“bad night” in a debate with former President Donald Trump, some national Democrats have reportedly called for Biden to suspend his reelection campaign. In response, the 32 members of Virginia’s Legislative Black Caucus on Monday voiced their support for Biden to stay in the race.
“As policy makers, we need support and allies at every level to truly deliver for constituents across the country,” VLBC chair Sen. Lamont Bagby, DRichmond, wrote in a statement signed by his fellow caucus members. “This administration has proven that they care for the millions of
Virginians who voted them into office.” He noted the work of Biden’s administration to “protect real, working class people from exploitative corporate interests in the pharmaceutical industry, overwhelming student debt and the threats our changing climate brings.”
A key accomplishment of the Biden-Harris administration has been the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, which also entailed various costreducing incentives for environmental actions and forthcoming negotiations with pharmaceutical companies over prescription medication costs. The declaration of support comes after four
Diverse field emerges for City Council election
By George Copeland Jr.
Eighteen candidates are vying for seats on the Richmond City Council in the upcoming November election. The field includes seven incumbents and 11 challengers across the city’s nine districts.
The election presents a blend of experienced incumbents seeking to defend their positions and fresh faces eager to bring new perspectives to the council chambers.
The stakes are high for Richmond’s future, as the City Council plays a crucial role in shaping policies that directly impact residents’ daily lives. From education and public safety to housing and economic development, the council will be tasked with addressing a wide array of pressing issues facing the city.
Each candidate brings their own set of experiences, priorities and visions for Richmond’s future. This roundup provides an overview of who’s running, their backgrounds and the key issues they’re championing so voters can make an informed decision at the ballot box.
In the 1st District, Zachary Walker, Andrew “Gumby” Breton and Paul Goldman are in the race to succeed Andreas Addison for the seat.
Walker, a Virginia Commonwealth University graduate with experience on the Monument Avenue Park Civic Association, has built his campaign priorities around funding public schools, safer and more pedestrian-friendly streets and improving the efficiency of city government. For more information, visit zacwalkerrva.com.
Breton serves as chair of the Richmond City Democratic Committee and board member of the Richmond Parent Teacher Association, and has built a platform focused on public safety, improving and modernizing city services, funding Richmond Public Schools and reimagining Monument Avenue. For more information, see bretonforrichmond.com.
Goldman brings experience as the chair of the Democratic
Party of Virginia, serving as part of multiple high-profile electoral campaigns including that of former Gov. L. Douglas Wilder, and time as a political analyst and lawyer. He’s also known for his criticism of city proposals and projects.
Incumbent and 2nd District Rep. Katherine Jordan will run for reelection unopposed, and has touted her part in the passage of the Climate Emergency Resolution, ensuring funding for RPS and support for the reconstruction of Fox Elementary as part of her campaign. For more information, visit electkath-
erinejordan.com. In the city’s 3rd District, representative and Council Vice President Ann-Frances Lambert is running against Richmond School Board member Kenya Gibson and Richmond City Democratic Committee member Maria Carra Rose. Lambert has highlighted her first-term accomplishments in her campaign, and has promised priorities focused on public safety,
Sexual assault allegations prompt museums to reconsider Wiley exhibits
By Sam Brown
Three prominent museums have recently canceled or postponed exhibitions by artist Kehinde Wiley following sexual assault accusations. The Pèrez Art Museum Miami, Minneapolis Institute of Art and Joslyn Art Museum in Omaha, Neb. made these decisions in the past month.
In May, Ghanaian artist Joseph AwuahDarko alleged on social media that Wiley inappropriately touched him at a dinner in 2021 and later committed a more severe assault. June saw two additional men come forward with sexual assault allegations against Wiley, dating back to 2010 and 2021.
Wiley, whose work is currently on
display at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VMFA), including the prominent “Rumors of War” statue, has denied the accusations. Through a representative, he called the claims “false, disturbing and defamatory” and stated his intention to pursue legal action to clear his name. The VMFA issued a statement condemning sexual violence but declined to comment specifically on the allegations: “VMFA condemns acts of sexual violence, assault and impropriety and takes allegations of sexual assault seriously,” a VMFA representative said. “We cannot comment on this matter as it does not involve the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.”
City’s investment in Confederate marker raises questions
By George Copeland, Jr
Last year, the City of Richmond spent over $16,000 to enhance a 90-year-old Confederate marker, citing a resident’s desire to honor their ancestor. The upgrades included adding a bench and fencing around the marker, which was placed in 1939 by the local chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy and now stands near a Department of Public Utilities substation on Wise Street.
City officials justified the expenditure as an act of goodwill in response to a citizen’s request. However, new information challenges this explanation and raises questions about the city’s approach to its remaining Confederate tributes.
Mike Sarahan, a former City Attorney’s Office employee
who has been highlighting lingering Confederate tributes, provided research and documentation identifying both the person who made the request and the ancestor they sought to commemorate.
Roland Martin leads town hall on education reform
The event, titled “Reimagining Education in Richmond,” will take place at 6 p.m. at Sixth Baptist Church. It aims to bring together parents, educators and community members to discuss strategies for improving educational outcomes in the city.
Martin, a member of the National Association of Black Journalists Hall of Fame who is known for his advocacy in educational reform, will lead the discussion. The town hall will
The ancestor’s Civil War military service suggests he is unlikely to be among the approximately 100 South Carolina Confederate soldiers commemorated by the marker, according to Sarahan. These soldiers reportedly died in a temporary hospital opposite the current location of the marker and substation, according to an inscription on the marker. In a statement on Wednesday, Richmond city officials reiterated that the choices were made with good intentions and
Sen. Bagby
Free Press staff report Nationally recognized journalist and author Roland Martin will
Regina H. Boone/Richmond Free Press
The Department of Public Utilities spent $16,000 to adorn a burial marker to Confederate soldiers at a utility substation located in the 2400 block of Wise Street.
Roland Martin
Kehinde Wiley
AP Photo/Evan Vucci
President Joe Biden speaks on the 75th anniversary of NATO at the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium, on Tuesday, July 9, in Washington.
Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press Spin zone
Children enjoy a rotating play structure at Broad Rock Sports Complex in South Side last week. A large crowd gathers nearby for the People’s Evolution Music Festival, a free event organized by Councilmember Nicole Jones. The festival offered live music performances, along with food and vendor stalls.
Virginia War Memorial seeks volunteers for flag removal
Free Press staff report
The Virginia War Memorial is seeking volunteers to help conclude its annual Hill of Heroes celebration, a tribute honoring nearly 12,000 Virginians who died serving their country from World War II to the present.
Volunteers are needed on Friday, July 12, from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. to remove and store thousands of red, white and blue flags for next year’s event. All ages are welcome, but children must be accompanied by an adult.
The flags initially were placed at the site on June 28 by community volunteers and service members from Fort GreggAdams.
The memorial is located at 621 S. Belvidere St. in Richmond. Free on-site parking is available. The facility will be open for tours from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., with free admission.
Operations Director Ben King can be contacted at 804-786-1661 or benjamin.king@dvs.virginia.gov for more information.
Henrico completes its first section of the muchanticipated Fall Line Trail
Free Press staff report
Henrico County officials cut the ribbon Tuesday of the Spring Park section of the 43-mile Fall Line Trail. The 1,400-foot section is the first to be completed in Henrico County.
The Fall Line Trail, once completed, will connect seven localities from Ashland to Petersburg. The Spring Park section begins Henrico’s portion of the trail by connecting pedestrians and cyclists to Richmond’s Joseph Bryan Park, located just over the county line near Lakeside. A new pedestrian hybrid beacon, also known as a HAWK beacon, allows trail users to stop vehicular traffic as needed to safely cross Lakeside Avenue between Bryan and Spring parks.
The Spring Park section will act as a trailhead for users.
Construction on amenities including public restrooms is anticipated to begin this fall.
In addition, Sports Backers is expected to renovate a former bank building on the site for use as its new headquarters by the end of this year.
“It’s more than just a trail,” Fairfield District Supervisor Roscoe D. Cooper III said. “It’s a gateway to our parks, neighborhoods and history.”
The next phase of the project is scheduled to begin by the end of the year and will connect the Spring Park section to Dumbarton Road and then throughout Lakeside. By late 2026, Henrico’s entire portion will stretch from Joseph Bryan Park to the Chickahominy River at the Henrico/Hanover counties line. For more information, visit henrico.gov/projects/fall-line-trail/
Free community testing for COVID-19 continues
For the week ending on Saturday, July 6, confirmed hospital admissions for COVID-19 in Virginia rose 20 percent from the previous week, though new admissions remain low. No deaths associated with COVID-19 were reported statewide during that time frame. COVID-19 wastewater levels in the Greater Richmond area remain, on average, below detection.
The Richmond and Henrico County health districts are offering testing at the following locations: Thursday, July 11, 1 to 5 p.m. - Henrico Arms Apartments, 1566 Edgelawn Circle. Friday, July 12, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. - Southside Plaza WIC, 509 E. Southside Plaza.
Wednesday, July 17, 8 to 10 a.m. - East Henrico Recreation Center, 1440 N. Laburnum Ave.; 2 to 4:30 p.m. - St. Luke’s Apartments, 117 Engleside Drive. RHHD’s Resource Centers are providing free at-home tests for pick-up at select locations: Creighton Court at 2150 Creighton Road, call 804-3710433. Fairfield Court at 2311 N. 25th St., call 804-786-4099. Gilpin Court at 436 Calhoun St., call 804-786-1960 . Hillside Court at 1615 Glenfield Ave., call 804-230-7740. Mosby Court at 1536 Coalter St., call 804-786-0204. Southwood Court at 1754 Clarkson Road. Unit #B, call 804-230-2077. Whitcomb Court at 2106 Deforrest St., call 804-786-0555. Call the Richmond and Henrico Call Center at (804) 2053501 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. For information visit vax.rchd.com.
The Virginia Department of Health also has a list of COVID-19 testing locations at vdh.virginia.gov. Want a COVID-19 vaccine?
Those interested can schedule an appointment with RHHD by calling (804) 205-3501. Vaccines.gov also lists nearby pharmacies and clinics that offer the vaccine, and those interested can also text their ZIP code to 438829 or call 1-800-232-0233. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that children between the ages of six months to four years old may need multiple doses of the updated vaccines depending on their vaccine status and whether they had previously received Pfizer and Moderna.
Children between the ages of five to 11 years old who are unvaccinated or have received a vaccine before Sept. 12, 2023 should get one updated Pfizer or Moderna vaccine.
Those aged 12 years and older who are unvaccinated should get either one updated Pfizer or Moderna vaccine or two doses of the updated Novavax vaccine. People in that age range who received a vaccine before Sept. 12, 2023 should get one updated Pfizer, Moderna or Novavax vaccine.
People who are moderately or severely immunocompromised may get additional doses of updated COVID-19 vaccine, and are encouraged to talk with their healthcare providers.
Information compiled by George Copeland Jr.
Cityscape
Slices of life and scenes in Richmond
Research shows heat exposure disproportionately affects Black Richmonders
Data indicates about 50% of heat-related illnesses happen within walking distance of a cooling center
By Charlie Paullin
Michael, a resident of Richmond’s Southside who declined to share his last name, sat on Forest Hill Avenue waiting for a bus Tuesday just before 2 p.m., when a car thermometer recorded the temperature at 94 degrees.
Michael wasn’t waiting under a bus shelter as he headed home from a doctor’s appointment. Rather, he was sitting underneath a narrow sign that provided a sliver of shade as the sun beamed down.
“There’s very little shade right here,” said Michael, who added that additional cooling centers would help alleviate heat stress in the city. “They don’t have cooling stations everywhere…it’s hot everywhere.”
Scientific journal GeoHealth recently published a report detailing the number of heat-related health emergencies and the inequitable effects of urban heat exposure in Virginia’s capital city.
Researchers found Black people in Richmond have experienced disproportionate heat-related illnesses during the warmer months of the year, while communities they live in have historically received little investment to help them keep cool.
“While human-caused climate change is driving average global temperatures to rise, some communities and neighborhoods in Richmond, Virginia experience hotter temperatures than others,” the research paper stated, largely due to a pattern of government disinvestment in Black and low-income neighborhoods. “Hotter, less resourced neighborhoods experience more heat-related health emergencies like heat
stroke and heat exhaustion.”
The research relied on Emergency Medical Services data reported to the Virginia Department of Health that found there were 492 heat-related incidents between May and September from 2016 to 2022.
Of those, Black or African-American patients counted for 306, or 62% of the incidents, despite comprising only 39.9% of the city’s population. Conversely, white patients made up 32.9% of the incidents while comprising 42% of the population.
The research also mapped the city’s cooling centers, which include nine libraries, and three centers that are opened when temperatures rise above 95 degrees.
About 53.9% of the heat-related illnesses occurred within a 1.4 km, or .8 mile, walk of the centers, the report found — a distance that takes about 15 minutes for a fast walker to cover. Opening the city’s 24 community centers as additional cooling stations would put another 17% percent of the heat-related illnesses within that 1.4 km walking radius.
“Spending just a few hours at a cooling center can help prevent heat-related illnesses, but a lot of Richmonders might not know these cooling centers exist or they might not have a safe way to get there,” said Peter Braun, one of the researchers and a built environment policy analyst with the Richmond and Henrico Health District. “In some neighborhoods, if you have to walk down a street without sidewalks or shade from street trees or if you have to wait at a bus stop without a shelter, you’re going to be exposed to extreme heat.”
Jeremy Hoffman, another of the paper’s
researchers and director of climate justice and impact at Groundwork USA, said having access to cooling options, “is a matter of life and death.”
The research also reviewed the locations of the Greater Richmond Transit Company’s 1,618 bus stops, of which 5% have shaded shelter. Just under 200 of the heat-related incidents happened within 100 meters of a bus stop. The bus company is offering zero-fare service for their air conditioned buses, Hoffman noted.
The findings build off work by Hoffman in 2020 that studied the effect of past housing policies on urban heat islands. Southside Richmond, an area Hoffman said lacks historical investment in sidewalks that could help people get to cooling centers, only has one such location on Hull Street. Last year, Hoffman had published research that found cooling centers around the state were sparsely located.
Protections for people working outside have also gained attention this summer season. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration recently released draft rules that require companies to schedule breaks for people who are working outdoors. The Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental nonprofit, called the rules a “crucial step forward.“
“Workers in our nation should not be denied something as simple as a water break or a few minutes to regroup in the shade,” said Juanita Constible, a senior advocate in the environmental health program with NRDC. “That’s just basic human decency. It shouldn’t be controversial.”
This story originally appeared at VirginiaMercury.com
RIC recognized for excellence in airport management
Free Press staff reports
Richmond International Airport recently won the Change Management Program Award from Airports Council International-North America.
“This award is a testament to Richmond International Airport’s unwavering commitment to innovation and excellence in human resources change management,” said Perry J. Miller, CEO of the Capital Region Airport Commission.
The award, announced June 28 in Miami, recognizes RIC’s human resources programs that focus on tracking employee growth, providing development opportunities,and establishing community engagement initiatives. The airport’s approach has been noted as being at the forefront of building future leaders in the aviation industry.
ACI-NA President Kevin M. Burke praised RIC and San Francisco International Airport, which won the Overall Human Resources Program Award.
“Human resources play an integral role in establishing and
Members of the Airport Commission’s HR team (left to right): Althea Veney, community engagement coordinator, Uday Nethula, chief human resources officer, and Pamela Kelley, human capital and benefits manager pose with their recent award.
implementing a positive workforce culture at airports,” said ACI-NA President and CEO Kevin M. Burke. “San Francisco International Airport and Richmond International Airport
instituted industry-leading programs that invest in the people who run our airports. Their programs are vital to creating the next generation of aviation leaders, and I applaud them for
their extraordinary work.” Airport representatives at the ceremony included Uday Nethula, chief human resources officer and Basil Dosunmu, chief financial officer.
Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press
Dock Street Park opened last month in the city’s East End. The park is flanked by the Capitol Trail and the James River and is also home to the The James A. Buzzard River Education Center.
Unconditionally
Black Caucus backs Biden candidacy
Continued from A1
Democrats in Congress said during a call on Sunday that Biden should end his candidacy, according to NBC News. Separately, The Washington Post reported that Virginia’s Democratic U.S. Sen. Mark Warner was trying to marshal support from his colleagues to call for Biden to step aside. His office released a statement Monday afternoon that didn’t confirm or deny that account.
Ahead of the impending election, “now is the time for conversations about the strongest path forward,” Warner’s statement read in part. “As these conversations continue, I believe it is incumbent upon the President to more aggressively make his case to the American people and to hear directly from a broader group of voices,” about how to defeat Trump.
In addition to Black leaders in Virginia’s legislature, prominent Black members of congress have also reaffirmed their Biden backing, including Virginia Democratic U.S. Rep. Bobby Scott Democratic governors like Maryland’s Wes Moore have also spoken in support of Biden this past week
At age 81, concerns over his mental and physical capacities began circulating in political punditry following his performance in a June 27 debate against former President Donald Trump. Biden appeared to lose his train of thought at times and stumbled over his words. His voice was also soft and raspy. A June Gallup poll found the American voters surveyed are “nearly twice as likely to say Biden is too old to be president (67%) as say this about Trump (37%).” Trump is 78 years old.
Biden called his debate performance a “bad night” that stemmed from fatigue and a “really bad cold,” in a recent interview with
ABC’s George Stephanopoulos. The president reiterated during the interview that he does not plan to drop out of the race. When asked about the possibility of undergoing a cognitive test and making the results public, Biden refused to commit, adding that the demands of his job as president equates to taking a cognitive test each day.
Though the Republican and Democratic national conventions have yet to take place, Biden and Trump are the presumptive nominees for their parties.
“The choice is between two visions,” Bagby wrote in the VLBC statement of support. “A second Trump presidency would set us back a generation. We have full faith that a second Biden presidency would keep us moving forward.”
This story originally appeared at VirginiaMercury.com
Diverse field emerges for City Council election
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accessible and available housing, education, economic development and safe spaces for youth. For more information, visit AnnCan2024.com
Gibson, who represents the 3rd District on the School Board, has made accessible city leadership, economic justice in housing and labor, and the improvement of public services major commitments of her campaign. For more information, visit kenyagibson.com.
Rose is an RPS parent, former human resources professional and community organizer. She has focused her campaign priorities on quality, fully funded schools, addressing housing prices, safe and walkable city streets and a responsive and accountable government. For more information, visit carraforcouncil.com.
Sarah Abubaker, an adjunct assistant professor at Virginia State University with experience at the Westover Hills Neighborhood Association and volunteer work at Art 180 and the Bon Air Juvenile Correction Center, is running unchallenged for the 4th District seat. She has built a platform centered on a responsive, effective City Hall, affordable housing, property tax reform and environmental protection. For more information, visit sarahabubaker.com.
Stephanie A. Lynch will also run unopposed
to retain her seat as 5th District representative, with a campaign promising work to improve schools, reimagine public safety, expand affordable housing, increase transparency and decrease gun violence. For more information, visit electstephanielynch.com.
In the 6th District, Ellen F. Robertson will defend her seat from challengers Tavares Floyd and Willie Hilliard Jr. She seeks to continue a decades-long term in office, and is touting her work in improving affordable housing and economic growth, addressing issues with gun violence, public safety and education, and improving city operations. For more information, visit re-electellenrobertson6thdistrict.com.
Floyd, meanwhile, is a lawyer, small business owner and the cousin of George Floyd, who was murdered by police in Minneapolis in 2020. He was also a council liaison for Robertson for almost five years. Floyd is running on the promise of advocacy for all district neighborhoods, safety, business development and compassionate solutions for homelessness. For more information, visit tavaresfloyd.com.
Hilliard previously served as a community organizer for the North Side Food Access Coalition and ran for the 3rd District City Council seat in 2020. Affordable housing, government transparency, equitable transportation, housing,
environmental justice and food access are among the commitments of his platform. For more information, see williehilliard.com.
Cynthia I. Newbille and Eric Sundberg are seeking the 7th District seat this November.
Newbille, the incumbent, has served for 14 years, bringing a wealth of professional experience that includes time with the Richmond Memorial Health Foundation, and health has remained a major focus of her work inside and outside City Hall.
She currently serves as part of the Organizational Development, Education and Human Services, and Finance and Economic Development committees. For more information, see facebook.com/rvaeastenddistrict
Sundberg is a former chair of the Richmond Democratic Socialists of America and former chief of staff for Virginia Del. Joshua Cole, and is running on a platform that includes housing and food for all, reparations for exploited and displaced neighborhoods and eviction reduction. For more information, see votesundberg.com.
In the 8th District, incumbent Reva M. Trammell is running against Frank Henry Wilson Jr.
This year’s election is the latest for Trammell’s long career in city government, which includes her work on the Organizational Development
and Human Safety committees. She was also part of the effort to ensure collective bargaining for city employees. For more on her campaign, visit instagram.com/revatrammell8
Wilson previously served as a judicial officer with the Supreme Court of Virginia, with decades of experience in management work and the private sector that he is looking to apply to the duties and responsibilities of City Council. For more on him, visit frankwilson4rvadistrict8.com.
The 9th District seat, left empty after Michael Jones was elected to the Virginia General Assembly, will see former competitors for the office face off again in November. The current representative, Nicole Jones, previously represented the 9th District on the Richmond School Board and is the deputy director of Art 180. She has a passion for the Richmond community, education and creative work in general. For more information, see ninthdistrictrva.com/about
Challenging Jones for the seat again is Stephanie Starling, a community organizer, advocate and Verizon consultant. She has focused on a more equitable district, banking and food access, the city’s development and infrastructure, public safety and affordable housing as part of her campaign. For more information, visit Starling’s campaign page on Facebook.
City’s investment in Confederate marker raises questions
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that the memorial is treated as a marker for the dead, rather than as a Confederate monument.
“The City of Richmond received a request from a citizen requesting access to the remains of their relative which were thought to be buried on City property, managed by and containing infrastructure for the Department of Public Utilities,” the statement read.
“Since this is regarded as a burial marker and not a Confederate monument, the City acted
in good faith and in the spirit of the law outlined in Virginia Code 57-27.1 requiring ingress and egress to the cemetery or graves by family members and descendants of deceased persons buried there, the City granted access to the burial marker in question.”
“The City is performing additional research to further confirm the status of this matter.”
The statement is similar to one made in 2023 when Sarahan began to raise concerns about the additions to the marker.
“The marker is a tombstone for the mass burial,” Chief Administrative Officer Lincoln Saunders stated in an email responding to inquiries by Sarahan. “That is why it has been treated with sensitivity by the City.
“Furthermore, a resident, who has a grandfather, four times removed, represented by this marker asked for and received the bench to sit and reflect at the marker. You may disagree, but please accept this as the city’s official response.”
While the fencing around the marker has been removed, the city’s substantial investment in the project stands in stark contrast to Richmond’s recent efforts to remove such symbols from public spaces. Over the past few years, the city has dismantled numerous Confederate statues and monuments, making this allocation of resources noteworthy.
Shawn O. Utsey, a psychology professor at Virginia Commonwealth University, said the presence of Confederate monuments can impact the lives
of African-American residents, even as they face more immediate issues like police brutality and economic struggles.
“It’s hard to deal with symbolism when black folks have real, practical problems on a day to day basis,” Utsey said. “But it doesn’t mean it’s not having a significant impact on the psychological well being of the black community.”
Utsey also noted that the attention and care for the marker is
a telling sign of the city’s priorities, particularly amid debates and discussion about supporting other aspects of Richmond life and government.
“When you are having conversations about schools being under-resourced, underfunded, when you see the money being poured into symbols of white supremacy,” Utsey said, “as well as institutions such as the police (and) the courts, it sends a clear message.”
Sexual assault allegations prompt museums to reconsider Wiley exhibits
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In his own statement, Wiley said he has considered taking legal action to prove his innocence.
“We live in a world where a single false social media post can destroy someone’s life, where people are tried and convicted online without regard for the truth. This is dangerous and wrong,” Wiley said.
He also addressed the allegations on Instagram, expressing concern about the power of social media to damage reputations without due process. His representatives provided messages between Wiley and Awuah-Darko, which they claim demonstrate a cordial relationship.
The choice by some museums to cancel or postpone Wiley’s art shows has drawn criticism from some. The National Coalition Against Censorship released a statement claiming the choice to remove his art sets a precedent of examining the personal conduct of exhibiting artists and “risks an ad hoc application of unstated policy.”
The coalition also claimed that determining the morality of artists is not within a museum’s expertise.
“Museums are not equipped or mandated to be enforcers of moral orthodoxy. Their shared role is to identify and contextualize works that have artistic merit and cultural relevance.” the statement read.
A representative from the Joslyn Art Museum in Omaha gave a statement saying the museum is “revisiting [its] exhibition schedule. ‘Kehinde Wiley: Omaha’ will not be presented in 2024.” The other two museums that canceled or postponed Wiley’s exhibitions did not respond to requests for comment.
Roland Martin leads town hall on education reform
Continued from A1 focus on challenges and opportunities surrounding equity and access to quality education.
Confirmed panelists include Jonathan Davis, an educator and civic leader, and Caroline Hill, an education advocate and founder of 228 Accelerator. Sixth Baptist Church is located at 400 S. Addison St. The event is organized by New Schools for Virginia, a group founded in 2022 that works to increase K-12 educational opportunities in the state.
Virginia joins other states with effort to restrict cellphones in schools
By Matthew Barakat, Olivia Diaz and Ben Finle The Associated Press
Virginia on Tuesday joined a growing number of states that are pushing for cellphone restrictions in public schools, citing concerns over students’ academic achievement and mental health.
Gov. Glenn Youngkin issued an executive order to establish state guidance and model policies for local school systems to adopt by January.
“Studies indicate that students who use their phones during class learn less and achieve lower grades,” Youngkin’s order stated. It also cited an “alarming mental health crisis” among adolescents, which is partly driven by cellphones and social media.
Last year, Florida became the first state to crack down on phones in school with a new law. Indiana and Ohio passed their own laws this year, while several other states have recently introduced what is becoming known as “phone-free schools” legislation.
The National Center for Education Statistics reported that 76% of public schools prohibited “non-academic cell phone use” during the 2021-2022 school year.
In Virginia, school districts have been increasingly banning or severely restricting students’ phone use. For example, Loudoun County Public Schools, passed a new policy last month
that generally bans elementary school students from using phones during the school day.
Middle school students are allowed to use their phones before or after school but otherwise are expected to store their phones in their lockers. In high school, students are expected to silence their phones and place them in a classroom cubby or storage location during instructional time.
Dan Adams, a spokesman for Loudoun County Public Schools, said the school system will have to wait and see what specific directives come from the state. But he said the school system is “confident that our policy is age-appropriate and addresses electronics-free instructional time.”
The school board for Hanover County Public Schools, has been focused the issue at length in recent months. And it planned to discuss it at a Tuesday board meeting, assistant superintendent Chris Whitley said.
In Richmond, Youngkin’s order had the full support of the superintendent of public schools.
“We piloted a cellphone ban last year in some of our high schools and middle schools, and we saw more student engagement in class and fewer distractions throughout the
Bus riders reap benefits of zero fares and new services
GRTC hits high ridership numbers with expansion
By Ian Stewart
On a recent Friday, Joshua Webb and several of his landscaping co-workers were doing their best to escape the late-afternoon sun and humidity as they waited for the bus on Midlothian Turnpike in Chesterfield County to take them home.
That bus – the 1A – has been a lifeline for Webb, who started riding it to work as soon as the line was extended from its stopping point near Chippenham Parkway to Walmart Way in Chesterfield last January.
“The 1A is a straight shot here. It goes back to the transfer plaza. It’s very convenient,” Webb said. It takes Webb about an hour to ride from his home on Commerce Road in Richmond to his job in North Chesterfield. He said taking the bus also helps him save money because it’s free. Before the extension, Webb would pay for Uber or Lyft.
“Our people who use public transportation in our region are very resilient,” said Faith Walker, executive director of RVA Rapid Transit, a nonprofit advocacy group that seeks to improve the region’s bus system. “If you look at the numbers, 60% of them are using it to go to full-time positions.”
According to RVA Rapid Transit’s just-released 2024 State of Transit Report, 45% of riders use the bus to get to work, with the majority of riders – 70% – being Black. And in terms of gender breakdown, 49.4% are female riders.
When it comes to the overall numbers, the Greater Richmond Transit Co. is having a banner fiscal year, which ended June 30.
“So we hit 10 million riders for the fiscal year and one million riders for a month,” said Henry Bendon, GRTC spokesperson.
“That 10 million is all routes [and] includes paratransit and our new micro transit service.”
Bendon said the success comes from having more investments, such as from the Central Virginia Transit Agency and the Virginia Department of Rail and Transit The funding allows GRTC to be fully staffed and to extend its service farther out of the city.
According to RVA Rapid Transit’s report, GRTC hired 120 employees within a 15-month span. Since April, the agency has had 318 people on its staff as full-time operators and 27 as part-time operators, with eight more in training.
“Bringing 100 new people allowed us to expand service on the 1A, it allowed us to extend Route 19 into Goochland County,” Bendon said. “It’s allowing us to launch the Route 1 extension to Reynolds Community
College,” which started June 30. Bendon said it’s great to see growth on the fixed routes, but even better to see more riders using GRTC’s other services, such as the paratransit service Care OnDemand, their paratransit service, and their recently expanded door-to-door service LINK Microtransit
“More people are able to access paratransit – it’s up 4% year on year,”
Bendon said. “So that just means across all accounts, more people are able to go where they need to go.”
Bendon said the LINK service is meant to fill the gaps in places where traditional routes can’t go. In the past few months, it began operating in parts of Chesterfield, Powhatan County and the northern part of Richmond known as the Azalea Zone, near Interstates 95 and 295.
On July 1, GRTC launched its fifth LINK Micotransit service area, covering the Sandston and Elko areas in Henrico County. Bendon added that since its launch in November, 2023, LINK has transported 15,000 people.
Walker of RVA Rapid Transit said these microtransit zones are lifesavers for many riders.
“It’s almost like an Uber service,” she said. “In rural areas, it allows for some type of service to exist.”
But Walker says there’s really only one reason why GRTC’s numbers are high.
“We have seen our region’s numbers increase in ridership over the last four years because of zero fare [service],” Walker said. “We see the benefit, but also
the financial necessity that bus riders are having and experiencing because we know that rent is up, the cost of groceries is up. But what hasn’t gone up is people’s incomes. And so this is a backdoor boost in wages.”
With all the positive news of more riders and extensions to further locations, Walker said there is still room for improvement.
“We’re missing the ball when it comes to investment. I feel like we have made significant progress,” she said, with congratulations to GRTC’s board for prioritizing better wages for bus drivers. “But I think as a region, we are too far behind.”
Walker said each locality needs to look at where job centers are concentrated and then commit to funding GRTC to get transit there.
“The reason why people use public transportation in our city is to get to work,” she said.
In its State of Transit Report, RVA Rapid Transit has a breakdown of where transit has made progress since last year and where it’s still lacking.
“We want expansion to the Lego factory [in Chesterfield County] and the Chester Amazon fulfillment center. We’ve heard a lot of bus riders want access to this,” Walker said. “This is a major job zone.”
Walker said they want more big companies to come to the region and when they do, they need to invest in public transportation so everyone can have access to employment.
This story originally appeared at VirginiaMercury.com
University of Richmond professor receives fellowship for Black history research
Free Press staff report
Jillean McCommons, a University of Richmond assistant professor of history and Africana studies, has been awarded the Wilma Dykeman “Faces of Appalachia” Post-Doctoral Research Fellowship by the Appalachian Studies Association. The fellowship, funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Appalachian Studies Association, supports scholarship on gender, race and ethnicity in Appalachia. It honors Tennessee writer Wilma Dykeman Stokely.
Jillean McCommons
McCommons will use the award to further her book project, “Black Appalachia: The Black Appalachian Commission and the Construction of a Black Regional Consciousness.” The work
examines the history of the Black Appalachian Commission, a grassroots organization founded in 1969 to advocate for Black economic needs in the region.
“I am very grateful to the ASA for this award,” McCommons said. “Wilma Dykeman wrote so many fielddefining books on Appalachia. She did what many of us aspire to do. I am pleased to be a part of that legacy.”
The fellowship will fund archival research and oral history collection from former commission members throughout Appalachia, with a focus on Black Appalachian women’s contributions.
McCommons joined the University of Richmond faculty in 2022 after completing a predoctoral fellowship at the University of Virginia’s Carter G. Woodson Institute for African-American and African Studies.
day,” Jason Kamras said. “On top of that, students reported spending more time talking with their peers.”
James Fedderman, president of the Virginia Education Association, called on the state “to approach this issue with a nuanced perspective.”
“Our priority remains ensuring that policies are practical, enforceable and in the best interest of our educators, students and families,” he said in a statement.
Youngkin’s order calls for gathering public input through listening sessions, while other steps include establishing a detailed definition of “cell phone free education.”
Todd Reid, a spokesman for the Virginia Department of Education, said in an email that school divisions will need to adopt policies by Jan. 1.
“In the legal sense, think of ‘guidance’ as a synonym for ‘regulations,’” he wrote. “We will be going through the official regulatory process.”
But executive orders over local education policy can be difficult to enforce.
Last year, the Youngkin administration finalized regulations outlining policies for transgender students, including a rule that banned transgender girls from participating on girls’ sports teams. Some local school systems refused to adopt the regulation s, criticizing them as discriminatory.
Families celebrate implementation of law allowing early release for some inmates
By Charlotte Renee Woods
Santia Nance and Quadaire Patterson’s love story is entering a new chapter.
A law took effect last week that allowed certain incarcerated people to be released from prison for acquiring earned sentence credits. Patterson is now also earning good fiance points by “doing every dish” in the house since he moved out of prison and in with Nance. The couple’s long-fought-for chapter entailed years of political advocacy and maintaining hope.
“Opportunity is nothing without hope,” Patterson said during a press conference at the Capitol on Tuesday.
He and Nance had gathered at the Capitol on Tuesday with various prison reform advocacy organizations and Democratic lawmakers.
Patterson was among people to be released last week. July 1 is when new laws typically take effect each year, but in this case, a four-year-old law was finally able to be implemented.
Earned sentence credits are applied to shorten inmates’ time behind bars. Incarcerated people can achieve them through things like good behavior, participation in programs and seeking educational advancements. Prison reform advocates stress that earned sentence credits help incentivize rehabilitation so that families can be reunited sooner.
Virginia’s legislature passed a law in 2020 that increased the number of credits inmates could earn and expanded it to people serving time for both violent and nonviolent offenses. It had a delayed start date for 2022, but that year Gov. Glenn Youngkin blocked its implementation through the state budget. It’s a law that Nance, through her work co-founding a group called Sistas In Prison Reform, has hoped for.
Organizations like Sistas in Prison Reform continued to advocate for its implementation. Before his release Patterson kept his fellow inmates in the loop on legislative processes, and he was also able to connect with Sen. Jennifer Boysko, D-Alexandria.
Boysko carried the Senate version of the bill in 2020. Del. Don Scott, D-Portsmouth, had the House version — and his own lived experience as a formerly incarcerated person who has since gone on to become Virginia’s first Black Speaker of the House.
While the Democratic-controlled legislature was able to get the earned sentence credits through this year’s budget with Youngkin’s signature, Republican resistance remains.
Ahead of the celebratory gathering, Attorney General Jason Miyares issued a statement calling earned sentence credits a public safety risk.
“I believe in redemption and am a strong proponent for helping our returning citizens re-enter society to live productive lives, Miyares wrote. However, aggressive retroactive sentence reductions for violent criminals with a high risk of recidivism undermines our justice system and disregards victims.”
Miyares also wrote a letter earlier this year to lawmakers urging them to keep Youngkin’s budget language in place that would have blocked implementation of the 2020 law.
Boysko bucked Miyares’ characterization of the legislation at Tuesday’s event, saying he and some other Republicans want to “get everybody worked up into a frenzy” ahead of next year’s state legislative elections.
“Data shows that earned sentence credits help reduce recidivism, no matter what he says,” Boysko said.
Next year, all 100 seats in Virginia’s House of Delegates will be up for election and Virginians will elect a new governor. With criminal justice reform often a Democratic-led issue, partisan control of the House or governorship could determine what future bills might succeed or fail.
Until then, recently released Virginians will be settling back into their unincarcerated lives. Patterson will continue his education with the hope of eventually becoming a lawyer.
Nance is ecstatic about having Patterson home with her and how their shared passion for advocacy is intrinsic to their love story.
“It really is a full circle moment to be standing here with him,” she said.
This article originally appeared at VirginiaMercury.com
Charlotte Rene Woods/Virginia Mercury
Quadaire Patterson speaks at a gathering at the Capitol on July 8, 2024 to celebrate the implementation of earned sentence credits.
Photo courtesy of GRTC
Since its launch in November 2023, GRTC’s LINK Microtransit service has moved 15,000 people.
Gov. Youngkin
Richmond Free Press
Editorial Page
July 11-13, 2024
The Price of Persistence
An important thing to know if you’re a performer, is when it’s time to leave the stage. You don’t want to do it too early, as your audience might feel short-changed if you haven’t sung that song, reached that high note or made that move before walking off with a wave. You also don’t want to stay in the spotlight too long, because as much as they say they love you, it’s vital that you leave the audience wanting more. Otherwise, you might overstay your welcome.
This is a hard pill to swallow for some in the entertainment industry, despite probably being pros at taking prescribed medicine at their age. Fortunately, in their line of work, the consequences of staying on the job too long are usually minimal and don’t extend beyond their circle of family and friends. The stakes are much higher in politics, however. When politicians remain in office past their prime, their decisions can have far-reaching and lasting impacts on a broader population.
A good example of this can be found in the final chapters of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s career. Before her appointment to the Supreme Court, Ginsburg was a champion for gender equality and women’s rights, arguing several landmark cases before the Supreme Court as a lawyer. After her appointment, she was known for her liberal views and powerful dissenting opinions, particularly on issues related to civil rights and equality. Ginsburg was nicknamed “The Notorious RBG,” a play on the name of rapper The Notorious B.I.G.
In 2013, Ginsburg met with President Barack Obama for lunch. The meeting was kept quiet and discrete. The president didn’t ask the 80-year-old justice and cancer survivor to resign from the bench, but he hinted at what might happen if he didn’t get a chance to appoint another justice after the next election, if the Senate flipped. She didn’t take the hint.
Ginsburg served on the Supreme Court for 27 years until her death at age 87 in September 2020. President Donald Trump nominated Amy Coney Barrett, her replacement later that month. Barrett’s appointment shifted the balance of the Supreme Court, strengthening its conservative majority. The consequences of RBG’s decision to cling to power are an unfortunate and regrettable part of her legacy.
This of course, brings to mind our current situation. A beloved figure, trodding out to perform one more time. No, I’m not talking about the farewell performance of a popular R&B singer at the Essence Festival of Culture Sunday night. It’s our current president.
At 81 years old, Joe Biden is already the oldest sitting president in U.S. history. Critics argue that his age has become a liability, pointing to verbal gaffes and moments of confusion. Supporters remind us of his history and accomplishments during his presidency, and say he’s good to go – for one more term.
As with any long-running show, there comes a time when even the most beloved stars must make way for new acts. The decision to step down or continue is Biden’s to make, but the consequences will be ours to bear.
Hanging Up
Gov. Glenn Youngkin seems to think that it’s a good idea to keep students separated from their mobile phones while they’re in school. We’re inclined to agree with him.
This week, he issued an executive order that will restrict and and limit cell phone use in schools. In it he wrote, “Today’s Executive Order both establishes the clear goal to protect the health and safety of our students by limiting the amount of time they are exposed to addictive cell phones and social media and eliminates clear distractions in the classroom.” Hear, hear.
The order mirrors similar decrees in other states and other countries, as well. Educators are concerned about the phones distracting students from their assignments and being used for antisocial behavior, such as bullying. If you are young enough to remember your school days, then you know that distracted students aren’t just a problem from the cell phone era. But if this can reduce the problem, we think it’s worth the effort.
Lone dandelion in South Side
President must be wise enough to move on
I have admired Joe Biden since 1988. I did not think the plagiarism charge should have caused him to abort his presidential aspirations back then. I was ecstatic when the seasoned, scrappy senator from Scranton joined — and added heft to — Barack Obama’s run for the White House. And lastly, I proudly voted for Joe Biden for president in 2020.
As president, Biden compiled an enviable track record.
His list of accomplishments is well-documented: infrastructure, a bold climate initiative, a Herculean effort to lift millions of Americans’ student loan debts, greatly reducing the cost of life-saving insulin, protecting millions from the scourge of COVID-19, getting relief checks in the hands of millions of struggling Americans during the pandemic, signing several bipartisan bills into law and much more. Biden could end his presidency with his head held high, knowing that he served his country honorably. But the time to end his occupancy in the
White House may soon come upon him.
The Book of Ecclesiastes should guide his next steps: “For everything there is a season and a time for every purpose under heaven.” Knowing when to exit will determine how history will record the character of this remarkable public servant.
I assume that the Democratic
Michael A. Grant
Party elites, the president’s inner circle and, most assuredly, his family will advise him to continue his campaign. But these enablers are deluding themselves and misleading the voters. The president’s debate performance was not just an isolated incident. The CNNsponsored event unearthed — in a dramatic fashion — what many of us have believed for some time.
Our president is experiencing diminished capacity. It has been reported that he got sleepy during the debate. The issue is not whether the president is beginning to exhibit signs of cognitive decline, the issue is how could the enlightened members of our party put him through four more years of a grueling schedule
that will begin at age 82 and end at age 86?
If, however, President Biden decides to stay in the race, I will support him because Donald Trump’s mental stability and poor judgment are also being seriously discussed. The former president has already shown us that he is one of the most ruthless, vindictive, egomaniacal, dishonest and bigoted persons on the national stage today. He is a walking nightmare. Trump fuels hatred and pits Americans against each other.
A skilled demagogue, he has risen to power — like Adolph Hitler — stirring up the worst impulses and fears in many of his mindless followers.
This commentary should in no way be construed to suggest that American voters will be forced to choose between the lesser of two evils. There is no comparison: Joe Biden is a decent human being; Donald Trump is evil incarnate.
So where do we go from here?
If President Biden voluntarily steps aside, the Democratic Party could enjoy an old-fashioned brokered convention. I am confident that by reopening the nominating process, a younger, more promising candidate will emerge.
If the Democratic Party is
Colliding causes can defeat each
activism.
When does political protest seem to become an end in itself?
Climate firebrand Greta Thunberg, 21, seems to raise that question when looking at photos of her arrest last month outside the Eurovision Song Contest in Malmo, Sweden.
Wearing a black-andwhite kef fiyeh scarf and shouting, “Shame on you,” in a show of solidarity with the pro-Palestinian cause, the famous climate warrior was protesting the participation of Israeli singer Eden Golan. I was not familiar with Ms. Golan or her actual position on the war that has ravaged Gaza, but I immediately felt sympathy for her, which was hardly what the protesters seemed to have in mind.
What does Thunberg have to do with the war in Gaza? She certainly has the right to object to any cause she chooses. But, after decades of witnessing similar displays of organized outrage around causes of the moment, I felt drawn to conclude that what mattered most to these protesters was the protest itself.
“Welcome to the Omnicause,” wrote Andy Kessler, a Wall Street Journal opinion columnist, borrowing a term that has gone viral on X, formerly Twitter. “If you protest one thing, you protest everything— intersectional inanity.”
Omnicause? Welcome to the ever-changing vocabulary of today’s social and political
Coined by Alysia Ames, an Iowa accountant who writes for Ordinary Times, Omnicause is an alternative label for intersectionality. That’s the social theory credited to Kimberle Crenshaw, a leading legal scholar of critical race theory, which in today’s
political arenas has become a widely known term to many more people than those who actually understand it. Put simply, Crenshaw points out that one identity is not enough for many people when one examines systems of oppression. For example, a woman of color may face obstacles that a white woman or man of color might not.
But the risks inherent in a theory like that include whether and how one is supposed to measure and compare levels of oppression felt by various sorts of victims.
Protest signs such as “Queers for Palestine” and “Palestine is a climate justice issue” illustrate the tangle of competing interests or victim groups that various causes can raise. The hazard of fighting for too many worthy causes at once is a confusing and often counterproductive victimization competition. The result can be a competition for sympathy and prioritization.
That’s why, as a strong and longtime believer in equal opportunity, I am troubled by the more arguable quest for “equity,” which employs a variety of controversial yardsticks for measuring who deserves
other
compensation or reparation for historical abuses.
Advocates argue that, if you try to tackle only one part of the pattern of abuses, you often reinforce existing inequalities. Yet efforts to repair only one part of the abuses can create animosity between different races, genders or other marginalized identity groups.
By then, one can find the world of theory collides with a reality that means you lose more supporters than you gain for your efforts, especially when one group feels their problems are being overlooked or minimized in favor of others. Such theories also provide fodder to opponents who point to such conflicts and contradictions in order to deride progressives as practitioners of “reverse racism” or “reverse sexism” and other allegations to which overzealous activists are vulnerable.
That’s not to say, of course, that such excesses don’t arise just as ferociously on the political and social right, as we have seen in disputes among conservatives over how far bans against abortion or in-vitro fertilization should go before they kick up a backlash.
In other words, politics and social policy are complicated.
Instead of fighting for the Omnicause, activists are better advised to think small. By taking the time and effort to understand the views and experiences of the marginalized communities they are trying to reach, they can make progress on real problems and sidestep the fatbergs.
The writer is a columnist for the Chicago Tribune.
wise enough and nimble enough, a vetted politician with the right credentials could capture the imagination of the country in a short span of time and lead Democrats up and down the ticket to victory in November. The new standard bearer could then serve as a granite wall against the pernicious designs of the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025, an insidious plot to turn the federal bureaucracy into a vehicle for autocratic (fascist) rule, something that would, no doubt, cause the Founding Fathers to turn over in their graves.
President Biden, lead us to victory by empowering the next generation to step up and save our constitutional democracy. A grateful nation will honor your self-sacrifice as a true servant leader. The writer is president-emeritus of the National Bankers Association and a former assistant professor of political science at Morgan State University.
Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press
Clarence Page
Letters to the Editor/Photo feature
Mayoral
candidates
should consider reducing government size
The Richmond mayoral race debate was centered, according to reporter George Copeland Jr., on education, housing and the economy. Will any candidate discuss the need for limiting and making government smaller to benefit the taxpayers? After all, all the bragging accomplishments by the former or future mayor is because finances were transferred from personal pockets to public pockets. Is it not time for those in public office or those campaigning to be public officials to thank those who are paying the bills?
Let’s now reduce government and approve more privatization of city services, which will definitely help the people who carry the burden of taxation, which rarely is the case.
JOEL MARkS Henrico County
Honoring civil rights legacy means embracing new leaders
It has been 60 years since the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. I remember being in college, joining with students from Virginia Union University and elsewhere, advocating for the legislation and registering voters in Richmond. I met and became friends with Free Press co-founder Ray Boone during this period, when he was the new editor of the Richmond Afro-American and a bold voice for progress. His idealism speaks to us today.
Though we’ve always had adversaries and setbacks, the United States has made tremendous progress tearing down the most
obvious, the most bald-faced examples of racial bigotry and discrimination. More opportunity and more diversity have meant a better America. I believe that any future forward movement for human rights in our country now depends on those of us at the grassroots. We must press our leaders everywhere, but particularly those in politics, to honestly assess this upcoming federal election. Be kind, appreciate the past service of party leaders, but objectively choose a winning Democratic nominee against Donald Trump. The larger electorate we are part of is looking for fresh, energetic leadership — not unlike the situation in 1960, when the country chose John F. k ennedy. It could be Vice President k amala Harris, it could be Govs. Gretchen Whitmer or Josh Shapiro, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg or one of several members of the United States Congress. But progressives can and must win in November. We can find a way to do it.
Richmond schools deserve better leadership
As the Richmond Free Press states, there are nine seats up for grabs on the Richmond School Board. It seems to me that we need better guidance and direction on how to steer our youth into the future.
Having schools with mold, no matter how small, is not acceptable to me. Having buildings for our youth that are not conducive for learning does not provide for a great outcome. If training requirements are set up for the board to accomplish, why do we not meet these objectives instead of bucking it? Our schools can only be as good as our leaders, and we need to provide visionary support for our youth as well as teachers.
I worked with youth for over 30 years in the city, so I feel that I have some knowledge on this subject. What I have seen from many, but not all, of the School Board members has a lot to be desired. I am very disappointed at the lack of leadership and progress the board has made during their tenure in office. It is definitely time for a change in how we do things on the School Board and start thinking outside the box.
ERnEST PARkER JR
Former interim superintendent at the Richmond Juvenile Detention Center Richmond
Sometimes having fresh opinions is a good thing when overseeing this type of entity. Reading the Free Press, it seems as if we have some capable new faces that are entering the race who are capable of taking the bull by the horns and running with it if given an opportunity. Time will only tell how well they will do if given a chance. Many can speak a good game, but not deliver when given an opportunity, which is called disappointment. Voters, let’s be prudent and make every vote count on who we feel will best serve our interest when dealing with our school-age kids.
CJ Nickolas overcame many obstacles to reach the Olympics.
By Samuel Petrequin The Associated Press
A malformed vertebra couldn’t stop him. Neither could heart surgery, or a change of weight category that everyone thought was a big mistake.
Breaking his arm in the buildup to the Paris Games was just a minor distraction, too.
It seems there’s almost nothing that could derail CJ Nickolas’ quest for an Olympic medal.
At 22, Nickolas is the highest-ranked U.S. athlete in taekwondo, No. 2 in the world in the men’s 80-kilogram (176-pound) class. A silver medalist at last year’s world championships, he will be leading the four-member U.S. taekwondo team in Paris.
His silver at the worlds was the first for the U.S. men’s team since 2009, and the Californian now hopes he’ll become the first American man in the sport to stand on the Olympic podium in 12 years.
“Going in there and just forcing it and forcing and forcing, imposing yourself on the other person for the entire day,” Nickolas told The Associated Press of his competitive approach. “If I can do that, I
Flying Squirrels honor local history with upcoming games
Free Press staff report
The Richmond Flying Squirrels have unveiled an array of promotions for their ongoing homestand against the Harrisburg Senators, running through Sunday, July 14, at The Diamond.
Thursday’s game features Women & Girls in Sports Night, concluding with a postgame fireworks display. The weekend brings a special two-day event, as Friday and Saturday are dedicated to the Richmond 34 Legacy Weekend. This promotion honors local civil rights activists, with the team wearing special jerseys that will be auctioned for charity.
Both nights will feature ceremonial first pitches recognizing community members who continue the Richmond 34’s legacy. Richmond Free Press Managing Editor Craig Belcher is scheduled to throw the first pitch for the Friday game, making his first return to organized baseball since a stint in the Highland Springs Little League. Saturday’s game will also include postgame fireworks.
The homestand concludes on Sunday with Fairytale Funnville. The first 1,000 fans 14 and under will receive a youth royal cape, and photo opportunities with costumed princesses will be available. Sunday’s family-friendly activities also include pregame catch on the field and postgame base running for kids.
“We’re offering a mix of fun and meaningful promotions this week,” said a Flying Squirrels representative. “Our goal is to provide entertainment while also recognizing important community figures and causes.”
Tickets for all games are available online, by phone at 804-359-3866, or at the Flying Squirrels ticket office. Fans can find more details on the team’s website, milb. com/richmond.
don’t think that there’s anyone that can beat me.”
Nickolas’ Olympic journey started when he was just 3. His mother, Denise — a nurse whom he cites as his main inspiration alongside his adoptive father — took him to a taekwondo club.
Driven
“She didn’t like combat sports and she just wanted to make sure that what I was doing was making me a better person — and not just teaching me how to fight,” Nickolas said. Denise fell in love with Edward Givans, who was the owner of the taekwondo school. They didn’t stay married for long, but Givans carried on coaching Nickolas, who still calls him his dad. They both instilled in him a taste for hard work and dedication.
“Everybody around me has taught me how to work hard every which way I turn,” Nickolas said. “It’s just a bunch of hard workers and people who embrace the struggle rather than shy away from it or fall into it. And it’s a lot of success that we see come from it.”
Denise said her son is “one of the most, if not the most, driven people I know.”
anything but getting better as an athlete and fighting,’” Nickolas recalled. “It was super freeing, and I found my love for the sport again. It absolutely was the best decision that I probably made in my adult life.”
Then there were other problems to solve.
Health issues
A bone defect in his neck is a condition that, from a doctor’s perspective, should prevent Nickolas from being a professional fighter.
“But there’s muscle in that place now. So it’s strong,” Nickolas said. “It’s not like it’s an Achilles’ heel, or something like that. If I was to take a really bad hit in that area then it, it wouldn’t be pretty at all. But any hit in this back area is not great.”
There was also the complication of a heart condition, discovered in 2020.
worked out for me very, very well.”
The list of setbacks didn’t end there, though. In May, as he prepared for the Olympics at the Pan American championships in Brazil, Nickolas fractured his left forearm during the final. With adrenaline masking the pain, he kept on fighting. And won.
A couple of days later, he was back on the mat at a tournament he needed to attend to ensure a good ranking at the Olympics. The pain was worse, and his arm was sore and throbbing.
“I just supported his dream and let him lead the way,” she told the AP.
Nickolas’ career really took off after he decided four years ago to move up in weight categories. Nickolas stands 6-feet-2 (1.88 meters) but many thought he was too small for the move.
A career-changing move
Continuing at the 68-kilogram (150-pound) category would’ve been the more conventional route to an Olympic medal.
“Everyone was like, ‘What are you doing?’ You’re too small. You were fine in 68 kilos, just buckle down and make the
weight,’” he said. “I didn’t really care about what everybody was saying because the place that I was in, with the sport, I had fallen out of love.”
Nickolas had plateaued and had lost the joy of competing, mainly because of what he had to go through mentally and physically to cut weight.
Supported by his coach, Nickolas made the careerchanging decision to move up to the heavier division.
“I was a little bit nervous but at that point, it was like, ‘I don’t have to focus on making weight. I don’t have to focus on
Alvin Parker named
Free Press staff report
Alvin Parker, head football coach at Virginia Union University, has been named the Black College Football Hall of Fame National Coach of the Year.
The announcement came last month in a ceremony held in Atlanta. Parker recently completed his sixth year leading his alma mater, guiding the Panthers to a 10-2 record, a Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association title and an NCAA Division II playoff appearance.
“That was a big year,” he said. “I moved up weight divisions, got heart surgery.”
Nickolas had terrible migraines and struggled to breathe before medical tests revealed a hole in his heart, a condition dating from his birth that had aggravated. It wasn’t life-threatening, but certainly required quick action.
Rather than hinder his athletic development, it has helped.
“I don’t really wheeze anymore ... and I can last longer in the ring. I don’t get migraines like that anymore,” he said. “It
“I couldn’t make a fist so we had to tape my hand closed so that I could hold a fist and tighten my arm — I had to do that for four fights,” he said. “And I got the job done. A little checkpoint going into the Games.” Now comes the final hurdle, in the person of Simone Alessio, the reigning world champion who beat him in the final at the worlds. Alessio is Nickolas’ nemesis, an Italian athlete standing at 6-feet-6 (1.98-meters).
situation,” he said. But, “the last time I fought him, it was tight. So it was essentially down to some technical stuff that he beat me, that’s how close we are at this point.”
A former running back for Virginia Union, Parker began his coaching career there in 1999 as an offensive assistant. He served as running backs coach for two years before becoming offensive coordinator in 2003.
Local First Tee participants to attend Game Changers Academy in Minneapolis
Free Press staff report
Two teenagers from First Tee — Greater Richmond were recently selected to attend a national leadership academy focused on social justice and community building.
Rita Eovino and Justin Hartsfield are participating in the First Tee Game Changers Academy Honoring Joe Louis Barrow Jr. in Minneapolis. The academy began on July 9 and ends on July 13. They are among 72 teens chosen from the First Tee network nationwide.
The five-day academy aims to empower participants to become change agents in their communities through workshops on self-awareness, inclusivity and community engagement.
Eovino, a rising junior at Monacan High School, has been with First Tee for 10 years. She serves as secretary of the organization’s Junior Advisory Board and as a junior coach.
Hartsfield, entering his sophomore year at L.C. Bird
High School, is a four-year First Tee participant. He also coaches and holds the treasurer position on the advisory board.
“We are elated to have both Rita and Justin represent First Tee — Greater Richmond at the First Tee Game Changers Academy,” said Kelly Brown, First Tee — Greater Richmond’s vice president for impact. “It has been wonderful to watch their growth both on and off the course over the last several years, and both have made a huge impact on our organization as participants and Junior Advisory Board members.”
The academy, evolving from a long-standing First Tee event, honors former CEO Joe Louis Barrow Jr., who led the organization from 2000 to 2017.
First Tee partners with RISE, a national leader in social justice within sports, to facilitate workshops during the academy.
The Associated Press
The NFL has suspended Pittsburgh Steelers safety Cam Sutton for the first eight games of the 2024 season for violating the league’s personal conduct policy.
The league announced the decision Monday, stipulating Sutton — who will not be paid during the suspension — would be eligible to apply for reinstatement on Oct. 29.
The discipline stems from Sutton’s involvement in an alleged domestic violence dispute in Florida in March. Sutton eventually surrendered to authorities and entered a pretrial diversion program in April after the charges were reduced from a felony to misdemeanor battery. His agreement with prosecutors required Sutton to take a mental health evaluation.
“Thank you to the Black College Football Hall of Fame for this extremely prestigious award,” said Parker. “It is all made possible by having the best administration, the best staff and of course the best student-athletes. To be mentioned with some of the greats who have won this award is truly a blessing.”
Virginia Union will open its 2024 season at Kentucky State University on Aug. 31 at 3 p.m.
In January 2024, Parker was appointed to the Board of Trustees of the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA). He also served as co-head coach for the 2024 Allstate HBCU Legacy Bowl.
Free Press staff report
Head Coach Lonnie Blow, Jr. and his Virginia State University Men’s Basketball squad face a hard-hitting 25game slate for the 2024-2025 campaign.
The Trojans are set to battle through a schedule packed with thrilling matchups, kicking off with the much-anticipated Trojan Tip-Off Classic.
The hardwood action ignites on Nov. 8-9 with VSU squaring off against Gannon and Shepherd universities in back-to-back nights. Fans won’t have to wait long for more home-court heroics, as the Trojans host their season opener against Chowan on Nov. 13, with tipoff set for 8 p.m.
Blow’s boys then hit the road, venturing into Tar Heel territory for clashes with UNC Pembroke (Nov. 16) and Barton College (Nov. 20). The squad returns to its fortress for a three-game homestand,
The NFL did its own investigation into the incident, leading to the suspension.
The Detroit Lions cut Sutton immediately after an arrest warrant was issued. He found a lifeline in Pittsburgh, where he played for the first six seasons in the league from 2017-22.
welcoming Lander (Nov. 23), Fayetteville State (Nov. 30) and Shaw (Dec. 3).
Conference play heats up in midDecember, with the Trojans embarking on a challenging three-game road trip. They’ll lock horns with Saint Augustine’s (Dec. 17), Fayetteville State (Dec. 19) and Claflin (Dec. 21) before the holiday break.
The new year brings a four-game home stretch, highlighted by a highly anticipated showdown with Virginia Union on Jan. 18. As the season progresses, VSU will navigate a mix of home and away contests, facing off against familiar foes and new challengers alike.
The Trojans will close out their regularseason campaign with a flourish, hosting four straight games at The Land of Troy before wrapping up with two road battles. The finale promises fireworks, as VSU travels to face arch-rival Virginia Union University on Feb. 22.
The Steelers signed Sutton to a one-year deal in June. Sutton participated in organized team activities and minicamp but declined to get into specifics about what led to his arrest or any potential punishment that the NFL could levy if it finds he violated the league’s personal conduct policy.
“Adversity strikes everyone in life,” Sutton said the day he signed with the Steelers. “So it’s all about how you handle it, how you necessarily go through those phases and just knowing who you are individually, not letting someone else dim your light.”
Chris Waugaman
Chesapeake native and Trojans guard Kendall Bynum returns to the team this year.
Greater Richmond/Logan Whitton/Pixel Factory
Hartsfield participated in last year’s Redmond Cup.
Women in technology and the executive ranks are not uncommon today, but that wasn’t the case in the early 1980s when Cynthia ‘Cindy’ Buckler began her finance career. That didn’t stop her from rising from branch manager to executive vice president and chief information officer for the Wealth Management Division at Wells Fargo Bank.
Buckler entered a bank management training program in 1979 and climbed the ranks to the executive suite, surviving the mergers and acquisitions in the banking industry. Responsible for managing thousands of employees across the U.S. and in India, she never backed down from a challenge during her 24 years at Wells Fargo.
She took on new roles even if she wasn’t sure she could do it. She volunteered for responsibilities outside her job description, such as the diversity council.
Buckler’s grandmother, who lived to be 111 years old, may have influenced that tenacity and spunk. Buckler recalls that she wasn’t afraid of anything, cared about people and accepted everyone.
Even in retirement, Buckler is taking on new challenges and opportunities, using her talents to preserve and care for a space, The Richmond Triangle Players, that she feels is much needed.
“I don’t know anything about putting on a theatrical production,” she explains. “But what I do know is how to set the organization up for success. I have smart people around me. That helps.”
Both in their early stages of retirement, Buckler and her
Personality: Cynthia J. Buckler
Spotlight on Board President of Richmond Triangle Players
husband enjoy Richmond’s art and food scenes. After downsizing and selling their home, they moved closer to the city to enjoy all it has to offer.
“We love the theater and the arts,” says Buckler. We’re numbers, analytical, and techie types, so we enjoy doing things that are so different from our work.”
Meet a former bank executive and Board President of the Richmond Triangle Players, who is committed to creating a space for and giving voice to LGBTQ+ experiences, and this week’s Personality;
Occupation: Currently serving on the Board of the United Way of Greater Richmond & Petersburg and as Board President of the Richmond Triangle Partners.
Date and place of birth: May 11 in Abington, Pa. Where I live now: Monument Square.
Education: Bachelor’s degree in economics and management
Family: Husband Ward; sons Tim and Kevin.
What is Richmond Triangle Players (RTP): We are a nonprofit professional theater. We are nationally known for our artistic excellence and financial stability.
Mission: Richmond Triangle Players offers entertaining, thought-provoking and inspiring theater that explores identity, culture and family across sexual orientation and gender spectrums, celebrating and giving voice to the variety and complexity of LGBTQ+ experiences. We hope to uplift
hearts, open minds and advance our community’s conversation about diversity, equity and inclusion by telling stories with emotion, humor and authenticity.
When and why founded: A nonprofit, professional theater company organized in 1993, RTP delivers adventurous and entertaining theater as the leading voice in the community’s explorations of equality, identity, affection and family across sexual orientation and gender spectrums.
Founders: Michael Gooding, Steve J. Earle, Marcus Miller, Jacqui Singleton and John Knapp.
Location: RTP is the cultural anchor of the Scott’s Addition neighborhood, located at 1300 Altamont Ave.
Meaning of the name: mond Triangle Players refer
ences the pink triangle, a widely recognized symbol for the LGBTQ+ community. The history of the triangle is rooted in the World War II era. The pink triangle marked homosexuals imprisoned in Nazi concentration camps. Today, the pink triangle is a symbol of pride and solidarity. It represents a promise never to allow the persecution of LGBTQ+ individuals again.
How I initially got involved with Richmond Triangle Players: Many years ago, we won season tickets for RTP. We started attending the performances and have been going ever since. I knew several folks on the board, and they asked me to join.
When elected board president: 2021.
Why Richmond Triangle Players is meaningful to me: I have a strong desire to give back to my community. I have been incredibly fortunate in life, and I always knew that I wanted to do non-profit work in my retirement.
Number one goal and strategy as board president: I want to continue focusing on solid financials and determining what the future looks like for RTP as we continue to understand what place live theater has in a post-COVID world.
Biggest challenge: We continue learning what our audiences want to see in live theater ver
nessed through working with Richmond Triangle Players: I have seen our audiences cry at performances, burst out laughing, gasping and unable to speak because they were personally impacted.
Ways to get involved with Richmond Triangle Players: RTP utilizes many volunteers, especially its dedicated corps of volunteer ushers. For more information, contact volunteers@ rtriangle.org.
Upcoming events and details:
Our new revue, “The Best of Times: A Celebration of Richmond Triangle Players,” runs through July 13. RTP will participate in Black Pride weekend on July 19 and will welcome radio show host Seth Rudetsky in “Seth’s Big Broadway Show” on Aug. 15 and 16. (Tickets at rtriangle.org)
How I start the day: My day always starts with the New York Times crossword puzzle and Wordle.
The three words that best describe me: Caring, open and sassy.
Best late-night snack: I’m not much of a late-night snacker,
just an all-day snacker.
Top three on my playlist: Anything by Adele, Queen, or Aretha Franklin.
A quote that inspires me: “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel,” Maya Angelou.
The best thing my parent(s) or guardian(s) ever taught me: Be kind.
The person who influenced me the most: My grandmother who died at the age of 111.She taught me I could do anything.
Book that influenced me the most and how: “Atomic Habits,” by James Clear.
Play that influenced me the most and how: “The Laramie Project.” The show is a stage production about how the community responded to the 1998 murder of Matthew Shepard, a young gay man in Laramie, Wyo.
Next goal: My personal goal is to live each day to the fullest— to spend time with my family, travel and continue to focus on giving back to others.
Free Press staff report
“Hippocrite the Musical,” a gospel comedy that sold out its one-night performance last year at the Dominion Energy Center, returns for three shows on July 20 and 21 at The Perkinson Center for the Arts and Education.
Written and directed by Richmond native Glennis Singleton Crosby, the play explores a failing church that has lost sight of its mission to save souls and minister to parishioners. The story follows congregation members as they confront their stereotypes and biases, with an unlikely hero emerging. Tyler Allen, a contestant from Season 20 of “American Idol,” makes his theater debut in a leading role in the production. Allen gained national recognition for his rendition of Whitney Houston’s “I Believe in You and Me,” which earned him a spot in the show’s Hollywood round.
The cast also includes local and national actors Imani Blair, Jamaal L. Williams, Boogie Bynum, Brent Deekens and Braxton Offor. Richmond native Jake Holmes serves as musical director.
Tickets are available at hypocritethemusical.com and through The Perkinson Center box office at perkinsoncenter.org.
Free Press staff report
A Richmond-based food company has been named a semifinalist in the Black Ambition Prize, an entrepreneurial competition founded by Virginia native and music icon Pharrell Williams.
The company, Joyebells, will compete for prizes ranging from $20,000 to $1 million in the fourth annual contest aimed at supporting Black and Hispanic entrepreneurs.
“I am so thankful and excited for this great opportunity to learn and scale in this business,” said Joye B. Moore, CEO and founder of Joyebells.
Semifinalists will participate in a threemonth mentorship program. The compe-
Free Press staff report
The seventh annual Black Pride RVA, a four-day celebration of Richmond’s LGBTQIA+ community of color, is set for July 18-21.
Organized by Us Giving Richmond Connections (UGRC), the event themed “Feel Our Pride” kicks off July 18 with a party at Godfreys on East Grace Street from 9 p.m. to 2 a.m.
The Community Root Awards ceremony takes place July 19 at Diversity Richmond on Sherwood Avenue, starting at 7 p.m. with an after-party at 10 p.m.
On July 20, the Greater Richmond Convention Center hosts the free “Day
tition includes categories such as technology, health care, consumer products and services, media and entertainment, and artificial intelligence.
Since its inception, Black Ambition has awarded nearly $10 million to over 100 Black and Hispanic founders and provided mentorship to an additional 750 entrepreneurs.
Joyebells, which specializes in Southern-style desserts, launched in October 2019. The company has since received several accolades, including “Best Pie
of Purpose Festival” from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Virginia Honors Ball follows at Diversity Richmond, at 5 p.m., featuring Jack Mizrahi and Boom Balenciaga.
The celebration concludes July 21 with a free block party at Richmond Triangle Players from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Black Pride RVA, which began in 2018 as Virginia’s first Black LGBTQIA+ pride festival, aims to improve health and wellness for Black LGBTQ+ individuals through education and community building.
UGRC formed the event after discussions in 2016 about celebrating LGBTQIA+ experiences of people of color in greater Richmond. More information is available at blackpriderva.com
in the Nation” from the American Pie Council in 2023.
Moore, who overcame homelessness in her youth, founded Joyebells after a career shift. She balances growing her business with caregiving responsibilities for her son. The company’s advancement in the competition highlights both Richmond’s entrepreneurial landscape and the Black Ambition Prize’s goal of fostering change in underrepresented communities.
Free Press staff report
The Library of Virginia will award its honorary Patron of Letters degree to poet, lawyer and Freedom Reads founder Reginald Dwayne Betts, the library announced Tuesday.
The Patron of Letters degree, granted by the Library Board, is the institution’s highest honor. It recognizes significant contributions to history, library science or archival science.
“Dwayne Betts is a powerful example of how literature and access to libraries can transform lives,” said C. Paul Brockwell Jr., chair of the Library Board.
“We are honored to celebrate his work to increase access to literature and the many individuals who will be inspired
Virginia Museum of History & Culture launches statewide education program
statewide civics education program for middle-grade students as part of its 250th Initiative. The program, titled Civics Connects, is designed to provide a comprehensive, classroom-ready resource for Virginia students. Civics Connects is the result of years of related work by the VMHC and its John Marshall Center for Constitutional History & Civics (JMC). The program offers a variety of educational tools, including lesson plans, interactive slides, classroom activities and access to on-site educators and subject matter experts. Additionally, the program will feature a series of video shorts in which Virginia middle schoolers act as civics investigators, visiting significant sites such as the Virginia State Capitol, VMHC, the National Archives and the White House.
The initiative comes at a critical time. Even before the pandemic-induced learning loss, civics education in the United States was in decline, as evidenced by low standardized test scores and widespread
apathy toward democratic principles among young Americans. According to the Institute for Citizens & Scholars, only about one in three Americans can pass the U.S. Citizenship Test, and fewer than half can name all three branches of government, based on research from the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg Public Policy Center. Furthermore, a survey by The Economist/YouGov found that about half of young Americans do not believe democracy is preferable to other forms of government.
Amid this backdrop, Civics Connects aims to provide Virginia students with a robust toolkit for exploring and understanding civics. The program covers all Virginia Standards of learning for civics and economics in the middle grades and aligns with national standards.
“We are excited to offer a revolutionary new program that will equip Virginia students with a deeper understanding of civics, democracy, and the responsibility of citizenship,” said Jamie Bosket, VMHC President & CEO. “The launch of this program is a momentous occasion for Virginia, as it puts the Commonwealth at the forefront of a national movement to prioritize civics education and
invest in the future of American democracy.”
Civics Connects will be supported by a Civics Ambassador Corps, consisting of educators from all eight Virginia Superintendent Regions. These educators will pilot and promote the program beginning with the 2024-25 academic year. This period will see Virginia schools transitioning from the 2015 standards of learning to those approved in 2023, including a shift in civics education from eighth to seventh grade.
Civics Connects is designed to ensure that all Virginia middle school students receive a full year of civics education before high school.
The program will introduce units throughout the year, starting with America’s Founding Documents in July.
Civics Connects is a key component of the VMHC’s 250th Initiative, a three-year project supporting the commemoration of the 250th anniversary of American independence. In addition to Civics Connects, the VMHC will host two major exhibitions in 2025 and 2026, along with traveling versions across the state. For more information, visit virginiahistory.org/learn/ civics-connects.
by libraries he’s established.”
Betts, who served nine years in Virginia prisons after being sentenced as an adult at 16, founded Freedom Reads to empower incarcerated individuals through literature. The nonprofit has opened more than 300 Freedom Libraries in prisons nationwide, including 56 in Virginia. Chad Dotson, Virginia Department of Corrections director, said, “The Virginia Department of Corrections greatly appreciates the Freedom Libraries donated
unlock newfound passions, provide endless amounts of knowledge, and inspire our inmate population.”
A Yale Law School graduate and 2021 MacArthur Fellow, Betts has authored several works exploring incarceration’s effects on American society. His latest book, “Redaction,” is a collaboration with Titus Kaphar.
The Library will present Betts with the degree during the 27th Annual Virginia Literary Awards Celebration on Sept. 21.
The Virginia Literary Awards, presented by Dominion Energy, honor Virginia writers’ contributions to the Commonwealth and country’s literary landscape. Awards are given in poetry, fiction, nonfiction and children’s litera
Dwayne Betts
Tyler Allen
Joye B. Moore
Regina H. Boone/Richmond Free Press
Singer Teraj performed at 2021’s Black Pride RVA event at Trinity Life Center.
Happenings
Docuseries spotlights ‘grande dame’ who redefined Southern cooking
By Arrman Kyaw
The legacy of Edna Lewis, the renowned African American chef celebrated as the “grande dame of Southern cooking,” will be explored in a new docuseries produced by VPM and Field Studio. “Finding Edna Lewis,” set to premiere on July 19, will delve into Lewis’ profound impact on American culinary history through eight monthly episodes hosted by Style Weekly food editor Deb Freeman.
The docuseries will consist of seven-minute episodes released on VPM’s YouTube channel, wherein Freeman, who also hosts the acclaimed African American cuisine podcast “Setting the Table,” speaks to various guests and cooks Lewis’ recipes alongside them.
Prior to Lewis, there had been a narrower definition of Southern food, consisting of the likes of fried chicken, macaroni and cheese, and barbeque, Freeman explained. But everyday Southern food actually depended more on ingredients growing at certain times of the year.
“Her cookbooks really changed that perception,” Freeman said. “Particularly, ‘In Pursuit of Flavor,’ in my opinion, really talked about seasonality of cooking and why certain things were made at certain times of the year.”
The first episode will see Freeman talk to Leah Branch, executive chef of The Roosevelt, a popular Richmond restaurant in Church Hill.
Born in 1916 in Freetown, a small Virginia community that her grandparents helped build after emancipation, Lewis learned creativity and resourcefulness that would influence her later ventures, including being the head chef of French-inspired restaurant Café Nicholson in New York City’s Manhattan borough in 1949, according to the National Women’s History Museum.
Chef Joseph Randall, founder of the African American Chefs Hall of Fame and a friend of Lewis, explained that Lewis was passionate about recognizing African American culinary contributions. He noted that since the era of slavery, there had been a pattern of white people
appropriating recipes from African Americans without proper attribution in cookbooks.
Lewis released several cookbooks of her own over the years, including “The Edna Lewis Cookbook” (1972), “The Taste of Country Cooking” (1976), “In Pursuit of Flavor” (1988) and “The Gift of Southern Cooking” (2003). In them, she would unapologetically talk about her life and background in Freetown, Freeman said. For “The Taste of Country Cooking,” Lewis
worked with renowned editor Judith Jones, who had also worked with Julia Child, said Paige Newman, curator at the Virginia Museum of History & Culture.
“They seemed to have such a good relationship,” Newman said. “Jones made space for Edna to really tell her story and have that focus be from a Black female perspective.” The episodes will be compiled into a one-hour special for television broadcast next year.
Richmond Community Hospital fair celebrates building’s legacy
By George Copeland Jr.
The 90-year-old former Richmond Community Hospital building was the center of a celebration Sunday as community members gathered to honor its past and advocate for its future.
More than 30 people attended the Community History Fair, marking the anniversary of the hospital’s 1934 move to Richmond’s North Side. The institution, established in 1907,
building’s front lawn and some of its windows, showcasing photos, news clippings and information about the hospital and its staff. A vintage Model A Ford from the late 1920s, provided by the Old Dominion Model A Ford Club, added to the atmosphere. Viola Baskerville, former state delegate and co-founder of the Save Community Hospital group, helped organize the fair.
“What we wanted to do is to
where he was born in 1964.
The Henrico County resident, who grew up in the Overbrook neighborhood, was heading out for a meal when the activity caught his eye.
Intrigued, Stith spontaneously joined the event. By the time he left, he had gained a deeper understanding of the building’s history and felt compelled to support its preservation.
“This area’s changed, but this building’s stood the test of time,” Stith said.
played a crucial role in serving African Americans during the era of medical segregation.
The building, unused for decades, still shows signs of neglect with boarded-up windows, broken stonework and overgrown vegetation. Lively conversation, however, alongside recorded big band music from the 1930s helped create a friendly, laid-back mood. For the occasion, a pop-up museum exhibit dotted the
continue to draw attention to the significance of the visionaries of the hospital,” Baskerville said.
“This will be our last outdoor event for some time, and we wanted to be able to have some visual event that will continue to remind Virginia Union and the community about the significance of this hospital.”
David Sith’s Sunday afternoon drive took an unexpected turn when he stumbled upon the gathering at the old building,
The fair was the culmination of months of activism to raise awareness about the building’s potential demolition as part of Virginia Union University’s housing plans. In May, the building was added to Preservation Virginia’s 2024 List of Virginia’s Most Endangered Sites. Alongside taking in the sights and sounds of the fair, attendees suggested future uses for the building, including public housing, a training center for health professionals and an incubator for Black businesses.
Loretta Tillman, a retired Chester resident with experience as a historian who is working to replace the gravestone of one of the hospital’s founders, Sarah Garland Boyd Jones, expressed relief at the scale and
Hanover Tomato Festival returns for 46th year
Free Press staff report
The Hanover Tomato Festival returns to Pole Green Park on July 12 and 13, marking its 46th year as a community celebration. The event, which began as a fundraiser for the Black Creek Volunteer Fire Department, now spans two days and features over 100 vendors offering handcrafted items, agricultural products and food.
Friday’s festivities run from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m., with Saturday’s hours from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. The Deloreans, an ’80s tribute band, will perform Friday evening. Beer and wine sales will benefit the Hanover CREW Foundation, which provides aid for emergency responders and their families in times of need (CREW stands for Crisis Relief for Emergency Workers).
Saturday’s schedule includes
tomato-eating contests and a performance by Ron Moody and the Centaurs. Visitors can sample various tomato-themed dishes and browse locally made crafts. Family-friendly activities in-
clude games, a rock-climbing wall and inflatables. The free, pet-friendly festival will provide cooling stations and shaded areas. For more information, visit hanovertomatofestival.com.
diversity of the turnout.
“I’m glad to see this done,” Tillman said. “I’m glad to see anybody out here because without them, this probably wouldn’t still be here.”
VUU officials say collegehosted community events are planned for the coming weeks. The advocates, however, remain committed to their cause.
“We’re going to keep up the pressure,” Baskerville said. “You can never give up hope, you just keep going on, and I think that’s what we need to do.”
Photo courtesy Field Studio
The Roosevelt’s executive chef Leah Branch and host/executive producer Deb Freeman in an episode of the docuseries on chef and author Edna Lewis.
Julianne Tripp Hillian
On Sunday, July 7, a Community History Fair took place on the site of the Former Richmond Community Hospital to commemorate its 90th anniversary.
Bills to enhance religion in schools spur fights between faiths
seek to dominate the state,”
By Jack Jenkins Religious News Service
When Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry was asked to defend his support for a new state law requiring public schools to display a version of the Ten Commandments in public classrooms, he made sure to touch on the bill’s obvious religious connections.
“This country was founded on Judeo-Christian principles, and every time we steer away from that, we have problems in our nation,” Landry, a Catholic, said during an interview with Fox News.
But just a few days later, it was Christian clergy — along with an array of religious leaders and parents of various faiths — who filed a lawsuit against the new statute, backed by the Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, the Freedom From Religion Foundation and offices of the ACLU.
“As a minister, this law is a gross intrusion of civil authority into matters of faith,” the Rev. Jeff Sims, a Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) minister and plaintiff in the case, said in a press conference about the lawsuit.
The back-and-forth is part of a broader fight raging across the country, with conservative state lawmakers — often backed by conservative Christians — pushing faith-focused laws and running into opposition from other religious people and their secular allies.
Religious leaders in the state were quick to push back against the directive, however, with one pastor from the more socially liberal United Church of Christ denomination posting, “Public schools are not Sunday schools,” according to KFOR. Rachel Laser, head of Americans United, told KFOR her group is mulling a legal challenge like the one they helped file in Louisiana, while Jewish leaders, Muslim leaders and a local Methodist bishop spoke out.
“United Methodists believe that the state should not attempt to control the church, nor should the church
Over the past two years, at least 19 states have considered faith-forward legislation, including bills promoting the display or discussion of the Ten Commandments in schools and those allowing for school chaplains. Three states — Louisiana, Utah and Arizona — have already passed Ten Commandments legislation, although Arizona’s governor vetoed the bill, and Utah’s legislature walked back their initial proposal, with lawmakers ultimately only adding the decalogue to a list of historic documents that can be discussed in class. In addition, Louisiana recently joined two other states — Texas and Florida — that have passed laws allowing for chaplains in public schools. At least one state has achieved similar aims by circumventing the legislative process altogether. Last month, Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Education Ryan Walters issued a directive requiring schools to “incorporate the Bible, which includes the Ten Commandments, as an instructional support,” and has said teachers who fail to teach students about the Scripture could risk losing their license.
UMC Bishop James Nunn told KOCO in a statement.
While there are some differences, many of the bills share common traits or even language. Most of the bills advocating for displaying the Ten Commandments use a translation of the decalogue derived from the King James Version of the Bible, a translation that is not embraced by all Christians, much less Jewish Americans or those of other faiths. In fact, the text is slightly different from the KJV and has a particular history: It is the version compiled by the Fraternal Order of Eagles used to help promote the 1956 movie “The Ten Commandments.”
Bills pushing school chaplains also share common traits, likely a byproduct of the religious groups behind them. According to the New York Times, the National Association of Christian Lawmakers — a new group formed in 2020 — worked with lawmakers in Florida, Louisiana and Texas to pass chaplains bills. The Texas bill was also spurred by a group of activists affiliated with the National School Chaplain Association, a group run by former drug smuggling pirate Rocky Malloy.
As debate over the Texas chaplains bill heated up last year, one Democratic lawmaker in particular — Rep. James Talarico, a Presbyterian seminarian — emerged as someone who opposed the bill on both legal and religious grounds. During debate on the House floor, he expressed concerns that NSCA’s parent organization, Mission Generation, appeared to have advocated for proselytizing to children in schools.
“I see this as part of a
troubling trend across the country of Christian nationalists attempting to take over our democracy and attempting to take over my religion — both of which I find deeply offensive,” Talarico told Religion News Service in an interview last year, referring to the chaplains bill and efforts to pass a Ten Commandments bill in Texas.
Republican lawmakers did not amend the chaplains bill to bar proselytizing or impose credentialing requirements for chaplains, leaving it up to individual school districts to outline parameters themselves.
The National School Chaplain Association is referenced by name in the text of Pennsylvania’s school chaplains bill, which was introduced in April. It defines a “certified school chaplain” as “an individual certified by the National School Chaplain Association or other similar organization.” The NSCA was also mentioned in committee discussions in Nebraska.
And where the chaplains bills have become law, criticism has been a constant — especially from religious
groups. In March, a coalition of religious organizations signed a letter condemning efforts to install public school chaplains as “greatly flawed” and as threatening “the well-being, education, and religious freedom of our students.” Signers of the letter included entire Christian denominations, such as the Alliance of Baptists, Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, United Church of Christ as well as other religious groups such as the Union for Reform Judaism and the Unitarian Universalist Association. Religious advocacy groups, such as the Muslim Public Affairs Council, Hindus for Human Rights, The Sikh Coalition and Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, also signed the letter.
And while some of the education bills have died in committee, such as in Nebraska, others have helped spur related legislation. Lawmakers in Indiana, for instance,
dropped the chaplains bill as part of a compromise legislation that allows students to leave school for religious instruction if they request it.
But religious opponents to such laws say they are prepared to combat them. In the press conference with those suing Louisiana over its Ten Commandments law, Joshua Herlands, a Jewish parent and one of the plaintiffs in the case, laid plain what he feels the debate is ultimately about.
“The displays distort the Jewish significance of the Ten Commandments in several places and send the troubling message to students — including my kids — that they may be lesser in the eyes of the government because they do not necessarily follow this particular version, or any version, for that matter, of the religious text,” Herlands said. “The state is dividing children along religious lines.”
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Gilbert Charles Wysong passed away on June 23, 2024 at 5:04 p.m., surrounded by his three favorite ladies; his wife of 73 years, Eleanora
VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR THE COUNTY OF HANOVER Balducci Developers, LLC, 10173 Chamberlayne Road Mechanicsville, VA 23116
Plaintiff, v. Any and all persons known or unknown claiming an interest in certain property situated in Hanover County, Virginia, designated by GPIN Number 8737-254710 and identified as 10288 Gould Hill Road Defendant. Case No. CL24001838-00 ORDER OF PUBLICATION
An object of this suit is to partition the property briefly described as 10288 Gould Hill Road Hanover VA 23069, Tax Map Number 8737-254710 As it is apparent that the defendants in this lawsuit have potential interest in the subject property; and As “Any and All Other Interested Parties”, as defendants, cannot be located; and As the parties have not been served with process, then IT IS ORDERED that ANY AND ALL PERSONS CLAIMING AN INTEREST IN THE PROPERTY situated in Hanover County, Virginia, designated by GPIN Number 8737-25-4710 and identified as 10288 Gould Hill Road, come forward to appear in the Circuit Court for the County of Hanover, Virginia on or before July 30, 2024 at 9:00 a.m. and do what is necessary to protect their interest in the property briefly described as GPIN Number 8737-25-4710 and identified as 10288 Gould Hill Road in this matter The Court in its discretion hereby dispenses with the requirements of Rule 1:13 of the Virginia Supreme Court. A Copy Teste Frank D. Hargrove, Jr, Clerk I ASK FOR THIS: Benjamin M. Andrews, Esquire (VSB No. 77824) Andrews Law PLC 5711 Greendale Road, Suite 2 Henrico, Virginia 23228 804-918-2091 benjamin@andrewslawva.com
VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE COUNTY OF HENRICO IN RE: AGNES GACULA CARABAT DETERMINATION OF DEATH OF GRACIANO BARAMEDA CARABAT Case No.: CL24003701-00 NOTICE Please take notice that on June 11, 2024, Agnes Gacula Carabat, by Counsel, pursuant to Section 64.22304(et. seq.) of the Code of Virginia, 1950, as amended, filed a Petition with the Henrico County Circuit Court seeking a Determination of Death for her husband, Graciano Barrameda Carabat. A Hearing will be held on this matter on September 20, 2024 @ 9:30 am in the Henrico County Circuit Court. Agnes Gracula Carabat By: Jason L. Shaber, Esq. Of Counsel Jason L. Shaber, Esquire VSB #96186 Dankos, Gordon & Tucker, P.C. 1360 E. Parham Road,
Suite 200 Richmond, Virginia 23228
Telephone: (804) 377-7427
Facsimile: (804) 262-8088 Counsel for Petitioner
VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE COUNTY OF HENRICO CLAY STREET INVESTORS, LLC
Plaintiff, v. JEAN MENDE, if living, and if deceased, Heirs at law ofJean Mende and JUNE MENDE CHARKLEY, if living, and if deceased, heirs at law of June Mende Charkley and Defendants. Plaintiff. The unknown heirs, descendants, devisees, assigns, and/or successors in title to JEAN MENDE, JUNE MENDE CHARKLEY and CLYDE G. LEARN, JR., any there be, the consorts of any of the said unknown heirs who are married, the lien creditors of the said unknown heirs, if any, and other persons who may have an interest in the subject matter of this suit, whose names are unknown and are included in general description of “UNKNOWN HEIRS” and “PARTIES UNKNOWN” Defendants. CASE NO. CL24-3886 ORDER OF PUBLICATION
The object of this suit is to sell a certain parcel of real property situated in Henrico County, Virginia, being owned by Clay Street Investors, LLC, June Mende, if living, and if deceased, her heirs at law, June Mende Charkley, if living, and if deceased, her heirs at law, and the unknown heirs, descendants, devisees, assigns, or successors in title to Clyde G. Learn, Jr., any there may be, more particularly described as follows: ALL that certain lot, piece, or parcel of land lying and being in the Brookland District of Henrico County, Virginia, and being more fully described as follows, to wit, Condominium Unit No. 15, Building 4, Section lV, of the Hamlet Condominium, Henrico County, Virginia, as shown on a plat entitled “Hamlet Condominium, Brookland District, Henrico County, Virginia,” as made by Chas H. Fleet & Associates, Engineers, & Surveyors, dated April 1, 1974, last reviewed on March 29, 1977 and recorded in the Clerk’s Office, Circuit Court, Henrico County, Virginia in Plat Book 66, Page 44, as may be amended from time to time, together with the undivided interest of .500 percent in the common elements described in the Declaration of Condominium to be appurtenant to such unit. Further identified as Tax Map ID No. 774 744 3490.069, and commonly known as 15 Horseshoe Curve, Henrico County, Virginia 23228. June Mende, if living, and if deceased, her heirs at law, June Mende Charkley, if living, and if deceased, her heirs at law, and the unknown heirs, descendants, devisees, assigns, or successors in title to Clyde O. Learn, Jr., may have an interest in the property by deed, by inheritance, or by duly recorded liens. Affidavit having been made and filed that due diligence has been used without effect to ascertain the identities and/or locations of certain parties to be served, and that there are or may be persons whose names are unknown, interested in the subject matter of this suit; It is ORDERED that June Mende, if living, and if deceased, her heris at law, June Mende Charkley, if living, and if deceased, her heirs at law, and the unknown heirs, descendants, devisees, assigns, or successors in title to Clyde G. Learn, Jr., if then living or if dead, their heirs, devisees, assigns, or successors in title, and any heirs or other unknown heirs or
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