NEWJOURNAL & GUIDE NEW JOURNAL & GUIDE
Harris-Walz Campaign Soars After Convention With Unprecedented Momentum, Fundraising
By Stacy M. Brown Senior National Correspondent
@StacyBrownMedia
NNPA NEWSWIRE
The electricity in Chicago at the Democratic National Convention remains undeniable. Still, the real story is how Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign has sent shockwaves far beyond the United Center, energizing battleground states that will decide the 2024 election. What was once a campaign facing significant challenges
Harris-Walz Campaign Organizers are now gearing up to engage voters on critical issues such as reproductive freedom, the cost of living, and Social Security and Medicare protection.
has transformed into a dynamic, unstoppable force. Harris now leads in most national and battleground state polls –a stunning development
achieved in just over a month. In an email, HarrisWalz Campaign Chair Jen O’Malley Dillon said the Chicago convention
Black Communities Disrupted By Va. Colleges Is Focus of Study
By Rosaland Tyler Associate Editor New Journal and Guide
What will happen now that a new 19-member state legislative committee is studying the impact that historically White universities have had on nearby Black neighborhoods acquired through eminent domain?
Two are located in Hampton Roads: Christopher Newport in Newport News and Old Dominion in Norfolk. Will these colleges in Hampton Roads compensate displaced Black families? Will they award scholarships to impacted descendants, the way Georgetown University did after it acknowledged the role it played during the slave trade. Georgetown launched a 2022 annual fund of $400,000 to support slave descendants who were sold on Jesuit plantations in Maryland and forced to move to Louisiana in 1838.
A 19-member state commission will examine several universities in Virginia that acquired property via eminent domain.
Virginia has included its current budget the establishment of a 19-member commission to examine several universities in Virginia that acquired property via eminent domain. One is Christopher Newport University, which was established in Newport News in the 1960s on land taken from a Black community through the use of eminent domain, in the Shoe Lane neighborhood. Committee members
will also be examining the Lambert’s Point neighborhood in Norfolk, which was disrupted in the 1960s-70s to make room for a new branch of the College of William and Mary, which later turned into Old Dominion University. Lambert’s Point was previously a middle class Black community. The move displaced more than 150 families.
see Commission, page 2A
EXONERATED CENTRAL PARK FIVE RECALLS TRUMP’S ANTI-BLACK ADS
Reprinted from the Crusader Group and Bruce C.T.Wright/ NewsOne
People watching the final night of the Democratic National Convention (DNC) were provided with a very real reminder of Donald Trump’s decadeslong history of anti-Black racism and discrimination.
The topic was first broached by the Rev. Al Sharpton, who said that the only time Trump has ever taken a stance on the
He (Trump) spent $85,000 ... calling for our execution. We were innocent kids, but we served a total of 41 years in prison.” – Korey Wise
issue of race was back in the 1980s when he took out a full-page ad in the New York Times calling for a group of Black and brown boys falsely accused of raping a white woman to receive the death penalty.
“It was there that I saw Trump loved to fan racial flames,” said Sharpton, who then introduced that same group of now men who are collectively called the Exonerated Five.
Kevin Richardson, who
is now an activist, Yusef Salaam, who is now a New York City Council member, Korey Wise and Raymond Santana joined Sharpton on the stage to share their story with America and draw further attention to Trump’s racism and hate.
Recalling the boys’ “youth was stolen from us” because of the false rape accusations they faced, Wise said that hardship was compounded by the death penalty ad.
see Exonerated, page 3A
Party on the Beach
VIRGINIA
The Virginia Beach Funk Festival celebrated its 15th year with a huge two-day beach party August 23-24. Music ranged from old school hip-hop rap artists to go-go musicians from the D.C. area.
see page 2B
had ignited the most significant organizing push since the campaign’s sudden launch. Dillon said volunteers recently contacted over 1 million voters in just a few short days. She noted that the surge in volunteer engagement “is a clear indicator of the campaign’s growing strength” as it heads into September with a formidable ground game. In tandem with the volunteer surge, the Harris-Walz campaign has shattered fundraising
records, raising an unprecedented $540 million in just over a month – setting a new high-water mark in American political history. During the convention week alone, grassroots contributions crossed the $500 million threshold just before Harris’s acceptance speech. Dillon said the momentum didn’t stop there; immediately following her address, the campaign experienced its best fundraising hour since launch day.
see Harris, page 7A
African Landing Day In Hampton
Congressman Robert C. “Bobby” Scott, D (VA-03), announced recently that he will host several special guests, including Senator Tim Kaine and several Virginia elected officials, at his Annual Labor Day Cookout. The Cookout will be held this Monday, September 2, 2024 at 914 Shore Drive, Newport News, Virginia from 3 to 6 p.m. Over the years, the Labor Day Cookout has become one of the premier political events in the Commonwealth of Virginia. “The Annual Labor Day Cookout allows us an opportunity to celebrate the significant contributions made by our
Nominee
Kamala Harris
HAMPTON Verrandall Tucker and the Tucker Family were present for the African Landing Day Ceremony at Fort Monroe last weekend. The Tuckers have documented they are descendants of Antony and Isabella, two of the nearly 20 enslaved Africans who arrived in 1619.
Photo: ErnestLowery
Del. Bonita Anthony
This shirt says it all!
Photo: RandySingleton
BEACH
The University of Virginia, meanwhile, wiped out a Black local neighborhood and business district called Vinegar Hill when the school needed more room for its growing student population in the 1960s. UVA acquired the former downtown Black business and residential district through urban renewal regulations.
“The University played a direct role in the physical destruction of Black neighborhoods and displacement of its residents. At other times, its influence has been felt more indirectly,” the University of Virginia noted on its website in a March 15, 2021 post.
In 1965, Charlottesville utilized eminent domain to acquire the Vinegar Hill neighborhood and business district, raze it, and attempt to redevelop it for a new thoroughfare and commercial development. The urban renewal scheme for Vinegar Hill followed a blueprint proposed by urban planning firm Harland Bartholomew and Associates, infamous for pioneering racially motivated slum clearance in St. Louis. As was the case in cities across the nation, urban renewal had a devastating impact on Charlottesville’s African-American community. All told, the city’s redevelopment of the area resulted in the forced displacement of more than 600 Black families and the closing of more than 30 Black-owned businesses that, combined, generated a gross annual income of $1.6 million,” according to a University of Virginia post on its website.
Records show a similar takeover of Black land occurred in Norfolk as ODU required more land to expand.
The damage that historically White universities have inflicted on nearby Black neighborhoods is a topic that one of the state’s new commission members, Del. Bonita Anthony, a Norfolk Democrat, is focusing on.
She said, “I am very interested in this topic simply because Norfolk historically has been the very core and center of redlining and displacement. My expectation is for us to gather as much information as we can and to look at overarching policies that the General Assembly can put in place to make sure we don’t repeat history.”
Dr. Cassandra NewbyAlexander, also a commission member and history professor at Norfolk State University, said she hopes the legislative panel will focus on reparative justice.
“The next step has to be to heal,” she said. “Healing
Dr. Cassandra Newby-Alexander
doesn’t just come from acknowledgement. It comes from actual steps to repair because right now we are structurally still in a racist society.”
Brandi Kellam, a reporter who led the initial Christopher Newport University investigation, which initially ran in ProPublica, said, “This is not just a local Newport News issue, not just a city council issue, not just a college issue,” she said. “This is a collective, systemic dismantling of a community by several parties in power across the state of Virginia.”
According to news reports, “The statewide panel will probe historic land acquisitions and consider potential redress for Black families and their descendants. The commission will work with public colleges and universities to examine property transactions in majority Black communities, and determine whether and what form of compensation or relief would be appropriate,” according to the state budget, which was signed into law May 13.”
Del. Delores McQuinn, D-Richmond, who introduced a bill to establish the 19-member commission in January, said, “Just as universities have been
August
25, 1956
Edition of the Guide
The Democratic Party Ticket
The Democratic party had a hilarious time at its Chicago convention. But out of the confusion it brought forth good candidates for President, and Vice President.
Mr. (Adlai) Stevenson proved decisively that he deserved the nomination and we believe that in him the Democrats selected the best man they had.
The selection of Mr. (Estes) Kefauver as the Vice-Presidential nominee was not exactly a surprise. We believe that he is a good choice and adds strength to the ticket.
Neither Stevenson nor Kefauver is entirely acceptable to the Southern Democratic party. But we believe that most of the Southern states will go along with the ticket. On the record, Kefauver, of the two candidates, is more in disfavor of with the South, that is due to his original declaration that he accepted the Supreme Court’s interpretation of the law; he never wavered. Stevenson was less positive until the eve of the convention when he took a firmer stand.
During the convention there was a need to adopt a civil rights platform stronger than the previous two conventions. This will doubtless carry over into the Fall Campaign. Virginia and South Carolina will almost certainly go into the Republican column, and Georgia and Mississippi will almost follow suit.
Roy Wilkins, NAACP Executive Secretary, has reiterated the criticism he voiced of a compromised civil rights plank adopted by the Democratic Convention. Wilkins said that the plank falls unacceptably short of the requirements
The next step has to be to heal ... (healing) comes from actual steps to repair because – we are structurally still in a racist society.”
– Dr. Cassandra Newby-Alexander
winners, families have lost a lot,” McQuinn said when introducing the bill. “I just want families to somehow be made whole.”
Throughout the USA, similar efforts have resulted in displaced Blacks receiving scholarships at Georgetown and at colleges in New Orleans.
For example, after about 7,000 undergraduate students enrolled at Georgetown learned of the school’s forced slave sale, they voted for a 2022 reparations fund that would generate close to $400,000 a year through donations. Recipients are to be chosen twice a year through an application process.
Scott
Continued from page 1A
“As we all know, the stakes could not be higher for the election this November, he said.
“My Annual Labor Day Cookout provides a platform for voters to
‘CAT LADIES FOR KAMALA’ MEOW LOUDLY AS HARRIS MAKES
By Kayla Smernoff Howard University News Service
With a rousing cry for connection and rebellion, “cat ladies” hosted a virtual watch party to celebrate Kamala Harris and her historic nomination on the final day of the Democratic National Convention.
The founders of Cat Ladies for Kamala emphasize that the organization is open to cat lovers of all genders and to pet owners of different species, too.
“Cat ladies unite! We’re not going back to the alleys!” reads the event flyer.
The Cat Ladies for Kamala slogan is an allusion to the vice president campaign slogan: “We’re not going back.”
As Harris took the stage in Chicago, the applause from the convention’s live audience matched the excitement in the Cat Ladies for Kamala live chat. Messages from viewers popped up expressing joy for Harris’ speech and for the Democratic Party.
“Paws up! Claws out!” said YouTube user Mitts402002. Breena Blossom, another
engage with political candidates seeking office in Hampton Roads and throughout the Commonwealth before casting a ballot this fall,” said Scott.
Congressman Scott is inviting the public to attend his annual political kickoff for the general election season. It promises to be a fun-
The Cat Ladies for Kamala united to rebut J.D.
Vance’s insult of childless women officeholders as “childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives.”
YouTube user and cat lover, said, “I have never been this excited about a presidential election.”
The emphasis on pet ownership stems from backlash to J.D. Vance’s July 2021 appearance on the Fox News series “Tucker Carlson Tonight.” During the television appearance Vance, an Ohio senator and Donald Trump’s vicepresidential running mate, shared his unfavorable opinions on people who do not have children voting and occupying public office.
“We are effectively run in this country ... by a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives and the choices that they’ve made, and so they want to make the rest of the country miserable, too,” Vance told Carlson. Cat Ladies for Kamala’s virtual meeting is the second of its kind. The Cat Ladies for Kamala Instagram boasts 22,000 followers and the hashtag: #ClawsOut2024. Founders Liv Carter, Linsay Deming and Blaire Postman hosted the first event with content creators, comedians, politicians and cats from across the United States.
According to the founders, the initial meeting raised $320,000 through the ActBlue Kamala Harris and Tim Walz donation link.
The Cat Ladies for Kamala team is excited for the future and feel like they are making a positive impact.
“Hope for a future for all of us!” Lila Cartledge exclaimed. “Childless cat ladies will help [Harris] win. Meowza!”
Kayla Smernoff is a reporter for HUNewsService. com.
For more information about the Cookout, please call (757) 2452000. Shuttle Bus services will be provided.
see Cookout Notice, page 8A, for more details
filled afternoon with food, conversation and live entertainment. Shuttle Bus services will be provided. For more information about the Cookout, please call (757) 245-2000.
From The Guide’s Archives
Archives taken from the pages of the (New) Journal and Guide
for a major party seeking the nation’s votes in 1956.
Passages in the plank dealing with the Supreme Court decision on public school segregation are totally meaningless, the NAACP official said. He pointed out other passages calling for continued “effort” by the Democratic party on behalf of other civil rights guarantees, now have been dropped by the (liberal) 1952 plank’s references to federal legislation and thus a definite step backward.
(Editor’s note: Incumbent President Dwight D. Eisenhower/ Richard Nixon won with 57.2 percent of the vote. Stevenson won 7 states, including Virginia and most were in the South.)
3 Factors Impede Negro Home Ownership
By NJ GUIDE Staff Writer
While the rate of home ownership among Negroes has climbed considerably in recent years three major factors impeded the tempo of progress. These three factors are (1) land availability; (2) markets for mortgages in new developments; and (3) the difficulty in procuring loans in areas inhabited by members of the race. There is a very definite problem here. Any space large enough to afford the development of 100 or more homes along modern lines must necessarily be found outside of the present city limits.
In Norfolk this problem may be remedied if Norfolk’s present annexation plans succeed.
August 24, 1963
Edition of the Guide
Crawley Selected For East Ghent Post
NEWPORT NEWS
A 29-year-old native of Newport News, George
Crawley, has been chosen director of a two-year program in “human renewal” for East Ghent, a neighborhood of some 3,000 persons, mostly populated by day workers and domestic workers.
Crawley, a graduate of Huntington High School and holder of a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Virginia State College, said, “We plan to launch a total approach to human renewal, and eliminate not only physical blight, but add to the social, cultural and educational attainment of the people.”
East Ghent, a once all-White area is now primarily Negro, due to a population shift. Most of the residents rent the houses in which they live; most are rundown; only 25 percent of the homes have a full private bath, kitchen and hot water.
The self-betterment project is being financed by a $25,000 grant made by the Norfolk Foundation. The grant was made in June following a study by the Norfolk Health, Welfare and Recreation Planning Council, which reported that only 10 percent of the East Ghent’s adults have more than a fourth-grade education.
As manager of the Dickerson Courts in Newport News, Crawley has long been familiar with the problems of lowincome families.
He was a managertrainer for the Newport News Housing Authority for a six-month period in 1956 and after 18 months as a lieutenant in the Army, was made a project manager.
“The program,” he said, “will also involve such things as homemaking, budgeting, and the ABC’s where needed.” He points out that “the Grant was made for a two-year period but we have high hopes that it will be renewed or that we will be able to add other funds from some
other sources.”
August 24, 1968 Edition of the Guide Witness In King Slaying Case Released
MEMPHIS (UPI)
Charles Quitman Stephens, allegedly the only witness to certain aspects of the slaying of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was a free man without police protection this week.
Stephens, 57, credited by the prosecution with observing King’s killer leave the rundown apartment house on South Street (in Memphis), was freed from the Shelby County Jail on a writ of habeas corpus.
Democrats Boot
Lily-White Delegation; Stun Dixiecrats
CHICAGO
The Democrats have refused the “lily-white” Mississippi delegation to the Democratic National Convention (DNC).
In a historic action, the Democratic Convention’s Credentials Committee branded the Mississippi delegation as racist and voted to seat in its place, a half Black, half White insurgent band of “loyalists.”
The committee’s decision announced by Gov. Richard J. Hughes of New Jersey at a steamy post-midnight news conference came as not a surprise. But the size of the vote 85 to 8 in favor of seating the “loyalists” – stunned southern delegates who face similar challenges.
The 24-vote Mississippi delegation, headed by Gov. John Bell Williams, was beaten before it even came to the convention in Chicago.
Three of the major presidential candidates – Vice President Hubert Humphrey, Sen. Eugene J. McCarthy and Sen. George
S. McGovern – backed the “Loyalists.”
As of August 16, 53 Negro delegates had been assigned to various committees of the Democratic Convention, according to reports from the Chairman of Delegates from 24 states, the District of Columbia, the Virgin Island and the Canal Zone. At least 11 Negro delegates are serving on the Key Credentials Committee, headed by Governor Richard Hughes of New Jersey; 11 Negro delegates have been assigned thus far. The Credentials committee began hearing on the contesting delegations in Chicago.
The total number of Black delegates to the Democratic Convention is 313 with 177 listed as delegates and 136 as alternates. From the 11 states of the old South there are 468 delegates and 57 alternates with Texas leading, with six delegates and 11 alternates. And Louisiana follows with nine delegates and four alternates. Negro representation in 1968 is almost three times the number in 1964. (Editor’s Note: Over half of the delegates at the 2024 DNC were Minority).
Widows May Receive GI Home Loans
NORFOLK
Recent changes in the GI (General Infantry) Bill home loan program should make it easier for thousands of “unmarried” widows to get GI home loans. Basic eligibility requirements are that the widow’s husband either had served active duty or from a service-connected disability and the veteran’s service was during the World Wars or after June 27, 1950.
A new law permits the VA to guarantee home loans of up to $12,000 of the total amount approved.
Exonerated
Continued from page 1A
The ad encouraged similarly hateful protesters to essay unthinkable things to the children as they entered court for their trial.
“Because of Donald Trump,” Wise said. “He spent $85,000 ... calling for our execution. We were innocent kids, but we served a total of 41 years in prison.” He said he was there at the DNC because of his allegiance to Sharpton.
“Reverend Al Sharpton stood with us then, I’m proud to stand with him today,” Wise continued.
“Vice President Harris also worked to make things fairer. I know she will be the same as president.” Salaam spoke about Trump in no uncertain terms.
“45 wanted us unalived,” Salaam said of Trump. “He wanted us dead.”
Salaam explained that he and the other exonerated men were freed from prison only because of DNA evidence and the actual perpetrator of the crime confessed. Still,
NYC Councilman Dr. Yusef Salaam encouraged voters to elect Harris into office so that “America will finally say goodbye to that hateful man.”
Salaam said, Trump still stands by the original guilty verdict.
“He dismisses the scientific evidence rather than admit he was wrong,” Salaam added. “He has never changed, and he never will.”
Salaam encouraged voters to elect Harris into office so that “America will finally say goodbye to that hateful man.”
Antron McCray, the other member of the Exonerated Five, was not with the group on stage.
In the DNC segment that immediately followed the Exonerated Five and Sharpton, civil right leader and President of the National Urban League Marc Morial spoke about another aspect of Trump’s legacy of antiBlack racial discrimination.
Morial reminded people about Trump’s history of intentionally keeping Black people from being tenants in his New York City properties
simply because of the color of their skin.
“It was straight-up housing discrimination,” Morial said. “It was racism.”
Conversely, Morial credited Harris for having a history of the type of “civil rights advocacy” that out an end to Trump’s racist housing policies.
“Donald Trump, you denied Black people the American dream, and Kamla Harris is creating a future where every family has a place to call home,” Morial said.
Later in the evening, comedian DL Hughley told a joke that the only way Donald Trump can keep Kamala Harris out of the White House is to buy it and refuse to rent it to her.
The punch line prompted laughter, but Trump’s racism is very serious.
This story first published by NewsOne August 22, 2024.
SALISBURY, N.C.
Livingstone College in Salisbury, N.C., one of the nation’s oldest HBCUs recently received an $8 million donation shortly before Livingstone opened its doors and welcomed students to campus in late August
According to new reports, Livingstone College, which was founded in 1879, recently received an $8
VADOC’S
million donation from an anonymous donor. The funds are being used to update the school’s dining hall, replace flooring, and to fund renovations in Tucker and Dancy residence halls, expected to be completed by fall 2025.
Launched more than 150 years ago by the AME Church, Livingstone College recently received an
unprecedented anonymous $10 million donation, the largest in the institution’s history. It was used for infrastructure and capital projects. The college started in the parsonage of Bishop C.R. Harris. It moved to a one-building, 40-acre site in 1882. Livingstone awarded its first bachelor’s degree in 1887. It is
INMATE PROGRAM TO REDUCE RECIDIVISM
RICHMOND (WRIC)
The Virginia Department of Corrections (VADOC) is taking steps to help inmates reintegrate into society.
VADOC announced that it’s launching a new literary program, called Reading Enables All Learners (REAL), to help inmates who either can’t read or can only read at a beginner level.
“Reading is essential for all aspects of education,” said Terri Erwin, Director of the Virginia Interfaith Center’s Consensus for Higher Education in Prison.
The program, which will be self-paced and taught by certified inmate tutors, will allow inmates to learn to read with the goal of transitioning into a GED program. Recent data shows those who are released from VADOC
custody with a GED re-offend 16.9 percent of the time, compared to 18.2 percent for the rest of the prison population.
“The national statistics for those who complete the bachelor’s degree is a decrease in recidivism is 46 percent. If you back up, getting the associate also helps with recidivism just slightly less, and then the high school diploma as well,” said Erwin.
Erwin adds that investing in educational programs for inmates will benefit all Virginians by ensuring inmates can be productive members of society once they are released.
“We all know a college degree is helpful for finding employment and better employment,” she said VADOC says they hope to have the program rolled out statewide by the end of the year.
Livingstone College in Salisbury, N.C.
Photo: Courtesy
(L-R) Activist Kevin Richardson, NYC Council Member Dr. Yusef Salaam, Activist Korey Wise, and Activist Raymond Santana with Rev. Al Sharpton.
Photo: CourtesyofDNCPool
PROFESSOR EMERITUS OF SOCIOLOGY VIRGINIA TECH
DAMAGE BY TRUMP
By Wornie Reed, Ph.D.
Many people’s objective in the current presidential election is to ensure that Donald Trump does not get reelected. Rightfully, they are extremely concerned about what damage Trump and his allies will do to the country, including, of course, abandoning American democracy.
Trump has already harmed the country. I will call attention here to some of the damage.
He made the federal budget issue much worse with his tax cut for the rich, enacted during Trump’s first year as President. It primarily benefited corporations and the wealthy. It achieved none of his administration’s goals, and the Congressional Budget Office projected that the 2017 tax cuts would increase the national debt by $1.9 trillion over 11 years.
Trump damaged the judiciary. During his presidency, Trump appointed three Supreme Court Justices and 226 other federal judges to lifetime appointments. His Supreme Court Justices were selected – as Trump himself proclaimed – if they would overturn Roe v. Wade. Of course, they lied when Senators asked them about Roe, declaring that it was settled law. And then they proceeded to unsettle it.
As President, Trump has attacked democracy.
“Here are ten basic democratic norms that Trump fails to comply with or outright repudiates: (1) respect for an independent judiciary, (2) support for a free and independent press, (3) more generally, the importance of independent actors within government, as opposed to actors who simply owe
Trump has already harmed the country. I will call attention here to some of the damage.
loyalty to the president; (4) a commitment to the peaceful resolution of political disputes rather than encouraging violence; (5) respect for the legitimacy of elections; (6) not using the legal system to attack political opponents; (7) not expressing admiration for foreign autocrats; (8) preserving transparency within government; (9) the maintenance of a sharp separation between the private interests of public servants and the public good; (10) at least a minimal commitment to truth telling.”
This was written in 2019, during the middle of Trump’s administration. Trump’s damage affects American polity.
For example, currently, Republican leaders support Putin in his war against Ukraine, which harms American security. A win in Ukraine by Russia is expected to be followed by attacks on other countries, including members of NATO, which the U.S. is sworn to defend – in a war!
Trump obliterated centuries of federal practice.
He treated the presidency as just another money-making venture. He paid no attention to the Emoluments Clause, which restricts members of the federal government from receiving gifts ... from foreign states.
Trump had foreign officials stay at his hotel in Washington, which provided money in his pocket, thus violating the emoluments clause. The federal agency watchdog overlooked this issue, therefore establishing a
problematic precedent. Also, when he traveled, Trump often had Secret Service and other officials stay at his properties, even when these properties were many miles away from the President’s destination. Once again, he was lining his pockets.
Trump damaged the United States’ international reputation. He immediately withdrew America from the important Paris Climate Accord, which was signed by 196 parties at the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference near Paris. The treaty covers climate change mitigation, adaptation, and finance.
In addition to cozying up to dictators, Trump actively appeared to be doing work for Putin as he tried to dismantle NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Alliance, or at least withdraw America from it. Putin has long wanted to destroy or weaken NATO, and Trump was actively at work trying to do the same thing. Fortunately, Biden defeated Trump in 2020, and the U.S. rejoined the Paris Accord and restored the compact with our NATO allies. As things stand, we live under the effects of the first Trump presidency. We must continue to restore our government’s previous operating rules. But first, we must make certain that Trump is not re-elected. Fortunately, he has clearly warned us about what he would do in a second term. It would be the end of the world as we know it. First, he and his henchmen will eliminate democracy and then go further.
CARRTOON By Walt
Carr
ILLINOIS’ UNIQUE PLACE IN CIVIL RIGHTS HISTORY
By Ben Jealous (TRICEEDNEYWIRE.COM)
The modern civil rights movement hit a new peak last week in Illinois. It marked the movement coming full circle, in a way, back to the state of its birth more than a century ago. Illinois is the unsung “alpha and omega” of the movement.
It was the 1908 Springfield, IL Race Riot that sparked the creation of the NAACP. That marked the beginning of what would become the modern civil rights movement that evolved through the 1950s and 60s and is still evolving today.
And last week, Illinois hosted the nomination by one of America’s major parties of a candidate for president who has broken barriers her entire career ... who comes from a family of bold civil rights activists ... who could be our first woman president, our first president of Asian descent, and only our second Black president.
If Springfield was the civil rights movement’s “alpha,” then this year’s Democratic National Convention in Chicago and Kamala Harris’s campaign are, to date, its “omega.” Barely more than a month ago nobody knew
this was going to be Harris’s convention. Yet the history of the civil rights movement makes poetry of the fact she accepted her party’s nomination in Illinois.
The city of Chicago itself has played a crucial role in this history. In the wake of the Springfield Riot, the anti-lynching crusader and Chicagoan Ida B. WellsBarnett was a leading national voice against that racial violence and one of the original cofounders, six months later, of the NAACP.
And Chicago played host to a key civil rights moment featuring another NAACP cofounder, W.E.B. Du Bois.
In 1929, it was where Du Bois dispatched white supremacist Lothrop Stoddard’s toxic eugenics claptrap, arguing for racial
The modern civil rights movement hit a new peak last week in Illinois. It marked the movement coming full circle…
equality in what was billed at the time as “one of the greatest debates ever held.” It is the home of Mayor Harold Washington and Jesse Jackson. Reverend Jackson’s presidential campaigns offered me one of my own first experiences in political organizing. I was captivated by his campaigns and led my county’s arm of Youth for Jackson when I was 14. Those Black leaders’ groundbreaking campaigns helped create a tailwind for Black candidates across the country to make history in the 1980s. Doug Wilder became the first African-American elected statewide in Virginia as Lieutenant Governor in 1985. 1989 then saw Wilder become the first ever elected Black governor in the United States and David Dinkins elected the first Black mayor of New York City. see Illinois, page 6A
Roses For Reverend SOMETIMES WE LAUGH; SOMETIMES WE
By Julianne Malveaux CHICAGO
(TRICEEDNEYWIRE.COM)
The big news of this year’s Democratic Convention is, of course, the nomination of Vice President Kamala Harris and the drama surrounding her nomination.
The kinetic energy of the nomination and the convention are part of the story. From the convention floor on August 19, I can testify to the energy, the happiness, the joy from those assembled. After the last words were spoken, people hung out for more than an hour, full of praise for President Biden and the other speakers.
The surprise visit by Vice President Harris (it wasn’t on the official agenda) wowed the crowd, but there were lots of wow moments on the exuberant first night of this historic convention. Rousing words from Congressional representatives including James Clyburn (NC), Jamie Raskin (MD), Jasmine Crockett (TX), and Senators Raphael Warnock (GA) and Chris Coons (DE) heaped praised on both President Biden and Vice President Harris. But even before Convention Chair Minyon opened the convention, some on-the-floor preconvention activities were meaningful and historic.
Rev. Jesse Louis Jackson was lifted and celebrated
on the convention floor. The wheelchair bound civil rights leader and former Presidential candidate whose oncerousing rhetoric energized the Democratic in 1984, was present to receive his flowers from his many friends and admirers in the Democratic Party. The Monday celebration came on the heels of a Sunday evening celebration at the Rainbow PUSH headquarters in Chicago’s South Side where Rev. Jackson’s storied history was reviewed and revered by friends and colleagues like Congresswoman Maxine Waters (CA), Senator Bernie Sanders (VT), Rev. Al Sharpton and others. Hosted by the Nation Magazine’s John Nicols, the two-hour celebration was a reminder of Rev. Jackson’s political history.
Rev. Jackson’s impact on the Democratic Party is undeniable. First, he challenged the status quo by running for
Rev. Jesse Jackson, the wheelchair bound civil rights leader and former Presidential candidate, was present to receive his flowers from his many friends and admirers in the Democratic Party.
President without having been elected to political office. People, including establishment Black elected public officials actively discouraged him and even ridiculed his attempt. He ran anyway and based on the number of electoral votes he amassed, became a powerful influence in the Democratic Party. see Reverend, page 5A
By Dr. E. Faye Williams, Esq. (TRICEEDNEYWIRE.COM)
During the past week, many of us were glued to our televisions. The National Democratic Convention was going on in Chicago. There was a lot of laughter. There were a lot of tears – but they weren’t sad tears. They were happy tears coming from men and from women. Some were from Blacks, Whites, Asians, Indians, Hispanics, Republicans, Democrats, and Independents.
Everything there was about KAMALA HARRIS and TIM WALZ! I could end this article with those two names, but there is a lot more to tell. Like many, I think I heard lots of speeches telling us who these two people really are and why they should become our President and next Vice-President. I just couldn’t get enough of the joy I was witnessing. Speaker after speaker were showing their love, pride, respect, happiness and their anticipation about what would happen next. Yes, we cried a lot. We laughed a lot. We Black women thought such a day would never come but there it was!
We cried as we remembered what our ancestors went through to get us to this day –and we remembered what
our dads went through, too, but as Malcolm said, Black women still are the most disrespected women in the world – and one of us is about to become President of the United States of America! It’s been a long time coming but it’s so close now we can feel it! Each speaker told us a bit more than we already knew about Kamala and why she is destined to become our next President. Speaker after speaker told us about how she has always fought for others who could not speak for themselves. We were even told about the scar she still carries from protecting a little girl when she was a child. We laughed and we cried because we were happy about being so near to having a twofer. Barack Obama was our first Black brother, but we are about to have our first Black sister and the first woman period! Michelle Obama had already reminded Trump that he should
CRY!
There were a lot of tears – but they weren’t sad tears. They were happy tears coming from men and from women. Some were from Blacks, Whites, Asians, Indians, Hispanics, Republicans, Democrats, and Independents.
remember that the job he is seeking just might be one of those Black jobs he’s been talking about! President Joe Biden, Democrats, Independents and even a good number of Republicans gave us a respectful number of reasons why we should vote to make Kamala our next President.
Night after night we saw truly happy people. Stevie Wonder performed his magic. John Legend, Sheila E and others made us want to dance whether we were in the convention center or sitting at home just watching everything. Rev. Al Sharpton came on and made us feel good come rain or shine. see Laugh, page 5A
Ben Jealous
Dr. E. Faye Williams, Esq.
Julianne Malveaux
Rev. Jesse Jackson
Messages For The 2024 Presidential Election
Dear Editor:
The 45th U. S. president is known for his massive ego. The explanation for this inflated ego eluded me until I read the following by the real genius, Albert Einstein:
• “More the knowledge, lesser the ego. Lesser the knowledge, more the ego.”
Einstein also provides some of the best reasons for denying Donald Trump’s return to the White House. Consider the following:
• “Whoever is careless with the truth in small matters cannot be trusted in important affairs.”
• “Weak people revenge. Strong people forgive. Intelligent people ignore.”
• “Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.”
• “Blind belief in authority is the greatest enemy of truth.”
• “The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits.”
• “Two things are infinite: the universe and
human stupidity; and I’m not sure about the universe.”
Furthermore, Einstein left these messages that seem so appropriate for the voters in the 2024 federal and state elections:
• “The world is a dangerous place to live, not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don’t do anything about it.”
• “The world will not be destroyed by those who do evil, but by those who watch them without doing anything.”
• “The world is in greater peril from those who tolerate or encourage evil than from those who actually commit it.”
In this – possibly the most important election in the history of our Country – please reflect on Einstein’s messages before and as you exercise your right to vote in November.
– Barbara Tuck Lovell Portsmouth, Virginia
SHE MENTIONED HIM WITH A SMILE
By Dennis Edwards Columnist
Continued from page 4A
He talked about the things for which we have worked so hard and we won’t go back! At that point, the crowd was cheering with “We won’t go back!”
heard “If we stay together and vote together, joy will come in the morning.”
Edwards
Dennis
He told us about Trump – a man he has known for a long time who just wanted to get ahead for himself but not for others, and how Kamala consistently works to help those in need. He said we are gonna do a job on those who’ve done a job on us!
Those were not just Black people. White women were just as loud – especially when the words freedom and choice for women to be able to decide what to do with their own bodies! Others were cheering for reasons we may never know. More than once we
I was pleased that he referred to Rev. Jesse Jackson as his mentor, for it was Rev. Jackson who taught so many the importance of getting registered and voting in every election.
A group of Black men said, “We are going to usher Kamala Harris into the White House on November 5th, and what a joy that will be!” Laugh
It was a brief illustration, within an important moment, during a major DNC convention. But the cause for celebration in my spirit came from the smile on Vice President Kamala Harris’ face as she reflected on the advice her father gave her as a child. While playing in a park she recalled how her father, Dr. Donald Harris, a world renowned and retired Stanford University Economics Professor, overruled her mother’s urges for caution as she ran while playing. She talked with adoration through slight crackles in her voice about how he taught her as a young child to be fearless. “My father would say, as he smiled” ... ‘Don’t let anything stop you.’” She remembers the love in that smile as much as his advice.
In that moment I realized Kamala is a “Daddy’s Girl.” I could see it in her eyes and the brief smile she allowed to slip through while talking about him. There was a sense of relief in pride as she told that story. As if she’d been wanting to say it for a long time. The magnitude of this moment is in her eyes. Just as her sister looks like her mom. Kamala looks very much like her Dad. My sense is she acts like him as well. Maybe I can see it because I’m a “Daddy’s Boy.” My mother and I were close. She and my stepfather Henry Hardie raised me and my brother after my father Leroy T. Edwards, Sr. died of a heart attack when I was four-years-old. I love and loved them deeply.
But even after death I’ve always had a special connection to my dad. I am his doppelgänger, so to speak. I look like him, talk like him, probably think like him and write like him. So does my son Justin Dennis. Denying either
Reverend
Continued from page 4A
From that perch, he was entitled to representation on party committees including Rules, Platform, and Credentials. The Rules committee changed the way Electoral votes are divided, shifting from a winner-takeall system to a proportional distribution of votes.
Given that altered formula, Democratic party candidates were able to amass delegates to the convention more fairly. This rules change has helped every candidate, winner or loser, in their race and made the party both more diverse and more competitive.
Jackson’s legacy is his Rainbow Coalition, his method of bringing people together whose similarities
parental connection limits the sunlight under which we all live our lives. The light of and from a father and mother makes us who we are. Where we have pride in one and not the other exists a lasting void. When she talked about Dr. Harris, I saw something familiar as the “Daddy’s Girl” look flashed across her face. The expression as she told that story and her appreciation for his teaching her determination ... ‘don’t let anything stop you’” is apparently practiced everyday in her life. Even on the stage his sense of fairness is front and center as she made sure all of her nieces and nephews were part of her inauguration and received their moment in the spotlight. There was no denying the love and admiration she has for her dad.
Much is made of her mother’s role in the Vice President’s and her sister’s lives. But it’s clear she is her father’s child. I want to see them together at the White House one day. It would be good for them both. Good for the nation, too. Good for fathers left out of their children’s lives for whatever reason.
Good for the estranged and for faithful fathers who can say more in brevity, silence and through their actions than many utter in a life time of words.
Imagine what being brought to the White House as the father of the Vice President and or the father of the President Elect of
dwarf their differences. The Rainbow principles are those of social, political and economic justice, and justice includes voting justice. His voter registration efforts were game-changing, and his line “the same hands that picked peaches can pick Presidents,” continues to inspire, spawning organizations like The National Coalition for Black Civic Participation, Black Votes Matter, and others.
The voter registration and participation may be more important now than ever, with Republican nationwide aggressive efforts to suppress the vote. According to Barbara Arnwine, founder and President of the Transformative Justice Coalition, there have been 291 voter suppression laws in 40 states passed in the past four years, with 6 states passing 7 additional restrictive laws just this year.
On the positive side, eleven
Much is made of her mother’s role in the Vice President’s and her sister’s lives. But it’s clear she is her father’s child. I want to see them together at the White House one day.
the United States would mean to him. Imagine what it would symbolize to the millions of men who look like her, as well as those who don’t, who’ve played major roles in the lives of their children but were shut out by family dynamics beyond their control.
Imagine what that small gesture of appreciation would say to the millions of fathers out there who did for their daughters and sons what her father got the chance to do for her in spite of likely intra family politics and cultural bias. Reconciliation always heals more than one wound. It is its own special kind of contagion. In the twinkle in her eyes I see a glimpse of a Daddy’s Girl. A peek, a sliver so to speak. But it is there and I’m glad she shared it with a world that needs to know how special both her parents are and were.
(Dennis Edwards is a Major Market Emmy and Virginia Associated Press Broadcasters Award Winning T.V. and WRVA Radio News Anchor, Investigative Reporter, Columnist and Pastor. He is a graduate of Virginia Union University and its Samuel Dewitt Proctor School of Theology) (Copyright August 2024)
states have passed fourteen laws that protect the right to vote. Arnwine, who is part of the Rainbow Coalition’s leadership, is passionate about election protection and is among the many who have benefitted from Rev. Jackson’s mentorship. The Chicago convention is focused on the future, and it was delightful to see the future showcase highlighted with speeches from under-40 Congressional stars like AOC (NY) and Jasmine Crockett (TX).
The Sankofa symbol means “go back and get it.” In giving Rev. Jackson his flowers, we’ve gone back to get elements of his leadership, fire, and focus. Democrats will move forward with Kamala Harris, but we’ve also got to go back to our basics.
Dr. Julianne Malveaux is an economist and author based in Washington, D.C.
A Bond For Life: From Sisterhood To Presidential Race
By Trinity Webster-Bass
Howard University News Service
CHICAGO
Kamala Harris has had many roles and titles over the course of her political career. Attorney General, Senator, Vice President and now Democratic presidential nominee.
But for the women who were initiated into Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. at Howard University in the spring of 1986, they know Kamala Harris as “line sister.”
“Greetings most gracious ladies of the upper, uppermost house of Alpha Chapter, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated, Howard University, Washington, DC 20059,” they all chanted in unison.
Today, I sat down with a few fellow members of the Alpha Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority. More than 30 of Harris’ sorority sisters celebrated this historical moment. They traveled across the country to meet here in Chicago for the Democratic National Convention. And Monique Poydras, an organizer of the event, shares why her sorority sisters are here to support Harris.
“So, we have gathered here today because we are so excited about our line sister, Kamala Harris, Vice President Harris,” Poydras said. “We’re here to celebrate her and also to support her in her nomination for president of the United States, and we’re looking at an individual who’s not only qualified, she’s qualified, overqualified for the role. And we couldn’t be more proud and humbled about our beginnings at Howard University.”
Valerie Pippen-Coutee has known Harris for over
We are here to say she is authentic and she is genuine and she has never shifted from that. No matter what role she has served in. We love her for that, and I think she absolutely loves us for being there for her as line sisters and not people who are just enamored with her space in life.”
40 years, and before they were sorority sisters, they were best friends.
“We got closer and closer together almost every day ... and in the summer of ‘85 we decided to go to summer school,” she recalled. “So, we worked during the day and went to summer school at night, and that really was difficult, but we were together every night.”
Pippen-Coutee continues to tell the story of how
she convinced Harris to become a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha, the first Black sorority founded at Howard University.
For many of Harris’ fellow members, getting people to the polls and Harris into the Oval Office are personal matters. From California to Washington, D.C., her sorority sisters have been there every step of the way.
Pippen-Coutee, like many of her sorority sisters, had plenty of stories to tell. They spoke of fond memories as they moved through life together.
“She might not remember this, but there was one time I visited her in Oakland, and we went shopping, and I was working, and I believe she had just begun working in the District Attorney’s office. She kept saying, Pippen. She calls me Pippen. ‘Pippen, I need a blue suit. I need a blue suit. I bought her that blue suit.’”
And as a line sister Inez Brown explained they have been with Harris
“I remember I had pledged already, and I remember saying to her, ‘Hey, you should go out for the sorority. You should really do it.’ She was like, ‘I don’t know. I don’t know what I want to do.’ I was like, ‘Look, you really need to do it.’ And she said, ‘I’m gonna do it.’ And so she did, and the rest is history.”
Illinois
Continued from page 4A
I had this epiphany about Illinois’ special place in the civil rights movement right before traveling to Chicago to take part in various events held during this year’s Democratic convention. It was at the White House, of all places. I had the privilege of being in the Oval Office for President Biden’s dedication of the site of the 1908 Springfield Race Riot as our country’s newest national monument. Among the crowd were some of Illinois’ top political leaders. And one of them mentioned that Illinois currently does not have a Civil Rights Trail. I thought about that as I was walking out and a photograph on display in the Oval Office caught my eye. It was President Biden with his mother and then President-Elect Barack Obama on election night in 2008 in Chicago’s Grant Park. I remembered that night and was immediately awash in more memories close to my heart and my
Illinois is the unsung “alpha and omega” of the civil rights movement.
sense of patriotism. I was in Springfield, IL when President Obama launched his campaign for president there in 2007. I have always remembered that campaign kickoff vividly because of its historical significance and because of how cold it was. It will be forever even more deeply ingrained in my memory because one of my crew that day who I stood with during the rally was my friend Kamala Harris, then the district attorney of San Francisco. Springfield was the home of Abraham Lincoln. When the NAACP was formed in 1909, six months after the Springfield Race Riot, it was on what would have been the Great Emancipator’s 100th birthday. Then in 2007, nearly 100 years after that, Springfield was where Illinois Senator President Obama chose to begin his presidential journey. Once again, it was that pattern of
things continuing coming full circle back to Illinois in our nation’s long march towards freedom and justice.
Clearly, Illinois deserves to have several Civil Rights Trail-recognized sites.
Last week’s convention was one for the ages. The speeches, the optimism, the energy, and yes, the joy. It was also just the latest of Chicago’s and the state of Illinois’ immense contributions to America’s progress toward the day when the rights and dignity of all people are fully realized.
This week we celebrate Women’s Equality Day. It is the anniversary of women gaining the right to vote with the adoption of the 19th Amendment in 1920. As our country sits poised to elect its first woman as president, it is also fitting to remember that Illinois was part of the very first group of states (along with Wisconsin and Michigan on the same day) to ratify that amendment.
Ben Jealous is the Executive Director of the Sierra Club and a Professor of Practice at the University of Pennsylvania.
throughout her wearing many different suits.
“We have celebrated her along the way,” Brown said. “When she was serving in Los Angeles, when she became the Attorney General, some of us were present at her swearing-in ceremony and celebration. When she became a U.S. senator we also celebrated with her in that moment. We were in the room when she took her oath and when she was running for president.”
“We galvanized and we did what we could do to influence and encourage people to register to vote and to support financially, because we know money speaks, and that is an important part of every election.”
What her fellow sorority sisters love most about Harris is her character, and for Pippen-Coutee, her laugh.
“I just want people to know how much of a genuine person Kamala is, how loving and caring
and funny, like we both love to laugh,” she said. “And that’s one thing we always had in common was laughter. And I just remember how she and I would just look at each other, just start cracking up.” Brown, who also helped to organize the event, wants people to know that at the end of the day, Harris is a person, too.
“And I think a unique lens for us is her line sisters, as we get to paint the human side of Kamala,” Brown said. “People have only sort of known her in her public service, so they often wonder, ‘Is she really this? Is she really that?’”
“We are here to say she is authentic and she is genuine and she has never shifted (from) that. No matter what role she has served in. We love her for that, and I think she absolutely loves us for being there for her as line sisters and not people who are just enamored with her space in life.”
VP Kamala Harris Today
Photo: Courtesy
A young Kamala Harris on the campus of Howard University
Photo: CourtesyofValeriePippen-Coutee
– Inez Brown, Harris’s AKA Line Sister
College classmates and sorority sisters of Democratic Presidential nominee Kamala Harris gathered at the Democratic National Convention.
Photo: Courtesy
Former Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner Running For Seat Vacated
By Rosaland Tyler Associate Editor New Journal and Guide
Harris County Democrats recently chose former Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner as the Democratic candidate for the seat vacated by the late U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee. The decision was made at a public meeting at Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church in the city’s Third Ward. A committee of 88 party officials in the 18th district voted. Turner won by a slim margin, securing 41 votes. Former Houston City Council member Amanda Edwards came in second with 37. The district is heavily Democratic, and Turner is favored to win the general election in November. Jackson-Lee, age 74, died in July from pancreatic cancer.
According to The Texas Tribune, “The Harris Democratic Party selected the candidate because Jackson Lee died too close to the general election to hold
By Sheila Jackson Lee’s Death
another primary. Jackson Lee died last month amid a battle with pancreatic cancer. She had won the Democratic primary for the seat in March against Edwards.”
Turner’s political resume is impressive. He served as mayor of Houston from 2016 till January, after serving as a member of the Texas House from 1989 to 2016. He also served on the House Appropriations Committee in the Texas Legislature. What may have helped
Turner earn the nomination was the endorsement of Jackson Lee’s children in his bid to succeed her.
The late congresswoman’s children, Jason Lee and Erica Lee Carter, said in a recent statement that they are endorsing Turner to succeed their mother.
“While no one will ever replace Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, there must be a successor. Our greatest hope is that her immediate successor has the capacity and commitment to sustain the service upon which the constituents of the 18th District have come to rely. For that reason we are proud to endorse Sylvester Turner for the 18th Congressional District,” her children said in the recent statement.
“We have no doubt Mayor Turner will carry on our mother’s legacy of service because we’ve witnessed it almost our entire lives. Our mother had no greater partner than Mayor Turner and he honors her with his
willingness to dutifully and humbly serve as a sturdy bridge to the next generation of leadership for the historic 18th Congressional District of Texas,” they continued.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott Aug. 2 set a special election for Jackson Lee’s seat to be held on Nov. 5. Early voting for the position will begin Oct. 21.
Turner, 69, said in a recent statement, “Only Sheila’s passing at this critical moment in the election cycle could bring me out of retirement.
Given all the uncertainty at the national level, I believe the 18th District needs stability and continuity in leadership.”
Turner told KHOU TV that if he’s elected, he has no intention of staying in Washington for very long.
“If you are to become the next congressman of the 18th District, how long would do you think you would serve?” WHOU asked him.
“Maximum, I would say, two (terms),” Turner said. “Maximum.”
Harris Continued from page 1A
What’s even more remarkable is the diversity of Harris’ donor base. A third of the week’s donations came from first-time contributors, nearly one-fifth of those being young voters. Two-thirds of the young contributors are women, a critical demographic that could prove decisive in November. Additionally, according to Dillon, teachers and nurses continue to be among the most common donor occupations, underscoring the broad and deep support that Harris has cultivated.
Dillon stated that the campaign’s unprecedented fundraising totals reflect the combined efforts of Harris for President, the Democratic National Committee, and joint fundraising committees.
The convention also marked a significant outreach effort to conservative and independent voters, featuring six Republican speakers on stage and several more in videos, including former Trump administration officials – more than any previous Democratic convention. The event became the one history’s most bipartisan national political gathering. Notably, conservative legal scholar Judge J. Michael Luttig, a George H.W. Bush appointee, joined a dozen Republican lawyers who served under Presidents Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and George W. Bush in endorsing Harris.
They joined the growing list of Republicans, including Congressman Joe Walsh, Congresswoman Barbara Comstock, and Congressman Adam Kinzinger, who have publicly supported Harris.
Dillon said organizers are now gearing up to engage voters on critical issues such as reproductive freedom, the cost of living, and Social Security and
Harris’ donor base is diverse – a third of the week’s donations came from firsttime contributors, nearly one-fifth of those being young voters.
Medicare protection. This week, Harriand Walz will embark on a bus tour through South Georgia, their first joint campaign event in the state. With its diverse mix of rural, suburban, and urban communities, including a significant proportion of Black voters and workingclass families, this region epitomizes the HarrisWalz coalition. The tour will culminate in a rally in Savannah, where Harris will directly address Georgians about the upcoming election’s stakes.
The Harris-Walz campaign is also making significant investments in paid outreach. The campaign launched a new TV ad across battleground states, highlighting Harris’s economic vision and her commitment to building an opportunity economy where everyone who works hard can get ahead. The ad is part of August’s $150 million television buy, with $370 million in television and digital reservations.
“Headed into Labor Day, our campaign is using those resources and enthusiasm to build on our momentum, taking no voters for granted and communicating relentlessly with battleground voters every single day between now and Election Day – all the while, Trump is focused on very little beyond online tantrums and attacking the voters critical to winning 270 electoral votes,” Dillon remarked.
Former Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner
African Landing Day Brings Hundreds To Hampton; Site of Future Memorial
By New Journal and Guide Staff
HAMPTON
This year’s African Landing Day
Commemoration August 23-25 at Fort Monroe opened its Saturday ceremony at the future site of the African Landing Memorial near the Old Point Comfort Lighthouse. The $9 million memorial is expected to open in 2025.
The movement to construct the memorial dates back to the 1990s and efforts by Project 1619, Inc., a non-profit organization founded by Calvin Pearson of Hampton. Project 1619 was created in 1994 with a mission to tell the true history about the first African people taken to Virginia – and their true point of arrival at what is now Hampton.
The Commemoration is held in August to honor the first captured Africans brought in chains from Angola in August 1619 to North America and to highlight their legacy of culture, identity, resistance and triumph.
Other activities during Saturday included the blending of American and Angolan soil, a Parade of African Nations, a Flower Petal Ceremony, a drum call and a bell ringing ceremony. Guest performers included Sheila Arnold, storyteller; Leah Glenn Dance Theatre; KAM Kelly & The
DAY Program and Tidewater African Cultural Alliance. Special remarks were delivered by visiting Angolans, Hampton Mayor Donnie Tuck, the Tucker Family, Senator Mamie Locke and others.
The Fort Monroe Authority is in charge of the memorial landing site. After it opens, tourists will glimpse a reconstructed version of the land that was brutally real to enslaved Africans who first set foot on Virginia soil in 1619.
Organizers said each piece is “loaded with information” about the history of those first Africans, who were forcibly shipped from Africa to the landing site in Virginia.
“This is where it all began, so-called American civilization,” retired Hampton University historian Bill Wiggins said in a recent WHRO interview. “For better or worse.”
“This means what began as “a very, very far-fetched goal,” said Wiggins, “will become a true reality next year. “
Organizers hope the memorial will spark reflection and a deeper understanding of the story of the United States.
“The memorial is a storyline, and the storyline actually starts in Africa,” Fort Monroe Authority CEO Glenn Oder explained. “It tells about their life in Africa. We talk about the Middle Passage. We talk about resistance.”
(L-R Standing, Back): Glenn Oder, Fort Monroe Authority CEO; a Fort Monroe Authority Associate; Margot Wiggins; and Brenda H. Andrews, NJG Publisher (L-R Seated, Front): Dr. Bill Wiggins and Congressman Bobby Scott.
AllPhotosby ErnestLowery (Above Photo) Interpretive dance performer
(Left Photo) Representatives from the African Nation of Angola were among participants in the day’s events.
(Above Photo L-R) Carly Fiorina, VA250 National Honorary Chair; Brenda H. Andrews, NJG Publisher; Cheryl L.Wilson, Executive Director,VA250
(Left Photo) This bell was rung 32 times during the ceremony in honor of the first 32 African souls enslaved in America.
SECTION B
– COMING SEPTEMBER 13 –4TH ANNUAL SPARTAN GOLF TOURNAMENT
NORFOLK
The 4th Annual Spartan Golf Tournament, presented by title sponsor, Chartway Federal Credit Union, will be held on Sept. 13 at Bide-A-Wee Golf Course in Portsmouth.
This tournament is a partnership between Norfolk State University’s (NSU) Athletics Foundation and Department of Intercollegiate Athletics in support of student-athletes.
The tournament will commence at 9 a.m. with a shotgun start. A continental breakfast will be provided along with lunch and an awards program.
Last year’s tournament raised $23,000 in net proceeds. Additionally, the NSU Athletics Foundations was able to provide more than $107,000 to support fifth-year scholarships, athletics programming, and priorities at NSU.
Several sponsorship levels are available including, but not limited to, individual holes, beverage carts, items for raffle prices, or monetary donations. Sponsors are encouraged to register a foursome for the event to take advantage of the networking and fellowship opportunities. The deadline for sponsorships and foursome registration is August 30. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Ashley Avery, Golf Committee Chair at (757) 770-6618.
VIRGINIA WESLEYAN ESTABLISHES RE-ENTRY PROGRAM FOR INCARCERATED PERSONS
VIRGINIA BEACH
Virginia Wesleyan University (VWU) President Scott D. Miller announced recently the establishment of a Center for Urban Leadership Education in partnership with the Urban League of Hampton Roads (ULHR). Dr. Miller made the announcement during his annual State of the University Address in TowneBank Arena. Gilbert T. Bland, President of the ULHR, joined Miller for the announcement.
We will be the first 4-year institution in VA to take a degree program to people behind prison walls.”
The Center will include the Incarcerated Persons ReEntry Program, formed in collaboration with the Urban League of Hampton Roads and the Virginia Department of Corrections. This program represents VWU’s goal of reducing recidivism and providing educational
– Virginia Wesleyan University (VWU) President Scott D. Miller
opportunities to incarcerated individuals.
“The program was wellreceived in the office of U.S. Representative Bobby Scott, who made it a top priority in awarding $1.17 million in congressionally directed spending,” noted President Miller. “This was the top-funded initiative of Representative Scott’s requests, and we are so grateful that he advocated for this program at Virginia Wesleyan. And we will be the first four-year institution in Virginia to take a degree program to people behind prison walls.”
SEPTEMBER 2, 2024
SMALL BUSINESS DIRECTORY
DC-based
VIRGINIA BEACH’S FUNK FESTIVAL BRINGS THOUSANDS TO OCEANFRONT
By Randy Singleton
VIRGINIA BEACH
The Virginia Beach Funk Festival celebrated its 15th anniversary with a huge beach party on the oceanfront at the 24th street stage this past weekend (August 2324). This year’s two-day festival drew thousands of fans from across the region to hear funky music ranging from old school hip-hop rap artists to gogo musicians from the D.C. area. Festival attendees enjoyed food truck and merchandise vendors along the boardwalk. Friday night’s musical lineup featured the Crank Crusaders with Raheem
Devaughn, rapper Doug E. Fresh and the Get Fresh Crew, and popular 70s group, War. Saturday’s lineup featured the D.C.based all-girl go-go group, Bela Dona, Al Hudson & One Way, and the SOS band. Popular 80s hip-hop rapper Doug E. Fresh thanked the readers of the New Journal and Guide for supporting his musical career and posed
Hello and welcome to The Bridge Corner. Another Finesse against the King. When you don’t have enough tricks to make your contract, you have to analyze your options. Sometimes, you can try to win a trick with one of your high cards even if the opponents have a higherranking card. In order to do this, you will need a little luck. The higher-ranking card must be favorably placed in an opponent’s hand. If it is, a finesse will let you develop an extra trick.
1) East opens the bidding with 1 Club. East is the describer and West is the responder and the captain. 2) West, the responder, has 9 total points and bids 1 Heart. Since West is already a passed hand, this bid is invitational. It invites East to bid again with a very good hand. If West had not been a passed hand, this bid would be forcing for one round. Opener’s hand is now worth 20 total points. Opener would rebid 4 Hearts. 3) The final contract would be 4 Hearts. West would be the declarer. 4) North makes the opening lead with the Q Diamonds. 5) Declarer needs ten tricks but only has eight sure tricks. Declarer is unlikely to win a trick with the K Diamond because it is trapped between North’s Diamond Q J 10 and South’s Diamond A. The Spade suit provides the opportunity to get an extra trick. Also, the Club suit should provide an extra trick as long as the opponents Cubs are divided 3-2. 6) After taking the lead, declarer plays the trump suit, drawing the opponents’ trump
cards. Then declarer leads a Spade toward dummy’s Ace & Queen Spade, planning to finesse dummy’s Q Spade. Declarer then a plays Clubs. 7) Declarer should make his 4 Hearts contract.
TIDEWATER BRIDGE CLUB:
Richard A. Tucker
Memorial Library 2350 Berkley Ave., Ext. Norfolk, VA 23523
The dates for the next twogames are:
1) Wednesday, Sept. 4
10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
2) Wednesday, Sept. 11
10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Game fee is $6 (paid BEFORE the game thru our voucher system. Contact L. Owes at email below). Light snacks and water provided; bring your lunch. Any questions, concerns, or comments, please feel free to contact Lawrence Owes, President Tidewater Bridge Club at l.a.owes1@ gmail.com
Noted Douglass Orator Produces His Mini-Film of Dred Scott Speech
SUFFOLK Nathan Richardson, noted poet, author, and Frederick Douglass Interpreter has released a new mini film on YouTube of the 1857 Dred Scott Speech by Frederick Douglass. Richardson has been performing as Frederick Douglass across the country for the last ten years. The 1857 Dred Scott Speech by Frederick Douglass was delivered in response to the Supreme Court decision against Dred Scott, a Black man, who was suing the government to gain his freedom.
This mini film presents a powerful six minute contextualized version of the full eight page speech written by Frederick Douglass. Richardson has earned international acclaim and nominations from film festivals for some of the 13 Frederick Douglass speeches he has contextualized, memorized and performs both live and on film. These speeches are words of Douglass in the order he spoke them.
Content has been deleted for brevity but no context has been added. In the Dred Scott case of 1857, the U.S. Supreme Curt ruled against Scott who was seeking his freedom. The court ruled that enslaved persons had no rights in federal court;. that slave states no longer had to honor the “once free, always free” rule; and that Congress should never have prohibited slavery
for a special photo. General admission to the event was free and paid admission to the preferred seating area close to the stage was sold out. City officials and event producers thanked the New Journal and Guide for covering the Funk Festival again this year.
Nathan Richardson
The
all-girl go-go group, Bela Dona, and friends
“SOS” “War” Doug E Fresh delivers a greeting to NJG readers
J.R. LOCKE WRAPS UP 28 YEARS AT UNITED WAY
ROADS
HAMPTON
J.R. Locke, the Director of the award winning United Way of South Hampton Roads (UWSHR) Project Inclusion Board Governance Leadership Development Program, recently announced his retirement.
Locke, the program’s one and only Director throughout its entire 28-year history, leaves the highly effective program he helped launch and guided to national acclaim by United Way Worldwide as one of three Best Practice programs for Diversity in the nation. Specifically, Project Inclusion was created to identify, recruit, train and refer minority members of the community to serve on the board of directors and committees of UWSHR certified agencies.
Under Locke’s direction, more than 1,000+ Alumni have completed the program and graduated from Project Inclusion.
“We have been successful in providing non-profit organizations with volunteer leaders who have elevated the impact and efficiency of non-profit organizations throughout the region,” Locke says of Project Inclusion.
“This journey has been quite rewarding in working with many of you throughout the years and building a legacy of leadership and board governance training that have created opportunities for personal and professional growth for our participants,” Locke told Project Inclusion stakeholders as he departed.
The Project Inclusion Program was launched in February 1997 when the Minority Advisory Council (now known as the Council on Diversity and Inclusion) was created by the United Way of South Hampton Roads (UWSHR) Board of Directors. Its primary purpose was to increase minority participation in the UWSHR system.
In 1997, seeking 35
J.R. Locke
Under Locke’s direction, more than 1,000+ Alumni have completed the program and graduated from Project Inclusion.
enrollees, the first Project Inclusion Board Governance Leadership and Development Program class was held with an astounding 100 applicants applying.
Thirty-five participants were selected and comprised the first class. Over the next 28 years, the Program evolved from six weeks to 14 weeks of rigorous board governance leadership and development training and averaged 30 participants each year.
Over the span of 28 years, Locke oversaw the graduation of more than 1,000 participants from Project Inclusion. The graduates formed the Project Inclusion Alumni Association in 2002 that has served as a viable support arm for Project Inclusion, recruiting candidates each year for the program. Project Inclusion is one of United Way Worldwide’ s longest running leadership and development
The Project Inclusion Program was launched in February 1997 when the Minority Advisory Council (now known as the Council on Diversity and Inclusion) was created by the United Way of South Hampton Roads (UWSHR) Board of Directors. Its primary purpose was to increase minority participation in the UWSHR system.
programs in the nation and is recognized by many as Hampton Roads’ premier board governance leadership and development program.
Project Inclusion provides participants with leadership and management development skills that are beneficial to any non-profit or company. These valuable skill sets are beneficial to all community-based organizations, civic league
groups, churches and other organizations that have board governance responsibilities.
Virginia Governors have recognized the value of Project Inclusion with the selection of candidates to diversify Virginia’s state boards and commissions.
POETRY BY SEAN C. BOWERS
HEART IS
HEART IS not being afraid to get beat, always getting back to your feet.
HEART IS how many times you are willing to fail, to succeed, it is the resolve you represent in your commitment to yourself and others through your each and every deed.
HEART IS standing there and taking the charge, letting someone run over you, full force, letting another’s momentum be turned into your positive is a gift from the one and only source.
HEART IS being slower and smaller, being less talented and going into the paint to guard the man who is eight inches taller, through mental toughness and angles combined with physical stamina second to none, is how I made myself into a college basketballer.
HEART IS in the fourth quarter when others complain to the ref about a call on the play, letting your teamwork’s efforts and actions save the day.
HEART IS making your teammates better not seeking glory, by being a better teammate and not the same old tired self-first story.
HEART IS speaking to and talking about issues that don’t just affect you, representing women, children, minorities, poor, gays, disabled and animals too.
HEART IS refusing to lose, and asking what else can I do, before you accuse.
HEART IS even after the play on which your opponent dunked in your face, you stand tall again never getting punked, pointing to the victorious score board is ultimately your saving face.
HEART IS not talking smack, arguing and
running your mouth, taking stands against injustice and inequality in the deep South
HEART IS having a heart full of grace, always shaking your opponent’s hand and them, never trying to embarrass or disgrace.
HEART IS having the soul to speak with empathy, to never accept or tolerate apathy.
HEART IS in each of us, come with me and get on the heart bus.
HEART IS and through this Quaker poet Sean C., heart lives.
(Written 8/27/06)
Sean C. Bowers has written the last 28 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
Sean C. Bowers
Locke leads Project Inclusion Class.
Photo: Courtesy
By Rev. Dr. Archie L. Edwards, Sr.
ALIVE IN CHRIST MOMENTS of MEDITATION
Ephesians 2:1-10
When people come to know Jesus Christ in a personal, saving relationship, revolutionary changes take place in their lives (2 Corinthians 5:17). God’s plan reaches back into their past, goes beyond the limitations of the present and prepares them for an eternal future with Him.
OUR LIFE IN THE PAST. Before becoming alive in Christ, Gentiles and Jewish people alike were “dead in ... transgressions and sins” (Ephesians 2:1). Their lives had been in accord with the ways of “the ruler of the kingdom of the air,” who constantly works in the lives of those who do not obey God (v. 2).
This is a reference to the devil, or Satan – “the prince of this world” (John 12:31). Ever since Satan’s fall from his position as the “morning star” Isaiah 14:12-15), he has roamed the Earth, stirring up rebellion against God’s authority.
All of this means that, in the past, unbelievers were “objects of wrath” (Ephesians 2:3) who deserved only divine judgment and punishment because of their sin. Had Paul stopped at this point, the outlook would have been gloomy – in fact, hopeless. But this bleak picture lays the foundation for an understanding of the marvelous future that awaits those who accept God’s love and grace.
OUR LIFE IN THE
FUTURE. God cannot have fellowship with anyone who is less than perfect. When Jesus said, “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” In (Matthew 5:48), He seemed to be demanding the impossible. The only thing that makes the impossible possible is the availability of God’s power to bring about perfection in imperfect people. This is what God did when He “made us alive with Christ” (Ephesians 2:5).
This miracle does not occur because of any latent spark of goodness in us. There is none, for we are “dead in transgressions,” and dead people can do nothing to help themselves. But even when we are in that hopeless condition, God will intervene to bring new life in Christ to those who put their faith in him.
God loves us – not because we are lovable, but because His love is so great and His mercy so rich. He shows favor to those who do not deserve it, saving them from punishment and making them “alive with Christ.” God does this through Jesus’ death, placing “in Christ” those who accept His sacrifice for their sin.
God has exalted Jesus,
the Head of the church, who is now seated at God’s right hand; and the church, the “body,” sits there with Him. When we trust Christ as our Savior and Lord, we are so identified with Him that God regards us in just the same way that He regards His Son. He sees us no longer dead in sin, but alive in Christ, sharing with Him in resurrection glory. This means that God’s redeemed people will be “exhibit A” of His love and grace for all time to come and into eternity (v. 7).
OUR LIFE IN THE PRESENT. As Paul prepares to write about God’s purpose for believers in this life, he gives a concise and familiar summary of the basis of salvation (vv. 8-9). Believers have been saved – the tense of the verb indicates a past action whose effect continues in the present – (a) by grace, (b) through faith, (c) as God’s gift, (d) not by works. The starting point of new life in Christ is God’s grace (v. 8; see v. 5). This underserved favor is the cause; salvation is the effect. Apart from divine grace, the human situation would forever remain hopeless, for sinful people
do not deserve salvation, nor can they earn it. The means through which salvation is attained is faith – that is, a trust in God that goes beyond mere mental assent to a creed and which involves complete abandonment of one’s total being to Him. This is the faith of a child who totally trusts her father for the love and care she needs.
Faith is not a noble quality on the basis of which a believer is saved. This would make faith a meritorious work, which is diametrically opposed to the biblical concept. It is rather, a positive response to the offer of salvation that God has made through Jesus Christ, produced in the human heart by the work of the Holy Spirit.
All of this is not a result of human design or thought. It is God’s gift to us. It is His doing from beginning to end. His is the grace that saves those who put their faith in Him. Finally, to remove any lingering uncertainty, Paul plainly states that it is “not by works, so that no one can boast” (v. 9).
These principles of Christian faith and life apply, as Paul has said, to “all of us” (v. 3), whether Jew or Gentile. The old distinction between the circumcised and the uncircumcised has been done away with. All, regardless of racial heritage or religious background, are now united in Christ. This is the theme that Paul will develop in the balance of the chapter.
Does this mean that we may write off good works as meaningless and live any way, we please? Not at all! Faith and works go together and cannot be separated. But their sequence must be maintained. Faith comes first, followed by works. Separating the two or reversing the order yields a counterfeit Christianity. The biblical view of faith and works is that God expects us to do good works because we have been saved, not in order to be saved. He has “created [us] in Christ Jesus” (v. 10) for this purpose. To summarize the first part of this chapter, Paul has said that though in the past we were dead in sin, God has saved us by grace through faith in Christ, in order that we might do good works in this life and be an eternal demonstration of His grace throughout the ages to come.
CHURCH ADs & DIRECTORY
BOOKWORM REVIEW
By Terri Schlichenmeyer
THE INSATIABLE CITY: FOOD AND RACE IN NEW ORLEANS
You’ve spent a lot of time scouring the internet in search of menus. Will you try this dish, or that one? Sample two entrees, or three? Can you understand the people in a city without tasting their best dishes?
You’ll know soon enough because you’ve chosen the restaurants for your dining experiment but remember: as in the new book “Insatiable City” by Theresa McCulla, the taste of the truth may be bitter.
In the early summer of 1719, the slave ship the Aurora, “the fi rst ship bearing enslaved people to arrive in Louisiana from Africa” dropped anchor just off the French territory of Basse-Louisiana, near the city of New Orleans. Once the ship was emptied, her human cargo was fed and then immediately taken and sold on a large auction block at a market inside a “luxurious hotel” while white buyers ate and drank their fi ll at a nearby bar.
This one act forever tied New Orlean’s famous cuisine with its racial history
McCalla says that enslaved women who were known to be “good cooks” were in high demand by white owners who dreamed of the meals to come. What those men probably never thought about was that, because slaves were forbidden to read or write, recipes for those meals were shared verbally, having sprang from a variety of cultures and lands. The ingredients for those meals were planted by Black hands, harvested by Black hands, prepared by Black cooks,
served by Black slaves, and the table was cleared by Black servants.
In later years, when the French Market was first opened, Black marchandes sold their wares – cheese, coffee, fruits and vegetables –both at the market and to white homes that lined the streets – and gained a little upward mobility. Black cooks found their way out of white homes, and onto ships that docked nearby, and into the city’s opulent hotel kitchens.
Ultimately, restaurateurs were forced to acknowledge Black and Creole contributions to their menus – but not without a lot of fight, and a lot of Jim Crow,
too.
Despite that its subject is such a fascinating one, “Insatiable City” could be a bit of a struggle to read. The topic is narrow – how African-Americans left a hidden-in-plainsight thumbprint on the many famous dishes of New Orleans and, indeed, Louisiana – and so there’s a lot of the same inside the narrative here.
Dig in, though, just a little deeper.
Fortunately, author Theresa McCulla includes a wealth of stories that save this book – stories that came from former slaves, courtesy of the WPA; advertisements, photographs, and menus; and accounts from Black and white journalists and eyewitnesses traveling in the city. Through these old documents, readers will not only learn about the many dishes of New Orleans, but also about individual people and cooks, and the politics of food in decades past.
This book will appeal to anyone who reads cookbooks for fun, and for anyone planning a trip to the Crescent City any time soon. Find “Insatiable City.” It should be what’s on your reading menu.
FUN PUZZLE FOR YOUR LEISURE
Rivers Casino Portsmouth Announces First Fall Outdoor Concert Series
PORTSMOUTH
Rivers Casino Portsmouth is thrilled to announce its first Fall Concert Series –set to entertain guests with a lineup of fantastic live performances throughout September and October. Music enthusiasts and casino visitors alike are invited to attend a free and unforgettable series of performances, featuring a variety of local bands and genres.
The Fall Concert Series will kick off on Friday, Sept. 6, at 8 p.m. at the outdoor performance stage located on the lawn behind Admiral’s Steak & Seafood. Food trucks will be on-site, and Admiral’s patio will be available exclusively for VIP guests. Reservations for indoor dining are strongly recommended. Entry into the concert and seating are limited and available on a first-come, first-served basis. Guests must be 21+. Guests can enjoy a wide selection of drinks available for purchase through Rivers Casino, along with delicious food options from three different food trucks, which will be rotating weekly.
A limited number of VIP Concert Packages will be available for same-day purchase on a first-come,
first-served basis. The package includes an allyou-can-eat buffet and four drink vouchers. The VIP Package can be purchased at any Rivers Casino Portsmouth outdoor bar for $125 per person and will also be available for purchase using Rush Rewards points.
BAND LINEUP: Friday, September 6: 80z Nation
Friday, September 20: Rewind
Friday, October 4: 90s Kids Super Fly Tribute
Friday, October 18: Uncle Jesse
“We’re excited to bring this crowd-pleasing concert series to the Portsmouth community,” said Steve Tortorello, vice president of marketing, Rivers Casino Portsmouth. “These free events offer guests a welcome way to cap off the week and enjoy great music, delicious food, and the high-energy atmosphere that Rivers Casino offers.”
For more details on the VIP package offerings, visit RiversCasino.com/ Portsmouth.
“The Insatiable City: Food and Race In New Orleans” by Theresa McCulla, ©2024,The University of Chicago Press $32.50, 345 pages
Theresa McCulla
Photo: MarionMeakem
