NJG | Vol. 123, No. 15 - April 13 - April 19, 2023

NewJourNal & Guide New JourNal & Guide

Vol. 123, No. 15 | $1.50

April 13, 2023 - April 19, 2023

Serving Norfolk, Portsmouth, Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Suffolk & The Peninsula Publishing since 1900 ... that no good cause shall lack a champion and evil shall not thrive unopposed. www.thenewjournalandguide.com

ALEXANDER SPEAKS IN CHESAPEAKE

New Journal and Guide

The Chesapeake Forum welcomed native son Kwame Alexander to the Chesapeake Conference Center on April 5 as part of its 2023 Speaker’s Series. The graduate of Chesapeake Public Schools is today an internationally known poet, speaker, educator, and #1 New York Times Bestselling author of 37 books.

Alexander was just back from Hollywood earlier that day where he and members of his family had attended the premiere of the Disney Channel’s new TV series titled The Crossover, based on Alexander’s bestseller by the same name. He is the show’s executive producer.

Alexander’s “The Crossover” novel is the winner of the 2014 Newberry Medal, an “Oscar” of sorts for authors. It tells the story

of twins in middle school who are basketball standouts. Their father is a former NBA player with some health issues, and their mother is a no-nonsense school principal – at the boys’ school.

Alexander told the audience the book was inspired by his relationship with his own father, Dr. E. Curtis Alexander, who was in the audience. Dr. Alexander was a basketball star and has himself authored numerous scholarly books, mainly on Black History, and he speaks nationally and locally on the themes in his books.

Kwame Alexander entertained the audience with his storytelling about growing up in Chesapeake

Prevention Month Calls Us To Protect Children

By Rosaland Tyler Associate Editor New Journal and Guide

Child abuse wounds may take decades to surface or heal, but the end of the story was crystal clear when a North Carolina teacher recently struck two students with a wrapped-up extension cord in early March, resigned from her job, and Lenoir City Police charged her with simple assault.

The incident was captured on video at South Lenoir High School located in Deep Run, N.C. about a month before the nation observes Child Abuse Prevention Month throughout the month of April.

Child abuse is still a ubiquitous but controversial issue. For example, a 2020 report showed nearly half of all adults, who are raising children 18 years or younger, said that they disapprove of it. But these same parents said they also whip and beat their own children.

This means when the North Carolina teacher, 71-year-old Patricia Graham recently aimed a rolled-up extension cord at a student who holds out his left arm in a defensive posture on the video and Graham tells the student, “Now sit down,” she was shining a light on a recent report from Child Trends11 which showed that nearly 76 percent of men and 65 percent of women agree that it is sometimes necessary to give a child a good hard spanking.

The point is most of the respondents said they actually believe in administering physical punishment. But experts say child abuse inflicts hidden but longterm psychic wounds and side effects. For example, child abuse survivors may obsessively relive trauma related to the abuse and avoid people, places, and events that are associated with their abuse long into adulthood.

Child abuse survivors may also needlessly feel fear, horror, anger, guilt, or shame; startle easily, and exhibit hypervigilance, irritability, or abrupt mood swings long after they grow up and leave home. Child abuse survivors may experience depression, suicidal behavior, substance use, and anti-social behaviors well into adulthood, which can affect their ability to succeed or nurture important relationships.

But child abuse does not always involve belts, extension cords, and other type of physical punishment. Sometimes it involves ongoing emotional abuse. see Child, page 6A

and how he persevered through disappointments to become a national and noted author. Those in attendance included students from two Chesapeake schools and I.C. Norcom in Portsmouth who are reading his popular books for youth in their classrooms.

He said his bestselling Crossover novel took five years for him to write and re-write and finally have published after having it rejected several times by publishers. He refused to accept the book’s rejection and was prepared to self-publish, if necessary.

Since every word in the Crossover novel is part of a poem, Alexander said one of his biggest

challenges of taking the book to television was “trying to figure out how to bring the poetry to the screen.”

Alexander also spoke about his work in Ghana where he opened a library and health clinic which is named in honor of his late mother Barbara Alexander, also an educator.

His awards are numerous to include three NAACP Image Award Nominations, The Loretta Scott King Author Honor and The Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award. He spent time before and after the program which included a reception to greet well-wishers in the crowd and pose for pictures.

Community Discord Erupts Over Procedure In Norfolk Hiring

By Leonard E. Colvin Chief Reporter New Journal and Guide

After months of conducting a search, Norfolk City Manager, Dr. Chip Filer and city leaders last week introduced Hampton’s Chief of Police, Mark Talbot, as Norfolk’s new top cop.

Talbot’s tenure in Norfolk will begin May 1. But the city’s choice of Talbot as the new NPD leader was immediately overshadowed by anger, mistrust, and controversy that continues.

Black activists, civic and faith leaders have expressed a similar concern that Talbot’s hiring lacked transparency because they say the City Manager ignored the selection process as it was laid out beforehand.

Talbot’s hiring was leaked to the media several days before the official

Black activists, civic and faith leaders have expressed concern that Talbot’s hiring lacked transparency because they say the City Manager ignored the selection process as it was laid out beforehand.

announcement. The Guide received a reliable tip from a source the weekend before the official announcement. So, when he was introduced not all press on hand were surprised.

However, public concern arose immediately about the process the City Manager had used to lure Talbot to Norfolk.

While the city’s national search for candidates was engineered by consulting firm Morris & McDaniel,

the panel actually reviewing the selection for the new chief was comprised of the City Manager; Alan Archer, Deputy City Manager for Public Safety for the City of Newport News; Norfolk Interim Chief of Police Michael Goldsmith; Norfolk Director of Human Resources Marva Smith; and Talbot, who was hired as Hampton Police Chief less than two years ago. Public input was solicited by the consulting firm from residents, businesses, and community organizations to determine

which characteristics were considered by them to be most desirable for the city’s next police chief, Sources noted there were nearly 40 applicants who were interviewed at some point for the vacancy, which was whittled down to 25 and then 3. Talbot was not among the three finalists. Filer has admitted in comments to the media although he respected the credentials of the three finalists, none of them fit the bill.

see Chief, page 7A

SEN. SPRUILL: “IT’S ABOUT BELIEVING IN PEOPLE FIRST”

By Leonard E. Colvin Chief Reporter New Journal and Guide

The Democratic primary race to determine who will represent the party in the newly drawn 18th Senate District is heating up like the spring weather.

Although, even during the winter, the temperature of competition for the seat was hot between Sen. L. Louise Lucas and Sen. Lionell Spruill Sr. It is a contest between two of the most powerful and effective members of the Senate that still has about two months to play out before voters go to the polls on June 20th

The two rivals have demonstrated some civility on the campaign trail since the race started in earnest last year when the state adopted the new Senate District configurations.

As a result of redistricting in the Commonwealth after the 2020 census, the lines of the 18th Senate District now represented by Sen. Lucas of Portsmouth were redrawn forming a new 18th Senate District. The 5th Senate District now represented by Sen. Spruill of Chesapeake was moved completely out of Hampton Roads, and Spruill’s

Chesapeake constituency was moved into the new 18th Senate District.

Now both Senators Lucas and Spruill are campaigning for the June 20th Democratic Primary in the new 18th Senate District to determine which of them will face opposition from the GOP come the General Election in November.

The race pits what fans and friends call a demonstrative Lucas against a more reserved Spruill, who has been described as prickly in the heat

of legislative battle. As the June 20th Primary election nears, both are busy in Chesapeake and Portsmouth courting voters to go to the polls and support their cause. New Journal and Guide sat down with both candidates to allow each an opportunity to speak for themselves. The April 6, 2023 issue of the Guide carried the interview with Sen. Lucas. This issue carries the Interview with Sen. Spruill. see Spruill, page 8A

Finally ... A Long Time Coming

The Vatican has formally repudiated 15th century church theories that legitimized how colonists stole Native lands and continue to form the basis of some discriminatory property laws today. see page 2A

There are eight episodes of The Crossover series which are currently streaming on the Disney+ Channel.

PART TWO

Photo:Courtesy Sen. Lionell Spruill Sr.

I have tried to reach out to advocates from all over the state who want to support legislation for all people. But if it hurts the freedoms of Virginians or is against my party’s policy, I won’t support it.”

– Senator Spruill

Experts say child abuse inflicts hidden but longterm psychic wounds and side effects.

Speaker: Judge Cleo E. Powell, Supreme Court of VA

Chief Mark Talbot

Photo: ErnestLowery

WHY ASALH IS GOING TO FLORIDA?

By W. Marvin Dulaney President ASALH Special to NNPA Newswire

Like many of you, the Association for the Study of African-American Life and History (ASALH) has followed the actions that Florida’s Governor Ron DeSantis and other conservative lawmakers have taken against teaching Black History and the histories of other historically marginalized communities.

We have especially followed the actions taken by DeSantis and the Florida Board of Education on the AP African-American Studies course as well as the legislation passed against “woke” curricula in the state. Please see our statement about these actions on our website at www.asalh.org. (“ASALH’s Response to Gov. DeSantis and the African-American Studies AP Censorship”).

While we have been alarmed by these actions, we see it as an opportunity to defend the teaching of Black History in the state and to support the citizens, teachers and scholars who are on the front line against the laws that hinder the teaching of the truth in the state.

So, ASALH is going to Jacksonville, Florida for its annual conference on September 20-24, 2023.

We are going to Florida to make a point: that we will follow our mission to promote the study of African-American life and history and to demonstrate that we will not be intimidated by the policies of Governor DeSantis and the Florida legislature.

ASALH members will converge in Florida to support the educators and scholars who are teaching or want to teach Black History, to buy from Blackowned businesses and vendors who come to the conference, and to provide space for networking and community.

Our campaign for promoting Black History will start in the spring of this year. ASALH will hold a series of workshops about teaching Black History and why it is necessary to present the truth to our children. As a part of ASALH’s Social Justice Initiative, in partnership with Howard University and the Andrew Mellon Foundation, ASALH will also develop and publish a toolkit for teachers tentatively entitled “How to Teach Black History.”

Vatican Renounces Its Age-Old Doctrine Used To Justify Colonialism

By Stacy M. Brown NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent @StacyBrownMedia

W. Marvin Dulaney

When we arrive in Jacksonville in September, we plan to open the conference with a session on the topic of how to challenge draconian laws and to continue to teach the truth about the AfricanAmerican experience.

Throughout the conference many of the sessions will focus on teaching Black History and empowering those who want to learn about Black Americans’ contributions, challenges, and successes. Additionally, ASALH plans to provide learning

resources for teachers and community members on the pedagogy and content for teaching the AfricanAmerican experience.

As an organization that has confronted the denial and neglect of African-American history throughout our nation’s history, we have always asked ourselves the question: “what would Carter G. Woodson (ASALH’s founder) do under these circumstances?”

Based on our knowledge and understanding of his goal when he started the Association for the Study

of Negro Life and History in 1915, we know that he would go to Florida to take on the challenge to the teaching of Black History. Thus, we will do the same.

In the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., ASALH is going to Florida “because injustice is there, and injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

So, ASALH is going to Florida with a purpose, and we invite all persons interested in sharing their scholarship, expertise and interest in the field of African-American history and culture to join us.

The Vatican has responded to Indigenous demands and formally repudiated the “Doctrine of Discovery,” the theories backed by 15thcentury “papal bulls” that legitimized the colonialera seizure of Native lands and form the basis of some property laws today.

A Vatican statement said the papal bulls, or decrees, “did not adequately reflect the equal dignity and rights of Indigenous peoples” and have never been considered expressions of the Catholic faith.

The statement, from the Vatican’s development and education offices, reportedly marked a historic recognition of the Vatican’s own complicity in colonialera abuses committed by European powers.

It was issued under history’s first Latin American pontiff, exactly one year after

From The Guide’s Archives

April 6,

Newport News School

Takes Quick Action

NEWPORT NEWS

Articles appearing in the column “The Correct Thing” authored by Dr. Charlottee Hawkings Brown, eminent educator of North Carolina in the Norfolk Journal and Guide will be adopted as a permanent course of study for pupils of the upper grades at the Paul Lawrence Dunbar elementary school here.

Less than 24 hours after the arrival of the Peninsula edition of the Journal and Guide Wednesday of the last week, Professor T. C. Erwin, principal of the school, the largest of its kind in the city with an enrollment of over 1,000 colored pupils brought the matter to the attention of members of the faculty who promptly approved the suggestion.

So enthused was the principal that following the conference with the teachers, he invited Samuel A. Haynes, Peninsula manager of the Journal and Guide to a conference with him on Thursday morning at the school. Upon arrival Erwin engaged over 50 pupils in the auditorium where Haynes gave a brief talk on the educational and social values of Dr. Brown’s column to the youth of this generation.

Several personal telephone calls were made to the Guide offices last weekend, mostly mothers and young matrons, commending the choice of Dr. Brown to write on social graces.

3 Proposals Made To Eliminate Debts of Virginia Seminary

RICHMOND

Plans for liquidating the entire debts of Virginia

PRODUCTION:

Theological Seminary and College at Lynchburg were presented to representatives of some of the school’s creditors by the debt adjustment committee Friday at the meeting in the Southern Aid Society building presided over by the Rev. M.C. Allen chairman of the committee Representatives of the Southern Aid Society of Virginia, and the Consolidated Bank and Trust Company, creditors of the school were present. Chairman Allen conferred with the other creditors during the day and presented the committee proposal to them.

The proposal read by Rev Allen contained the following points: That the bonded creditors accept 10 percent of the

Francis met at the Vatican with Indigenous leaders from Canada who raised the issue. Thanks to dialogue with indigenous peoples, “the Church has acquired a greater awareness of their sufferings, past and present, due to the expropriation of their lands ... as well as the policies of forced assimilation, promoted by the governmental authorities of the time, intended to eliminate their indigenous cultures,” according to a joint statement issued by the Dicastery for Culture and Education and the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development. The document states that the “Doctrine of Discovery” –a theory that served to justify the expropriation by sovereign colonizers of indigenous lands from their rightful owners –“is not a part of the teaching of the Catholic Church.” It further affirms that the papal bulls that granted such “rights” to colonizing sovereigns have never been a part of the Church’s Magisterium.

see Vatican, page 3A

Archives taken from the pages of the (New) Journal and Guide

amount due them by the school in full settlement of the debt;

That the payments be made within a limited time agreeable to the school and the creditors; That a five-year campaign be conducted under the direction of the committee annually to boost and support the business companies accepting the Proposal.

The Rev. W.E. Lee, Pastor of the High Street Baptist Church of Roanoke, and a member of the school committee was very anxious to settle Seminary’s debt problems completely. Voicing the views of the committee he also said that he was in earnest and the committee was tied to the debt problem

Labor Racket In Tidewater Is Under Fire

NORFOLK

Hundreds of farm workers in the Tidewater area will be affected by traveling labor agents and other evils that curse Virginia’s Eastern Shore. Moves for a war against it will be waged by the State Department of Labor in cooperation with the U.S. Reemployment Service and the Farm Security Administration. State Labor Commissioner Thomas B. Morton stated this week that the problem of migratory labor would be closed this year to work out a long-range program designed to eliminate some previous difficulties. This statement was made after a conference with other state and federal farm and labor officials.

The problems faced by Eastern Shore farm workers from the Portsmouth area have long attracted the attention of W.H. Jennings, a Probation officer and Welfare worker whose investigations have revealed many startling facts.

Many of the workers are engaged by the “professional” labor agents who charge each prospective worker fifty cents or a dollar for service and later these same agents charge the farmer who employs these workers a similar fee.

They carry the workers to various farms to collect fees from the employer and allow the workers to work for a few days. Then the agents truck them off to other farms where the agent would again collect another fee. In some instances, the workers were never paid because of the abuses by the agents.

In some instances, he stated men and women are quartered together in small, dilapidated farm huts without regard for sex. Adults taking their children, especially girls, almost invariably find conditions unfavorable. Dr.

Visitors See How Guide Is Made

J.A. Blackemy, Katheryn Brown,Alberta Hall, L.T. Robertson, and Miss Edna Jefferson all of Smithfield,VA.

Jennings stated these have been uncovered conditions close to brutal slavery.

April 13, 1968

Edition of the Guide

King’s Murder Shames

The Nation; Dignitaries By The Score At Funeral ATLANTA – UPI

The men who led Americans and the men who sweep its streets came to Atlanta by the thousands Tuesday to pay their last respects to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. at a funeral unique in the nation’s history.

The body of the slain integration leader lay in state in the red brick Ebenezer Baptist Church awaiting family services at 1:30 p.m. and the teams of prison farm mules used to draw his casket through the streets of Atlanta.

Behind the coffin came an estimated 150,000, marching four miles from the church to Morehouse College in a last tribute to the man who won a Nobel Peace Prize marching the dusty roads of the South.

The widow and her four children walked behind the wagon for a block and then rode the rest of the way.

The mourners included Vice President Hubert H. Humprey; Mrs. (Jaqueline) John F. Kennedy; former Vice President Richard M. Nixon; Senators Robert F. Kennedy and Eugene McCarthy. At the Quadrangle of

Morehouse College, King’s Alma Mater, tributes were offered by the Rev. Andrew Young of SCLC; Roman Catholic Bishop John Wright; Dr. Joseph Lowery, chairman of the SCLC Board; and Mayor Ivan Allen.

Mahalia Jackson sang “Precious Lord, Take My Hand,” a favorite of Dr. King’s which he requested seconds before he was slain.

The body was carried by hearse five miles to South View Cemetery for burial with Rev. Abernathy and Victor Willis, Presiding.

Rioting Kills 43; 20,000 Arrested

KANSAS CITY, MO

Negroes firebombed an entire block of business and fought gun battles with the police Thursday Morning in Kansas City, Missouri where five persons were killed Wednesday night. Troops enforced the calm in Trenton, N.J.

Violence following the assassination of Dr. King a week ago dwindled elsewhere in the nation.

Chicago, Baltimore, and Washington, scenes of some of the worse violence, were returning to normal although more than 15,000 federal troops were still on duty in the three cities.

The known death toll in the week of racial disorders rose to 43 and arrests neared 20,000 At least 125 cities were involved.

After 6 Tense Days Tidewater Quiet NORFOLK Tidewater, plagued by fires, vandalism, and disturbances for six days following the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., returned to near normal Thursday following police action that kept the damage to a minimum in at least five area cities.

During the six days, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Suffolk Chesapeake, and Virginia Beach authorities were forced to cope with a series of incidents that resulted in numerous arrests.

Norfolk firemen fought two fires in the Virginia Tomato Company in the 160 Blocks of Oakfield Avenue and the Simmons Mattress Company Warehouse in the 2300 block of Tidewater Drive. Portsmouth police placed a curfew on the city at 10:45 p.m. Monday.

In Berkley, firemen answered numerous alarms, and several disruptions were checked by police. On Church Street several stores had their windows smashed.

Wednesday several persons were arrested and were fined and sentenced in Norfolk and Portsmouth. In Portsmouth, 24 people were charged with violating the curfew and two were charged with violating the curfew and two were charged with carrying concealed weapons.

The fines ran from $20 to $250, and the sentences were 60 days to six months.

Some of the many out-of-town visitors came to Norfolk’s beautiful Carver Theater on Church Street to see “Gone with the Wind” in which Hattie McDaniel is an outstanding star. They were snapped during a visit to the Journal and Guide plant where they observed the production of a newspaper. (L-R:)

We are going to Florida to make a point: that we will follow our mission to promote the study of African-American life and history and to demonstrate that we will not be intimidated by the policies of Governor DeSantis and the Florida legislature.

Biden Issues Proclamation: BLACK MATERNAL HEALTH WEEK

By Stacy M. Brown NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent @StacyBrownMedia

In 2022, Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra implemented actions to improve maternal health and reduce health disparities, and this year, the Biden-Harris Administration has continued to champion policies to improve maternal health and equity.

Vice President Kamala Harris convened a meeting with Becerra and other Cabinet leaders amplifying a whole-of-government approach to reducing maternal mortality and morbidity.

On Monday, April 10, President Biden issued another proclamation to begin Black Maternal Health Week.

The president called the week a reminder that so many families experience pain, neglect, and loss during what should be a joyous occasion.

Biden called it urgent that all act.

“Black women in America are three times more likely to die from pregnancy-

related complications than white women,” the president remarked.

“This is on top of the fact that women in America are dying at a higher rate from pregnancy-related causes than in any other developed nation.”

He insisted that tackling the crisis begins with understanding how institutional racism drives these high maternal mortality rates.

Studies show that Black women are often dismissed or ignored in hospitals and other health care settings, even as they suffer from severe injuries and pregnancy complications and ask for help, the president reminded.

He said systemic inequities are also to blame.

“When mothers do not have access to safe and stable housing before and after childbirth, they are at greater risk of falling ill,” Biden exclaimed.

“When women face barriers traveling to the hospital for prenatal and postpartum checkups, they are less likely to remain healthy. Air

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pollution, water pollution, and lead pipes can have dangerous consequences for pregnant women and newborns. And when families cannot afford nutritious foods, they face worse health outcomes.”

He claimed his administration has penned the blueprint for addressing the maternal health crisis, an agenda that lays out specific actions the federal government would take to improve maternal health and secured funding from Congress to help implement it.

The president continued: “Additionally, my American Rescue Plan gave States the option to provide a full year of postpartum coverage to Medicaid beneficiaries – up from just 60 days of coverage.

The president’s budget includes $471 million to reduce maternal mortality and morbidity rates, improving access to care in rural communities, expanding implicit bias training for health care providers, and further supporting the perinatal health workforce.

NOW

FOR ENTREPRENEUR STUDENT PITCH COMPETITION

WASHINGTON, D.C.

Digital financial services company Ally Financial and the Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF), the largest organization exclusively representing Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Predominately Black Institutions (PBIs), have opened registration for the fifth annual Moguls in the Making entrepreneur pitch competition, Sept. 7-10 in Charlotte, NC.

Sixty students will vie for the opportunity to learn vital business skills, while competing for over $185,000 in scholarships, paid internships, laptops and other prizes.

Registration is open until April 24. Students can learn more at www.ally.com/ moguls.

Moguls in the Making was developed in 2019 to provide HBCU students with careerlaunching business experience, financial education, and networking access to

Sixty students will vie for the opportunity to learn vital business skills, while competing for over $185,000 in scholarships, paid internships, laptops and other prizes.

executives and industry leaders, while also giving Ally a new path for reaching diverse talent. Since its launch four years ago, Ally has hired 41 of the participants as interns and 14 as full-time employees, working on teams across the company, from IT, finance and

Vatican

Continued from page 2A

NPR noted that the doctrine was laid out in a series of papal “bulls,” or decrees; the first one was issued in 1452.

They authorized colonial powers such as Spain and Portugal to seize lands and subjugate people in Africa and the “New World,” as long as people on the lands were not Christians.

The outlet further noted that scholars widely note three bulls: Pope Nicholas V’s Dum diversas (1452) and Romanus Pontifex (1455); and Pope Alexander VI’s Inter caetera (1493).

“Back in the in the 19th century, it was used as a precedent which gave people a sense of title to land that had not been owned with an official title in deed,” Rev. David McCallum, executive director of the Program for Discerning Leadership based in Rome, told NPR.

So what began as a religious decree in the 1400s then became the basis for a legal concept in the U.S., when

marketing to product design and development.

Moguls in the Making is a part of Ally’s commitment to promote economic mobility by preparing talented diverse students to become future entrepreneurs and leaders in their communities.

the Doctrine of Discovery was invoked in an 1823 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that Indigenous people had only rights of “occupancy,” not ownership, over lands they had long lived on. The land, then, was open for the taking.

“As a result of this being written into the American property law, it was actually considered a precedent,” McCallum said, including citations as recent as a 2005 case in upstate New York, involving the Oneida Indian Nation. Invoking the Christian mandate to respect the dignity of every human being, the Vatican said, “The Catholic Church therefore repudiates those concepts that fail to recognize the inherent human rights of indigenous peoples, including what has become known as the legal and political ‘doctrine of discovery.’”

“Few things have done more damage the world over than the papal ‘Doctrine of Discovery,’” said environmental justice pioneer, civil rights and racial justice advocate Vernice Miller-Travis wrote on Twitter.

EMERITUS OF SOCIOLOGY VIRGINIA TECH

NOTE: Dr. Wornie Reed’s Column will be returning at a future date.

– Publisher Brenda H. Andrews

THE UNEQUAL COST OF PROTESTING

By Julianne Malveaux

(TRICEEDNEYWIRE.COM)

The 45th President is in the news again, facing indictments in New York and Georgia for criminal behavior regarding illegally paying a porn star (New York) and election tampering (Georgia). While the former President has not yet been indicted, he has already wallowed in his victimhood, describing the legal proceedings as “political” and biased. His attorneys have attempted to slow the process in Georgia by lobbing accusations against Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who happens to be a Black woman. She is biased, they say, incapable of prosecuting. As usual, the 45th President and his ilk have it all wrong. And as he has done for the past 50 years, the Orange Man attempts to wiggle out of his legal challenges.

The former President has attempted to rally his troops, just as he did on January 6, 2021. Fewer may be inclined to take it to the streets, given that about a thousand insurrectionists have been charged for disorderly and disruptive conduct and more. The average sentence for these miscreants was 16 months, but so far, at least five have been sentenced to more than seven years. Some were found not guilty, and many received minor sentences.

Contrast the treatment of traitorous criminals witH the treatment of Brittany Martin, a South Carolina woman who participated in a May 2020 protest against police brutality and the murder of George Floyd. She was vocal with a police officer, shouting “no justice, no peace,” and, allegedly, “I’m willing to die for the Black, are you

The Struggle Dr. King Gave His Life For

By Ben Jealous (TRICEEDNEYWIRE.COM)

In 1968, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated leading a bold effort to teach America an urgent lesson: Racism is not just the boot on the neck of people of color, it is also the great wedge that divides Americans. And everyone who gets divided loses.

On Dec. 4, 1967, King announced a multiracial “Poor People’s Campaign” that would march on Washington, D.C., that summer.

The idea gained traction as groups of poor Whites, Asian Americans, Latinos, and Indigenous People joined the campaign being organized by King and Southern Christian Leadership Conference.

It’s telling that after all he had been through

Ben Jealous

segregation – the bus boycott, the first March on Washington, passage of the Civil Rights Act – King was murdered fighting to unite working people across racial lines.

He wasn’t alone. Robert F. Kennedy was gunned down not long after as he ran for President on a similar platform.

fighting Jim Crow and segregation – the bus boycott, the first March on Washington, passage of the Civil Rights Act – King was murdered fighting to unite working people across racial lines.

willing to die for the Blue? This is just a job for you; this is my life.” Her comments were perceived as “threats” (she had no weapon), and she was charged with aggravated breach of peace, instigating a riot, and five counts of threatening police officers. She was grossly overcharged for her verbal reaction to police violence and was sentenced, in May 2022, to four years in jail.

Appeals to shorten her sentence were unsuccessful, and there is evidence that she was brutally treated in jail. She was disciplined because she refused to cut her dreadlocks for religious reasons.

Brittany Martin got a sentence of four years for yelling at a police officer. Most insurrectionists on January 6 got less than a year and a half. If everyone who shouted “no justice, no peace” at a rally were sent to jail, the jails would overflow. Why was she electively prosecuted?

Brittany Martin was harshly treated and given an unfairly lengthy sentence because she was a Black woman who chose to stand up for her rights, including her right to protest. Perhaps the judge in the case decided to make an example of her. But as the former President attempts to get the misguided morons who support him out to protest, I

am reminded of the unequal ways “justice” (or should we call it just-us) is meted out. Rabid white men assaulted capitol police officers. Many escaped judgment. Others were given a slap on the wrist. A Black woman fighting for Black people gets an unreasonably long sentence, and her pregnancy is imperiled. She gave birth in November 2022 while incarcerated, receiving neither justice nor mercy.

Brittany Martin has given birth to seven children, losing one to SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome) and another to gun violence.

Before her latest birth, there were four surviving children, and now five children are missing their mother, including an infant who has had no time to bond with her. South Carolina incarcerated a mother for four long years for yelling at a police officer. Federal courts are sentencing insurrectionists to much less time. In some ways, comparing federal courts to state ones is like comparing apples to oranges. Still, the contrast between Brittany’s sentence and those who have done far worse is instructive.

see Protesting, page 5A

In promoting it, King would decry the “idle industries of Appalachia” in the same breath as the “empty stomachs of Mississippi.” The reality, King made clear, is the economic value of poor Whites’ labor had been depressed since the days of slavery by the forced labor and continuing oppression of Black people. The divided get conquered.

That idea that working people of all races had common interests to fight for threatened – as it still does today – the old colonial system of divide and conquer that allowed King George and every would-be American oligarch since to extract massive wealth by enforcing massive poverty.

Four months to the day after he announced his Poor People’s Campaign – 55 years ago this week (April 4, 2023) – King was assassinated on a balcony at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, where he had traveled to stand with striking sanitation workers fighting for decent working conditions.

It’s telling that after all he had been through fighting Jim Crow and

Even before King and Kennedy, Harry Moore and his wife were blown up in their home on Christmas 1951 by the Klan. The Florida NAACP leader was organizing the Progressive Voters League seeking to unite Floridians across racial lines and had just led an effort that registered 1 million new voters. Even Malcolm X was assassinated after he returned from Mecca and said unity across racial lines was possible.

Killing those who would unite us is an American tradition older than our nation itself. The first revolt by American colonists was in Gloucester, Virginia, more than 100 years before the Declaration of Independence. Indentured Europeans and enslaved Africans organized to rise up against cruel Virginia plantation owners. The organizers were hanged.

Two years to the day after King announced the Poor People’s Campaign, Black Panther Fred Hampton was leading a “Rainbow Coalition” of Blacks, Hispanics, Asian Americans, and poor Whites in Chicago

when he was murdered –premeditated and carried out with military precision – by local police.

As in 1968, it’s true today that there are almost twice as many Whites trapped in poverty as Blacks. The fact that the nation’s news media render the White poor invisible doesn’t change the facts.

That so many of us still tolerate millions of Americans of every color being trapped in poverty is a factor in the toxic tensions that threaten our domestic tranquility.

It is also proof we never actually learned the lesson Dr. King gave his life trying to teach us.

If you ever forget the logic of King’s final strategy, just pull out a $1 bill and turn it over. It’s right there in the Great Seal of the United States, albeit in Latin. E Pluribus Unum. Out of many, one.

Ben Jealous is executive director of the Sierra Club, the nation’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization. He is a professor of practice at the University of Pennsylvania and author of “Never Forget Our People Were Always Free,” published in January.

CONSERVATIVE GROUPS DON’T SPEAK FOR ALL MOMS

By Svante Myrick (TRICEEDNEYWIRE.COM)

As Women’s History

Month comes to a close, I’ve been thinking about moms and honoring motherhood. I’ve written before about how my mom instilled values in me, including respect for everyone’s rights – not just my own. Mom also worked multiple jobs to support our family through some very hard times. She represents my ideal of what a mother should be, without a doubt.

And maybe she would represent yours too, or my neighbor’s. I certainly think so – but the truth is I can’t say for sure, and I can’t insist on it.

Unfortunately, that is exactly what some on the Right are trying to do by claiming to speak for all mothers and even all parents. This effort to steal the moral authority of motherhood only for themselves is wrong, and it has to be stopped.

For those who want to be part of the fight for inclusive education and against censorship, the American Library Association’s Unite Against Book Bans campaign website is a good place to start.

The far-right group Moms for Liberty is a marquee example with an especially insidious name. The group is behind book banning efforts in numerous states. Its main targets are books and materials that address race, racism, and gender and gender identity issues. It supports a bill that is coming to the floor of the U.S. House as I write this, called the Parents’ Bill of Rights. This House bill would more accurately be called a bill of rights for some parents. Moms

– and dads, like myself –who oppose the bill see it for what it is: a vehicle that opens the door to more book censorship and book bans, not to mention bullying and discrimination. Instead of creating a school environment where children are challenged and thrive and all parents are treated as partners, this bill prevents students from learning and teachers from teaching. In fact, supporters of the bill rejected amendments to fund Statewide Family Engagement Centers and to designate a parent coordinator at every school.

Fortunately, the bill has little chance of passage in the Senate. But it mirrors “parental rights bills” that are passing in state after state. Moms for Liberty is often behind these efforts. Of course, it’s not hard to see that what this “proliberty” group is actually doing is infringing on your liberty – specifically, what political scientists call your negative liberty. That’s your right to pursue your interests free from interference from others. But interference with your choices is what Moms for Liberty is all about. What they and other groups like them are claiming is their

prerogative to decide what is right not just for their kids, but for your kids. The rights of moms, and all parents, with a different view do not enter into the equation.

That’s why it’s so important to speak up if we are parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, guardians or others responsible for raising and nurturing young people. Far-right groups like Moms for Liberty are well-funded, well-connected and wellorganized. They have a head start. There is an urgent need to push back against the wave of censorship and repression that they have set in motion. I feel especially strongly about this as a Black parent, because so much of the censorship is aimed at Black history and studies. The list of states that have either banned the AP African-American Studies course or put it on the back burner for “review” is up to six, and growing.

For those who

want to be part of the fight for inclusive education and against censorship, the American Library Association’s Unite Against Book Bans campaign website is a good place to start. It includes up-to-date information and a toolkit. Attending school board meetings and speaking out are also really important.

As I said, I can think of no better role model, moral guide and inspiration than my mom. But I will always respect your right to feel the same way about yours. Groups like Moms for Liberty just won’t.

Svante Myrick is President of People For the American Way. Previously, he served as executive director of People For and led campaigns focused on transforming public safety, racial equity, voting rights, and empowering young elected officials. Myrick garnered national attention as the youngest-ever mayor in New York State history.

Svante Myrick

Julianne Malveaux

Brittany Martin was harshly treated and given an unfairly lengthy sentence because she was a Black woman who chose to stand up for her rights, including her right to protest.

Randall Robinson 1941-2023

OPENED DOOR OF FREEDOM IN S. AFRICA; CHALLENGED AMERICA

By Marc H. Morial Urban League CEO

“We want our brothers and sisters in South Africa to know that we are with them today, we will be with them tomorrow, and we will be with them until their final freedom.”

– Randall Robinson, 1985 National Urban League Conference, D.C.

Thousands had gathered to hear TransAfrica founder and president Randall Robinson address the National Urban League’s 75th Anniversary Conference.

He almost didn’t make it to his own speech. Earlier in the day, he and then-National Urban League President John E. Jacob, along with dozens of other Urban Leaguers, had been arrested at the South African Embassy during a peaceful mass protest against apartheid. I was arrested during a protest at the same embassy just a few months later. It remains among the great honors of my life to have stood in that movement alongside the man who was singularly responsible for forcing the United States to confront the apartheid regime in South Africa.

Robinson died last week at the age of 81.

That July 1985 protest drew 1,500 people, most of whom were there to take part in the National Urban League Conference where U.S.

policy toward South Africa was a major theme. During the demonstration, before he and Jacob were arrested, Robinson said they were delivering ‘’the knock of freedom on the door of the South African Embassy.”

Within a little more than a year, Congress would override President Ronald Reagan’s veto and impose economic sanctions against South Africa. The resulting withdrawal of large, multinational corporations crippled the South African economy.

Robinson and the organization he founded in 1977 are best known for their role in ending apartheid. But the movement grew out of opposition to U.S. policy toward the former Republic

of Rhodesia, then under white minority rule.

“It was 1976, and I was working for Charlie Diggs [then-chairman of House foreign affairs subcommittee on Africa], when several of us became concerned about the administration’s handling of the Rhodesia issue,” Robinson said in 1993. “Diggs and Andy Young called together some 120 Black leaders to figure out what we ought to do. I was named chair of a working group charged with organizing an institution to galvanize Black public opinion in support of U.S. Africa policy. That was the beginning of TransAfrica.”

Robinson’s 27-day hunger strike in 1994 pressured the Clinton Administration

Notice of Proposed Real Property Tax Increase

Increased Revenue Caused by Annual Reassessment

Proposed Tax Rate Remains the Same at $1.25 per $100 of Assessed Value.

The City of Norfolk proposes to increase property tax levies. The Proposed General Fund Budget for FY 2024 from the City Manager, which was presented March 28, 2023, does not include an increase in the current real property tax rate of $1.25 per $100 of assessed value.

1. Assessment Increase: Total assessed value of real property, excluding additional assessments due to new construction or improvements to property, is estimated to exceed last year’s total assessed value of real property by 5.89 percent.

2. Lowered Rate Necessary to Offset Increased Assessment: The tax rate which would levy the same amount of real estate tax as last year, when multiplied by the new total assessed value of real estate with the exclusions mentioned above, would be $1.18 per $100 of assessed value. This rate will be known as the “lowered tax rate.”

3. Effective Tax Rate Increase: The City of Norfolk proposes to adopt a tax rate of $1.25 per $100 of assessed value. The difference between the lowered tax rate and the proposed rate would be $.07 per $100, or 5.89 percent. This difference will be known as the “effective tax rate increase.” Individual property taxes may, however, increase at a percentage greater than or less than the above percentage.

4. Proposed Total Budget Increase: Based on the proposed real property tax rate and changes in other revenues, the total Proposed General Fund budget of the City of Norfolk will exceed last year’s budget by 6.9 percent.

A PUBLIC HEARING on the increase will be held on MAY 9, 2023, AT 5:30 PM, at Norfolk City Hall, 810 Union Street, 11th Floor, Norfolk, VA 23510.

Comments at the meeting will be limited to the budgetary effect of increased real estate reassessments only. A citizen who wishes to address Council must register to speak with the City Clerk by 3:00 pm the day of the meeting by calling (757) 664-4253 or email ccouncil@norfolk.gov. Register your name, address, phone number and email address.

NOTE: Persons needing special assistance, such as a handheld microphone or ASL interpreter, or any other accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act are asked to call the City Clerk’s Office at (757) 6644253 at least three days before the meeting.

Richard A. Bull City Clerk

into changing its policy of turning away Haitian refugees without a hearing.

“My view has always been ... it doesn’t matter whether a country is Black or white, left or right, you judge human rights observance with the same yardstick,” he told his hometown newspaper, “And where I have seen human rights abuse, I have criticized it with as much tenacity as I can muster. And that’s been the case in Ethiopia, it’s been the case in Liberia, it’s been the case in Zaire, it’s been the case, of course, in South Africa. And it’s been the case in Haiti.”

Though I still was a teenager when Robinson founded TransAfrica and focused the nation’s attention on human rights abuses there, he inspired me as few others before or since. In the early 1980s, I was part of a leadership team of National Black Law Students Association that pushed for divestment of South African investments by U.S. companies.

I had the privilege of serving with Robinson as a panelist for Tavis Smiley’s State of the Black Union forum in 2009. By then he had been living for several years in St. Kitts, where he emigrated out of frustration toward the nation’s exploitation of people of color and the poor.

“I tried to love America, its credos, its ideals, its promise, its process,” Robinson wrote in Quitting America: The Departure of a Black Man From His Native Land. “I have tried to love America but America would not love the ancient, full African whole of me.”

The National Urban League mourns his passing and honors his legacy by striving to hold America to its credos, its ideals, and its promise.

Protesting

Continued from page 4A

The prior President may or may not get indicted or convicted, and he may or may not be forced to don a jumpsuit the same color as his hair used to be. But

CALIFORNIA REPARATIONS COULD AMOUNT TO $800 BILLION FOR BLACK RESIDENTS

By Stacy M. Brown NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent @StacyBrownMedia

California could pay more than $800 billion in reparations to Black residents for generations of housing discrimination, disproportionate incarceration and over-policing, economists told a state panel on Wednesday, March 29.

The preliminary estimate reportedly is more than 2.5 times California’s $300 billion annual budget and does not include a recommended $1 million per older Black resident for health disparities that have shortened their average life span.

Additionally, the figure doesn’t count compensating individuals for property taken from them by the government or Black businesses being devalued, two other things the taskforce said the state did.

Black residents may not receive cash payments anytime soon, if ever, because the state may never adopt the economists’ calculations.

The proposed number comes from a consulting team of five economists and policy experts.

“We’ve got to go in with an open mind and come up with some creative ways to deal with this,” Assembly member Reggie Jones-Sawyer, who is on the taskforce, said, according to The Guardian.

Before any reparations could become a reality, the taskforce must get support from state legislators and the California governor.

The taskforce must now settle on a cash amount as it nears a July deadline to recommend to lawmakers how California can atone for its role in perpetuating racist systems that continue to undermine Black people.

those of us who watch the so-called justice system are almost certain that he’ll get a break, just like his supporters, the January 6 insurrectionists are getting.

Yelling is not the same as breaking into a federal building, assaulting Capitol police officers, breaking windows, and busting into Speaker Pelosi’s

Critics argue that California never participated in the slave trade, so current taxpayers should not be responsible for damage linked to slavery.

Taskforce recommendations are just the start because ultimate authority rests with the state assembly, senate and the governor.

“That’s going to be the real hurdle,” said California senator Steven Bradford, who sits on the panel, told The Guardian.

“How do you compensate for hundreds of years of harm, even 150 years post-slavery?”

On the federal level, Texas Democratic Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee has continued to push H.R. 40, a bill that’s intended to continue the national conversation about how to confront the brutal mistreatment of African-Americans during chattel slavery, Jim Crow segregation, and the enduring structural racism that remains endemic in American society.

While a specific monetary value on reparations isn’t outlined in the bill, it would fund a commission to study and develop proposals for providing reparations to African-Americans.

office. The insurrectionists excuse their lawlessness by leaning on “free speech” rights. Where are the rights of Brittany Martin and the other fearless freedom fighters treated shabbily by the courts?

Dr. Julianne Malveaux is an economist, author, and dean of the College of Ethnic Studies at Cal State LA.

Before any reparations could become a reality, the taskforce must get support from state legislators and the California governor.

Marc Morial Randall Robinson

Robinson and the organization he founded in 1977 (TransAfrica) are best known for their role in ending (South African) apartheid.

Foster Care Can Provide Safety From Child Abuse

This April, in recognition of National Child Abuse Prevention Month, Braley & Thompson is planting a garden of more than 100 blue pinwheels outside its locations in Harrisonburg, Norfolk, Richmond, and Woodbridge. Through the initiative, StepStone hopes to raise awareness about preventing child abuse and neglect and providing children with a safe, loving home.

“Many of the children and youth we serve have experienced abuse or neglect by their caregivers and carry an immense amount of trauma. At Braley & Thompson, we’re dedicated to providing children a safe, loving place where they can heal and call home,” said Sandra Bermudez with StepStone Family & Youth Services in Virginia. “Our pinwheel garden is a visual reminder of our community’s role in making a positive impact on every child’s life.”

In Virginia, nearly 5,000 children are in foster care, creating a dire need to prevent child abuse and neglect before it occurs and meet the increasing need for loving foster parents.

“We’re always looking for new foster families to help children in Virginia

Child

Continued from page 1A

A case in point is the unambiguous impact that ongoing emotional abuse had on Actor Will Smith, who is now 54. Remember how Smith famously walked on stage and slapped comedian Chris Rock across the face at the 2022 Oscars on March 22, 2022?

“My father was abusive with my mother,” Smith explained later in multiple interviews.

Smith said in a November 2021 interview on Today, “I was probably 9, and I watched my father beat up my mother. And I was too scared to do anything. And just on my young mind, it became imprinted.”

Smith asked, “What kind of kid stands there and lets somebody hit their mother and they don’t do anything, you know? And that became really the core trauma of my childhood that my personality and my persona became to form around.”

Later Smith told CNN, “My father was violent, but he was also at every game, play, and recital. He was an alcoholic, but he was sober at every premiere of every one of my movies. He added, “The same intense perfectionism that terrorized his family put food on the table every night of my life.”

Smith’s father is Willard Carroll Smith Sr., a U.S. Air Force veteran and an independent businessman who installed refrigeration in supermarkets.

This means child abuse’s (emotional) outcome was not evident when Smith saw his father “punch (his) mother in the side of the head so hard that she collapsed. I saw her spit blood,” he wrote in “Will,” his memoir. “That moment in that bedroom, probably more than any other moment in my life, has defined who I am.”

The reality is many survivors of child abuse grow up to be average, hardworking Americans who were slapped, whipped, beaten or neglected as kids.

The proof is in a recent study titled “Physical Punishment: Attitudes, Behaviors, and Norms

communities who need safe, caring living environments,” added Bermudez. “This national Child Abuse Prevention Month, we hope to encourage more families to open their hearts and homes and become trauma-informed foster parents.”

If interested in becoming a foster parent or learning more about Braley & Thompson’s services, please visit stepstoneyouth.com.

Braley & Thompson is part of the StepStone Family and Youth Services network, which provides a full spectrum of support to children in need of alternative, safer and more positive living environments with residential and family services. StepStone connects children and youth who need homes with foster families, as well as foster care training, respite care and support services.

For young adults transitioning from foster care to independent living, StepStone provides personalized guidance and training on basic life skills, including money management, life skills and education.

For more information, please visit www.stepstoneyouth.com. Follow us on LinkedIn and Facebook

PUBLIC NOTICE

CITY OF NORFOLK’S

PROPOSED FY 2024 OPERATING AND CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PLAN AND ANNUAL GRANTS PLAN BUDGETS

FISCAL YEAR JULY 1, 2023 – JUNE 30, 2024

Pursuant to Section 67 of the City Charter, a Public Hearing will be held by the City Council on the City Manager’s Proposed Operating and Capital Improvement Budgets and City Funds for the fiscal year July 1, 2023 through June 30, 2024, at GRANBY HIGH SCHOOL, 7101 GRANBY STREET, NORFOLK, VA 23505, ON WEDNESDAY, APRIL 19, 2023, AT 6:00 P.M., as follows:

Associated with Its Use

Across the U.S.” Fortythree percent of the 3,049 respondents in this study said they routinely spank, slap, pop, whoop, or smack their kids. And more than 40 percent said they believe in the “use of physical force with the intention of causing a child to experience pain, but not injury.”

In plain terms this means about 50 percent of these respondents believe that it is sometimes necessary to discipline a child with a good hard spanking.

Thirty five percent went on to say that they believe spanking is necessary to instill proper moral and social conduct. Forty two percent believe spanking is sometimes the best way to get a child to listen. Fifty nine percent believe it is a parent’s right to spank their child if they think it is necessary. Only 14 percent said they believe it is acceptable to discipline a child with an object such as a belt, switch, electrical cord, or hairbrush.

While experts define child abuse as the “intentional use of physical force against a child that results in, or has the potential to result in, physical injury,” most states divide child abuse into four categories: physical abuse, neglect, sexual abuse, and emotional abuse. Additionally, many states identify abandonment, parental substance use, and human trafficking as abuse or neglect.

Today, (emotional) child abuse has escalated to the point that some parents may not beat a child with a belt or an extension cord; but they will grab a gun, shoot a spouse in front of a child, and record the murder live on social media.

One of the most recent publicized jaw-dropping (emotional) child abuse

– Actor Will Smith who experienced child abuse

case happened in Florida. Deputies found a Black toddler’s corpse inside the mouth of an alligator shortly after his father, Thomas Mosley, reportedly killed his mother, Pashun Jeffery, age 20, in late March 2023. The father checked himself into a hospital and had cuts on his arms and hands, police said. He did not speak to detectives and requested a lawyer, according to the local police chief. Taylen Mosley is the name of the 2-year-old toddler. Police said that Jeffery had been stabbed multiple times. They later found her son’s corpse in an alligator’s mouth near Dell Holmes Park, which is close to Lake Maggiore, almost 10 miles from his mother’s apartment.

This is the point. Child abuse may stretch back generations. Still, all types of child abuse are a largely self-inflicted injury because adults can easily stop beating, cursing their children or killing a spouse in front of a child. Adults can always retreat to a safe space and cool off. Adults can refuse to slap or beat a child on the hand, arm or legs-and instead reason with a child or revoke privileges. More important, adults can refuse to feel that it is OK to inflict physical or emotional pain on a child.

The Norfolk City Council will hold a public hearing on Wednesday, April 19, 2023 at 6:00 PM, at Granby High School located at 7101 Granby Street, Norfolk, VA 23505. Persons interested in speaking before City Council must sign up prior to the start of the hearing. To expedite the hearing, a time limit will be set for speakers.

PLEASE TAKE NOTE: Input at this public hearing will be limited to comments on the proposed operating, capital improvement, annual grants plan, and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development annual plan budgets only.

The proposed FY 2024 operating and capital improvement, annual grants plan, and annual plan budgets are available online at: https://www.norfolk.gov/ and in print at each branch library.

A citizen who wishes to address the City Council at this Public Hearing can register to speak with the City Clerk by calling (757) 664-4253 or email ccouncil@norfolk.gov. Register your name, address, phone number and email address.

Note: Persons needing special assistance, such as a handheld microphone or ASL interpreter, or any other accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act are asked to call the City Clerk’s Office at (757) 664-4253 at least three days before the meeting. The City of Norfolk does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, or national origin in admission, access to, treatment or employment in its federally assisted programs or activities.

Photo: CourtesyofWikipedia Will Smith

What kind of kid stands there and lets somebody hit their mother and they don’t do anything, you know? And that became really the core trauma of my childhood that my personality and my persona became to form around.”

YOUTH LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE AT KROC CENTER ON APRIL 15

By Jaelyn Scott NJG Intern New Journal and Guide

The 23rd Annual Hampton Roads Youth Leadership Conference: Enhancing and Empowering our Youths’ Voice will be held on April 15, 2023 at the Kroc Center in Norfolk. The event times are 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. When asked what past conferences were like, Abdul Aswad, a mentor and executive director of the conferences, said that the conferences are “youth

Chief

Continued from page 1A

Filer said he was so impressed with the questions and the body of knowledge Talbot displayed during the encounters with the applicants, he asked if he was interested in the job.

Talbot then applied, and Filer whose position allows him, according to the city’s charter, to hire the police and fire chief selected him.

While introducing Talbot, Filer said, “The most critical conclusion was always to end up with the best person to lead our police department. There is no question Mark Talbot is that person.” Talbot responded, “I’m honored to have been chosen as the next police chief in Norfolk and to have the opportunity to work alongside the men and women of the Norfolk Police Department.”

The Norfolk NAACP is leading the chorus of concerns and reservations abut the hiring, according to its President, Stacie Armstead.

In a statement to the media the Norfolk NAACP noted it “does not have confidence in the process by which the new Chief of Police was selected.”

“Therefore, we demand an immediate discontinuation of the current hiring process

organized, youth led, and the adults are mentors to the youth to help organize the conference.”

The conferences usually attract around 300 persons and Aswad has partnered with others such as the NAACP youth council, and the Yours ministry.

The topic of the conferences changes each year since the topics are usually decided by unanimous agreement by both the youth leaders and partners of the conference. Some of the conference’s former topics have included parental involvement,

for Mr. Talbot as the next Chief of Police for NPD,” the statement said. Armstead said in an interview with the GUIDE, that in the past, NAACP leaders were “heavily recruited” to consult and participate in the search for the city’s Police Chief.

The civil rights group was involved in the search that hired former Chief Larry Boone.

Armstead said the invitation was due to the city’s association with the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA) which called for community policing in the outreach and engagement between police and residents.

But the NAACP said in its press release, “The 2023 Chief of Police search violates this standard and community confidence.”

“We are requesting the entire process be redone in collaboration with the community.”

The release continued, “How does the interviewer become the finalist? Did Mr. Talbot apply for the position? Did he go through the vetting process like the other candidates? We have serious ethical concerns and questions about Mr. Filer and the City Council practices and guiding principles of the Norfolk Police Department.”

The statement said efforts

safe schools, mentoring in and beyond the school doors, and communicating with neighbors in the neighborhood.

This year’s topic is on gun violence prevention and mental health awareness. The topics will be handled with two separate panels hosted by two leaders, one handling gun violence prevention and one handling mental health awareness and advocacy.

According to Aswad the youth leaders have different observations regarding these two topics in the community. These observations

vary from having tougher gun laws, communicating with the youth, and making an outreach to the community to communicate on gun violence prevention.

The same points can be said regarding mental health awareness, wanting to encourage those who may struggle with mental health to go to the doctor and get the help needed to prevent the illness from getting worse by providing the appropriate resources.

The conference is a place where you will be able to take the

In a statement ... the Norfolk NAACP noted it “does not have confidence in the process by which the new Chief of Police was selected. Therefore, we demand an immediate discontinuation of the current hiring process for Mr. Talbot as the next Chief of Police for NPD.”

to dialogue with the Morris & McDaniel Management Consultants and the City Manager have been to no avail.

Apart from lack of transparency and the overall hiring process, the group questioned the city’s oversight in not considering Michele Naughton, Norfolk’s first African-American female assistant chief, as a viable replacement.

During his tenure, according to reliable sources, the City Manager and staff have held private meetings with Black Clergy and Civic leaders called the “Norfolk Trusted Partners.”

These meetings have involved discussion of various issues facing the Black community, including the COVID pandemic, poverty, and gun violence, according to a recent report by WAVY-TV news.

Dr. Keith Ivan Jones, the

Senior Pastor of the Shiloh Baptist Church, said during an interview with Regina Mobley “I can certainly say among the trusted partners we did not know about the process as it evolved.”

He noted that initially, the process appeared transparent. Another member of the group, Dr. Geoffrey Guns, Senior Pastor of Second Calvary Baptist Church, spoke to “10 On Your Side” hours before the public announcement where he expressed surprise at the selection process.

“In our Trusted Partners meetings, we were not informed about where the candidates were from. The new chief brings a lot of experience to the job. I look forward to meeting him and working with him to solve some of the problems we have in Norfolk with gun violence.”

Norfolk Mayor Dr. Kenneth

information provided and keep it with you for years to come past the conference. Aswad even mentions two mentors who currently work in the conference who he said have practically grown up in the conference. “I’ve been their mentor for over 12 years, now they are assisting me with all that we do regarding the conference and community service.” Aswad hopes that the parents and youth of the community to “come out, be involved, ask questions, and make solutions.”

C. Alexander stressed that Talbot’s selection was the City Manager’s and his alone. In accordance to the city’s charter, it is illegal for the council to have a direct hand in such personnel matters.

“Choosing the process and ultimately selecting a police chief are both the responsibilities of the city manager,” Alexander said. “They are at the sole discretion of the city manager. I have no authority, nor council members over the process and selection of a police chief.”

Norfolk’s Fourth Ward Councilperson John “JP” Paige told the GUIDE Monday (April 10) Chief Talbot was observed walking through the Huntersville section of the city. Paige was raised in the community which is mostly Black and one that he represents on the council. The area experiences a large portion of the city’s gun violence. Paige sad he has been fielding calls from constituents “upset and disappointed with the city manager’s decision, one that I know he is going to stand by.”

“Chief [Talbot] was part of the assessment that was overlooking the interviewees for the position,” Paige said. “It is not the hiring of the chief that people are angry about, it was the process.”

Hampton Mayor Donnie Tuck called Talbot’s career move disappointing, as it seemed like he had just started. “A great deal of disappointment because he’s only been here about 21 months but again, we understand he made the decision he believed in as best for himself and his family,” Tuck said.

During the start of his career in Hampton, statistics showed crime was down almost 30 percent. However, the start of 2023 was plagued with crime. Just in January, there were 15 shootings, 20 victims, and 9 of those died.

Mayor Tuck said the city has seen less violence in the last couple of months, something he attributed to Talbot’s work.

Talbot’s career began with a corrections agency in Chester County, Pennsylvania, before he joined the nearby Reading Police Department in 1994. He advanced from officer to become Reading’s deputy chief, then moved on to the state capital in Harrisonburg as director of the Pennsylvania Department of State’s Bureau of Enforcement and Investigation. He later spent eight years as Chief of Police in Norristown, a small, densely populated urban municipality near Philadelphia. He later moved south to become Hampton’s police chief in July 2021.

Sen. Lionel Spruill, Sr. of Chesapeake has been in the Virginia legislature for 19 years: serving 12 years in the House before ascending to the Senate in 2016. Before that, he served on the Chesapeake City Council.

Currently, he serves as chair of the Virginia Senate’s powerful Privileges and Elections (P/E) Committee which deals with elections, voting and judicial appointments, and related matters.

Across the street from the Capitol building is conservative Republican Glenn Youngkin in the Governor’s Mansion whose GOP allies control the House of Delegates.

While Democrats say GOP-backed legislation “comes to the Senate to die,” House Republicans are eager to return the favor on Democratic-supported and progressive bills passed in the Senate.

Democrats with a slender majority in the Senate are not eager to give the GOP any pathways to victories to limit abortion, civil rights, voting, and political rights for minorities and the poor.

Spruill says he is willing to give voice to Republican lawmakers and advocates who support legislation that does not erode the progress of Virginia but expands them.

However, he rejects “politically” motivated GOP legislation restricting the ways people can vote early, abolishing the number of ballots drop boxes, and restoration of voting rights.

Recently Spruill called for a reversal of Governor Youngkin’s order modifying the restrictive executive policy restoring the rights of nonviolent felons once they have served time and paid their fines.

It was a policy started by

Republican Governor Robert McDonnell and continued by Democrats Tim Kaine and Ralph Northam, which impacted some 173,000 individuals.

Spruill pointed out that many of them were poor and African-American.

Sen. Spruill is also a member of other powerful Senate panels, including Commerce and Labor, Local Government, Rehabilitation and Social Services, Transportation and Rules. These panels deal with a broad range of issues.

Spruill said that he believes in the “people before party” concept of dealing with “political motives, issues and legislation that would do nothing to improve the lives of people, but the political culture war warriors.”

“While some committee chairs at times won’t give a Republican lawmaker or advocate on issues the time to speak before a committee, I welcome them,” he said.

“If they need clean water, money for schools, healthcare, or helping the poor. I am willing to allow them to come and make their case.”

Spruill said the “legislative log jam” that pits the Democrats against the Republicans can be broken if elements of both parties are willing to negotiate on legislation for the people and not just to placate their respective bases.

“They call me Mr. Statewide,” said Spruill, a title he proudly accepts.

“I have tried to reach out to advocates from all over the state who want to support legislation for all people. But if it hurts the freedoms of Virginians or is against my party’s policy, I won’t support it.”

Spruill has had some significant legislative victories and failures during the past legislative session.

When the conservative House of Delegates refused to pass legislation to bolster funding for mental health treatment, especially in public schools, Spruill was not deterred from sponsoring that legislation in the Senate.

Also, there was funding he sought to provide training for teachers to intervene more skillfully with disruptive students.

Sen. Spruill believes that the rash of urban violence committed between adults and disruptive students’ behavior is linked to the low levels of mental health access for Virginians.

Also, there were provisions in the bill that would make the parents more accountable for disruptive and abusive actions toward school staff and teachers.

And to address the problems of students carrying firearms into schools or using them off campus, parents would be held more accountable, as well.

Spruill may have a wide swath of Virginia voters on his side about shining a bright light on improving mental health access. A wide majority of voters support using the state’s surplus to increase funding for mental health services, with 90 percent in favor and only 8 percent against.

Nearly the same share says the surplus should go toward increased spending for schools, with 87 percent in favor and 11 percent against, both findings are according to a recent Washington PostSchar School poll.

These interests are bills he will reintroduce if he is reelected to the Senate. He hopes with bi-partisan support, he will get some traction in both houses of the General Assembly.

Violence and threats to school personnel, Spruill said, are not issues that affect just people represented by Democrats.

“Teachers don’t feel safe at work ... so they can’t do their jobs,” he said. “They spend the first month of the school year instructing students on how to behave in the classroom, rather than teaching the lesson plans.”

He continued, “Unfortunately, this issue is caused by babies having babies ... young single or married parents who are not properly reared themselves. They can’t teach their children about discipline if they don’t know it themselves.”

Spruill has sponsored legislation that keeps people from tinting their headlights on cars, motorcycles or motorbikes to project shades of blue on them. Many people, said Spruill, have mistaken cars with these blue lights as police cars and pulled

over at night or encountered other issues. Spruill sponsored legislation and fought to increase the fee given to people when they are summoned for jury duty. For years, individuals received only $20 per day for their services.

“Many working people lose money during long trials,” said Spruill. “I put in a bill to increase it to $100. In a conference with fellow lawmakers, it was whittled down to $50. But that is more than it was.”

Spruill also sponsored a bill intended to protect election-day poll workers. First, it prohibits anyone from harassing or abusing them while they are on duty when the polls are open on election day.

After the polls close, it is now illegal for anyone to follow poll workers tasked with transporting ballot boxes to counting centers run by city election officials.

Spruill said he’s highly engaged in the June 20th primary battle with his Senate colleague and longtime friend, L. Louise Lucas.

LeBron James Opens Starbucks In Akron

AKRON, OH

On March 30, Basketball legend LeBron James opened a Starbucks in his hometown of Akron that is expected to improve many lives. Thanks to the LeBron James Family Foundation’s partnership with Old El Paso, Chase Bank and Smuckers, the new Starbucks is already providing goods and services to the members of the pro basketball star’s “I Promise” foundation. Employees

will earn a paycheck and receive a training certificate.

LeBron James Family Foundation Executive Director Michele Campbell said in a recent statement, “We’re so thankful to Starbucks for trusting us to help rewrite the handbook on what job training looks like and how we can employ people for their futures. What you can expect from this location is caring and prepared team members, ‘be best’ service, a warm and

welcoming environment, and a community model that we believe can change the world.”

James’ new Starbucks is located in a transformed 60,000-square-foot building on West Market Street. This multi-use facility hosts town hall and large event meetings, as well as the LeBron James Museum that will celebrate his rise from “Just a Kid from Akron” to an NBA star. A LeBron-themed sports bar is expected to open in 2024.

No, this is not a popularity contest or one to see who can be the loudest on social media. It’s about supporting legislation that helps people. It’s about believing in people first and not party not just in the 18th district but all of Virginia.”

– Sen. Lionell Spruill

Sen. Lionel Spruill, Sr. serving in the Senate.

Photo: Courtesy

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HISTORIC BAR ASSOCIATION TO CELEBRATE 100TH ANNIVERSARY

The historic South Hampton Roads Bar Association (Known as, “SHRBA”) will present its 100th Anniversary Gala on Saturday, April 15, 2023 at the Westin Hotel in Virginia Beach. At this Gala, the SHRBA will feature its historic beginnings in 1923 with information concerning the years of its community service and legal contributions to the Hampton Roads area.

Also, the SHRBA will honor and pay tribute to its President Emeritus, Mr. William Thomas “WT” Mason, Jr., Esq. Mr. Mason was the oldest member of the SHRBA when he passed on February 1, 2023.

The SHRBA is believed to be the oldest predominately AfricanAmerican bar Association in the United States. In recognition of the SHRBA and its pivotal role in pursuing justice, equality, and other civil rights, including voting rights, a diverse group of attendees will be at the 100th Anniversary Gala to help celebrate the occasion on April 15th.

Among the numerous community leaders and distinguished guests are the

National Bar Association President, Lonita K. Baker, Esq., and the American Bar Association President, Deborah Enix-Ross, Esq., who is only the second Black female president in the ABA’s 145 years. The keynote speaker for the Gala will be the Hon. Cleo E. Powell, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of Virginia. The SHRBA is a member

of the Conference of Local & Specialty Bar Associations of the Virginia State Bar. It received the Local Bar Association of the year award in 2016 from the Virginia State Bar because of its community service.

The SHRBA will be passing the “Torch” to its younger generations of lawyers to begin its work for the next 100 years.

YWCA-SHR To Host Legislative Breakfast

HAMPTON ROADS

YWCA South Hampton Roads will host its Inaugural Legislative Breakfast, The YW Makes the Difference, on April 18, 2023 from 7:30-9 a.m. at Park Place Community Center in Norfolk, Virginia. The breakfast will feature keynote speaker, Senator Aaron Rouse and highlight the

crucial work that YW does every day to make our community safe.

The event is taking place during Sexual Assault Awareness month and will feature comments from the Norfolk Family Justice Center experts and team members who work alongside the YW’s clients to help them achieve hope and healing.

Hon. Cleo E. Powell Lonita K. Baker, Esq. Deborah Enix-Ross, Esq.

W.T. Mason

Shifty, Grift-y, Truth-Shop-Lift-y, 45!

By Sean C. Bowers

On Tuesday, April 4, 2023, the Repunzel-orange-combover-wanna-be fell from his high tower (previously believed impenetrable Teflon Don-ish dome) of White (I’m-)perfection. In his act, he orchestrates, conceives of, believes in, and deceives all within ear-shot and camera focus at every sentence’s turn. The most beautiful day of the year, weatherwise in New York, was his (UN)welcome homecoming against the backdrop of the “NOW indicted” (NOT “INDICATED” as he later tweeted) self-sought high dive from (self-anointed appointed) grace.

VIETNAM VETERANS WELCOMED HOME BY FELLOW VETERANS

By Blaire A. Edwards

Special to the New Journal and Guide

A few weeks ago, a small group of Norfolk State University Alums formed a committee to honor former Vietnam Veterans on Wednesday, March 29, 2023, which was National Vietnam War Veterans Day. The event was held at the Murray Center, Historic First Baptist Church of Norfolk, Virginia.

The committee chairperson was Miss Sonya Mooring-Smith, Former Cabinet Secretary, New Mexico Department of Veterans Services. Serving along her were Reverend Dr. James Edwards, III (Vietnam 1970-71); Dr.

Edgar I. Farmer (Vietnam

1970); Mrs. Mona T. Gunn, Former National President, American Gold Star Matters, Inc.; Mr. Robert “Frog”

Randall (Vietnam 196869); Colonel (Ret.) William T. Russell, Jr. (Vietnam 1969-70) and Mr. Joseph A. Staton, Sr. (Vietnam 196566). The program was very uplifting and informative for those in attendance. Included on the program was Dr. Albert J. Williams (Vietnam 1970), Master of Ceremony. Others on the program were Reverend Calvin D. Brown, Jr. (Vietnam 1966-67 and 1970-71); Mr. Clifford Porter Jr., Vice President for University Advancement, Norfolk State University; Mr. Wayne Ivey, Director of Military Services and Veterans Affairs, Norfolk State University; Ms. Renee Grant, Ms. Norfolk State Alumni 2022-23 (U.S. Army Reserve 1987-99); guest speaker Colonel (Ret.) Donald L. Porter (Vietnam 1968) and the 2nd District Honor Guard, American Legion.

Among some of the special guests were Colonel (Ret.) Bert Bridges who flew in from Orlando, Florida; Mrs. Brenda Williams; Reverend Dee Edwards and her great grandson Terrell “Antonio” Edwards, Jr.; Lt. Colonel (Ret.) Moses Whitehurst, William Rainey, and William Sivels, all members of the Military Alumni Chapter of the Norfolk State University Alumni Association; and a special guest from Smithfield, VA.

The deceased Vietnam Veterans and Norfolk State alums who were remembered were: Sgt. Edward J. Williams (January 11, 1966); PFC

Thomas Rhodes (February 12, 1966); Mayor Warren J. Goss (December 6, 1968);

LTC. Alfred Barnes (May 12, 1969); First Lt. Linwood C. Carter (October 21, 1970) and Captain Alan B. Boffman (March 18, 1971).

Captain Boffman was killed in action on his first mission as a helicopter co-pilot and

jungles of Laos twenty years later in 1991. There also was television coverage from two of our local television stations, Channel 3 (Ms. Sierra Whitesparks) and Channel 13 (Mike).

Ms. Sonya MooringSmith was quoted as saying, “It was an honor to say, ‘Welcome Home and thank you for your services,’ to our Vietnam Veterans in recognition of Vietnam War Veterans Day. Because of their sacrifices and loyalty to our nation, my homecoming as an Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm Veteran, was the way theirs should have been.’”

This self-induced, for TV produced, off-keyswan-song-dive was well documented over the past 50 years’ of illegal abusive criminal proclivities and activities. MSNBC show host, Lawrence O’Donnell, sweetly laid out the perp-walker’s trip in starkly vivid terms, citing New York City’s iconic landmarks named after great American leaders for past service to the people. Landing at LaGuardia, not the JFK airport, passing the George Washington Bridge and the Lincoln Tunnel, travelling down the FDR Expressway near the Javits Center. These honored beloved public servant leaders earned their places in history. Even though 45 insists on putting his name on everything himself, the polar totality of the situation was made crystal clear; New York City will never name anything honoring 45 because of his dis-service, criminality, abuse, narcissism and despotic monocratic desires

(and his about-to-be-provenrepeated, pre-meditated, legal transgressions.)

The nation and world watched as the former President flouted the judge’s concise directives to act, speak and be responsible for not promoting violence throughout the legal trial. A gag order will not stop 45; he is the biggest firehose spewing fake-news trash-talker of all. Worse still is the Republican Right response and the Religious Right’s kowtowing and bowing on bended knees, to their supposed White, Reich savior. In 45’s post-indictment speech later that same evening at Mari-Loco, he continued his attacks on judges, the Left, Federal and State prosecutors, the FBI, the Justice Department, and the military, all because they dared to try and hold him accountable (NOT above or below the law) for the actions he knowingly and deliberately decided to take. 45 now actively calls for the DEFUNDING OF ALL THE LEGAL systems, the police, and the justice department, solely because they are after HIM, for HIS felonies.

45 has lowered himself by his CON-duct to the lowest

level ever and has cheapened the role of the presidency by his activities. He has rightfully become, around the world, the punch-line butt of his own lack-of-any-character jokes. Although he received over 600,000 votes in the 2020 presidential election in the city of New York, less than 200 of his supporters showed up outside his formal indictment.

FOX NEWS, OANN, News MAX, CBN, and SINclair broadcasting network platforms echoed and amplified 45’s false narratives. Their viewers and listeners are being further mis-led and disinformation- fed. They are not splitting hairs, they are openly fully complicit in the orange comb-over of the truth. 45 mis-represents every time he opens his mouth. Marjorie Taylor Green, U.S. House Republican from Georgia, had the affrontery to say that, “45 ... was in good company,” as she tried to compare him to, Jesus, the Son of God, a comparison that miserably failed.

The more 45 loses, the more the Right tightens their grip on their perceived power – fearful of true justice being served more than anything else. Coming soon: the Georgia Election Interference

Phone Call Case, the January 6th National Insurrection case, the Stolen White House documents Case, followed by multiple civil and criminal fraud Cases, and, last but not least, the two RAPE Cases.

In a TRUE FREUDIAN SLIP over the past weekend, a FOX NEWS commentator inadvertently called 45 his truest and most accurate nickname ever: “President Fraud.” As the sun now sets in Mari-Loco, the first of

multiple domino lawsuits are cascading towards the ultimate demise of 45. They are coming from all directions simultaneously, and are completely due to his own actions, his gigantic ego and his sense of wealthy White privileged entitlement. His day (IN COURTS) is coming!

While we are sad for the office of President, he disgraced, the nation will recover bigger and better, than ever because justice never sleeps. After the demise of 45, we should call out and recognize his efforts: Racial empiric slum lording, sexism, Freudian classism and his criminal-complexconspiracy-filled habitual lawbreaking.

Perhaps, after second thought, there is a New York building worthy of the TRUMP name: New York City’s Prison from “Rikers Island” could become “TRUMPVILLE.” He should get a cell, with a view of his hometown, the city that never sleeps, the big Apple, his former (dis-) organization’s ex- head quarter’s tower building that he once overleveraged himself to buy, off in the distance. Now that would be poetic justice.

Sean C. Bowers has written the last 25 years, as a White Quaker Southern man, for the nation’s third oldest Black Newspaper, The New Journal and Guide, of Norfolk, Virginia, about overcoming racism, sexism, classism, and religious persecution. Some of his latest NJ&G articles detailing the issues can found by searching “Sean C. Bowers” on the NJ&G website. Contact him directly on social media at Linkedin.com or by email V1ZUAL1ZE@aol.com

his remains, along with the pilot, Captain Keith Brandt, were recovered from the

Sean C. Bowers

(L-R) Mr. Robert Randall, Col. (Ret) Bert Bridges, Dr. Edgar I. Farmer, Mrs. Mona Gunn, Ms. Sonya Mooring-Smith, Earl Bryant, Col. (Ret) William T. Russell, Rev. Dr. James Edwards, III

(L-R) Dr. Albert J.Williams, Rev. Dr. James Edwards, III, Col. Donald Porter, Ms. Renee Grant (Ms. NSU Alumni)

DR. ROSS-HAMMOND IS FIRST BLACK WOMAN TO LEAD TRANS. DIST. COM.

HAMPTON ROADS

For the first time in its history, the Transportation District Commission has an all-female leadership team; Dr. Amelia Ross-Hammond, Dr. Patricia Woodbury, and Andria McClellan.

Dr. Ross-Hammond of Virginia Beach is the current Chair – and the first Black woman to serve as Chair of the Commission. She was an early advocate of light rail expansion and was first appointed as Gubernatorial Commissioner in 2016. She was reappointed to a second term in 2020. Then again in 2022 she was re-elected to the Virginia Beach City Council and will complete the presidential term of newly elected State Senator Aaron Rouse. Dr. RossHammond says her greatest achievement, so far, is being part of the team that helped secure dedicated funding from the state that made the 757 Express possible and is helping to build the new Southside Facility in Virginia Beach.

Dr. Patricia Woodbury of Newport News has a long, storied history with Hampton Roads Transit. She is the current Vice-Chair of the Commission and its longest serving member. Dr. Woodbury joined the

For the first time in its history, the Transportation District Commission has an all-female leadership team

Commission in 2008. She has served as Chair twice and will serve a third term beginning later this year. Dr. Woodbury says she’s stayed all these years because she feels like the work makes a difference. During her tenure

she’s had a hand in every aspect of the Commission but says her work on the Budget Committee and helping to bring back the Management/ Financial Advisory Committee (MFAC) has been the most fulfilling.

Ms. Andria McClellan of Norfolk is the current Past Chair. She was first appointed to the Commission in 2017 and is credited with spearheading the Smart Cities & Innovation Committee. As chair of SCIC Ms. McClellan has been a motivating force behind our mobile ticketing initiative, which HRT plans to roll out in the near future.

Ms. McClellan Chaired the Commission from July 2019 to June 2020.

HAMPTON ROADS

James M. Wright Sr. , a local media personality, who founded the Hampton Roads Black Media Professionals in the early 1980s has passed.

In making the announcement to HRBMP members, Lisa Godley, current president, said, “We as members of Hampton Roads Black Media Professionals stand on the shoulders of giants and our founder, James Wright was indeed one of them. James had a vision, for journalists of color to be able to come together, bond and address the issues they confronted on a daily basis.

“His dream to create Tidewater Media Professionals, now Hampton Roads Black Media Professionals, is one that we as Black journalists are so very grateful for and one that we must strive to ensure continues.’

Last year, HRBMP celebrated its 40th Anniversary at Norfolk State University where Wright was recognized by the group.

James Wright

“He was both humbled and appreciative when recognized during the event,” said Godley. “I am so thankful that we were given the opportunity to show him just how much he meant to us and this organization.”

Wright worked as a photojournalist at WTAR (now WTKR) and went on to work at WAVYTV-10 for 20 years. He was Chief Editor when he retired. His funeral is Thursday, April 13th. The celebration of life will be held on Friday, April 14th at 10 a.m. at Metropolitan Funeral Service, 7246 Granby Street, Norfolk.

HU Hires NN Mayor In Strategic Planning

HAMPTON

Last month, Hampton University hired Philip D. Jones, a Harvard graduate and the mayor of Newport News, as vice president for Institutional Effectiveness and Strategic Planning. Jones was elected mayor of Virginia’s fourth largest city in November 2022, assumed office on Jan. 1, and is working to improve education, invest in public safety, and modernize City Hall. The Marine veteran earned his bachelor’s degree at the United States Naval Academy, a masters in public policy at Harvard,

SCOTT DELIVERS $4.6M TO HAMPTON FOR GUN VIOLENCE PREVENTION

NEWPORT NEWS

Congressman Bobby Scott (VA-03) delivered $4,600,000 in community project funds to the City of Hampton on Monday, April 10, which he had secured in the FY23 Omnibus Appropriations Act. The funding will be used by Hampton for concentrated gun violence prevention focused on the limited actors and their associates causing a disproportionate rate of gun violence in the community. Hampton is focusing on

individualcasemanagement and incentivizing multilevel and interactive educational programs to increase knowledge on the value of conflict resolution, the impacts of gun violence, and mental health. The check presentation took place at the Mary W. Jackson Neighborhood Center. Mayor Donnie Tuck and other officials were in attendance. Further community project funds are also anticipated to be delivered in the coming weeks.

as well as an MBA from Harvard Business School where he served as a Tillman Scholar and co-president of the Veterans Club.

Hampton President Darrell K. Williams said in a recent statement on the university’s website, “We are delighted to welcome Phillip Jones to the Hampton Family. Today’s organizational announcement is another building block in our transformational journey. We are moving quickly to position the institution for faster growth and

responsiveness. Phillip is a highly capable strategic thinker, and I look forward to using his unique set of skills towards delivering the No. 1 student experience in America.”

Accepting his new post, Jones said, “It is an honor to have the opportunity to join the President’s senior leadership team. I look forward to helping the institution expand its influence and impact in the Hampton Roads area and across the global landscape.”

“SOMETHING INDIE WATER” FREE MUSIC FESTIVAL AT OCEANFRONT, APRIL 28-30

VIRGINIA BEACH

Fifty Virginia musicians, bands, DJs and producers will play the new three-day, free music festival, Something Indie Water – being held April 2830 at the Virginia Beach Oceanfront. The event is planned for 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday and Saturday; and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sunday.

Something Indie Water is presented by Richmond-based music promoters theMSQshop, a creative agency that guides independent artists and

brands. The project is a collaboration with Virginia Beach-based entertainment company Aspire To Inspire Music Group and fashion brand VA Natural Gas. The event will be held at FFX Theatre, located at 206 16th St. in Virginia Beach – along the main entrance to the Something in the Water, which Virginia Beach officials estimate could bring 60,000 attendees. Find more information on Something Indie Water at theMSQshop.com/ event.

Mayor Philip D. Jones

(L-R) Dr. Amelia Ross-Hammond, Dr. Patricia Woodbury, Norfolk City Councilwoman Andria McClellan

Photo: Courtesy

Esteemed HRBMP Founder, James M. Wright Sr., Passes

NOTE TO OUR READERS:We wish to inform you of the recent transition of Mrs. Gladys McElmore. We will continue to carry her column in her memory until further notice. Thank you.

– Publisher Brenda H. Andrews

disaster.

MAUNDY THURSDAY BEFORE THE CROSS PT. II

THE MESSIAH

Isaiah 51-53

As we continue to sing “Lead Me To Calvary” in worship or devotional settings, let us remember the suffering and disfigurement of Jesus’ body in the Garden of Gethsemane. Isaiah (51) contrasts the worn out garments of which our world is made with clothing of strength that God wears.

What does God do about physical and moral weaknesses? Consider how Isaiah 51:9 contrasts the significance of clothing provided for us by God have glory and splendor that will never fade!

Here in Isaiah’s prophetic writings we learn of God’s power in dangerous and troubled times such as warnings, pleadings and lifting up the Holy One of Israel as the only source of hope for a safe and happy future. Isaiah presents the

Messiah with nothing in His appearance that is beautiful or majestic. Instead, His form is disqualified and marred, beaten bloody for our sins. He is clothed in our sinfulness and the punishments we deserve so that we may wear the magnificent robes He deserves (Isaiah 52:13-15) as the sin–bearing servant. In Isaiah 53:2-6 Jesus’ image is fully outlined. We can sense the depth of God’s love and concern for us through His provisions and grace. With an incredible note of certainty, all of us can trust God and His covering mercy.

For Isaiah’s contemporaries and for us today, the cross is all the proof we will ever need to show us how much we are loved by God. In Isaiah’s writings, we see the Lord calling out to His people and offering them away to avert

In Isaiah 52, we still have the Lord calling His people to repent and to obedience. God has wanted His people to live by faith in obedience to Him. This chapter is fascinating in that Isaiah teaches and presents a prophetic description of death of Jesus available to all who seek Him. Only through Christ’s life and death, and all that they involve could man be saved from the ruin brought by sin. It is also interesting to note that the gift of salvation cannot be earned or bought. “For thus says the Lord: you have sold yourselves for nothing and you shall be redeemed without money” (NKJV). It is only by God’s grace that we are saved. This grace is revealed through the incredible sacrifice made for us on the cross.

The prophet saw the vision of hatred and rejection by mankind toward the Messiah who suffered for those He came to save! Also in his vision, Isaiah revealed no beauty that we should desire Him who was carefully observed by God who ordered every detail of His life. The Messiah would bear the consequences of the sins of people worldwide. Let our lives glorify Jesus our Savior. Because of Isaiah’s ancient prophecies, we as biblical students have remained in the shadow of His wings as we rejoice about His mercy and love!

Mrs. Gladys McElmore was born in Essex County, Va. She was the founder of the Kathryn Bibbins Memorial Bible Study group.

(JESUS’ NEW COMMANDMENT John 13:34; John 15:12-14)

“ ... if any man will come after me, let him deny himself (sacrifice himself) and take up his cross and follow me.”

– Matt 16:24

The “cup” is the crossbearing that all of us must experience. It is neither sickness, poverty, or the lack. Excluding abusive codependent living, (he cross is loving unconditionally and voluntarily sacrificing for Jesus and others. It’s loving the unloveable and those who are difficult to love.

The cross is the bitter cup of a voluntary action on our part that we choose to do because it is the right thing to do. It is the Jesus thing to do. It may cause ·agony to our spirit, but bearing our crosses will put muscles in our souls and build character for on High.

Yes, all true believers in the Lord Jesus Christ are His loving disciples. All the world will know us by our love for one another. They will know we are Christians by our love.

We pick up the cross and follow Jesus. “Bear’ “the Cross, Ye Sons and Daughters of Men”Going into all the world, teaching, preaching, healing and witnessing for Jesus. Jesus says, do it for Him, do it for Him.

On Maundy Thursday Night when He was betrayed, Jesus prayed three agonizing prayers concerning the “cup.” He and three of His disciples, Peter and James and John, his brother, were in the Garden of Gethsemane. This was Jesus’ inner circle.

The 1st Prayer: “O my Father, if it be possible, let this “cup” pass from me: Nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.”

The 2nd Prayer: “O my

CHURCH ADs & DIRECTORY

Father, if this “cup” may not pass away from me, except I drink it, Thy will be done.”

The 3rd Prayer: “ ... (He) prayed the third time saying the same words.” – Matt 26:36-46

When Jesus had finished prayed, He had pulled His humanity up under His Divinity and He was ready to go to the cross. I refer to these three prayers as the “Nevertheless” and “Thy will be done” prayers. There are times in our lives when storms of life keep on raging, and the bitter cup must be drunk, that we cry out to Abba Father in agonizing painwrenching, “will of the Father prayers.” For there is no where for us to go in our own strength and will, but to the Lord.

This breaking down of self-will (“not my will but thine be done”) is necessary for us to attain higher planes of soul evolution; thereby allowing the Holy Spirit to flow into the physical body.

Blessings and Shalom

© 2016

All Rights Reserved

Rev. Dr. Rebecca R. Rivka

BOOKWORM REVIEWS

By Terri Schlichenmeyer

A FEVER IN THE HEARTLAND: “THE KU KLUX KLAN’S PLOT TO TAKE OVER AMERICA, AND THE WOMAN WHO STOPPED THEM”

Who’s in charge around here?

That would be you, the person at the top of the chain, the head honcho, the Fearless Leader. Your desk is where the buck stops in your organization. Everything is in your hands and you’re in charge – but, as in the new book “A Fever in the Heartland” by Timothy Egan, don’t get too comfortable on that throne.

When the Ku Klux Klan first appeared, they came in the night and people thought they were ghosts – which was the point. None of the six original founders, nor any of their subsequent followers wanted to be known as a member of the Klan in those post-Civil War years, and being ghost-like kept their secrets. Then, the Klan was mostly in the South, although filmmaker D.W Griffith and Washington politics weren’t against its spread. But by 1922, the Klan had slowly crept northward.

Up north, in Indiana, D.C. Stephenson, who went by the name “Steve,” was a “young man on the make,” just starting a new life in

Evansville, and he noticed what was happening. He knew the Klan had vowed to keep Evansville mostly white and Protestant, and that made him almost giddy. This was something Steve could sink his teeth into.

That spring, he ran for Congress on a platform that promised to fight for the Klan on behalf of every white person in Indiana. In short order, he’d worked his way up and was the leader of the nation’s fastest-growing KKK chapter in the north.

One year later, though a handful of people quietly fought against what Steve was doing, he was a powerful man who did whatever he wanted to do, bragging that he was the law in Indiana. But his swagger hid something that few knew: Steve was a predator and an alcoholic, and before the spring of 1925 was out, he was also a murderer with a corpse as a witness. That was when those against him knew it was time to take the Klan down ...

For readers who have no patience for laying out the long facts, “A Fever in the Heartland” can be a bit of

frustration.

It starts off with a meeting that, despite good intentions, is clearly not going to end well at all. Author Timothy Egan then switches to a history of the Klan, which is informative and necessary and slides into a long, long horror story of the terrorism

REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS

REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS

CONTRACT ID #: C00120375DB118

0064-131-922, P101, R201, C501

I-64 AND I-464 INTERCHANGE EXIT 291 RAMP

IMPROVEMENTS DESIGN-BUILD PROJECT

Timothy Egan

of an entire state by a man who gained power with frightening speed. The length of it may numb you to the terror, and getting to the meat of the story – the subtitle’s promise – feels like forever.

The good news is that when it does, the frustration dissipates immediately and you’ll be turning pages like they’re on fire. Things happen quickly here, as you begin to see how “A Fever in the Heartland” might resonate for modern readers. If you relish that kind of historical crime drama, look hard at your to-be-read pile and put this one on the top.

The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) is seeking Statements of Qualifications for I-64 and I-464 Interchange Exit 291Ramp Improvements Design-Build Project from qualified and experienced respondents with design and construction experience of highway facilities. The Project, located in the City of Chesapeake, Virginia, will provide a direct connection between I-64 eastbound and Route 168 southbound via I-464 southbound. The project includes these improvements: new flyover ramp from I-64 eastbound to I-464 southbound (to Route 168), reconfiguration of I-64 eastbound ramp to I-464 northbound, maintain existing I-464 northbound to I-64 eastbound loop-ramp, maintain existing I-64 eastbound to I-464 southbound loop-ramp (to Rte. 17 southbound), and will shift the I-464 southbound diverge point for Rte. 17 and Rte. 168 approximately 2000 ft. to the north. The proposed project objectives include improving traffic operations, reducing congestion, and improving safety. The work includes but is not limited to: roadway design, structure and bridge, survey, environmental, geotechnical, hydraulics and stormwater management, traffic control devices, landscaping, lighting, intelligent transportation systems, transportation management plan, right-of-way acquisition, utility adjustments/relocations, construction, public involvement/ relations and stakeholder coordination, quality assurance and quality control, construction engineering and inspection, and overall project management.

Questions/clarifications regarding the Request for Qualifications (RFQ) should be submitted to Sudha Mudgade, PE, PMP, DBIA (Sudha.Mudgade@ vdot.virginia.gov).

Copies of the RFQ and additional submittal requirements can be found on Bid Express (bidexpress.com)

The Department assures compliance with Title VI requirements of nondiscrimination in all activities pursuant to this advertisement.

“A Fever in the Heartland: The Ku Klux Klan’s Plot to Take Over America, and the Woman Who Stopped Them” by Timothy Egan ©2023, Viking $30, 432 pages