thirteen years-old, with their of action before foreheads pressed against the glass window of their so many young single-unit cells, I felt a Black folks get deep sense of responsibility to those in the facility. I into trouble.” have volunteered to adopt a unit of 10-12 young people and personally bear the expense of different incentive offerings to encourage positive behavior.

Government alone will not solve this problem.

We need business leaders, preachers, educators, activists, university students and people of goodwill to engage. It’s the only way forward.”

Just think of the changes that would occur in our urban Black communities if the groups cited by Brother Thomas were taking that

– Thomas Penny President of Donohoe Hospitality Services

kind of action before so many young Black folks get into trouble. If we as a people are as tough and resilient as cited by Brother Lerone, we are in a position to do whatever is necessary to promote and protect our health, economics, cultural, political, technological and communications interests in this country and in the world.

New Journal and Guide

November 9, 2023 - November 15, 2023 | 5A

ALABAMA BLACKS GAIN CONGRESSIONAL SEAT BLACKS, VETERAN’S DAY AND AFTER SUIT REDRAWS MAP CRITICAL RACE THEORY GUEST PUBLISHER

By Dr. John E. Warren

Let us not forget Publisher, San Diego Voice & the special Viewpoint Newspaper struggles of Veterans Day was Black Veterans, created as “Armistice Day” on November 11, especially 1919, the first anniversary of the end of World War during the years I. It became a national holiday by an act of following World Congress in 1938. As we Dr. John E. Warren honor the memory of those War I ... and who served in this great conflict, separately and not by running apart from other occasions a Black Navy Veteran, at Temple out to catch the honoring our War service studying members, let us not forget University on the G.I. Bill the special struggles of was abducted and shot latest sales.

Black Veterans, especially during the years following World War I. We have seen from history that AfricanAmericans who fought for the freedom of others on distant shores, came home to disenfranchisement, segregation, and subhuman treatment on every front where they should have received respect and equality for having served. We have seen from a historical point that a Black soldier named Charles Lewis, recently discharged from the military, was lynched in uniform in Hichman, Kentucky; in 1944, four Black soldiers after a white store owner claimed they tried to take over his place; in 1947, we repeat how Joe Nathan Roberts,

because he wouldn’t say “Sir” to white men.

What is so important about these stories today is that if “Critical Race Theory’’ is allowed to be implemented on the scale white legislatures and school boards are trying to do, to sanitize all discussion of America’s racist past, these stories will be lost along with the racist history they represent. Let us not forget that we have over 99 African-American servicemen who earned and received the Medal of Honor in battle, fighting, and in some cases dying for a country who would only honor them when the flag was draped over their coffins and taps played at their graveside.

It is up to us to remember

and honor our own, in spite of what this nation does or how it seeks to change or erase the history that we bled and sacrificed to build. Yes, this Veterans Day, let’s remember our own; and not by running out to catch the latest sales.

How about reflecting on how we can individually build on what they left?

Things like registering to vote, spending money with those who support us, demanding respect for ourselves and our elders, and remembering that we are still “Black” to America whether we are rich, poor, educated, homeless, or ignorant.

We must honor ourselves before we can demand that others do so.

By Barrington M. Salmon

Activists need to concentrate on NNPA Newswire Contributor voter education; discussing with A trio of federal judges the community what the voting and recently chose a new congressional map for voting rights looks like; stepping up Alabama after almost two years of protracted voter registration and turnout ... skirmishes in state, federal, and US Supreme courts.

Plaintiffs, including the NAACP, ACLU, Shalela Dowdy and Evan Milligan, had filed suit to challenge a new congressional district map drawn by Republicans in the Alabama Legislature which they said violated the landmark 1965 Voting Rights Act. The Republican-dominated legislature ignored the US Supreme Court and a lower court, forcing a three-judge panel to appoint a special master to redraw the boundaries.

Milligan said in the days after the court victory he has purposely not taken too much time to celebrate.

“I think I expected (this outcome) only very recently in the last couple of weeks,” said Milligan, 42, executive director of Alabama Forward, which describes itself as ‘a statewide civic engagement network committed to bringing together nonpartisan organizations to (build) power around progressive civic issues and movement

towards greater freedom.’

“I am rightfully overjoyed, happy, and thankful, but as I think about those closer cases, there is a lot in store for us to do.”

Fellow activist Cliff Albright said he was of the same mind.

“There’s not much time for celebration although celebration of the Supreme Court ruling is too strong a word,” said Albright, co-founder and executive director of Black Voters Matter and the Black Voters Matter Fund. “I mean we expected it when the census was done and with the numbers but I know there’s always.

Celebration would have been picking the second map.”

“The map that was chosen is technically not a majority-Black district.

It has 48 percent of the population and a 45 percent voting population.

We have the opportunity because it may be the first time we have a district without being a majorityBlack district. It sets a troubling benchmark.

They’re opening up a slippery slope.

They could start watering down a majority-minority district.”

Albright, a 2020 Soros Equality Fellow, said he’s aware of the games certain legislators and policymakers play, even as he, fellow activists and voting rights advocates work to bring parity and justice to the electoral process.

“They are not guided by commonsense, justice or rightness,” said Albright. “We see antiBlack white supremacy in the Alabama legislature.

White supremacy never takes a day off. It’s always playing the long game.

When you’re in power, you can play the long game.”

In the interim, Albright said, activists need to concentrate on voter education; discussing with the community what the voting and voting rights looks like; stepping up voter registration and turnout; fighting to establish early voting; instituting voter changes; and ensuring that polling stations stay open long enough of all those who want to vote to do so.

“That discussion needs to start today,” he said.

“We still have battles over Section 2, racial gerrymandering and related issues.”

Alex Aronson said he was struck by the brazenness of the Alabama state legislature.

“Alabama’s defiance is striking and nearly unprecedented in this country’s history. A recent report offers important color and context,” said Aronson, a judicial accountability advocate and former chief counsel to US Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse.

“This is not an organic development. Legislators are not acting or making strategy independently.

There is a billiondollar force which has been entrenched in the judiciary. About $600 million has been spent to control the composition of the court.”

“Something abnormal is happening here. A darkmoney network is behind the attacks on Critical Race Theory, book banning and more. They have been hiding their tracks. They have serious and dangerous plans for America’s future,” he said.

On Twitter, Aronson offered yet another warning: “Elected Democrats either stand up to confront the Federalist Society’s authoritarian project, or we descend into authoritarianism.

Those are the options.”

The Rev. Jim Wallis said Alabama represents the existential struggle between white Christian nationalists and other Americans who aren’t as ideological or who hold different positions.

“This is about race and power. This is a test of the court system, equality, and a test of faith,” said Wallace, a renowned social justice activist, theologian, author and teacher. “ ... It’s about 2024 and the election.

“History is coming to a crescendo. It’s a choice between a genuine multicultural democracy or a land ordained by God for white Europeans. A whole lot of white people support this ... We’re facing, finally. A decision: ‘Is America possible?’”

6A | November 9, 2023 - November 15, 2023

New Journal and Guide

Governor Moore vs. Governor Youngkin: Dems Virginia’s Final Weekend of Campaigning Continued from page 1A

poised to be the first African American speaker during the upcoming House leadership elections this weekend. If he elected by his peers to the House position, then the state’s Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Sears will preside over the Senate. It will be the first time in history that two African Americans will preside over both chambers of the Virginia Legislature.

Also, for the first time, the legislative delegation from Norfolk will have three African American women and a Hispanic.

Delegate Angelia Williams Graves won a seat in the Senate, and Bonita Anthony, Jackie Glass, and Phil Hernandez won seats in the newly drawn 92nd, 93th, and 94th House Districts.

In the 33rd District, comprised of northeastern Prince William and a portion of southern Fairfax County, Jennifer Carroll Foy led Republican Mike Van Meter by nearly 5,000 votes.

Carroll Foy had over 64% of the vote.

Foy, a former member of the House of Delegates, resigned to run for governor in 2021.

By Leonard E. Colvin

Chief Reporter New Journal and Guide In the spring, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, a Democrat, jokingly challenged Republican Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin to a game of basketball to determine which state would get to be the new home of the FBI headquarters. Youngkin accepted the challenge.

During the final weekend before the Virginia State Legislative Election, Gov. Moore and Gov. Youngkin were competing in earnest, each seeking to inspire voters to come out and vote for their respective party candidates.

On Tuesday, November 7, all 140 legislative seats in Virginia were on the ballot, which included 100 seats in the House of Delegates and 40 seats in the state Senate.

Democrats currently control the state Senate 22-18, while Republicans hold a 48-46 majority (with six vacancies) in the House of Delegates.The

future political direction of the state lay in the outcome of Tuesday’s winners after all of the votes have been counted.

Moore campaigned during the closing days before the elections with Democratic candidates in Hampton Roads, the Richmond area, and Northern Virginia in one of the most closely watched statewide races in the nation.

In Hampton Roads, he spoke in Virginia Beach before a big crowd, hosted

by State Senate candidate Aaron Rouse and joined by Congresspersons Bobby Scott and Jennifer McClellan, other State House and Senate hopefuls, Hampton Roads mayors, and local city council members.

Other high-profile Democratic political leaders also campaigned in Virginia for Democratic House and Senate candidates hoping to take control of both Houses of the legislature.

They included former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, and David Hogg, a

gun-control advocate who in 2018 survived the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. Former President and First Lady Barack and Michelle Obama made prerecorded Robo Calls to voters who had not cast a ballot as of last week.

While Moore and other national Democrats campaigned alongside legislative candidates, Youngkin was working the rallies alone. None of the current national GOP leadership or candidates seeking the Presidential nomination came out.

As expected, rival party stands were the central messages coming from Democratic and GOP candidates and leaders like Moore and Youngkin.

Moore told the Virginia Beach crowd that the GOP push didn’t reflect the wishes of the Commonwealth’s voters.

While Youngkin carried the GOP message on a 15-week ban on abortion, Democrats

sounded off about support for the state’s 22-month period. Virginia is one of the lone southern states that has not restricted access to the procedure.

“I just think putting arbitrary weeks on abortion bans is not where people are,” said Governor Moore. “The vast majority of people by 15 weeks might not even know if they’re pregnant yet. By continuing to just throw out weeks without any form of data, there’s just heartlessness behind it.”

National Republicans, frustrated by Democratic gains on the issue, have sought to paint Democrats as abortion “extremists” for their refusal to support any ban, even 15-weeks “I don’t think that’s where people are, and I think people will see that if their governor is using that as a campaign issue as something he wants to pursue, I think he’ll learn on Tuesday that he is in the minority of where people are,” Moore added.

Black Doctor To Head Virginia Medical Society

By Rosaland Tyler Associate Editor New Journal and Guide

In mid-October Dr. Alice Coombs, an anesthesiologist and internist at Virginia Commonwealth University Health, became the president of the nearly 100-year-old Medical Society of Virginia, an organization that was founded when most Blacks were enslaved.

The trade organization has 10,000 members, according to its website.

Founded in December 1820 and incorporated in 1824, it created the State Board of Health, the State Board of Medical Examiners, the

Board of Medicine and the MSV Review Organization (which has evolved into the Virginia Health Quality Center). Each of these nowindependent entities had their beginnings within the MSV, the organization noted on its website. It provides administrative, membership, and legislative services to its members, as well as serving as the liaison between local, national, and specialty medical organizations.

The organization’s new president has an impressive resume.

In addition to being the first Black female president – and only the fourth female president of the Medical Society of

Virginia, in 2010 she served as president of the Massachusetts Medical Society. She grew up in Compton, Ca. She is a graduate of USC and UCLA School of Medicine.

Health, wellness and mental health treatment will be focal points this year, said Coombs, who chaired the commission’s diversity committee and served on the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission during the Obama administration.

At a time when some physicians are concerned about threats to their licenses to practice, Coombs said that during her tenure, other focal points will include launching efforts to push for a new law that will change

the questions the state asks on licensure applications. Instead of asking a doctor if he or she has received counseling or therapy, it will ask if the doctor faces any mental health condition that affects his or her ability to do the job.

Coombs has practiced medicine for 35 years. She completed her residency at Massachusetts General Hospital.

Coombs said, in an October 2023 VCU Medical Center interview, “Working in the medical societies or any professional organization allows you to not be on the sidelines with a simple vote. It allows you to have a scalable impact.”

Virginia is the only southern state that has not imposed any abortion restrictions since the Supreme Court struck down Roe vs. Wade.

Senator L. Louise Lucas of Portsmouth won in the newly created 18th District that pitted her and Sen. Lionel Spruill of Chesapeake in a primary battle under the state’s new redistricting plan.

The November 7th election was the first one held under the state’s new plan.

Lucas is the legislature’s President pro tempore and is poised to head the powerful Finance and Appropriations Committee.

With Feggans winning the House and Senator Aaron Rouse securing a win, Virginia Beach, for the first time has two Black representatives in both houses of the legislature.

In another historic first, State Delegate Don Scott, of Portsmouth, is now

New Journal and Guide

November 9, 2023 - November 15, 2023 | 7A

ALA. NATIVE CROWNED NATIONAL MISS JUNETEENTH 2024

By Phyllis Coley Special to the New Journal and Guide

NEW ORLEANS DeMia (Mia) Taylor of Gadsden, Ala., was crowned National Miss Juneteenth 2024 on October 21.

Finalists from the Midwest, West, and South traveled to New Orleans for the National Miss Juneteenth Scholarship Program competition. Over the next year, Mia will serve as the Youth Ambassador for Juneteenth nationwide and worldwide.

The program is endorsed by the National Juneteenth Observance Foundation (NJOF), the principal advocators for the Juneteenth National Independence Day legislation and the organization responsible for Juneteenth holiday observances in 46 states and the District of Columbia.

DeMia (Mia) Taylor, 18, maintains a 4.0 Grade Point Average (GPA) at Gadsden City High

Photo: Ernest Lowery Photo: Ernest Lowery

National Miss Juneteenth 2024 DeMia Taylor

(L-R) Deborah “Dee” Evans, NJOF Communications Director; Brenda Paige Ward, Alabama Juneteenth State Director; Alexandria Jordan Van Dyke; Grandmother of Juneteenth Ms. Opal Lee; motivated by being able to give light to others. It also National Miss Juneteenth 2024 DeMia Taylor, and Steve Williams, NJOF President consists of showing others that anything is possible as School. Upon graduation her own hair business. Pastor of Greater Calvary long as you strive towards in May 2024, Mia plans She is the daughter of Baptist Church in Gadsden it. I live by a motto: ‘We to attend a college with Mr. & Mrs. Dyarrl Taylor for over 30 years. love each other because a strong law program. and the granddaughter of “My aspiration as the God loved us first.’ My Her goal is to become a renowned gospel artist reigning National Miss purpose is powered through contract lawyer and open Rev. Hersey Taylor Sr., Juneteenth 2024 is strongly the grace of God and being able to educate others about the importance and history of Juneteenth,” Mia exclaimed.

Samantha Neyland Trumbo served as the Mistress of Ceremonies for the Pagaent. After serving as the first Black woman to represent Hawaii at Miss Teen USA, Samantha moved to

Los Angeles, where she became a working actress and model. With over 25 commercials, multiple national and international print campaigns, and acting work under her belt, Samantha returned to Hawaii to compete for Miss Hawaii USA. At the 2020 pageant, Samantha once again became the first Black woman to win the coveted title.

Prior to placing in the Top 10 at Miss USA, Samantha launched Hawaii for Juneteenth, a nonprofit coalition responsible for passing legislation that made Juneteenth an official day of observance in the State of Hawaii.

Starr Fisher is the Director of the National Miss Juneteenth Scholarship Program.

Contestants for the crown are knowledgeable in the history of Juneteenth with the ability to discuss the national freedom documents: The Emancipation Proclamation, General Order #3, and the 13th Amendment’s ratification, which solidified freedom after June 19, 1865.

NJOF advocated for more than 25 years for the passage of the National Juneteenth Independence Day legislation, which was signed in 2021, making it only the 12th Federal holiday in the country.

757-543-6531

New Journal and Guide

8A | November 9, 2023 - November 15, 2023

Thanks Continued from page 1A Rodgers-Rose moved back to Virginia to the family home with her sister, who also had returned to the area to “save our family home so we would have a home to return to when we got old.”

She also contacted the Cardiac Specialists division at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital.

A team of cardiac specialists recommended she undergo a heart transplant. The procedure was risky, but there was a chance a suitable donor could come forth before her time and heart ran out.

She was not allowed to go home, and she was placed in the Hospital’s Cardiac Pavillion with 10 other patients awaiting the same procedure.

Their ages and races varied from folks her age to a 24-year-old Navy man, who is alive today and doing well in Northern Virginia.

“We all became family,” she recalled. “We supported each other’s story. We stayed in contact years after that time in the Pavillion.”

Seven of the 10 Pavilion family members, Rodgers-Rose said, have “ancestored,” a word she uses for those who have died and must be honored for their living memory and work.

“They have moved onto another life,” she said.

“Europeans call Africans ‘ancestor worshipers.’ That was our way of honoring ancestors so we would maintain our physical and spiritual culture and not forget our history. I can’t forget my mother, father, or my Pavilion family.”

Some had been waiting for weekends and months for a viable donor to surface.

Rodgers-Rose said she was in the Pavilion for four

months before she got word “that I was blessed,” with a suitable donor.

Not only was she assisted with state-of-the-art posttransplant medical treatment, but she was also assigned to a support group of other transplant recipients.

Rodgers-Rose, now 87, said she is still writing, active and busy, via telephone, zoom, and personal interactions, as she continues organizing and planning as the IBWC’s leader, although from her home.

The IBWC, she said, continues to be an Africancentered, community, cultural, spiritual, health, and educational network hub for Black organizations, individuals, and families.

It no longer provides HIV/AIDS care and support services, as it did in the past.

It maintains its operation at 900 Granby Street.

Her sister, Cynthia Rodgers, runs the day-today operations as Program Director of the IBWC. Last September the IBWC held its 39th national

conference in Virginia Beach with a strong turnout of members. RodgersRose said its 40th national anniversary gathering will be held in New Jersey.

A Morgan State undergraduate in Sociology, Rodgers-Rose then attended graduate school at Fisk in the early ‘60s.

She recalled the Civil Rights Movement was “getting hot.”

“The sit-ins were going on, students marched, protested, and boarded buses going south,” she said. “I was attending and organizing strategy meetings with James Bevell and Marion Berry, the President of the Student Association, and I was Vice President.”

She recalled that during intense meetings, “younguns” like John Lewis sat in the corner and could not talk until spoken to.

After graduate school, she became engaged and ventured to Washington, D.C., got married, and started her family and career.

“We all have that fork in the road,” she recalled. “If I

had not, I don’t know where I would be.”

Rodgers-Rose said she is working on her autobiography, to include passages about her grandfather, the Rev. J.E. Rodgers, who pastored the First Baptist Church in Berkley, starting in 1906 until his passing.

Her father, Carroll Rodgers, was an activist who ran the first substance abuse center out of a site on Church Street.

Both men inspired Rodgers-Rose, her sister Cynthia, and her brother

Carroll Rodgers Jr., to be activists.

“The history of old Church Street is gone except for markers and memories,” she said. “I wonder what Black people own in downtown Norfolk today except our churches.”

Rodgers-Rose said many of her ancestors and the 60s activists have ancestored.

While their work for change and equality for Blacks is gone, still their goals overall are being sought.

“We still have racism,” she said. “Although it is the velvet kind and you don’t

know when it is happening to you,” she said. “Then, there are the more open forms of it we are still facing each day.”

“There are still many disparities, and our families and communities are in trouble,” she said. “We have plenty of politicians and advocates. But they are too scared and compromised by money and selfish ambition to mobilize, educate, and help the people who need the help the most. I hope to continue to be in the struggle in some way as long as I can.”

New Journal and Guide

November 9, 2023 - November 15, 2023 | Section B

SECTION B

COMMUNITY & MORE ...

CHESAPEAKE UNDERSHERIFF HOSTS INAUGURAL “TRICKS AND TREATS” ...see page 2B

Historic First Baptist Church, Bute Street Names Rev. Holmes As Pastor

By Leonard E. Colvin

Holmes said that Chief Reporter during his tenure, New Journal and Guide he will seek The Rev. Jerry Holmes was recently named the to emulate the 19th Senior Pastor of leadership style Norfolk’s First Baptist Church, Bute Street, of Rev. Murray which has a storied history spanning more than 200 of being steady years.

The selection of Rev. and “one you Holmes, 60, ends the over two-year search for the Photo: Courtesy could trust to find replacement of Rev. Dr. Rev. Jerry Holmes Robert Murray, who served solutions” and as the Senior Pastor for 38 years. of Norfolk Catholic High be installed in the next 60 “find win-win His wife, Julie Holmes, School. days to lead a congregation situations.” will be the First Lady of Holmes said for over of over 700 congregants. what is believed to be the oldest Baptist church in Norfolk serving AfricanAmericans.

Born at the now-defunct Norfolk Community Hospital, Holmes was raised for most of his life in Portsmouth. He is a graduate of Wilson High School and studied at Norfolk State and Hampton Universities.

He is currently attending Divinity School in Durham, North Carolina.

His wife was also born in Norfolk and is a product

16 years he was a Youth Minister at First Baptist, so he is familiar with the church’s history, legacy, and contributions to the region.

He was among four candidates to apply for the Church’s Senior Pastor.

Holmes said that during his tenure, he will seek to emulate the leadership style of Rev. Murray of being steady and “one you could trust to find solutions” and “find winwin situations.”

Holmes said that he will

He said based on zip codes of congregants some 15 percent come from the immediate neighborhoods bordering the walls of his church.

First Baptist and neighboring historically African-American churches are sitting amidst a housing, infrastructure, and commercial renewal in the St. Paul’s Quadrant.

While one has been razed, Tidewater Gardens, two other aging public housing communities will be also in the coming years.

SMALL BUSINESS DIRECTORY

AD SPACE AVAILABLE

AD SPACE AVAILABLE

CALL (757) 543-6531 OR EMAIL NJGUIDE@GMAIL.COM

CALL (757) 543-6531 OR EMAIL NJGUIDE@GMAIL.COM

(2X1.5)

(2X2)

Replacing Tidewater Gardens is a new housing community of multi-story housing units, Kindred, sitting a short distance from the church’s iconic front entrance.

Now that the nation has emerged from the COVID-19 epidemic where churches were closed, and services held virtually, Holmes said he wants to accelerate the pace of First Baptist’s post-COVID-19 “transition.” ...see Holmes, page 2B

New Journal and Guide

2B | November 9, 2023 - November 15, 2023

NORFOLK HEALTH DEPT. OFFERING COVID-19 AND FLU VACCINE CLINIC NORFOLK The Norfolk Department of Public Health will host its next COVID-19 and flu clinic at 830 Southampton Ave. in Norfolk on Nov. 18. The clinic begins at 10 a.m. and ends at 2 p.m.

The COVID-19 and flu vaccines are available to individuals three years of age and older.

Appointments are recommended and can be made by calling (757) 6832735. Limited walk-ins will be accepted. Parents or guardians of children under the age of three can schedule appointments

during normal business hours.

COVID-19 and flu vaccinations must be billed to medical insurance.

Please bring all insurance cards. If uninsured, the COVID-19 vaccine is fully covered by the Bridge Access Program. At the Saturday clinic, the flu vaccine fee will be waived for children and adults who are uninsured.

“Getting vaccinated is a simple and effective way to prevent yourself and your loved ones from serious illness due to these viruses,” said Dr. Susan

Girois, MD, MPH, FACP, Health Director of Norfolk Department of Public Health.

The Norfolk Department of Health urges all residents to update their COVID-19 vaccination and receive their annual flu vaccination if they haven’t already done so.

For more information about COVID-19 in Virginia, visit www.vdh. virginia.gov/coronavirus.

Fo more information about influenza in Virginia, visit w w w. v d h . v i rg i n i a . g o v / epidemiology/influenzaflu-in-virginia.

Holmes

will also be unveiling a new entrepreneurial and business development ministry for youth in the near future.

Over the years First Baptist has created a business footprint with the Murray Banquet and Conference Center, one of few Black-owned enterprises in downtown Norfolk.

He said that the church’s Ready Academy now serves some 170 students in kindergarten to the 5th grade.

Julie Holmes said the role of the First Lady has not changed in supporting the senior pastor and the services of the church.

She said the First Lady must call on “gifts unique to her that will benefit the church” and its mission also.

First Baptist and other congregations are facing today.

“I am excited and humbled,” Rev. Holmes said during a brief interview with the GUIDE earlier this week. “I have been a son of this Church for years, and I know what the legacy of this church means to the community.”

MIDDLE PENINSULA GENEALOGY MEETING SET FOR SATURDAY, NOV. 11 AT 11 A.M.

Continued from page 1B This includes including finding new ways to serve and “communicate” beyond its walls to the neighboring new and old communities sitting nearby.

“My goal is to have this church be a catalyst for a healthy, safe, thriving community,” said Rev. Holmes.

“I think that is part of my role as a spiritual leader contributing to society.

Thus, the church must be the thermostat and not the thermometer.”

Holmes said that First Baptist will expand the church’s outreach to support the community including a clothes closet with “new” rather than used items.

He said First Baptist will continue the joint feeding and food pantry, with neighboring churches, as well as the shower and support ministry for the homeless.

He said the church

Middle Peninsula African-American Genealogical and Historical Society (MPAAGHS) will hold its monthly meeting virtually on Saturday, November 11, at 11 a.m.

This meeting will feature a roundtable discussion at which participants will have a chance to share queries and details about their family research. There will be an opportunity to discuss recent finds, resources and research techniques that have been used successfully, and “brick walls” that may have stymied research efforts.

To receive an invitation for this virtual meeting or to get further information about MPAAGHS, email mpaaghs.va@gmail. com or call (804) 651-8753.

Photo: Courtesy

Chesapeake UnderSheriff Hosts Inaugural “Tricks And Treats” CHESAPEAKE Undersheriff David Rosado’s inaugural “Tricks and Treats” event brought out over 2,000 people on October 28, 2023 to collect candy and trinkets from more than 25 vehicles. Off-duty deputies decorated their cruisers and spent the afternoon passing out candy. The Chesapeake Sheriff’s Office’s eight School Resource Deputies were on duty to greet the kids and keep everyone safe. The CSO’s new mascots, Deputy Rocky and Deputy Roxie, made their first public debut. Meanwhile, Undersheriff David Rosado wowed and amazed the children with two “Be a Hero Not a Zero” magic shows for the kids. CSO is looking forward to growing this event next year as part of Sheriff Jim O’Sullivan and Undersheriff Rosado’s vision for strengthening ties with the community and mentoring the leaders of tomorrow (our children).

HOLIDAY CONCERT TO BENEFIT FORKIDS EMERGENCY SHELTER FOR FAMILIES HAMPTON ROADS A lively holiday concert will celebrate the work of ForKids, a non-profit organization that provides emergency shelter to families and children. Musicians of the Virginia Symphony Orchestra with Adam Turner, Artistic Director & Conductor of the Virginia Opera take to the Harrison Opera House stage on Sunday, December 3 at 3 p.m. Childrens’ tickets are free! Get your tickets at vafest. org, (757) 282-2822, and in person at the Virginia Arts Festival Box Office.

ForKids serves 14 cities and counties in Southeastern Virginia. It was founded 35 years ago with a mission to break the cycle of homelessness and poverty for families and children. The ForKids Housing Crisis Hotline is the central point of contact for all persons experiencing a housing crisis throughout Southeastern Virginia. On any given day, ForKids’ in-depth programs assist approximately 290 families including 870 children; ForKids’ critical services now touch the lives of nearly 70,000 individuals each year.

New Journal and Guide

November 9, 2023 - November 15, 2023 | 3B

Black-Tie Gala To Honor Chesapeake’s Servant Leaders Special to the Guide The New Chesapeake Men for Progress Education Foundation, Inc., is sponsoring its 6th Annual Black-Tie Scholarship Gala Saturday November 18, 2023, at the Delta Hotel by Marriott Chesapeake. The Gala is one of Hampton Roads premier social events and features a VIP Reception, dinner, award presentation, and raffle. More than 460 individuals attended the Gala in 2022, and organizers expect a sellout for this year’s Gala.

The Gala is designed to recognize three outstanding Chesapeake citizens for their outstanding contributions to the improvement of the quality of life in Chesapeake, Hampton Roads, the state and nation. This year’s the Foundation’s prestigious

Adam N. Harrell, Sr.

Dr. Stephanie D. B. Johnson

Jean A. Carideo

Lifetime Achievement Award will be awarded to Adam Harrell, Sr., a former veteran, educator and dedicated community leader. Adam is a retired US Army Colonel, former School Board member, founder of the Chesapeake Men for Progress, leader of the Concentrated Employment Program, and a dedicated servant-

leader, whose good deeds are grounded in faith, and compassion.

Jean Carideo will be awarded the Dr. James Jackson Community Service Award. She was a pioneer along with the late Judge, Edward P. Grissom and former mayor. Dr. William E. Ward, who led the effort that established the Great Bridge

Battlefield and Waterway History Museum. She is a lover of history and serves as president of the Great Bridge Battlefield and Waterway History Foundation and a board member of the Cornland School Foundation. She has an unabating interest in history and considers herself fortunate to live in a City with so much

Albert White history ... both known and unknown.

Dr. Stephanie D. B. Johnson will also be awarded the Dr. James Jackson Community Service Award for her exceptional achievement and leadership in education. She is Chair of the Board of Trustees at Elizabeth City State University, awarded the Governor’s Achievement Award four straight years for academic achievement and the National BlueRibbon Award, which is given to only two schools in the state each year.

A former administrator in Chesapeake Public Schools, she has facilitated through the Hampton University Leadership

Academy, the certification of 44 new public school administrators.

She has co-authored four educational books in a series called “The Missing Alphabet,” and written several publications including “Tearing down Invisible Teaching Walls” and “Success Program in Algebra for Military Students.” Dr. Johnson philanthropy extends to $150,000 to “The Johnson and Johnson Endowed Scholarship Fund at ECSU for Education and Mathematics majors.

She also fully funds the Foundation’s Middle School Academic Award Program annually.

Special Recognition will be observed for Chesapeake Police Officer, Albert White, the first respondent to the mass shooting at the Walmart Supercenter November, 22, 2023.

There are only a few tickets available for this event, and they can be purchased on the Foundation’s website: thencmpeduf.org on the donation button. Individual tickets are $70, and sponsorships are available by calling (757) 650-0174.

Rivers Casino Recognized Among 50 CommunityMinded Companies PORTSMOUTH Rivers Casino Portsmouth has been named an honoree of The Civic 50 Hampton Roads by VOLUNTEER Hampton Roads and Points of Light, the world’s largest organization dedicated to volunteer service.

The award recognizes Rivers Casino Portsmouth as one of the most community-minded companies in Hampton Roads determined by an independently administered and scored survey. The Civic 50 Hampton Roads initiative, modeled after Points of Light’s national program, provides a standard for superior corporate citizenship and showcases how companies can use their time, skills, and resources to drive social impact in their company and communities.

“Through Rivers Gives, we strive to be an outstanding community partner and look for meaningful opportunities to make a positive impact across Hampton Roads,” said Roy Corby, General Manager, Rivers Casino Portsmouth.

“We are proud of the spirit of philanthropy embedded in our company culture, and this recognition underscores our continued commitment to improving the lives of others.”

Rivers Casino

Portsmouth extends its community service outreach through Rivers Gives which includes volunteerism, board service, in-kind contributions, corporate giving, and donation drives. To date, Rivers Casino Portsmouth has donated over $775,000 through corporate giving and more than 875 volunteer hours.

“We are pleased to congratulate Rivers Casino Portsmouth as a Civic 50 honoree and applaud their continued commitment to community service,” said Stephanie Gorham, CEO, VOLUNTEER Hampton Roads. “As a new business and industry in our region, we are delighted by their eagerness to contribute to Hampton Roads and impressed by the positive impact they’ve had on the lives of so many residents in such a short period of time.”

The Civic 50 Hampton Roads survey is administered

by True Impact, a company specializing in helping organizations maximize and measure their social and business value and consists of quantitative and multiple-choice questions that inform the scoring process.

To learn more about Rivers Gives, visit their website at Riverscasino. com.

New Journal and Guide

4B | November 9, 2023 - November 15, 2023

MOMENTS of MEDITATION

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

GOD IS RIGHTEOUS Read: 1 John 2:15-29 We now come to the second of the three assertions about God’s nature that John makes: “He is righteous” (1 John 2:29). This truth, like the other attributes of God to which John refers, has tremendous implications for our lives. In the last lesson (2:1-14) we saw some of the ways in which the fact that “God is light” (1:5) affects the lives of those who “work in the light” (1:7). In this lesson we shall begin to see some of the ways in which the fact that “He is righteous” (2:29) affects His children.

Many people today think of “righteousness’ as an old-fashioned, almost disparaging term. They think of a righteous person as a kill joy and a moral snob. The real meaning of being righteous, however, is simply acting in accord with what is right. The problem with human righteousness is that it is based on manmade standards, which are flawed by man’s sinful nature and dependent on changing social norms. A true concept of righteousness must be based on what God has revealed about Himself for “He is righteous” (v. 29).

Allure Of The World.

The satisfactions that this

world system provides do not come from the hand of our loving Heavenly Father (v. 16). Rather, they are all bound by the horizon of a man-centered, here-and-now material existence. Believers must not allow themselves to succumb to the attractions of this world.

Advent of Antichrists.

John contrasts the wickedness of the Antichrist(s) with the righteousness of God (vv.

18-19, 22-23). Just prior to our Lord’s return in glory, one human personality will set himself up in militant opposition to God. This is the Antichrist, also called “the man of lawlessness” (2 Thessalonians 2:3) and “the beast” Revelation 13:5-8). But before this, other Antichrist(s) will appear from time to time.

Some of them were already present in John’s day.

John says that these people had once been associated with the Christian fellowship, but then they separated themselves from it (1 John 2:19). John sees this as proof that they had never really been a part of the Christian community, but were only superficially related to it.

Their heresy is described in terms of what they

taught about the person of Christ. They denied that Jesus (the man) was also the Christ (the anointed Son of God). This, John says, is how an Antichrist is to be recognized.

There are many Antichrist(s) in the world today. The heart of antiChristian teaching is still found in views that do not recognize both the complete deity of Jesus Christ. Important as other biblical doctrines are, that which is still at the heart of the Christian faith is the question that Jesus Himself put to the Pharisees; “what do you think about the Christ? Whose Son is He?” (Matthew 22:41-42).

Anointing From The Holy One. How can false teaching about the mature of Christ – which is often presented in attractive and plausible sounding ways – be resisted? The answer, John writes, lies in the anointing that all believers have received (1 John 2:20-21); see 2 Corinthians 1:21-22). Ever since Pentecost, those who come to Christ in faith have been anointed by the Holy Spirit (Romans 8: 9; Ephesians 1:13-14). One of His principal functions is to teach believers the truth (John 16:13).

It was essential for the recipients of this letter that the teaching that they had “heard from the beginning’ of their Christian experience remain in them, for this would ensure their position in the Son and the Father (1 John 2:24) – that is, (their eternal life (v. 25). are to remain in Him, for this is where their spiritual security lies. ...see Edwards, page 6B

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

MAJOR BIBLE PRAYER TITLES FROM GENESIS TO REVELATION PT. 4 33. II Kings 19:151. Gen. 15:2 Abraham petitions the Lord God for an heir.

2. Gen. 17:18 Abraham prays for Ishmael to live before God 3. Gen. 18:23 Abraham, the Intercessor prays for fifty righteous within the city 4. Gen. 24:12-14 Abraham’s eldest servant prays at the well for a bride for Issac 5. Gen. 32:9-11 Jacob prays for deliverance from Esau 6. Exo. 32:11 Moses’ advocacy with the Father for the Israelites at the foot of Mt. Sinai 7. Exo. 33:12 Moses’ second prayer: Jehovah’s Answer 8. Num. 6:22-26 The Lord’s Three-fold Benediction 9. Num. 10:35-36 Moses prays for protection 10. Num. 11:15 Moses’ complaint to the Lord 11. Num. 12:13 Moses’ cry unto the Lord to heal Miriam 12.

Num. 14:13-19 Moses’ prayer to pardon the unbelieving Israelites at Kadesh-barnea 13. Num. 27:15:17 Moses, preparing for death prays for a successor 14. Deut. 3:24 Moses’ prays to the Lord to go over Jordan 15. Deut. 9:26-29 Moses prays for God to stay His destruction of the Israelites 16. Deut. 21:8 The elders inquest for the slain 17. Deu.t 26:5-11 The law of the offering of First-fruits Prayer 18. Deut. 26:13-15 Firstfruits prayer 19. Josh 7:7-9 Joshua prays for guidance following

Rev. Dr. Rebecca R. Rivka Achan’s sin and Israel’s defeat 20. Judg. 13:8-9 Manoah, Samson’s father, prays for parental guidance in rearing him 21. Judg. 16:28 Samson’s last prayer 22. I Sam. 1:11 Hannah prays for a son vowing to give him “unto the Lord all the days of his life” 23 I Sam. 2:1 Hannah’s prophetic prayer 24. II Sam. 7:18 David’s worship and prayer 25. II Sam. 24:17 David’s prayer for the Lord’s Hand to be against him 26. I Kings 3:5-9 Solomon prays for wisdom 27. I Kings 8:22-53 Solomon dedicates the House of God 28. I Kings 17: 20-21 Elijah revives the widow’s son 29. I Kings 18: 36-37 Elijah prays the Lord will manifest as God in Israel 30. I Kings 19:4 Elijah prays for death 31. II Kings 6:17 Elisha prays at Dothan for his servant to see horses and chariots of fire 32. I Kings 6:18 Elisha prays for the Lord to smite the enemy with blindness

19 Hezekiah’s prayer for deliverance from Sennacherib 34. II kings 20:3 Hezekiah prayer of recovery from illness 35. I Chron. 4:10 “ Of Jabaz and His Heroic Prayer “ 36. I Chron. 29:10-19 David’s prayer of thanksgiving 37. II Chron. 1:7-13 Solomon prays for wisdom 38. II Chron. 6:12-42 Solomon dedicates the House of God 39. II Chron. 14:11 Asa prays for help in battle 40. II Chron. 20:6-13 Jephoshaphat’s prayer 41. II Chron. 30:18-20 Hezekiah prays for the defiled multitude eating the Passover 42. Ezra 9:6-15 The prayer and confession of Ezra 43. Neh. 1: 4-11 Nehemiah’s prayer 44. Neh. 4:4-5 Nehemiah answers the opposition by prayer 45. Neh. 9:5-23 Prayer and confessions of priests and levites 46. Psalm 51 David’s “Prayer of the sinning saint” 47.

Isaiah 37:15-20 Hezekiah’s Prayer for deliverance from Sennacherib 48. Isaiah 38:3 Hezekiah’s prayer for recovery from illness 49. Jeremiah 14: 7-9 The people pray for Divine Rescue 50. Ezek 9:8 Ezekiel petitions God for mercy during His slaying of Jerusalem 51. Daniel 9:4-19 Daniel’s prayer and confession 52. Jonah 2:1-9 Jonah’s prayer in the fish’s belly 53. Jonah 4:23 Jonah prays to die

CHURCH ADs & DIRECTORY= DIRECTORY=

SPACE AVAILABLE

CALL (757) 543-6531

OR EMAIL NJGUIDE@GMAIL.COM

Distribution Points WHERE TO GET YOUR NEXT GUIDE NORFOLK,VA New Journal & Guide Office 5127 E.” Virginia Beach Blvd.

Piggly Wiggly 4630 East Princess Anne Rd. (COGIC) High Rise 2412 E.” Virginia Beach Blvd.

Water Plus 5950 Poplar Hall Dr., Suite 107 Handy Business Service 3535 B Tidewater Dr. International Market 7506 Granby Street Bountiful Blessings Daycare 1010 E Brambleton Ave Herbal Farmacy 4215 Granby St.

Norfolk Montessori Academy 979 Ingleside Rd.

PORTSMOUTH, VA Lewis Barber Shop 4229 Greenwood Dr. Blondell’s Masonic Shop 3510 Victory Blvd.

Fair & Honest Auto 2921 Portsmouth Blvd.

CHESAPEAKE, VA African Value Braids.

2036 Campostella Rd. Master Touch 4013 Indian River Rd. Lawrence Pharmacy 1156 N. George Washington Hwy.

Eddie’s Crab-house 2592 Campostella Rd. Herbal Farmacy 1128 N.” Battlefield Blvd.

VIRGINIA BEACH, VA

Al’ Qubaa Islamic Center 1145 Hampton Ave.

HAMPTON, VA Iconic Fashion International 89 Lincoln St. #1772

FRANKLIN, VA SUFFOLK, VA Local 2426 U.A.W. 509 E. Washington St. CEB Financial 533 Highland Ave. NEWPORT NEWS, VA Moton Community House 2101 Jefferson Ave.

Man Market 2016 South St.

WINDSOR, VA Eddie’s Crabhouse 1143 Windsor Blvd. Suite F

CHICAGO, IL Doctors Choice 600 W. Cermak Rd. Lower Level

New Journal and Guide

November 9, 2023 - November 15, 2023 | 5B

New Journal and Guide

6B | November 9, 2023 - November 15, 2023

FILM REVIEW:

KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON

By Dwight Brown

NNPA Newswire Film Critic ★ ★ ★ (3 Stars) Why in the 21st century is anyone making a film about the Native American experience from a white man’s perspective? What is there to gain? Just great artistry that overshadows indigenous people.

Author David Grann based his novel Killers of the Flower Moon on information he gathered from FBI reports and archival materials. His mix of fact and fiction centers around the Osage “Reign of Terror” in early 1920s Oklahoma. A tragedy that happened around the time of the Tulsa race massacre of 1921, when white racists, envious of Black wealth, terrorized and burned down neighborhoods. Similarly, Osage tribe members have become rich from the oil on their lands. Thirty million dollars ($400M in today’s money) comes their way, making them the wealthiest people per capita in the world. The mineral rights to their reservation are put in a federally managed trust, they receive royalties doled out by guardians. White men pray on them, marrying their women for their wealth.

Scoundrels to the left.

Scoundrels to the right.

The gold digging is heinous, the charlatans devious. Even worse, some truly sociopathic types

Photo: Courtesy

(L-R) Lily Gladstone and Leonardo DiCaprio marry and murder tribal members for financial gain. This is that story.

Not largely told from the standpoint of the Native American themselves, but from that of the perpetrators.

The novel highlighted the government’s investigation.

Now this film veers away from the Osage too, making them supporting characters in their own story.

A long-winded initial scene sets up the film’s two main characters.

Ernest Burkhart (Leonardo DiCaprio) is poor as a church mouse when he reconnects with this uncle, William “King” Hale (Robert DeNiro). That rich cattle rancher is a local kingpin in the town of Fairfax, in the county of Osage, Oklahoma. Ernest becomes a car service driver to make

money and one day he picks up a beautiful and rich Native American woman, Mollie (Lily Gladstone, Fancy Dance). The two flirt.

She’s cautious at first. Pity she wasn’t more vigilant, because when she opens the door to the henhouse, the fox comes in for the kill. Mollie: “Coyote likes money.”

Members of the Osage tribe are being murdered in mysterious and sometimes brutal ways. Tribunals gather and assess the problems.

Says Paul Red Eagle (Everett Walker): “When this money start comin’, we shoulda known it came with something else.” Local law enforcement is inept, only carrying the bodies away.

Mollie’s family members start to meet the same fate, and she’s nervous for the ones that are still alive. She

FUN PUZZLE FOR YOUR LEISURE

should be, the killers lurk close. King acts concerned and pretends to be a friend of the Osage people. He knows more than he’s saying. There’s no blood on his hands. Hard to trace anything back to him. When will people get wise?

Rarely in a good murder mystery does the storyline peg the killers right from the jump. This adaptation, written by Eric Roth (Dune) and director Martin Scorsese, does. Viewers watch the scheming and slayings from the eyes of the culprits. Yes, there are scenes with Mollie and other Osage members showing their concern, going to the authorities for help and even to Washington D.C. But too much of what’s on view does not involve them, the protagonists, solving

their own problem, which is a standard rule in good screenwriting. This is a dubious creative choice at best. A gamble.

As audiences watch the gruesome killings they’ll wonder, when will this stop?

When will the Osagers grab a gun and kill the perpetrators who decimate their people?

Will they have satisfaction?

Watching killing after killing becomes repulsive then macabre.

Finally, when the calvary shows up, it’s the white saviors.

Bureau of Investigation (BOI) Agent Tom White (Jesse Plemons, The Power of the Dog) is sent by J. Edgar Hoover on what will be the bureau’s first major homicide investigation.

Tom: “I was, uh, sent down from Washington D.C., to see about these murders.”

Ernest: “See what about ‘em.” Tom: “See who’s doin’ it.”

Within the confines of the script’s follow-the-devils structure, Scorsese proves that he is still a master storyteller – in the epic feature film format. Though, many viewers, whose butts will grow numb from sitting for 3 hours, 26 minutes, may wish his expertise was with mini-series or series, more appropriate formats.

Regardless, the visuals are stunning. The director and cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto (The Irishman) are artists. The angles, composition, interior and exterior lighting, and saturated colors are visually stunning. Scorsese is particularly adept at the movement within crowd scenes, from the extras to the leads. He gives the entire cast, top to bottom, room to emote, exchange thoughts and express feelings from fear to rage.

The technical aspects fluctuate down and up.

Jack Fisk’s (The Revenant) production design is too perfect. Jacqueline West’s (The Revenant)) costumes should have been rougher around the edges. Editor Thelma Schoonmaker (The Irishman) needed a heavier hand and should have cut 20 minutes from the footage – or more. On the other hand, Robbie Robertson’s (The Irishman) musical soundtrack is incredibly atmospheric. His music alternates between a

Edwards Continued from page 4B It is important for us, just as it was for the early Christians, to recognize the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives as He teaches us the truth about our Lord. When we encounter teaching that contradicts the Bible’s clear testimony about the “Word [who] became flesh,” we need to follow

RENEW YOUR SUBSCRIPTION ONLINE BY SCANNING YOUR PHONE THEN GO BOTTOM OF THE PAGE: TO SUBSCRIBE

funky, drum-heavy Native American beat, chants and evocative songscapes. To hear more of his indigenousthemed music, listen to Robertson’s groundbreaking 1994 album Music for Native Americans, which drew from his Mohawk heritage.

Any film that pairs DeNiro and DiCaprio is a gem.

DeNiro shines and sneers well, but sometimes it feels like he’s interjecting 21st century urban sensibilities into the King character.

DiCaprio is invisible, deep inside the increasingly culpable and murderous Ernest. As he walks through a crowd on Fairfax’s main dirt road the actor grabs the camera’s attention. The way he strides, wears his cowboy hat, makes facial expressions and shows mannerisms steals the scenes from the hundreds of extras. He’s totally believable as a 1920s man and as earthy as any Steinbeck character. He’s magnetic.

Gladstone’s presence is felt even in the scenes she isn’t in. Her Mollie is the sane voice among the debauchery and criminal conspiracy.

A low-key, strong-willed woman destined to find help when no one else can. Pity her character is rendered so helpless for so long. Pity when she finally confronts the person who’s tortured her there’s no anger. No slap. No wishing him dead for what he’s done. It makes you wonder if a woman, specifically a Native American one, had written the script would she have allowed Mollie or the Osage Nation members to look so passive?

If you’re looking for a good glimpse into the world of Native Americans, from their perspective, check out Lakota Nation vs. United States, an enlightening documentary that’s streaming on Prime Video and Apple TV+.

Watching Killers of the Flower Moon to learn anything about the viewpoints of America’s original people may be a frustrating experience.

Watching the movie for its magnificent artistry may not. It’s an opulent, indulgent crime/drama/ history film made from bits of facts and padded with fiction. Nothing more. the spirit’s leading and reject it.

Appearance Of The Righteous One. The appearing of the Righteous One, Jesus Christ (v. 1), is the next great event to which John looks forward, and to which he directs the attention of his “dear children” (v. 28a).

He urges them to keep on abiding in the Lord and not to be led astray by false teaching. They are not to be apprehensive about the Lord’s coming; rather they should be “confident and unashamed” (v. 28b).

WELCOME TO THE NEW JOURNAL & GUIDE

USE YOUR PHONE TO SCAN QR CODE

... answers to this week’s puzzle.

New Journal and Guide

November 9, 2023 - November 15, 2023 | 7B

8B | November 9, 2023 - November 15, 2023

New Journal and Guide