Vol. 124, No. 15 - April 11, 2024 - April 17, 2024

NEWJOURNAL & GUIDE NEW JOURNAL & GUIDE

THE PATH OF TOTALITY: IF YOU MISSED IT, CATCH NEXT ONE IN 20 YEARS!

By Stacy M. Brown Senior National Correspondent @StacyBrownMedia

The eagerly anticipated celestial spectacle of a total solar eclipse finally descended upon North America after a seven-year hiatus, captivating millions of skywatchers on Monday, April 8. With its grand entrance at the Mexican beachside resort town of Mazatlan, the eclipse marked the beginning of a mesmerizing journey along the “path of totality,” stretching across various regions of

the continent. Eclipse enthusiasts congregated at numerous vantage points along the path, which spanned from Mexico’s Pacific Coast through Texas, traversing 14 other U.S. states before reaching Canada. Cities like Wilmington, Del., Philadelphia, Penn., Baltimore, Md., and New York City witnessed citizens stepping outside their usual routines to behold this historic event. Similar scenes unfolded in urban centers across Illinois, Ohio, and Texas, where individuals paused to witness the cosmic marvel. At a duration of up to 4 minutes

and 28 seconds, the 2024 total eclipse exceeded its predecessor’s duration in 2017, which lasted up to 2 minutes and 42 seconds. According to NASA, total eclipses can range from a fleeting 10 seconds to an astonishing 7-1/2 minutes.

Other cities along the path of totality, such as San Antonio, Austin, and Dallas in Texas; Indianapolis, Indiana; Cleveland, Ohio; Erie, Pennsylvania; both Niagara Falls, New York, and Niagara Falls, Ontario, along with Montreal, Quebec, hosted eager eclipse-watchers. see Eclipse, page 7A

HBCUS ANNOUNCING HEADLINERS AS ’24 COMMENCEMENT SPEAKERS

By Rosaland

Hampton’s Class of 2024 will graduate on May 12, at 10 a.m., HU Convocation Center

Don’t expect commencement exercises to be dull or perfunctory at a handful of HBCUs that have already booked heavy hitters as 2024 commencement speakers. Virginia HBCUs Norfolk State and Virginia State have not publicized their announcements to date; however, Hampton University will welcome the Rev. Dr. Howard John Wesley, a rising star in Baptist denominational circles and online venues. He has headed Alfred Street Baptist Church since 2008. Wesley, who famously delivered a sermon in a ‘hoody’ in the pulpit after the February 2012 Trayvon Martin verdict was announced, heads a historic church that donated $1 million to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of AfricanAmerican History and Culture in 2015, and $25,000 to Hampton University. He will deliver the keynote address to Hampton’s Class of 2024, on Sunday, May 12, at 10 a.m. at the Hampton University Convocation Center.

“We are honored to welcome Rev. Dr. HowardJohn Wesley as our 2024 Commencement Speaker,” Hampton University President Darrell K. Williams said in a recent statement. “His exceptional leadership and dedication to empowering others resonate deeply with our university’s values and mission. We are confident that his message will inspire and motivate our graduating students as they embark on their next chapter.”

Under Wesley’s leadership, Alfred Street Baptist Church has grown from 2,800 members to 10,000 members, 60,000 plus monthly online viewers and 80 active ministries. see Speakers, page 8A

NEW STUDENT DEBT PLAN WILL AID OVER 30M BORROWERS

By Stacy M.

Brown

NEWSWIRE President Joe Biden announced on Monday

8

plans to

borrowers, particularly those from

communities disproportionately burdened

Since taking office, the Biden-Harris Administration has prioritized reforming the federal student

The typical Black borrower from the 1995-1996 school year still owed a staggering 95% of their original debt 20 years later.

Disbanding of TSU’s Board of Trustees: An “Attack On DEI”

By Stacy M. Brown Senior National Correspondent @StacyBrownMedia

NEWSWIRE

NNPA

Tennessee State University (TSU), the state’s only public historically Black college and university (HBCU), faces a tumultuous future as Gov. Bill Lee dissolved its entire board. Lee also named new trustees. It is a move supported by racist conservatives and MAGA Republicans in the Tennessee General Assembly, who follow the lead of the twiceimpeached, four-times indicted, alleged sexual predator former President Donald Trump. Educators and others have denounced the move as an attack on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) and a grave setback for higher education.

Critics argue that TSU’s purported financial mismanagement is a manufactured crisis rooted in decades of underinvestment by the state government. They’ve noted that it continues a trend by conservatives and the racist MAGA movement to eliminate opportunities for Blacks in education, corporate America, and the public sector.

Dr. Glenda Glover ... TSU President …a grave setback for higher education.

Gevin Reynolds, a former speechwriter for Vice President Kamala Harris, emphasizes in an op-ed that TSU’s financial difficulties are not the result of university leadership because a recent audit found no evidence of fraud or malfeasance. Reynolds noted that the disbanding of TSU’s board is not an isolated incident but part of a broader assault on DE&I initiatives nationwide. Ten states, including Tennessee, have enacted laws banning DE&I policies on college campuses, while governors appointing MAGA loyalists to university trustee positions further undermine efforts to promote inclusivity and equality.

Moreover, recent legislative actions in Tennessee, such as repealing police reform measures enacted after the killing of Tyre Nichols, underscore a troubling trend of undermining local control and perpetuating racist agendas. see TSU, page 7A

There’s Hope For Blacks Waiting Years For Kidney Transplants

By Stacy M. Brown Senior National Correspondent @StacyBrownMedia

NNPA NEWSWIRE

Five years ago, Arlette Ebanks experienced severe kidney pain that she believed suggested the need for a transplant. Her doctors disagreed, but the 52-year-old Northeast, D.C., resident, and mother of two who worked for the Department of Transportation for more than half of her life until her deteriorating health landed her on permanent disability, had grown ever more anxious as health care providers attempted various measures of maintenance.

A once widely used test overestimated how well Black people’s kidneys were functioning.

program, focusing on easing borrowers’ financial burdens. The administration has already approved debt cancellation for 4 million borrowers, offering them much-needed breathing room and economic mobility. White House officials say that the newly unveiled plans build upon these efforts and are expected to provide relief to over 30 million borrowers, combined with previous actions taken by the administration. One of the central aims of the proposals is to address the disproportionate debt burden borne by communities of color, mainly Black and Latino borrowers. Statistics reveal stark racial disparities within the student loan system. Black and Latino borrowers, who are more likely to take on student loans to afford a college education, often find themselves saddled with higher levels of debt compared to their white counterparts. According to a White House Fact Sheet, 20 years after enrolling in college, the typical Black borrower from the 19951996 school year still owed a staggering 95 percent of their original debt.

Under the new plans, the administration wants to extend relief to borrowers facing various financial challenges. see Biden, page 8A

Recently, physicians at George Washington University Hospital told Ebanks that she should have been on the transplant list, and understandably, Ebanks wondered why previous doctors hadn’t done so. Now, Ebanks knows why. “All this time, all this stress and worry, was all because I’m Black,” Ebanks stated with intense incredulity in an interview with the Washington Informer. At issue is a once widely used test that overestimated how well Black people’s kidneys were functioning, making them look healthier than they really were.

An automated formula calculated results for Black

and non-Black patients that were far different from those of others, delaying organ failure diagnosis and, ultimately, proper evaluation for a kidney transplant. The disparity only exacerbated existing inequities, with Black patients being more susceptible to needing a new kidney but less likely to receive one. “On the one hand,” Ebanks remarked, “I have not only been put on the waiting list, but moved up to where I am now more confident that I will get a new kidney. On the other hand, it’s infuriating that we keep seeing how racism in medicine, bias in healthcare, is causing unnecessary pain and suffering among AfricanAmericans.”

The U.S. organ transplant network has now ordered hospitals and care facilities to use raceneutral test results only when adding new patients to the kidney transplant waiting list. see Kidney, page 8A

President Joe Biden announced, April 8, new plans to provide substantial relief to borrowers, particularly those from marginalized communities disproportionately burdened by debt.

Rev. Dr. Howard John Wesley ... HU Speaker

The eclipse stretched across various regions of the continent from Mexico to Canada. Photo: Courtesy

JAMES A. WASHINGTON: Black Press, Community Advocate Passes

By Stacy M. Brown Senior National Correspondent @StacyBrownMedia

NNPA NEWSWIRE

As the headline in this week’s Atlanta Voice was heartbreaking, it proved fitting. Straight and to the point, an obituary by Donnell Suggs came with the headline, “James A. Washington, 73, a champion of Black press and journalism, passes away.” Washington was straight and to the point, a champion of the Black press, an astute spokesman for journalism, and a rare gem who earned trust on his first words in a conversation.

Washington, former Publisher of the Dallas Weekly, was the president and general manager of the Atlanta Voice. Sugg’s column noted that Washington had been involved in nearly every level of the communications field for over four decades.

From his time as the publisher of The Dallas Weekly, a Black-owned and operated publication, to his work as the public relations manager for the Dallas Ballet, Washington had always been a strong representation of Black excellence and intelligence.

Washington twice served on the Dallas Black Chamber of Commerce board, the Dallas Arboretum, the United Way of Metropolitan Dallas, and the National Newspaper Publishers Association. He was a former tri-chair of Dallas’ Commission on Race Relations and the Dallas Together Forum. He was also a former member of the Federal Reserve Bank’s Small Business and Agriculture Advisory Committee in Dallas. Jim was named “Man of the Year” in 1986 by the Dallas Metropolitan Club of Negro Business and Professional Women. He was honored for outstanding community service by organizations such as Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, The Links, Inc., United Way, Dallas Independent School District, Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center, Daniel “Chappie” James Learning Center, the NAACP, KKDA, and KRLD radio stations, Dallas Black Dance Theatre, Dallas Museum of Arts, and the State Fair of Texas.

Washington earned his bachelor’s degree in English and Instructional Media from Historically Black College and Southern University. He

also earned a master’s degree in journalism from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

An author, Washington published his book Spiritually Speaking, Reflections For and From a New Christian, in 2019. His column “Spiritually

April 13, 1968

Edition of the Guide

Mrs. King Leads 10,000 In Memphis

MEMPHIS, - (UPI)

Mrs. Martin Luther King, Jr., led 10,000 people on a march through Memphis in memory of her husband slain a few blocks away by a white sniper.

The march had to start without the courageous widow but when it reached the corner of Main and Beale Streets it halted to wait for her and Rev. Ralph Abernathy, the man who succeeded King as head of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC).

Her flight from Atlanta delayed by weather, Mrs. King was brought to Beale Street in a caravan of cars, motorcycles and police cars with flashing blue lights.

She took her place in the front row of the march, her sons Martin III and Dexter, beside her. A Black mantilla covered her face.

April 9, 1980

Edition of the Guide

Rights Leader Unshaken By Life Threats

By Bettina Cromwell HOPEWELL,

VA

For the second time in less than a month, Rev. Curtis Harris of Hopewell, has received death threatening messages at his residence. The first message written on a card was received March 22. A second one followed April 2. According to Harris, both messages were determined by the FBI and the Hopewell Police Department to be written by the same person.

Harris, who is Vice President for the South Atlantic Region of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and the state of Virginia’s president of SCLC, was warned on the card to “stop fooling around with this type of stuff.”

He was accused of sending in some Blacks to an apartment house to rent rooms. Harris explained that he has not been involved in any such allegations. “I been active in the civil rights struggle in Hopewell for more than 25 years. So apparently whoever wrote the messages thought I had led the people there because I am always up to something, they believe.”

Currently the FBI and the police department are investigating the incidents. Harris, though, wary of the political atmosphere in Hopewell, contacted the Committee on Civil Rights in Washington, D.C. They sent two FBI agents to Hopewell

James A. Washington, the president and general manager of The Atlanta Voice, a longtime advocate of the Black Press, passed away surrounded by family and loved ones on April 2, 2024. He was 73.

Speaking” appeared in many Black-owned newspapers across the nation.

Washington is survived by his wife, The Atlanta Voice publisher Janis Ware; his children, daughter Elena Bonifay (husband David Bonifay) and son

Patrick Washington (wife Jessica Washington); his grandchildren James Spencer Emanuel Washington, Penelope Elena Jimenez Washington and William Emmanuel Edward Austin Bonifay, and his nieces and nephews.

$78M TO COMMUNITY GROUPS WORKING TO COMBAT CRIME

By Stacy M. Brown Senior National Correspondent @StacyBrownMedia

NNPA NEWSWIRE

U.S. Attorney General

Merrick Garland has announced a multifaceted strategy to bolster law enforcement and community-based initiatives to combat violent crime in America. Speaking at a conference for federal grantees in Chicago, Garland highlighted the need to double down on recent progress and stem the tide of violence gripping many American cities.

For Black Americans nationwide, particularly young men, the risk of becoming victims of violent crime remains disproportionately high. While Blacks make up 14 percent of the U.S. population, they account for 60 percent of those killed by firearm homicides annually, according to an analysis published by the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence.

Hate crimes are also on the rise across the country, according to a report from the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino. The report, titled “Faith Under Fire” and published in January, found that hate crimes increased by 11 percent in 2023 from 2022, with antisemitic and antiMuslim hate crimes soaring following the Israel-Hamas war.

Of the funding, Garland announced the immediate availability of $78 million to be distributed to organizations actively engaged in reducing violent crime and fostering community trust. He emphasized that these funds would directly support grassroots efforts to address the root causes of violence and promote safer neighborhoods nationwide.

who met with members of the police department. Local FBI agents decided not to meet with them.

Prior to this, Harris had also received threatening phone calls. The cards, however, were the first direct threats on his life.

Jackson Speaks On The Survival of Public Schools

By Bettina Cromwell

HAMPTON

The survival of Black colleges in the United States is in jeopardy, Rev. Jesse Jackson told a group of Hampton Institute students last week.

During his brief stop, Jackson urged the students who packed HI’s Ogden Hall, to make sure their sense of independence and selfreliance are intact. “There are moves afront to cut back on Black colleges,” he said. “The ‘balance the budget syndrome’” Jackson continued, “will attack the amount of federal aid allotted to Black colleges,” he said. “The axe to balance the budget will inevitably fall on the programs most needed by the Black population. A cutback on your colleges means reduced education options for our people. To be Black and uneducated for everyone means fewer jobs.”

Jackson also during his speech chided the healthcare policies in the nation. He told the students that “We can rule out a national Healthcare plan. This U.S. is the only industrialized country that does not provide its citizens with a federal health care plan.”

Jackson reminded the students that they can be anything they want to be “in your own mind. Whites’ colleges are evaluated on how many students they accept. While Black colleges are evaluated on how many

students they graduate.”

In 30 years, Jackson said UCLA has had one in five Black graduates in its professional schools. Three graduated from medical school and two from dental school there.

April 11, 1990

Edition of the Guide

VA Beach City Council To Review Greekfest Committee Recommendations

By Leonard E. Colvin VIRGINIA BEACH

Will African-American vendors be allowed to share in the economic pie along the beach strip during the upcoming Labor Day fest weekend?

This question will be answered soon as city council undertakes the talks of reviewing a list of plans that was developed last weekend by the Labor Day Community Coordination Committee for approval or disapproval directed at Labor Day 1990. The Committee submitted over 35 recommendations to council for amendments, approval or disapproval directed at coordinating traffic, security, programs and public relations.

City officials directed the committee of local educators, business men and concerned residents to design guidelines in those areas to deter the violence which erupted last Labor Day is not repeated. The proposal to give African-Americans entrepreneurs and nonprofit organizations access to the resort area as vendors was the source of a long and heated debate between those who endorse the idea and a group of resort area merchants who oppose it.

The opposition believes issuing the extra vendors access to the resort strip during

the Labor Day weekend would create unfair competition to those vendors presently and permanently there.

New Atlantic Bank Counting On Improvements To Attract Customers

By Ron Golden NORFOLK

Four months after being declared insolvent by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporations (FDIC), new management at the New Atlantic Bank in downtown Norfolk is determined to turn things around by attracting new customers.

“We want people to just come in, talk to us and take a look at the New Atlantic Bank and give us a chance,” said John Williams, president of the last minority-owned bank in Hampton Roads.

“We believe they will see the many improved services we offer, and I think they will be very pleased.”

Williams, along with Atlantic’s chairman and chief executive officer, Hilary Holloway, were brought in to run the 18-year-old bank when new owner businessman Ragan Henry took over in December.

According to Williams, a number of changes were recently made at the bank to improve customer services and satisfaction. “We make all bank employees aware of how important customer services is,” said Williams. “We want our customers to feel at home while we try to meet their banking needs.”

Pro-Line Founder Mixes Heart And Business

By Leonard E. Colvin

DALLAS

When Bishop College in Dallas, Texas, officially died

from societal neglect and poor fiscal management, in the Spring of 1987, many people envisioned converting the 130-acre school into a minimum-security prison.

But Comer Cottrell had a different plan for the city’s only African-American college.

On Feb. 24 of this year, with tears on his eyes, and a $250,000 down payment in hand, the Dallas businessman bought the school for $1.5 million

Now Cottrell with help from the Dallas Community is working to re-open the school and turn it into an institution committed to educating rather than incarcerating AfricanAmericans. “Why not invest in the economic survival of the Black community,” he asked. “As a prison, the facility would only serve those who could not help themselves because they couldn’t attend institutions like Bishop to develop the skills to empower themselves.”

Cottrell knows a little something about economic empowerment.

In 1970 and $600 and a dream, he founded ProLine Corporation which manufactures Black hair care products.

Cottrell’s dream originated while managing a U.S. Air Force Base Exchange outlet.

“I noticed there were not hair care products on the shelves for AfricanAmericans,” he recalled. “When I approached my superiors about it, they said there was none needed. They said Blacks could use Bryle Cream like everybody else.” Starting in Los Angeles, in 1980 he moved his operation to Dallas. Proline is expected to gross over $40 million in sale this year, according to Cottrell. He has a long list of hair oils,

Photo: Courtesy of The Atlanta Voice

THE BUSINESS OF COLLEGE SPORTS

By Wornie Reed, Ph.D.

March Madness, which stretched into April this year, is over. Let’s look at some bottom lines. And by the bottom lines, I mean money. The March Madness basketball tournaments generate tons of revenue.

I have long advocated that basketball and football players at “big-time” schools – primarily the schools in the big five power conferences –be paid since they generate substantial revenue for their schools and the NCAA. In other words, they should receive some of the income they generate.

About that revenue. The NCAA’s revenue in 2023 was $1.3 billion, comprised primarily of television rights ($929 million) with CBS and Turner networks, ticket sales from its championships and postseason tournaments ($222 million), and sponsorships ($16 million). The men’s basketball tournament is a substantial piece of all three.

In January, ESPN and the NCAA reached a new, eight-year, $920 million agreement that begins on September 1, 2024, for the NCAA championships media rights. The deal includes domestic rights to 40 NCAA championships –21 women’s and 19 men’s events – and international rights to those same NCAA championships, plus the Division I men’s basketball tournament.

Significantly, this deal includes the women’s March Madness tournament, and rightfully, after this recordbreaking viewership year, the women are beginning to press for a much larger contract.

Several developments over the past few years have caused college athletes to begin to receive pay for their play.

By Walt Carr

Early 2019: California Senate Bill 206 – the Fair Pay to Play Act – was proposed. States began to act to protect their universities in the competition for players.

June 21, 2021: The U.S. ruled against the NCAA in the NCAA v. Alston case, ruling that the NCAA could not limit educationrelated payments to studentathletes. The NCAA then deferred to state laws on NIL – and, in states that hadn’t passed laws, they deferred to the schools themselves.

Per the NCAA, two things remained off-limits: no payfor-play or quid pro quo. Athletes were not supposed to receive compensation tied to performance, and recruits were forbidden to sign deals contingent on attending a particular school.

July 1, 2021: Various NIL state laws went into effect, and a flood of athletes in various college sports began receiving NIL contracts from businesses similar to those professional athletes have with various companies.

February 2022: Collectives begin to talk openly about visiting with recruits. Collectives are companies typically founded by alums of a school. Financial resources are collected from companies and directed to athletes under NIL agreements. Collectives operate independently of the university and athletic departments.

March 2022: A five-star recruit in the Class of 2023 signed an NIL deal worth as much as $8 million.

Several developments over the past few years have caused college athletes to begin to receive pay for their play. One effort started ten years ago. On August 8, 2014, in the court case O’Bannon v. NCAA, former UCLA basketball player Ed O’Bannon challenged the NCAA’s use of former athletes’ “names, images, and likenesses” (NIL) for commercial purposes. The Federal Courts supported the NCAA’s position that athletes should not be paid but held that the NCAA is subject to federal antitrust laws. That opened possibilities for reform of the operation of the NCAA. Recently, several lawsuits have chipped away at the NCAA’s amateurism stance.

April 28, 2022: University

of Miami football player Isaiah Wong’s agent publicly announced that Wong would transfer unless his NIL compensation increases.

May 2022: College sports leaders met in Phoenix and announced an impending crackdown on boosterrelated NIL payments

March 2024: The NCAA issued new guidelines to rein boosters’ involvement in NIL-related payments to recruits. Collectives are considered boosters. This action may be too little and too late, as several reports have been made of collectives recruiting students to college teams, which the NCAA has prohibited boosters from doing.

The student-athlete model that the NCAA promotes may be collapsing under the weight of labor issues, NILs, and collectives. In 2021, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ruled that using the “student-athlete” designation to deny players employment and labor rights is illegal.

This year, the NLRB determined that the men on the Dartmouth Collège basketball team were employees and certified their union. Meanwhile, an administrative law judge in Los Angeles considers whether USC football and men’s and women’s basketball players are employees of their school, conference, and the NCAA.

Several lawsuits have been filed against the NCAA amateurism claims in the last six months. Johnson v. NCAA challenged the prohibition against accepting prize money. House v. NCAA and Carter v. NCAA claim that players should be compensated for being on game broadcasts and should receive market-value scholarships.

Yes, changes are coming, and college sports may be changed even further.

Love For The Outdoors Is A Gift That Pays Forward

By Ben Jealous (TRICEEDNEYWIRE.COM)

When we see a 75-yearold white man out in the woods with a group of Black and Brown kids from low income neighborhoods, teaching them about nature, few of us assume he is there because that is where he feels most comfortable. Probably even fewer of us assume many of those kids look just like the ones he grew up with in public housing projects more than 60 years ago.

Rocky Milburn grew up as one of the few white kids in a mostly Black public housing development in southern Indiana. His family was very poor. They were still poor when they moved into an old farmhouse in the country. That was where Rocky fell in love with the outdoors. Even though his parents struggled fi nancially –perhaps even worse than when they lived in the projects – Rocky did not care. “We lived right across the street from a creek,” Rocky pronounces it “crick,” “and I spent my days running the fi elds. You can kind of say it was my drug at the time.” For more than 25

years, Rocky has been an Outings Leader with the Sierra Club’s Inspiring Connections Outdoors (ICO) program in Tampa, Florida. The program takes youth from underserved communities on outings such as camping and canoe trips and visits to the beach. Rocky says, “many of these kids live two miles from the beach but have never seen the ocean.” His own experience has taught Rocky the importance of sharing his love of the outdoors. When the kids stand around Rocky and learn from him about nature, they do not see his age or his race. They see his heart. And they know his heart understands them and the challenges they are facing because he is from

HBCUs Need Lobbying Support of Their Students & Alumni

By David W. Marshall (TRICEEDNEYWIRE.COM)

Every young person needs to heed the words of the late great John Lewis. “Get in good trouble, necessary trouble, and redeem the soul of America.” Lewis made this statement on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, on March 1, 2020, while commemorating the tragic events of Bloody Sunday.

As a founder and leader of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), Lewis was the youngest person to speak at the March on Washington in 1963. His youth gave him a vision for a more transformative society, and he, at times, found himself at odds with older leaders. Lewis was a living example that young people must achieve the change they want by forcing older people, regardless of race, to embrace equitable change. He desired to see young people in America feel the spirit of the 1960s and find a way to get into good trouble, necessary trouble; believing that young people should push for lasting change by holding older generations accountable by speaking truth to power. He taught us the importance of speaking up and speaking out.

Justin Jones (age 28) and Justin Pearson (age 29) are two Black Democratic members of the Tennessee House of Representatives who followed Lewis’ example and teachings. They are two of the youngest House members, and they got themselves into good trouble, necessary trouble.

If the state funding per student for Tennessee State were equal to that of TennesseeKnoxville, then TSU would have received an additional $2.1 billion over 30 years.

Days after the deadly shooting at Covenant School in Nashville that left six dead, including three 9-yearold children, Jones used a bullhorn at the chamber podium to rally the crowd of people seated in the chamber galleries. He was joined in the gun control protest by Reps. Pearson and Gloria Johnson. They were calling for their fellow lawmakers to take action to prevent more gun deaths. The Republican-led Tennessee State House saw the interruption of proceedings as a violation of House decorum rules and eventually voted to expel Jones and Pearson from the legislature without the benefit of full due process. But the two were quickly reappointed to their district seats and easily won landslide victories in special elections. In the latest unprecedented move by the same Tennessee House, the entire Board of Trustees at Tennessee State University was removed after a vote by the House, and Gov. Bill Lee signed the legislation into law. The Republican supermajority’s calls for a new board were based on multiple audit reports highlighting concerns about the mishandling of finances, housing, and scholarships. see HBCUs, page 5A

the same type of place.

People like Rocky who serve as nature’s ambassadors to young people, and people of any age who are naturedeprived, are heroes. The kids in his program learn how to appreciate and be good caretakers of nature.

They experience fi rsthand the lessons nature has to teach us; how being outdoors bene fi ts both our physical and mental health. And they carry these lessons with them throughout their lives.

Levi Randolph attended the Academy Prep Center of Tampa, which has a partnership with the ICO program. While at Academy Prep, a private middle school designed to give bright children from low income families top-notch educational opportunities, Levi went on his very fi rst camping trip: an outing led by Rocky Milburn.

see Outdoors, page 5A

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

Almost everybody who delivers a speech, anywhere we go, somebody seems to be quoting Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Obviously, somebody is not hearing what he said or doesn’t understand what he meant. For starters, let’s go back to his speech on America’s war against the Vietnam War. It was exactly 1 year before he was assassinated, he spoke about purveyors of war – something we’re facing today. In his Riverside Church speech in New York called “Beyond Viet Nam: A Time to Break the Silence,” he warned us about the perils of war. He tried to warn us to turn war toward social justice, and said, “There comes a time when silence is betrayal.” That time has come for me to no longer be quiet on the Israel-Hamas War. I recognize the horror of what happened to the Israeli people who died or were kidnapped last October. Rather than turn away from continuous war, Israel’s leader chose to oversee the killing of more than 32,000 innocent people to pay for what Hamas did. Today, innocent parents are paying with the lives of their children. These children had nothing to do with what happened in Israel.

Netanyahu prefers to continue murdering not only with bombs but by starvation of the people of Gaza. One wonders how a person like Netanyahu sleeps at night. What kind of man is he to not be willing to try to find peaceful solutions to be sure what happened in Israel and Palestine never happens again? He never supported a two-state solution and he never stopped blocking proposed solutions without giving them a chance to work.

Anthony Blinken tried his best to get Netanyahu to cease fire, to bring the temperature down to stop the daily bombardment, to prevent starvation and killing of babies without giving them a chance to grow up to help find a solution for Palestinians and Israelis to ever live together in peace.

My friend, Cicely Tyson used to talk about when a baby was born and the old

This is no longer a war against Hamas for what they did as horrible as it was. It’s a war of Netanyahu to remain in power.

folks would look in the baby’s eyes as they thought about what that child could one day grow up to do, and ask, “Are you the one? Are you the one, Jimmy?” They had hoped the child would be the one who’d solve a problem faced by the world. Well, sadly, thousands of Palestinian children will never be asked that question so they will never be able to resolve a problem to save future Palestinian and Israeli children.

Let’s be clear. This is a war by Netanyahu to save himself at the expense of innocent Palestinians. I should also mention the horror of seeing the humanitarian group of 7 who were simply delivering food to prevent more starvation of the few Palestinians left. That was murder made possible by Netanyahu. see Netanyahu, page 5A

David W. Marshall

Ben Jealous

Netanyahu

Continued from page 4A

This is no longer a war against Hamas for what they did as horrible as it was. It’s a war of Netanyahu to remain in power. He doesn’t care what the United Nations does. Though the President of the United States has stood by Israel for so many years, Netanyahu has not lived up to his promises. It’s unfortunate because President Biden is a good person and has done a lot

Outdoors

Continued from page 4A

Now an adult, Levi is an Outings Leader with the Tampa ICO group alongside Rocky. Levi is paying forward his experience. He is pursuing a career working with animals and investing his time to make sure other kids from his old neighborhood and school get the same chance he had to explore and enjoy nature.

This is a story that repeats itself in families and communities in every pocket of our country. And we should encourage and celebrate it. As someone who comes from a long line of outdoors enthusiasts who passed the love of nature on to me, I try to do the same for my kids.

Whether we are skiing in the winter, paddling and fi shing in the summer, or visiting national parks year round, I try to do my part to make sure my family stays connected to the great outdoors.

Everyone can do this, whether it is a community affair, a family affair, or both. Vedia Barnett is a disabled Air Force veteran. After suffering a minor stroke, it was reconnecting with the outdoors and her

HBCUs

Continued from page 4A

The injustice comes from Tennessee State University, an 1890 land grant institution and the only HBCU in the state, being underfunded for 30 years. Students, alums, and the Black community at large should be aware of the history behind HBCUs and land-grant institutions.

The original Morrill Act of 1862 established white-only land grant institutions to teach agricultural and mechanical arts. The Second Morrill Act of 1890 required that states choosing to open a second land-grant institution to serve Black students must provide equitable distribution of funds between their 1862 and 1890 land-grant institutions.

Last year, a letter was sent to the governor of Tennessee from the U.S. Secretary of Education and the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture regarding the inequitable funding for HBCUs.

The letter stated, “Tennessee State University, the 1890 land-grant institution in your state, while producing extraordinary graduates that contribute greatly to the state’s economy and the fabric of our nation, has not been able to advance in ways that are on par with The University of Tennessee-Knoxville, the original Morrill Act of 1862 land-grant institution in your state, in large part due to unbalanced funding.”

If the state funding per student for Tennessee State were equal to that of Tennessee-Knoxville, then

of good for our nation. We need to elect him again to finish his job for America. The hostage families lose hope daily that they will see their loved ones again because Netanyahu won’t agree to a ceasefire. The reality is there may no longer be hostages alive because of the continuous bombing and killing directed by Netanyahu. It takes a lot of courage to vote at the United Nations. Our country has given Netanyahu too many passes. It’s time to pull back our support from him.

Dr. E. Faye Williams is President of the Dick Gregory Society.

love of nature that gave her a renewed sense of purpose to get back on her feet. “Just hearing the birds and feeling the sun on my face, it was like giving me life back.”

Now Vedia works with Sierra Club’s Military Outdoors campaign, getting other women veterans outdoors. She recounts one woman who left the service in the 1970s: “This was the fi rst time she felt like she was in community with veterans who looked like her. And I think It’s important even for veterans to understand that all these lands are for us – they’re for everybody.” Vedia’s mom, a Marine Corp veteran, has also gotten involved, bringing senior women veterans in their 70s out to join the group’s outings. This month is Earth Month. It is a perfect time to get outside. Bring your friends and family out there with you. If there is a local program near you that helps get kids – or anyone – outside who doesn’t typically have a lot of access to nature, consider chipping in your time. A love of nature is infectious. And it is one infection that is very worth spreading.

Ben Jealous is the Executive Director of the Sierra Club and a Professor of Practice at the University of Pennsylvania

TSU would have received an additional $2.1 billion over 30 years. One can easily say that the holding back of critical funding to the tune of $2.1 billion contributed greatly to the university’s financial woes. This week, student leaders from TSU will engage faith leaders, civil rights advocates, and the community on the best ways to organize action. These same students should remember the example of Lewis when considering the unjust ways HBCUs are disenfranchised by lack of fair funding along with the attempts to dismantle HBCU leadership.

It may be time for good trouble, necessary trouble when mobilizing alumni and supporters to defend HBCUs.

The state of Tennessee is not alone. The governor of Mississippi received a similar letter from the Biden administration regarding the inequitable funding for Alcorn State University for $257 million. Yet, in a recent state bill, Alcorn State was targeted for closure along with Jackson State University and Mississippi Valley State University.

A total of 16 states received the letter from the Biden administration. It is a sign that HBCU students and alumni should actively lobby their state lawmakers, Democratic and Republican, to take the integral steps needed to close funding gaps for HBCUs, particularly when equitable funding is mandated by law.

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

Tenn.’s Hostile Takeover Of TSU Is Case of “Blaming The Victim”

By Marc H. Morial

“By underfunding public HBCUs and denying the value of Black students on non-HBCU campuses, these extremists are making very clear the kinds of students they do and don’t want to succeed. They also are the same ones waging war on the teaching of our nation’s full history. But if we studied that history they seek to quash, we would know that the news out of Tennessee is just the latest example of conservatives rejecting the notion that Black people possess the capacity for self-governance.”

– Gevin Reynolds

◆◆◆

It’s a familiar pattern in right-wing political manipulation: Sabotage an institution. Point to the resulting damage as evidence of the institution’s ineffectiveness. Use the manufactured evidence to subvert the institution.

That’s what’s at play in Tennessee Governor Bill Lee’s hostile takeover of Tennessee State University.

Over the last three decades, the state of Tennessee has shortchanged TSU by a staggering $2.1 billion, according to a federal study. Unsurprisingly, TSU has faced challenges in maintaining financial stability. But instead

of responding rationally by honoring its legal obligation to equitably fund the university, the state has chosen to dissolve the state’s board of trustees. It’s hard to find a more blatant example of blaming the victim.

TSU, like other HBCUs, was created by state lawmakers in response to an 1890 ultimatum: admit Black students to existing land grant universities or create a separate institution. Federal law required “a just and equitable division” of funds between the two.

Yet year after year, in budget after budget, the state of Tennessee continually allocated more funding per student and more funding overall to the University of Tennessee-Knoxville than to TSU. In the last five years alone, the state has spent an average of $2,206 more per student at the University

But instead of responding rationally by honoring its legal obligation to equitably fund the university, the state has chosen to dissolve the state’s board of trustees.

of Tennessee-Knoxville than at TSU, Nashville’s NewsChannel 5 found.

A study by the U.S. Departments of Education and Agriculture recently found that of the 18 states with historically Black land-grant institutions, only Delaware and Ohio have equitably funded their HBCUs in accordance with federal law. Overall, the 16 states have underfunded their HBCUs by $12 billion between 1987 to 2020.

“Unacceptable funding inequities have forced many of our nation’s distinguished Historically Black Colleges and Universities to operate with inadequate resources and delay critical investments in everything from campus infrastructure to research and development to student support services,” U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona wrote in a letter to 16 governors in September. “I am continually inspired by all that HBCUs have achieved despite having to punch above their weight.”

Despite the fact that the

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Tennessee legislature had previously acknowledged its own failure to comply with the law, Senate Education Chairman Jon Lundberg responded to the report by accusing the Education and Agricultural departments of “using TSU to stoke political and racial division in our state.”

Lundberg’s response is familiar to historians of the “Lost Cause” mythology that permeated the Civil Rights Era, falsely labeling those who fought to end segregation and secure voting rights as “outside agitators” disrupting the cherished Southern way of life.

The modern “Lost Cause” movement – known in some circles as “anti-woke” –doesn’t pretend that Black Americans are content to live under racism. It claims that racism doesn’t exist.

Similarly, the state of Tennessee’s solution to racially discriminatory funding of its universities isn’t to provide equitable funding; it’s to shut down any discussion of it.

Remembering Dr. King & Adam C. Powell On April 4

By Dr. John E. Warren Publisher, The San Diego Voice & Viewpoint

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated on April 4, 1968, a day those of us who are old enough will never forget. But April 4th is significant for another reason, because on April 4, 1972, the Rev. Dr. Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., Congressman from New York, died in a Florida hospital. His death, although not related to Dr. King’s, occurred exactly four years, four months, and four days after the death of Dr. King. Both men represent great losses to humanity and to African-Americans in particular.

We know of Dr. King’s achievements and sacrifices but so much of Adam Clayton Powell’s record, which has gone unnoticed. Powell is the member of Congress that President Lyndon Baines Johnson went to in order to pass the Voting Rights Act, the Civil Rights Act and the War on Poverty under the Economic Opportunity Act. He is

In all he (Adam Clayton Powell) authored more than 60 major pieces of legislation in his six years as Chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee.

responsible for the Arts and Humanities Endowment Act, Elementary and Secondary Education, Higher Education Act, the Title VI Public Accommodatons provision of the Civil Rights Act and the Equal Employment Opportunity Act. In all he authored more than 60 major pieces of legislation in his six years as Chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee on which the late Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm also served. He authored the Older Americans Act and the Black Lung Legislation for those suffering from years of working in the nation’s coal mines and he was a voice for all Black Americans in particular, whether or not they lived in New York’s Harlem as his Congressional District. Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. died of cancer. Martin Luther King, Jr. died of an assassin’s bullet. We must never forget either even as we honor others who came before and after them.

By Rep. Ron Reynolds (Dem.) Texas House of Representatives

As a Black man deeply committed to the values of equality, justice, and progress, I find myself reflecting on a concerning trend within our political landscape: the departure of Black men from the Democratic Party. This phenomenon is not merely a statistical anomaly but represents a rupture in the relationship between the party and a significant segment of its base.

As we navigate this pivotal moment in history, it is imperative that we explore the underlying causes of this departure and chart a path toward reconciliation and renewal.

The decision of many Black men to disengage from the Democratic Party is rooted in a complex interplay of historical disenchantment, unmet promises, and a sense of disillusionment with the political establishment.

For too long, the voices and concerns of Black men have been marginalized and overlooked within the Democratic Party, leaving many feeling unheard and undervalued. As a result, a

growing number of Black men have begun to seek alternatives, searching for political homes where their perspectives are acknowledged and their interests are prioritized.

To address this rift and revitalize the Democratic Party’s relationship with Black men, we must embark on a journey of introspection and transformation. This journey begins with acknowledging and confronting our society’s systemic injustices and inequalities. It requires a commitment to dismantling institutional barriers and creating opportunities for economic empowerment, educational advancement, and social mobility for the Black community.

Moreover, it calls for a fundamental shift in how the Democratic Party engages with Black men. We must foster genuine connections and meaningful dialogue instead of token gestures and superficial outreach efforts. We must create spaces where Black men feel valued, respected, and empowered to contribute their insights and experiences to the political process.

Central to this endeavor is recognizing that Black men are not a monolithic group but a diverse and multifaceted community with a wide range of perspectives and priorities.

As such, our approach must be intersectional, considering the intersecting identities and experiences that shape the lives of Black men, including race, gender, sexuality, and class.

Furthermore, we must actively work to address the unique challenges and vulnerabilities faced by Black men, including the disproportionate impact of mass incarceration, police violence, economic inequality, and lack of access to healthcare. By centering the needs and concerns of Black men in our policy agendas and advocacy

efforts, we can rebuild trust and unity within the Democratic Party.

In conclusion, the exodus of Black men from the Democratic Party represents a wake-up call for all committed to justice and equality. It is a reminder that political loyalty cannot be taken for granted but must be earned through genuine engagement, meaningful action, and tangible results. As we confront this challenge, let us seize the opportunity to create a more inclusive and just political landscape where every voice is heard, and every individual is valued.

It is time for the Democratic Party to embrace Black men’s voices and reclaim its legacy as a champion of progress and social justice. It starts with prioritizing federal voting rights legislation, including the Freedom to Vote Act and John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, passing the George Floyd Policing Act, and raising the minimum wage to a livable wage. The path forward may be challenging, but it is also filled with promise and potential. Let us rise to the occasion together and build a brighter future for all.

Marc H. Morial

Rep. Ron Reynolds (Dem.)

Dr. John E. Warren

PROFILE: PEOPLE IN THE COMMUNITY

Diana Chappell: Norfolk Social Activist, Folklorist, & Now, Photographer

By Melissa Spellman Staff Reporter New Journal and Guide

Photographer Diana Chappell recently closed out her exhibition at For All Handkind Gallery located inside McArthur Mall in Norfolk. Chappell’s exhibition entitled “In the Spirit of Sankofa” began on March 1st as a part of Women’s History Month.

For All Handkind Gallery is owned by Kimberly McKinnis, an artist, curator, and adjunct professor at Old Dominion University. The gallery is a shared creative space with designated studios. The gallery is home to local artists Virginia Van Horn, Sculptor, Pamela Winslow, Painter, and Norfolk State University alumna Anjeanette Britton, Painter, and Diana Chappell, Photographer.

Chappell’s opening reception paid respect to Ghana’s Independence Day which was on March 6th. This is where she arrived at the theme “In the Spirit of Sankofa.” Sankofa (pronounced SAHN-koh-fah) comes from the Twi language of Ghana meaning to retrieve, to go back and get, to return. The Sankofa symbol represents the wisdom of learning from the past to help improve the future. Known to many people as an activist and folklorist, it has taken time for Chappell to settle into her title as photographer. “It’s taken me awhile to see myself as a photographer. I’ve always considered myself a storyteller whether that was maintaining the family history or our ancestral history. Photography for me has been a way of better conveying those stories of our history and culture,” said Chappell. In her journey as a photographer, she says that two things happened along

Photography for me has been a way of better conveying those stories of our history and culture.”

the road to shape her into the photographer she is today. “First, I came to love the look of satisfaction in people’s faces when they saw nice reflections of themselves,” said Chappell. She says it’s not only the joy of people seeing their own photos but also when people can see themselves in the images that document our history. She shares that the second thing that happened on her journey was learning to manipulate images. “When I first started, originally it was about telling the stories of our history and sharing the images. I never thought about manipulating the images,” said Chappell. In the beginning her focus was on capturing and documenting our history through photography. She went on to say, “On the way to becoming a photographer now I’m thinking more about how to manipulate images.

– Diana Chappell

I’m thinking more about the artistic side of it.” Through learning to shape images she brings her work to life as art, becoming a photographer with an artistic

eye. “When people look at these images they ask ‘are you a painter?’ I say no, that’s photography. That’s a real man that I captured at a Pow Wow,” said Chappell, referencing a photo taken at a local Native American Pow Wow event. She says it’s about controlling the outcome “I’m wanting to understand how to manipulate the images so that I can control what the final outcome looks like what people see,” she explained.

In this latest exhibition, she believes has perfected her craft. Diana Chappell is no stranger to readers of the New Journal and Guide. She has both worked for and freelanced for NJG since the 1970s. It was at the New Journal and Guide where she decided to go back to school to study photojournalism at NSU. Her roots are deeply planted in activism. see Chappell, page 7A

Diana Chapell

In the gallery.

Photo: Courtesy

Photo: Courtesy

Chappell

Continued from page 6A

She has been an activist in this community since the mid 70s working as a founding member of The Black Vanguard Resource Center along with the late Anthony Lewis and Carolyn Johnson, a former professor at NSU. Chappell worked on the United Congress Against the Death Penalty during the early 1970s. As they founded the Black Vanguard Resource Center, they were committed to free Van Burton who was a Virginia Beach resident sentenced to life plus 20 years for a robbery charge that he did not commit.

The Black Vanguard also worked in conjunction with local churches and organizations to form the anti-apartheid coalition which raised material aid that was shipped to Southern Africa for refugees there. Working with the ILA International Longshoreman’s Association, they were able to send three shipments of material to Mozambique for Zimbabwe and refugees which the United Nations helped to fund with a $50,000 grant.

Chappell is the founder of the organization Women Against Violence working

to save our youth during the 1990s as the community dealt with gun violence. She has travelled to Africa four times visiting Kenya, three visits to Ghana with her last trip being in 2019 documenting her last journey in a photo book entitled “2019 The Year of Return.”

During Covid she was featured in a news story entitled “Norfolk photographer captures grief and mourning during COVID” for her collection of photography at the height of the pandemic. She has also been featured as a hometown hero by Wavy TV-10 and featured in Distinction Magazine. In recent years she has become involved in the education and coordination of local Kwanzaa programs. Her history in activism is long and varied going back to the 1960s.

“I have been an activist. That’s the description that I have always used to describe myself,” she said. While Chappell clings to her title as activist, she has emerged as a photographer in pursuit of growth as an artist. She is now one of four artists with studio space in For All Handkind Gallery. Chappell says she is still embracing herself as a photographer. She added, “I hope my next exhibit will reflect my growth from photographer to Artist.”

Mental Health: Learning Effective Grief Strategies

By Rosaland Tyler Associate Editor New Journal and Guide

Chances are you know someone who is grieving a loved one since several reports show Blacks have the highest mortality rates in the USA Blacks are twice as likely to die from heart disease; 50 percent more likely to suffer from hypertension or cancer; and more likely to die at earlier ages from all causes of death, according to a 2022 University of Arizona report on Black loss, grief and bereavement. This suggests someone you know may be struggling to cope with grief, bereavement and loss, due to disproportionately high Black mortality rates in the USA.

The worst strategy is to think “life is unfair” and “I’ll never get over this.” While these thoughts are part of the normal grieving process, it is important to manage such thoughts, experts say. Instead, a grieving person should decide full recovery is possible. Similar to how a faint scar forms naturally over a wound after an

Eclipse

Continued from page 1A

Approximately 32 million people in the United States reside within the path of totality, with federal officials predicting an additional 5 million to witness the phenomenon.

Numerous eclipsewatching events unfolded at bars, stadiums, fairgrounds, and parks along the eclipse’s trajectory, offering diverse opportunities for people to experience this rare event. Scientists estimated that the entire process, from the initial moment the moon begins to obscure the sun to the culmination of totality and the subsequent return to normalcy, took about 80 minutes.

Veteran eclipse observers have described the moments preceding totality as ominous, with shadows taking on a peculiar sharpness and

TSU

Continued from page 1A

The new law preventing local governments from restricting police officers’ authority disregards community efforts to address systemic issues of police violence and racial profiling.

The actions echo historical efforts to suppress Black progress, reminiscent of the violent backlash against gains made during the Reconstruction era. President Joe Biden warned during an appearance in New York last month that Trump desires to bring the nation back to the 18th and 19th centuries – in other words, to see, among other things, African-Americans back in the chains of slavery, women subservient to men without any say over their bodies, and all voting rights restricted to white

High Black Death Rates Should Encourage Blacks to Learn Effective Grief Strategies

injury, grief recovery occurs slowly but naturally.

Bereaved individuals can expect to fully recover by avoiding several traps.

First, avoid collective grief. This term means you should avoid fictionalizing (or inventing) family ties or carelessly transforming random people into relatives and loved ones, due to the fact that they are of the same race. George Floyd’s brutal 2020 death in Minneapolis, is an example. Blacks suddenly perceived other Blacks as brothers and sisters, and aunts and uncles, in an effort to manage and control what is called “collective grief,” researchers Da’Mere Wilson and Mary-Frances O’Connor noted in the 2022 University of Arizona study.

“Black American community-family ties are much looser, in the sense

sunlight assuming an eerie hue. Just before totality, a phenomenon known as “shadow bands” may manifest, creating shimmering patterns akin to those seen at the bottom of a swimming pool.

As totality approaches, stars become visible in the midday sky, while the abrupt darkness causes temperatures to plummet.

“When a solar eclipse reaches totality, nocturnal wildlife sometimes wakes up, thinking that it’s nighttime, and nonnocturnal wildlife might think it’s time to head to sleep,” NASA officials wrote on the agency’s website.

The final glimpse of brilliant sunlight before totality creates the enchanting “diamond ring effect,” wherein a bright spot appears along the lunar edge as the sun’s corona forms a luminous ring around the moon.

According to NASA, the next solar eclipse that can be seen from the contiguous United States will occur on Aug. 23, 2044.

men.

The parallels are stark, with white supremacist ideologies used to justify attacks on Black institutions and disenfranchise marginalized communities, Reynolds argued.

In response to these challenges, advocates stress the urgency of collective action to defend democracy and combat systemic racism. Understanding that attacks on institutions like TSU are symptomatic of broader threats to democratic norms, they call for increased civic engagement and voting at all levels of government.

The actions of people dedicated to upholding the principles of inclusivity, equity, and justice for all will determine the outcome of the ongoing fight for democracy, Reynolds noted. “We are in a war for our democracy, one whose outcome will be determined by every line on every ballot at every precinct,” he stated.

that we’re more apt to call Black strangers ‘sister’ or ‘brother’ or ‘auntie,’ and this stems from times during enslavement where people were removed from their family of origin, so they might have been ‘adopted’ by the people where they ended up,” Wilson said.

“This aptness to look at each other as kin is part of why collective loss is a particular thing in the Black community,” O’Connor said.

This coping strategy dates back to disproportionately high death rates in colonial times, during slavery, and the Jim Crow era. Blacks were violently separated from their spouses, children and families, or hanged publicly. So after the 2020 Floyd murder occurred, some Blacks managed their sense of grief and loss by recruiting readymade family members, in an effort to recover from their sense of loss. Here is the second strategy. Don’t expect to find a lot of scholarly research on Black grief. Strenuously question the handful of reports you run across since some researchers sidestep crucial questions or avoid asking relevant questions including, How many people have you lost in the past two to five years? How do you plan to fully recover from the loss of a loved one? How long do you think it will take? Which strategies are working and not working for you? How close are you to regaining enjoyment in your life?

“We have such low representation of Black people in grief research, and because of the kinds of questions we’re asking, we haven’t really captured what the experience is like

for this community,” said Wilson, the co-author of the 2022 University of Arizona study on Black grief. “That could also have far-reaching effects to other communities that have been marginalized and may have experienced grief on a similar level, such as Indigenous populations.”

The third strategy is to stay busy. Avoid isolation.

Some Blacks are coping (and recovering) by sprucing up Black cemeteries or forming cemetery alliance groups. Many Black cemeteries are sometimes overgrown, unkempt or buried underneath busy interstate systems. So, some bereaved individuals travel to the cemetery with rakes, flowers and trash bags, aiming to restore it and their own psyches.

However, three historic Black cemeteries in Richmond that were long-neglected are now under city ownership. One of them is Shockoe Hill African Burial Grounds, established in 1816. It contains 22,000 free and enslaved burials over 30 acres. It is one of, if not the, largest burial ground for the enslaved in the nation

This means 76 acres of land that make up Black cemeteries in East End, Evergreen and Forest View cemeteries are now controlled and managed by the City of Richmond.

In Florida, the Black Cemetery Network grew out of a 2020 University of South Florida initiative called the AfricanAmerican Burial Grounds and Remembering Project. It brought together historians, genealogists and community members who advocate for erased cemeteries in Florida. Today, there are 34 Black cemeteries registered in this network’s Black burial ground archive.

Finally, seek professional help or join a bereavement support group. Some groups meet each week online.

Martin L. King III At UVA Center; March To Fall Semester

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA

Martin Luther King III, has joined the University of Virginia Center for Politics as a professor of practice for a term, continuing through the fall semester, according to center of fi cials. King is the second professor of practice in the Center for Politics and joins former U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney, who started in March 2023. His appointment coincided with the anniversary of the March 25, 1963, address his father, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., gave at UVA.

“I am delighted to join the Center for Politics as a professor of practice at the University of Virginia, and to do so during the anniversary month when my father addressed UVA 61 years ago makes this appointment all the more meaningful,” King said.

“Like my parents, I have devoted my career to social justice advocacy and combatting some of the most troubling issues of our time, including poverty, racism and violence,” he said. “I look forward to continuing that work with the Center for Politics.”

During his tenure, King will participate in University-wide lectures, serve as a guest lecturer in student seminars and participate in other University and community events to be announced at a future date.

Larry J. Sabato, the center’s director, welcomed King. “Professor King brings a wealth of experience in social justice, politics, human rights and much more, and we’re thrilled that he has chosen the Center for Politics,” he said. “I know the students will enjoy getting to know him and learning from his vast experience in the public arena.”

Martin Luther King III and his daughter,Yolanda Renee King, speak at the unveiling of the Embrace Sculpture in Boston in 2023.

Photo: Courtesy

Kidney

Continued from page 1A

Further, the National Kidney Foundation and the American Society of Nephrology told laboratories to transition to race-neutral equations when calculating kidney function.

The policy shift has led to major adjustments, and between January 2023 and mid-March 2024, over 14,300 Black candidates had their wait times recalibrated, resulting in more than 2,800 successful transplants, including Ebanks.

Dr. Nwamaka Eneanya, an assistant professor at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania Health System, emphasized the detrimental impact of race-based equations on clinical decisions, particularly in assessing renal function.

Thousands of Black patients now are being prioritized for transplants as racial bias is uncovered in the kidney transplant system.

Dr. Eneanya, a vocal advocate for removing race from medical equations, highlighted the lack of biological differences between races and the inherent flaws in using race-based multipliers. She told her university’s newspaper that, despite mounting evidence, many clinicians continue to rely on these outdated practices, perpetuating harm to Black patients.

Speakers

Continued from page 1A

Thousands watch Wesley’s weekly sermons online, at a time when numerous studies show millions of Americans increasingly prefer to attend church services online. Tennessee State University in Nashville recently made headlines after Gov. Bill Lee fired and replaced all of TSU’s board members. Now, this Nashville-based HBCU is making headlines by inviting Georgia Senator Raphael Warnock to address the class of 2024, which consists of 500 undergraduates and nearly 200 graduate students who will receive their degrees at the commencement.

Warnock, the pastor of Atlanta’s historic Ebenezer Baptist Church, will deliver the graduate commencement address on Friday, May 3, at 5 p.m., in the Gentry Center Complex. TSU President Glenda Baskin Glover will deliver the 2024 keynote address to undergraduates on May 4, at 8 a.m., in Hale Stadium.

Glover, the school’s first female president, who will retire at the end of the spring 2024 semester, said in a recent statement, “Senator Warnock’s dedication to public service, commitment to social justice and inspiring journey will undoubtedly resonate with our graduate school students.”

Glover holds a law degree from Georgetown and a doctorate from George Washington University. She

Biden

Continued from page 1A

This includes those who owe more than their initial loan amount due to accrued interest, individuals eligible for loan forgiveness who have yet to apply, and borrowers experiencing hardship in repayment. Additionally, the proposals would offer debt cancellation for borrowers who entered repayment decades ago and assist those enrolled in lowfinancial-value programs. Community college borrowers, who represent a significant portion of the student population, would also benefit from the administration’s initiatives.

“These historic steps reflect President Biden’s determination that we cannot allow student debt to leave students worse off than before they went to college,” U.S. Undersecretary of Education James Kvaal said in a statement.

“Human genome studies have shown there are no inherent biological differences between races,” Dr. Eneanya stated. “Those studies reporting that Black people had greater muscle mass were flawed, but no one questioned them.”

As the director of Health Equity, Anti-Racism, and Community Engagement at Penn Medicine, Dr. Eneanya spearheads internal initiatives to promote diversity and inclusion within the Renal Electrolyte and Hypertension Division. Additionally, she is actively involved in community outreach programs to address racial disparities in kidney disease awareness and screening. “Not everyone approaches medicine with a health equity lens. Many clinicians are not aware of existing disparities – how Black patients do not get referred to nephrology as early as white patients and do not have sufficient access to transplant [procedures],” she asserted. “In medicine, the tendency

is to say, ‘This is what a study showed, so this is what we should do,’ focusing on biomarkers and statistical tests without examining issues of ethics or health equity.”

Dr. Eneanya noted that the revelation of racial bias within the kidney transplantation system underscores the pressing need for reformative measures to ensure equitable healthcare access for all individuals, regardless of race or ethnicity.

“I sit on a joint American Society of NephrologyNational Kidney Foundation task force that is revising formal eGFR reporting guidelines to exclude racial bias,” Dr. Eneanya stated.

“Many physicians across the country, including some at Penn, have stopped using the race multiplier already. And while the eGFR is a frontline test for kidney function, there are other tests that don’t incorporate race. When there is any doubt about the accuracy of an eGFR score, other confirmatory tests that do not use race should be performed.”

Senator Warnock will address the TSU Class of 2024, which consists of 500 undergraduates and nearly 200 graduate students.

also serves as the immediate past International President of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated. Lee, the governor of Tennessee, earned a bachelor’s degree in 1981 at Auburn University, where he was photographed in the university’s 1980 yearbook in a Confederate military uniform at his fraternity’s “Old South Party.” In 2022, Lee won 93 of Tennessee’s 95 counties.That’s up from the 92 he won in 2018, according to news reports.

Sen. Raphael Warnock

Petersburg Mayor Is Commencement Speaker At Richard Bland College

PETERSBURG, VA

Petersburg Mayor

in and future prosperity of the city.”

Smith is hoping that Petersburgians will attend the meeting to support a native Virginian developer “who desires to create a brighter future for a city that has been too long ignored.”

Judge Roger Gregory Is Commencement Speaker At Randolph-Macon College

ASHLAND, VA

Sam Parham will deliver the keynote address at the 2024 Richard Bland College of William & Mary Commencement, on May 15, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., at the RBC Campus. Parham, who earned an 1996 associate degree at Richard Bland College of William and Mary, has served as Petersburg’s mayor since 2017. He has also held numerous leadership roles in the community, including governor of the Petersburg Breakfast and Lunch Rotary Clubs and the Colonial Heights Rotary Club, as well as president of the Petersburg Breakfast Rotary Club. He also serves as a board member for the Alliance for Building Better Medicine, the Virginia Gateway Region, the Battersea Foundation, and the VCU Alumni Association. Parham also earned a 1999 bachelor’s degree in business management at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond.

Judge Roger L. Gregory, a federal judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, will deliver the 2024 Commencement address at RandolphMacon College, located in Ashland, Va. on May 26 at Brown Fountain Plaza.

He is the director of business operations at Colonial Cleaning Service, a family-owned enterprise that has served Petersburg since 1981.

Gregory is the first Black judge to serve the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, which includes the states of Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina, He served a seven-year term as chief judge of the Fourth Circuit from 20162023. “His consequential career and life, as a judge and a leader, will no doubt inspire our graduates, and I look forward to hearing his message.” RMC President Robert R. Lindgren said in a recent statement. He is the only person in U.S. history to be appointed to federal appellate court by two presidents (President Bill Clinton and President George W. Bush) of different political parties.

Judge Roger L. Gregory Mayor Sam Parham

SHARE YOUR POEM DURING NATIONAL POETRY MONTH

Help New Journal and Guide celebrate National Poetry Month in April by submitting your original poem to us. Poems will be printed in the Thursday print editions during April and online at www. thenewjournalandguide.com

POETRY RULES

1. Poems can be in any poetic style and on any subject.

2. A poem must be written by the person submitting the poem.

3. Poems over 300 total words may not be printed.

4. Do not submit poem in all capital letters.

5. Poems containing language that is vulgar, offensive, or wholly inappropriate will not be accepted.

6. Include your name or any other information at the end of your poem.

Send to njguide@gmail.com with POEM on the subject line or mail to New Journal and Guide, P.O. Box 209, Norfolk, VA 23501.

Scene 2

BY JEROMYAH JONES

I’ll never forget the 5th of the 1st, with little time to rehearse…

Scene 1, On a Broad Street, I stopped at a Jamaican’s house to eat, I passed by a table of three, I introduced my art with a bit of hinting, There was a pause from the plate I’m sure she was missing, And the jerk was too chicken to stop her from listening.

We met on the 12th, And I captured a smile more precious than wealth! This story I’ll tell is not one of nymphs and spells, It shares my walk with a “Lion of El” After returning my treasure that fell, I learned she was taught quite well, I studied the nature of this lioness, Whose been given an ability not common to the queen of the jungle, Crouching not to hunt from hunger, Crouching for more than rest, Looking at the coming waves of success, The graceful curve of her left arm looked as if it could do no wrong, So I said I’ll paint the limb as a swan and make no mistake, She outshined the lake.

Oh yeah,

The ability of Ariel is not only her aerial perspective while still being down to earth, It’s the way she has helped me fly just by cherishing my work.

©2024 Jeromyah Jones

From The Artist: “The Lioness of Swan Lake” is one of my latest oil paintings capturing the essence of a lady from Louisiana at a beautiful park in Richmond, VA. I am a visual artist, poet, and 2011 graduate of Hampton University. My portrait and poem that portrays the grace of a woman and the gratitude of an artist that crossed her path.

“The Lioness of Swan Lake” 24 x 30 inch oil on canvas by Jeromyah Jones

By Sean C. Bowers

The China-owned social media internet company, Tik Tok, has come to the forefront of American conscientiousness because it poses several strategic technological dangerous threats that have been left unaddressed.

U.S. politicians, the military, and general masses of Americans recognize that a foreign nation having a direct unchecked feed into our children’s and 330,000,000 Americans’ minds is not only wrong, but a tremendous danger. China knows the dangers posed by what they market to us as the “unprotected version.” They only allow their citizens to use a different “safe version” of Tik Tok, protecting their own people. The data mined from every Tik Tok user should be private, sensitive, vital, critical data, for the users’ purposes and capabilities only. It is not smart to allow foreign entities with a direct channel into our

minds and or our ongoing state of mental health. The digital algorithms CHINA uses are addictive! THREE Hours’ usage (or more) a day doubles the chances of depression, and mental anxiety, as reported by NBC News this week. Just ONE HOUR of screen time a DAY equals a MONTH a YEAR, or 1/12th per user’s total time. We have now seen children addicted to swiping in a constant state of digitally agitated anxiety, who are unable to break free of their FOREIGN produced and based addictive amplifiers.

The Tik Tok platform is a tool being used to reach into the minds of a foreign population for profit, data, access, and the long-term ability to have a huge impact at changing world opinion or swaying perspective from nations around the world. Oceans no longer serve as protective buffers, because Tik Tok is already over here inside our nation and growing stronger by buffering and buffeting US, the end users. Need evidence? See the number of thousands of phone calls, e-mails contacting politicians’ in a coordinated effort to try to protect “THEIR PRECIOUS” Tik Tok’s brain-wash control. Most calls were from children and young people, after being prompted by Tik Tok ownership, its users, and the “FREE thought” abusers. Human beings have little or NO self-defense capabilities for the addictive capacities of Tik Tok. Left unchecked, these addictions will only grow worse. Need more data to conform this? See

How Much Did You Raise?

Is fundraising a team sport or a solo effort? We call it a team sport when we want to engage volunteers and stakeholders in the important work of securing funds for our nonprofits. But when it comes to claiming success, we say “I did it.”

The amount of funds raised is used as a “quickand-easy” way to determine who is a successful fundraiser. Managers and executives use it when evaluating the work of development staff, potential hires, and board members. Those who contract with fundraising counsel ask a variation on the question, “How much have you raised for your clients?”

It feels good to say, “I raised $2 million for our local parks,” or “I raised $30,000 for scholarships.”

And, people are impressed by these claims, “He must be a really good fundraiser to have raised all that money.” But rarely is this the case. And when one person claims the fundraising success, it can be disempowering to the rest of the team. Yes, we said it, and we always say it: fundraising is a team effort.

No one person does it all. A person can have the title of Chief Development Officer, or Development Director, but their ability to secure gifts is dependent upon

the work of many people, including those who may no longer be employed by the nonprofit, or serving on its board. Here’s what we mean.

First, today’s giving is often influenced by a nonprofit’s history of relationships, funding, board leadership, strategic directions, and acceptance. These are built over time, and they impact how a fundraising professional is perceived and the extent to which donors or funders are willing to interact with them. The organization’s financial, social, and political positioning also impacts current-day fundraising. Second, the above factors influence the circle of current and prospective donors/ funders and how they want to be involved. When a fundraising professional is working with a portfolio of well-established and closely connected donors they will – in most instances – be more successful in their fundraising. Third, an organization’s brand and market position impact the extent to which fundraising professionals have to educate a prospective donor or funder on the nonprofit’s work. These are all factors that influence fundraising success. As one major gift officer for a well-established

nonprofit shared, “All I did was go around and collect checks.” This is so different from a fundraising professional who has to identify potential donors/ funders, cultivate their interest, and appropriately solicit their support. There is no comparison.

Finally and most importantly, when one person claims fundraising success, it renders the work of everyone else on the team invisible and of no perceived value. That includes the board members who have opened doors and made introductions, donors who have introduced the organization to their peers and encouraged them to give, the grant writers, the annual fund managers, the marketing team, the fundraising volunteers, the data management person ... and don’t forget the executive director! Fundraising is a team sport – no one person can do it all.

Comprehensive Fund Development Services. Video and phone conferencing services are always available. Let us help you grow your fundraising. Call us at (901) 522-8727 or visit www.saadandshaw. com.

Copyright 2024 –Mel and Pearl Shaw of Saad&Shaw

the Netflix offering, “The Social Dilemma,” which details social media’s known and unknown dangers and debilitating potential. There are already enough brain-dead applications, games, and programs on smart phones, tablets, and computers that are becoming “go-to” options for America’s young people. The fact that people like to create, watch, and comment on artificialintelligence generated addictive algorithms only produces more-addicted lessproductive users. (Imagine if the MARCH MADNESS productivity losses were yearround, and the impact that would have on our economy and society.)

Translation: China has hacked a backdoor directly into our minds, homes, lives, and our very existence through our naive children’s love of dance, video, internet

exposure, and cravings for viral fame via social media. Without intervention, America’s youth will become more and more unproductively addicted. China counts on our becoming ever more addicted to the dangers of the version of Tik Tok that is specifically designed to infiltrate, proliferate, debilitate, and ultimately incapacitate our people.

Big tech’s ability to provide baby-sitting dance entertainment is never MORE important than the responsibility they have to protect and uplift our future generation’s mental stability and viability. BY feeding Tik Tok we are letting them virtually and digitally eat our young. The evidence shows that Tik Tok program is a modern day digital-mental “Trojan Horse” out in the open. Designed NOT FOR GOOD, it is an in-secret

data collective informationgathering program drawn from the tendencies and location of users.

“WE” are the product they profit from, by collecting our data for only their gain.

Locked into their block chain programming, America is positioned to fall from our place as the #1 super power.

Beware: OUR clock is TICKING AND TOCKING!

Sean C. Bowers has written the last 27 years for The New Journal and Guide, CHAMPIONING

overcoming racism, sexism, classism, and religious persecution. More of his work can found by searching “Sean C. Bowers” on the NJ&G website, on social media at Linkedin.com or by email V1ZUAL1ZE@aol. com NNPA 2019 Publisher of the Year, Brenda H. Andrews (NJ&G 37 years) has always been his publisher.

Hello and welcome to The Bridge Corner. It takes a combined 25 points to make game; when a partnership has fewer than 25 combined points, they should play in a partscore contract. If there is no Golden fit (an 8+ major card suit in the combined hands), the partnership should play in notrump.

Dealer: East

QUESTIONS:

1) How many combined points are there in each partnership? Does one partnership have enough combined strength for a Golden Game? Does the partnership have a Golden Fit in a major suit?

2) Which partnership has the majority of the points? East is the dealer. Who would open the bidding? What would the opening bid be? Which player would be the describer? Which player would be the responder? Which player would be the captain?

3) If E – W bid a contract, should it be a game contract or a part score contract? What should the strain of the contract be? What contract might best describe the combined hands?

Must East always end up as declarer? If not, how would West become declarer?

4) If West is the declarer in a 1 No Trump contract, who makes the opening lead? What would the opening lead be? How many tricks must declarer win to make the 1 N/T contract? How many sure tricks are there in each combined suit in the East and West hands?

5) “Play the high card from the short side” is a bridge saying that applies to this deal. Why would this be good advice? What might happen if declarer does not follow this advice?

ANSWERS:

1) North – South have 17 combined points; East – West have 23 combined points. Neither partnership have enough strength for a Golden Game (there are three Golden Game contracts: 4 Spades, 4 Hearts, and 3 No Trump). Neither partnership has Golden Fit.

2) E – W have the majority of the points/ strength. East opens the bidding with 1 Diamond. East is the describer; West is the responder and the captain.

3) E – W should be a partscore. The strain should be No Trump. 1 No Trump should be a reasonable contract. The opening bidder does not necessarily end up as declarer. West could be the declarer by mentioning the strain ( No Trump) first.

4) North makes the opening lead. North leads a low card from hearts, the longest suit. Declarer needs seven tricks; declarer has seven sure tricks.

5) “Play the high card from the short side” applies to the Spade suit and is a good strategy because declarer needs to play Spades in the correct order to win four tricks in the suit. Declarer should win the first Spade trick with the Queen. Declarer still has a low card to lead to the A K J of spades.

The Banks at Berkley

Sean C. Bowers

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

ABRAHAM –MAN OF FAITH MOMENTS of MEDITATION

Galatians 3:1-14

The scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the Gospel in advance to Abraham: ‘All nations will be blessed through you.’ So those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith” (Galatians 3:8-9).

God justifies us on the basis of faith alone, rather than because we keep the law (Galatians 2:16, 21). This is in direct opposition to the teaching of the Judaizers, who insisted that faith must be accompanied by law keeping. Most of chapters 3 and 4 of Galatians deal with this issue.

Faith In Christ Crucified

Paul addresses his readers directly, this time in rather unflattering terms – he calls them “foolish” (Galatians 3:1a, 3a). He says that he wants “to learn just one thing” from them (v.2a), and so he asks a series of questions, all of which have to do with this fundamental question: What is the basis of your salvation?

These questions are:

(1) How did you receive the Spirit – by law-keeping or by faith in the message you heard from me (v. 2b)?

(2) Since you began your spiritual journey by faith, isn’t it senseless to think that you can complete it by your own efforts (v. 3b).

(3) Do you realize that if you are not saved by faith, all your experiences since you trusted Christ – some of which may have involved persecution and suffering – become meaningless, for you have been trusting in an illusion (v. 4)?

(4) You know that you received the Holy Spirit and have seen Him work miracles in your midst. Has this happened because you have been keeping the law or because you believed the message of Christ crucified (v. 5)?

Through these questions, Paul seeks to have the Galatians reexamine their Christian experience – to think about the basis on which their lives have been changed. Paul now brings into the picture the case of Abraham, which, in its various aspects, constitutes much of his arguments throughout the rest of this chapter and the next. The Faith of Abraham Paul asks the Galatians to “consider Abraham” (v. 6a). More accurately, he is linking Abraham with

the line of thought in the preceding verse by a single word that means “just as.”

“You have been justified – declared righteous – by faith,” Paul is saying , in effect, “just as Abraham was, for the scripture says, ‘He believed God, and it [this faith] was credited to him as righteousness’” (v. 6b; cf. Genesis 15:6).

In response to the Judaizers of Galatia, who regarded circumcision and law-keeping as the means by which salvation was obtained, Paul points to Abraham, whom God declared righteous solely on the basis of his faith, many years before circumcision became the sign of the covenant (Genesis 16:16, 17:27).

Not only did God justify Abraham by faith, but He said that He would justify Gentiles in exactly the same way (Galatians 3:8).

This is what is meant by the oft-repeated promise: “all nations [i.e. the Gentiles] will be blessed through you “(Genesis 12:3; 18:18; 22:18; 26:4; 28:14).

Faith and The Law

What about those who thought that keeping God’s law would help bring about their salvation? Many pious Jews believed this and devoted themselves, as Paul has done before he met Christ (Philippians 3:6), to a meticulous observation of Mosaic Law and the traditions that had grown up around it through the centuries. Couldn’t a person be saved in this way? Or couldn’t some form of legalism be combined with faith as a road to salvation? These are the unspoken questions that Paul now

answers. He begins by reminding the Galatians that the law itself condemns anyone who does not keep it perfectly (Galatians 3:10). Both experience and scripture teach that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). Furthermore,

Paul says, the Scriptures themselves uphold the principle of “living by faith” rather than seeking to be justified by keeping the law. “The righteous will live by faith (Galatians 3:11; see Habakkuk 2:4).

Finally, Paul points out that law – keeping and faith

are mutually exclusive principles, which cannot be combined as a means of gaining eternal life. He does this by quoting again from the Mosaic Law (Galatians 3:12), this time taking a command from a passage in Leviticus 18. see Abraham, page 6B

King Center To Honor Coretta Scott King In April 2024

50 years being a national role model. She launched, supported and maintained the historic Atlanta memorial that honors her late husband, while she also labored as a mother, a visionary, creator of The King Center, and also for the passage of legislation that launched a MLK federal holiday nationwide.

While Mrs. King was not referring to the clearly strident upcoming 2024 Presidential Election when she said, “Freedom is never really won, you earn it and win it in every generation,” she could have been.

Back then, the effort to halt Black voting rights and silence wild racist rhetoric matched the eerie timbre of today’s times. Yesterday’s faded Black and white photos show Mrs. King and her husband calmly marching arm-in-arm on picket lines, while racists protested from the sidelines. Other photos show white cops beating Blacks or city workers aiming dangerous fire hoses at Blacks who were simply trying to register to vote. Other photos show white police officers beating Blacks on picket lines with billy clubs Ultimately,

I believe very strongly that all forms of bigotry and discrimination are equally wrong and should be opposed by right-thinking Americans everywhere.”

– Mrs. Coretta Scott King

the Kings were responsible for forging numerous racial breakthroughs including the 1965 Voting Rights Act, and the 1965 Civil Rights Act.

“I believe very strongly that all forms of bigotry and discrimination are are equally wrong and should be opposed by right-thinking Americans everywhere,” Mrs. King said in a trademark quote.

“People need role models,” she said. “They need to see examples of people in peoples’ lives.”

than

By Brenda C. Siler Washington Informer

Joy filled the room in Vienna, Virginia, at The Barns at Wolf Trap concert performance of “Black Opry Revue” on Friday, as five talented artists performed their compositions in front of an enthusiastic sold-out audience.

Country music artists Sug Daniels, Roberta Lea, Tylar Bryant, Rachel Maxann and Grace Givertz took the stage and sat on stools with their instruments, allowing the audience to get to know them.

The evening began with acknowledging the “elephant in the room” when the performers shouted a hearty “welcome to the party” to Beyoncé on releasing her countrytinged album earlier that day. The audience responded with thunderous applause.

We heard from each artist individually through three rounds of songs. The first round allowed the artists to introduce themselves and then sing one of their compositions. Givertz started on banjo, but we experienced her guitar and harmonica playing by the concert’s end.

Lea, Maxann, and Bryant also accompanied themselves on guitar. Daniels, who recently

did an interview on the Informer’s WIN-TV, played the ukulele, an instrument she picked up during the height of the pandemic.

ORIGINAL SONGS WE CAN ALL FEEL

Good storytelling is at the heart of how a song reaches an audience. These five artists had a lot of stories to tell, primarily based on relationships. Audiences heard about finding true love, breakups, and relationship payback. Those themes were mixed in with songs about support with self-awareness, and staying true to the country genre, a few about drinking.

But the most beautiful aspect of being in The Barn with Givertz, Lea, Maxann, Bryant, and Daniels was seeing how they interacted with each other. They like each other and freely joke about themselves in between the songs.

Bryant was the only male on this leg of the Revue, and he was happy to be on the tour.

“Fortunately, I’ve played with each before, but not all together like this,” said Bryant in a conversation after the show. “It’s all like family. We’ll return to where we are staying, be up late talking, sharing stories, and singing songs.”

Before leaving the stage, the singers declared it was

“Beyoncé Day,” and closed with their rendition of the barrier-breaking Grammywinner’s song “Texas Hold ‘Em,” from her new album. After the show, a considerable chattering crowd rushed to the lobby merchandise table, eager to meet the five artists. It was the ultimate sign of the audience’s appreciation.

LOVE FOR BLACK OPRY

Tria Coleman and her friend Jada Henderson drove three hours from Smithfield, Virginia, for the show.

“This my second Black Opry show,” said Coleman. “I told Jada, ‘You gotta do this!’” Henderson continued by

FUN PUZZLE FOR YOUR LEISURE

saying, “It was beautiful. It’s so nice to see Black talent in an atmosphere where you don’t usually see them.”

A production of Black Opry, the revue features Black country music artists performing in different locations around the country.

Corey Petree has followed Daniels and Black Opry for a few years, but this was his first time seeing the artist or show in person.

“I learned about this when it started during the pandemic,” said Petree about “Black Opry Revue.” “I never thought it would come around here for me to be able to see it.” For more information, go to Blackopry.com.

Abraham

Continued from page 4B

If one seeks to be saved by keeping the law, he or she can do so only by perfect obedience – which is impossible. Faith would be ruled out, for the law is based on obedience, not on faith. Any effort to combine the two will be futile. Faith And The Promise. Paul has shown that there is no possibility of salvation through law keeping. “All who rely on observing the law are under a curse (Galatians 3:10). Is there no escape from this condemnation? Indeed there is, and that is why the Gospel is Good News: “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law (v. 13). How did He do this? By death on the cross for us. He became a curse for us – i. e. He was the divine substitute for guilty human beings.

As the sinless One, with no sin of His own for which to be punished, He would bear the punishment that

all of us deserve thereby satisfying divine justice and making available divine mercy. Paul put it very well in this second letter to the Corinthians: We are convinced that One died for all, and therefore all died.

God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God (5:14, 21). But beyond redeeming us from the curse of the law, Christ’s death accomplished two other divine purposes: (a) that Gentiles as well as Jewish people might receive the blessing given to Abraham (Galatians 3:14a), and (b) that “we [Gentiles and Jewish people alike] might receive the promise of the spirit (v. 14b). Paul had earlier referred to each of these bene fi ts (vv. 6-9, justi fi cation; vv. 2-3, 5, the gift of the spirit). But here he brings them together again to remind the Galatians that believers, whether Jewish people or Gentiles, have received both of these blessings by faith, and not by observing the law.

Country musicians Grace Givertz, Roberta Lea, Rachel Maxann, Sug Daniels and Tylar Bryant took to The Barns at Wolf Trap in Vienna,Virginia, for Black Opry Revue on March 29.

Photo: CourtesyofShannonFlack/WolfTrap