Richmond Free Press August 22-24, 2024 edition

Obamas make case for Harris Richmond Free Press

By Jacob Fischler

As he did in his first speech

to a Democratic National Convention 20 years ago, former President Obama emphasized the connections binding Americans together and called for a more positive national atmosphere on the second night of this year’s convention Tuesday, while rallying Democrats to campaign for Vice President Kamala Harris.

At the United Center, in a convention hosted by their hometown, Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama, who spoke immediately before the former president, scattered references to the 2008 and 2012 White House races he won as they made the case for Harris.

“America, hope is making a comeback,” Michelle Obama said, referring to the theme of her husband’s 2008 campaign and tying it to Harris.

The energy among the Democrats since Harris became a presidential candidate a month ago could be described as “the contagious power of hope,” she said.

The couple also trained criticism on Republican nomi-

nee

“Donald Trump wants us

to

“Between the real Americans, who of course support him, and the outsiders who don’t.”

He called for Americans to turn aside that point of view. Republicans in their response also sought to tie Harris to Obama.

“Democrats want to evoke

Fannie Lou Hamer rattled Democratic Convention with speech 60 years ago

By Emily Wagster Pettus The Associated Press

Vice President Kamala Harris is accepting the Democrats’ presidential nomination Thursday, exactly 60 years after another Black woman mesmerized the

nation with a televised speech that challenged the seating of Mississippi’s all-white delegation to the 1964 Democratic National Convention. The testimony of Fannie Lou Hamer to the creden-

Please turn to A4

memories of 2008,” Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley said in a written statement. “But this isn’t Barack Obama’s Democrat Party — Kamala Harris is even more dangerously liberal.” Michelle Obama’s tone change In a marked shift from her convention speeches eight and four years ago, when she encouraged Democrats to take the moral high road in response to Trump’s attacks, Michelle Obama took a much more confrontational tone Tuesday night toward the Republican nominee.

“Who’s gonna tell him the job he is currently seeking might just be one of those Black jobs?” she said, in reference to a comment Trump had made about immigrants taking “Black jobs.” Harris would be the second Black president, after Obama.

Earlier, with veiled shots at Trump, the former first lady contrasted him with Harris. Harris “understands that most of us will never be afforded the grace of failing forward,” she said. “Who will never benefit from the affirmative action of generational wealth. If we bankrupt a business or choke in a crisis, we don’t get a second, third or fourth chance.”

Some Republicans have called Harris, a Black and South

RPS students see improvement in SOL assessments

By Paula Phounsavath

Richmond Public Schools announced Wednesday that students’ SOL test scores showed improvements from the 2023-2024 school year.

Overall, SOL reading test scores for RPS showed students were 50% proficient in reading, 47% proficient in math, 43% proficient in social studies, 45% proficient in science and 45% proficient in writing. These statistics have increased by three points in reading and math, four points in history/social studies, and 10 points in science and writing SOL assessments.

RPS elementary schools specifically, increased their SOL proficiency in comparison to the 2022-2023 school year. Bellevue Elementary increased their science proficiency by 17 points to 48%, Overby-Sheppard Elementary increased their science proficiency by 43 points to 71% and G.H. Reid Elementary improved in every SOL subject.

In a press conference Wednesday morning at Thomas Jefferson High School, Superintendent Jason Kamras said that RPS had implemented

Family and church strive to continue mission of pastor

By George Copeland Jr.

The work of the Rev. Wilson E. B. Shannon will live on thanks to his family and congregation, after the pastor of Fifth Baptist Church Centralia died at the age of 68, leaving a legacy of service.

Shannon was taken from his church office to the hospital before he died on Sunday, Aug. 11, 2024, according to Thomas J. Branch Jr., chairperson of the church Deacon Ministry. The loss is strongly felt for those who knew and worked with him.

“We are leaning on one another, sharing stories that celebrate the remarkable life of our loved one, affectionately also known as ‘Duck’,” said Charles Shannon, his elder

strategies such as strong school leadership, evidence-based instructional materials and invested in tutors from Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s “All In” COVID learning loss program.

“Kids have a lot of pride in their schools,” said the superintendent on the students’ wellbeing after accreditation. “To be able to have the accreditation banner … hanging over the school helps everybody stand a little taller and shows the public what we already know, that there’s incredible learning happening here.”

In addition to the increased SOL scores, five more RPS schools received full accreditation.

Those schools include Bellevue Elementary, Overby-Sheppard Elementary, G.H. Reid Elementary, Dogwood Middle School, and Thomas

Jefferson High School — the second comprehensive high school to receive accreditation — after John Marshall High School.

Thomas Jefferson High School Principal Crystal Potee shared at the press conference about the story of how Kramas notified her during this past summer school graduation of the school’s accreditation status.

“It just became very emotional. I burst into tears and I couldn’t stop crying,” Potee said. “I just couldn’t stop being so overwhelmed and in the moment, but it just felt so good.”

On the state level, Gov. Youngkin announced the recently released Virginia public schools’

Mike Sager/Reuters

Former President Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama admire each other on stage Aug. 20 at the second day of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

Regina H. Boone/Richmond Free Press

Up top in the morning

Delegate Michael J. Jones welcomes G.H. Reid Elementary School students with a highfive Monday as they arrive for their first day of school. Please see story, A2.

AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris walks on stage Monday during the Democratic National Convention Chicago.

Dr. Wilson E. B. Shannon

AP Photo, File

Community meeting on Shockoe Hill African Burying Ground

Free Press staff report

The Shockoe Project invites the Richmond community to participate in a engagement session focused on gathering public input for the memorialization of the historic Shockoe Hill African Burying Ground.

The session will be held Sunday, Aug. 25, from 2 to 3:30 p.m. at the Black History Museum Museum at 122 W. Leigh St. Free parking is available at the Richmond Alternative School and light refreshments will be provided.

This site, currently obscured by an old gas station and billboard and visible from I-95, has sat neglected for years. The community engagement session aims to gather input to design a fitting memorial for the historically significant property.

“This meeting is a chance for community members to bring their ideas, learn about ongoing efforts, and contribute to shaping the future of this historic site,” said Burt Pinnock, project architect at Baskervill, which provided mural design for the site. “The public’s involvement can ensure that the stories of those buried at Shockoe Hill are not forgotten.”

The Shockoe Project is a collective effort by the city of Richmond to recognize the city’s pivotal role in the story of slavery. For more information, visit theshockoeproject.com. To RSVP, email shockoeinfo@theshockoeproject.com.

Walmart introduces testing and treatment services at Richmond pharmacies

Free Press staff report

Walmart has launched a new testing and treatment service at all of its pharmacy locations in the Richmond area, allowing customers to be tested and treated for flu, strep, and COVID-19 in a single visit. The program, now available statewide across Virginia, is part of Walmart’s broader initiative to expand convenient access to health care.

The service includes a consultation with a pharmacist, followed by a nasal or throat swab to test for flu, strep or COVID-19. Results are processed on site within 30 minutes, and if positive, the pharmacist can prescribe medication immediately.

“We are excited to offer this new service to the communities we serve in Virginia,” said Kevin Host, senior vice president of pharmacy at Walmart. “Our pharmacists are operating at the top of their licenses to continue to help fill gaps in care and improve health outcomes for all.”

This expansion in Virginia is part of Walmart’s broader rollout of the testing and treatment program, which is now available in 21 states and over 1,540 locations nationwide. In Virginia, the service is currently cash only, though plans are underway to begin billing third-party insurance. Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) are accepted.

Walmart’s new service is available seven days a week at all Richmond area locations, with both walk-in and scheduled appointments accepted. To learn more about pricing and locations, visit Walmart.com.

Free community testing for COVID-19 continues

For the week ending on Saturday, Aug. 17, confirmed hospital admissions for COVID-19 in Virginia rose by 12.1% from the previous week, though new admissions remain low. No deaths associated with COVID-19 were reported statewide during that timeframe. Updated data on COVID-19 wastewater levels in the Greater Richmond area showed plateaus starting the week of Sunday, Aug. 11. The Richmond and Henrico County health districts are offering testing at the following location:

• Tuesday, Aug. 27, 4 to 6 p.m. - Neighborhood Resource Center, 1519 Williamsburg Road.

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 804230-2077.

• Whitcomb Court at 2106 Deforrest St., call 804-786-0555. For more information on testing sites, visit vax.rchd.com. The Virginia Department of Health testing locations are listed 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 pharmacies and clinics that offer the COVID-19 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 currently recommends that children between the ages of 6 months to 4 years old may need multiple doses of the updated vaccines, depending on their COVID-19 vaccine status and whether they had previously received Pfizer and Moderna.

Waiting periods for additional vaccines range from three to eight weeks or four to eight weeks, depending on the vaccine dose previously received.

Children between the ages of 5 and 11 years old who are unvaccinated or received a vaccine before Sept. 12, 2023, should get one updated Pfizer or Moderna vaccine.

Those age 12 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 immunocompromised may get additional doses of updated COVID-19 vaccine and are encouraged to talk with their health care providers.

Information compiled by George Copeland Jr.

Cityscape

Slices of life and scenes in Richmond

High-fives and hope: An energetic return to classes

By Paula Phounsavath

G.H. Reid Elementary School hosted a welcome back cheer-on for students arriving for the first day of school on Monday morning.

Around nine buses carrying students from nearby neighborhoods arrived in the bus loop and were met with enthusiastic school faculty, administrators and public officials. Once each group of students hopped off the bus, they walked on the pathway to the entrance stepping on the pavement with colorful chalk writing that read, “We Love You Here!,” “Reid Ravens” and “You Got This.”

Students walked to their classes, some tired due to the early hour, while others showed excitement. They were greeted by Principal Chantrese RaineyClayton and other school staff with hugs, high-five, and fist bumps. The majority of students carried clear backpacks — some nearly as large as the students themselves — filled with notebooks and pencil cases. The school division implemented a new backpack policy on July 1 to enhance safety measures. This decision followed incidents last year when two students, one from Maymont Preschool and another from Oak Grove-Bellemeade Elementary, brought loaded guns to school.

“We’ve missed our kiddos,” said Rainey-Clayton. “The

summer was short, but fast. I’m super excited to welcome them back in and give them the education they deserve.”

Approximately 20,000 Richmond Public Schools students headed into the academic year at five preschools, 21 elementary schools, seven middle schools and eight high schools. Four elementary schools started the school year on July 22 as part of RPS’ 200-day program.

The first day of school also gave G.H. Reid Elementary and RPS a chance to address classroom overcrowding.

“That is not unusual here on the South Side,” Richmond Public Schools Superintendent Jason Kramas said in a press conference. “One of the things that we’ll be highlighting is to increase capacity here where

we are growing by leaps and bounds.”

The elementary school has over 650 students enrolled, with 38 full-time teachers and one full-time school counselor. Rainey-Clayton said she has not seen any adverse effects of the overcrowdedness on students’ learning and behaviors.

“We’re just making sure that teachers are supported because they do have larger class sizes,” she explained. “We did receive a modular, which has eight additional classrooms, so we’re just waiting for that to be officially put together so we can transition some of our classes out there.”

According to the U.S. News and World Report, G.H. Reid Elementary has a Latino student population of 58.2% Rainey-

Clayton explained the challenges of teaching non-English speakers.

“We sometimes have a lot of students that don’t speak any English,” she said. “But, to overcome that, we make sure we … modify the lessons in a way that allows every student to access a curriculum.”

This year’s school theme for G.H. Reid Elementary is, “Raising the Bar.” Rainey-Clayton explained in a press conference the school is raising expectations for student achievement, as they saw a 10% increase in literacy rates and a decrease in absenteeism last school year.

“We have really great kids here,” she said. “I think students appreciate coming to school, like they view it as an opportunity.”

School Board struggles to decide on new name for alternative school

By Paula Phounsavath

After a heated exchange at a Richmond School Board meeting Tuesday evening, the renaming of Richmond Alternative School remains undecided.

Superintendent Jason Kamras presented the Richmond Public Schools administration’s recommendations to the board in renaming the alternative school to Richmond Success Academy, or R.S.A., names that reflect the administration’s desire to boost student achievement.

“[R.S.A.] really is what the academy is all about,” the superintendent said. “Helping young people who perhaps made choices that weren’t the best or gotten a little off track, but we’re going to help them get on track and be successful in school and in life.”

However, Mariah White, 2nd District, which includes Richmond Alternative School, – did not agree with the proposal of the new name after attending two public meetings.

“This was not one of the names that we filtered down to five names,” White said.

“I think we’ve wasted a lot of people’s time. You’ve wasted my time. This is the

school I represent.” The process of renaming the school began in April when the Richmond Public Schools School Board officially declared its intent to rename the school.

The RPS administration then launched an online submission forum, receiving 92 suggestions from students, families, staff and community members. A selection committee and school renaming committee, composed of students, teachers, administrators and community partners, reviewed the public feedback and identified five finalist names. They then recommended the top three choices: Richmond Academy of Excellence, Richmond Prep Academy and Richmond Success Academy. The administration ultimately decided on the final recommendations for the School Board’s consideration.

“This is the school of my heart,” White said. “Here we got success. It’s great I’m looking for success, but I want

[students] to make sure that they feel that their potential is excellent and we bring it out of them.” Kamras responded by stating the School Renaming Committee came forth with the name, not the RPS administration.

“The administration had no part in it,” he said. “We will move forward with whatever the board selects.”

Ultimately, the board failed to agree on the RPS administration’s suggestion to rename the school Richmond Success Academy. However, board member Elizabeth Doerr of the 1st District said that while the selection process had already been approved, asking students to help rename the school would be more appropriate.

“I think engaging the students in the process to rename the school is the appropriate next step,” Doerr said.

Superintendent Kamras stated the administration will survey the students at Richmond Alternative School on the three finalist name options — Richmond Academy of Excellence, Richmond Prep Academy and Richmond Success Academy — and present the findings at the next School Board meeting on Sept. 9.

Regina H. Boone/Richmond Free Press

Richard Waller Jr., 86, the third-generation jeweler of the 124-year-old Waller & Co. Jewel-

ers, stood in front of a mural depicting his family’s legacy outside the business at 19 E. Broad

St. on Aug. 14. The mural, painted by local artist Ed Trask in 2011, will soon be covered by new construction, marking the end of an era for the storied jewelry store. Waller posed for solo portraits, photos with family and friends, and with longtime loyal customers, memorializing the artwork before it disappears.

Regina H. Boone/Richmond Free Press

G.H. Reid Elementary School students proceed to the front door of the school building on the first day of school Monday, Aug. 19.

Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press

A mural covers an abandoned gas station that sits on top of graves in the Shockoe Hill African Burying Ground at 1305 N. 5th St.

Jason Kamras

Obamas make case for Harris

Continued from A1 Asian woman, a “DEI hire,” an implication that her race and gender were more important than her career and character qualifications. Trump gained an inheritance from his father, who was also a real estate developer.

Trump oversaw bankrupt businesses before he entered politics. And Democrats have said he bungled the response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Barack Obama also leveled attacks on Trump, calling him “a 78-year-old billionaire who has not stopped whining about his problems since he came down off his golden escalator” when he announced his 2016 presidential bid.

Trump alternative

Both Obamas said Harris provided a strong alternative to Trump.

Not born into privilege like Trump, she has the empathy he lacks, Barack Obama said.

“In other words, Kamala Harris won’t be focused on her problems,” he said. “She’ll be focused on yours.”

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Harris’ running mate, also provided a counterbalance to Trump,

Obama said, adding that he loved Walz’s authentic Midwestern persona.

Both Obamas called on Democrats to work hard for Harris’ cause over the 11 weeks until Election Day.

Michelle Obama made “do something” a refrain of her speech.

“You know what we need to do,” the former first lady said. “Michelle Obama is asking you — no I’m telling y’all — to do something. This election is going to be close. In some states, just a handful of votes in every precinct could decide the winner.”

Biden tribute

Barack Obama dedicated the first portion of his roughly half-hour speech to honoring his vice president, President Biden.

Biden guided the country out of the COVID-19 pandemic and led a strong economic recovery while lowering health care costs, Obama said.

And Biden deserved credit for sacrificing his political ambition by bowing out of his reelection race, he said.

“At a time when the other party had turned into a cult of personality, we needed a leader who was steady, and brought people together

and was selfless enough to do the rarest thing there is in politics: putting his own ambition aside for the sake of the country,” Obama said. “History will remember Joe Biden as a president who defended democracy at a time of great danger.”

He nodded along as the crowd chanted “Thank you, Joe.”

Appealing to unity

Both Obamas repeated slogans from campaigns that had his name on the ballot and his presidency, seeking to tie his historic election victory to Harris’ campaign.

“On health care, we should all be proud of the progress we made through the Affordable Care Act,” Barack Obama said, referring to the major health care law he championed in his first term. “I noticed, by the way, that since it became popular they don’t call it Obamacare no more.”

Harris “knows we can’t stop there,” he continued, and would work to lower drug costs.

He also called for Americans to focus on common bonds.

“The ties that bind us together are still there,” he said. “We still coach Little League and look

out for our elderly neighbors. We still feed the hungry in churches and mosques and synagogues and temples.”

In his keynote address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention, Obama also invoked Little League to stress national unity.

“The vast majority of us do not want to live in a country this bitter and divided,” he said Tuesday. “We want something better. We want to be better.”

The excitement for the Harris campaign showed that was a popular idea, he added. To close his speech, he invoked the first president nominated at a Chicago convention, elected in the most bitterly divided period of American history — Abraham Lincoln.

“As much as any policy or program, I believe that’s what we yearn for: A return to an America where we work together and look out for each other, a restoration of what Lincoln called, on the eve of civil war, ‘our bonds of affection,’ when America taps what he called ‘the better angels of our nature,’” he said. “That’s what this election is all about.”

This story originally appeared at Virginiamercury.com

Fannie Lou Hamer rattled Democratic convention with speech 60 years ago

Continued from A1

tials committee in Atlantic City, N.J., was vivid and blunt.

She described how she was fired from her plantation job in retaliation for trying to register to vote and brutalized in jail for encouraging other Black people to assert their rights.

She told of arbitrary tests that white authorities imposed to prevent Black people from voting and other unconstitutional methods that kept white elites in power across the segregated South.

“All of this is on account of we want to register, to become first-class citizens,” Hamer told the committee.

Whether every eligible citizen can vote and have their vote be counted is still an open question in this election, said U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson, who spoke Wednesday at the

Democratic National Convention in Chicago, about how his late father never got to vote because of Jim Crow restrictions. Thompson got his first practical experience in democracy at Hamer’s urging in 1966 when he was a college student in Mississippi and she recruited him to register other Black voters.

Hamer has been the subject of appreciation this week during the convention.

“Our challenge as Americans is to make sure that this experiment called democracy is not just for the the landed gentry or the wealthy, but it is for everybody,” said Thompson, who led the House committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

‘Is this America?’

Hamer was raised in cotton fields of the Mississippi Delta

Family and church strive to continue mission of pastor

Continued from A1 brother in a statement.

The younger Shannon earned the nickname from older neighborhood kids for his flat feet, which he used to his advantage during their games of sandlot football. He embraced the name throughout his life, from his time as a high school football player and beyond, and it’s something Charles remembers fondly as an example of his brother’s skill and humility.

“Each memory, whether it’s a cherished moment from childhood or a heartfelt sermon that touched countless lives, serves as a reminder of the impact he had on everyone around him.”

Born on Dec. 18, 1955, in Richmond, Shannon was raised alongside his two sisters and brothers by his grandparents Wilson Edward Brown and Florence V. Brown. A graduate of Armstrong High School in 1974, Shannon transitioned to military service in the U.S. Army at Fort Carson in Colorado. During his service, Shannon was ordained in 1976 at Beacon Light Baptist Church in Colorado Springs. Faith was the primary focus of his higher education, graduating from Virginia Union University with a bachelor’s in 1983 and a master’s of divinity in 1986. He later received a doctor of ministry from Howard University in 1990.

Shannon spent decades as a pastor at multiple churches, including 12 years with Shalom Baptist Fellowship Church and 33 years with First Baptist Church Centralia. He also used his platform for outreach locally and internationally, from community projects to donating books to Africa.

He is survived by his wife Cynthia Smith Shannon, his son, Xavier, daughter Tawanda, mother Doris Brown Shannon, brothers Charles and Michael, sisters JoAnn and Naomi, and many grandchildren, great-grandchildren, cousins, nieces and nephews.

The breadth of Shannon’s legacy was on full display during the funeral held for him last Saturday afternoon, as the First Baptist Centralia congregation celebrated his life. They were joined by officials from VUU and Howard University, other churches and religious organizations and high-profile figures such as Mayor Levar M. Stoney, Chesterfield Board of Supervisors Chair Jim Holland and MSNBC President Rashida Jones.

Letters of condolences also were shared from U.S. Representative Jennifer McClellan, Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner and many others.

Amid the grief that still surrounds Shannon’s passing, First Baptist Centralia returned to the church the following Sunday for worship, with the congregation and leadership intent on continuing the church and Shannon’s work. A search for a new pastor is in progress, according to Branch, with a pastoral selection committee set to be formed in 30 days.

“While the journey of healing is ongoing, our family remains encouraged,” Charles Shannon said. “With each passing day, we’re learning to carry his memory forward, embracing the joy he brought our lives and the lives of so many others.”

and became a sharecropper. She joined the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and helped organize Freedom Summer, a campaign to educate and register Black voters. With Mississippi conducting whites-only primaries, activists formed the racially integrated Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party to confront leading Democrats on a national stage.

“If the Freedom Democratic Party is not seated now, I question America,” Hamer told the credentials committee. “Is this America, the land of the free and the home of the brave, where we have to asleep with our telephones off of the hooks because our lives be threatened daily, because we want to live as decent human beings, in America?”

President Lyndon B. Johnson hastily called a news conference during Hamer’s testimony to try to divert attention from divisions that could alienate white voters in the South. TV cameras cut away, but networks showed her speech later.

Top Democrats said Hamer’s group could seat two delegates, but that was too little for the Freedom Democrats. And it was too much for the regular Mississippi delegation, which fled the convention without declaring loyalty to LBJ, and eventually left for good as conservative Democrats across the South, including segregationists, switched to the Republican Party.

Leslie-Burl McLemore was one of the Freedom delegates and recalls how determined they were.

“I knew in my mind, because I’m 23 years old and I’m vice chair of the Freedom Democratic Party, I’m not going to accept that damn compromise,” the retired political science professor at Jackson

State University said recently at the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum in Jackson.

“We had four white folk in our delegation and the white folks didn’t have no Black folk in their delegation,” McLemore said. “So, hey, we had God on our side.”

Risking beatings and death

Other organizers included Ella Baker, Bob Moses, and David J. Dennis Sr. Only days before the 1964 convention, Dennis gave an impassioned eulogy at the funeral of James Chaney, the Freedom Summer volunteer who was killed along with Michael Schwerner and Andrew Goodman by Ku Klux Klansmen in Philadelphia, Miss.

That violence was fresh when Hamer testified about being evicted after trying to register to vote in 1962. She said the plantation owner told her, “‘We’re not ready for that in Miss.’”

Hamer also recounted being jailed and beaten in 1963 in Winona, Miss., at the command of white law enforcement officers, after she and several other Black people returned from a voter education workshop. The beating permanently damaged her eyes, legs and kidneys.

On Tuesday, the first Mississippi Freedom Trail marker outside the state was unveiled in Atlantic City to commemorate the Freedom Democrats. Another marker, dedicated in June in Winona, recognizes the jail beatings. Euvester Simpson was 17 in 1963, and shared a cell with Hamer. She said she heard Hamer being whipped in another room.

“Mrs. Hamer told me she was in a lot of pain,” Simpson said, recalling how she soothed Hamer with damp rags and the gospel song, “Walk With Me.”

“Her back was hurting. Her hands were bleeding. She was

swollen, because she had used her hands to kind of guard her back,” Simpson said.

“State-sanctioned violence” is among the many issues from Hamer’s 1964 testimony that still resonate, said Keisha N. Blain, a Brown University historian. She cited the July 6 shooting death of Sonya Massey, a Black woman, by a deputy who responded to her 911 call.

“This theme is still lingering, even if the specific circumstances are different,” Blain said.

Advocating for bodily autonomy

While Hamer didn’t make it part of her testimony at the convention, she also was an advocate for bodily autonomy. A white doctor had performed a hysterectomy without her consent when she had a uterine tumor removed in 1961. Such treatment of Black women was so common in the South that Hamer called it a “Mississippi appendectomy.”

Blain noted in her 2021 book, “Until I Am Free: Fannie Lou Hamer’s Enduring Message to America,” that Hamer feared both abortion and birth control were “white supremacist tools to regulate the lives of impoverished Black people and even prevent the growth of the Black population.”

Hamer kept speaking after the convention, famously saying she was “sick and tired of being sick and tired” over how long America was taking to ensure fair treatment. Another year went by before Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and then nearly another year before the Supreme Court upheld the law.

A 2013 Supreme Court ruling dismantled a significant part of the Voting Rights Act — the requirement for states with a history of racial discrimination in voting, mainly in the South,

to get federal approval before changing the way they hold elections. “Many communities across the nation are grappling with attempts at voter suppression,” Blain said. Hamer also advocated for fair treatment of Black farmers. The Biden administration in late July announced more than $2 billion in direct payments to Black and minority farmers who faced discrimination from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

GOP vice presidential nominee JD Vance called this “disgraceful,” suggesting it is racist against white people. But Thompson said Black landowners had been refused credit and denied support from the USDA for many years. “The people who ran the federal agencies were part and parcel to the system of disenfranchisement,” Thompson said.

Still an inspiration Wil Colom, a Mississippi lawyer who now serves on the Democratic National Committee and is in Chicago for the convention, was a teenager when he heard Hamer speak at a church in Ripley, Miss., in October 1964. The church was burned after her appearance. Colom said the speech was “electrifying” and motivated him to challenge segregation at theaters and swimming pools. Colom said he visited Hamer at her modest home in Ruleville before she died of cancer at 59 in 1977.

“She had no perception, which surprised me, of what an important figure she had become,” Colom said. The Freedom Democrats helped lead the way to President Obama’s election in 2008 and now to Harris’ nomination, Dennis said.

“To me, it’s all connected,” Dennis said. “It’s like a relay race. One baton moving to the next.”

RPS students see improvement in SOL assessments

Continued from A1

SOL test scores from the 2023-2024 on Tuesday morning at the Patrick Henry Building.

The administration revealed statewide statistics of slight improvements from the 2022-2023 school year for grades three to eight, as well as a decrease in chronic absenteeism. The data from the 2023-2024 school year showed a slight increase of reading SOL scores by 2.6%, as well as math scores by 4.8%. Overall, 70% of school divisions representing those third- to eighth-graders have improved in reading and 75% in math.

The data show from the 2022-2023 school year that over 60% of students from grades three to eight were at risk of failing or have failed the reading SOLs. In addition, the data between the 2018-2019 and 2022-2023 school years showed that Black and Latino students in grades three to eight experienced a significant decline in passing math SOLs by 20%. According

to the Virginia Department of Education, the significant decline of proficiency on these SOLs were due to COVID learning loss, in which schools had more lenient expectations of students and extended school closures. Another factor reported by VDOE that contributed to decline was chronic absenteeism, which affected student performance statewide.

As a result of these learning losses, Gov. Youngkin’s administration launched a $418 million initiative, “All In,” last year in September. This initiative offered intensive tutoring for at-risk students or students who have failed their SOLs to accelerate their learning.

“‘All In’ is working,” Youngkin said at the press conference Tuesday. “We’re going to get a lot more out of it as we press into this next year and that is a good thing, but I am very pleased with the effort and consistent recognition that we are going to get this ship now streaming in the right direction.”

While Youngkin’s administration has

seen some progression within students’ performance and SOL scores, the governor said there are some who still remain at-risk at failing the assessment.

“That just reinforces our need to continue intervention and to continue with intensive tutoring for those students,” he said. “Some of the challenges is that some of the school divisions didn’t fully embrace all the work early enough and … we need to make sure that we get students to participate who need to participate.”

Looking forward, Kamras said his administration will continue to push the General Assembly for more funding to provide quality and accessible education for RPS.

“At the end of the day, providing a great education in a high poverty environment is expensive, period, full stop,” he said. “So, my challenge to the General Assembly and to everybody listening is keep investing in us and we’ll produce the results.”

Most Black hospitals in the South closed long ago, yet their impact endures

By Lauren Sausser KFF Health News

In the center of this historically Black city, once deemed “the jewel of the Delta” by President Theodore Roosevelt, dreams to revitalize an abandoned hospital building have all but dried up.

An art deco sign still marks the main entrance, but the front doors are locked, and the parking lot is empty. These days, a convenience store across North Edwards Avenue is far busier than the old Taborian Hospital, which first shut down more than 40 years ago.

Myrna Smith-Thompson, who serves as executive director of the civic group that owns the property, lives 100 miles away in Memphis, Tenn., and doesn’t know what’s to become of the deteriorating building.

“I am open to suggestions,” said SmithThompson, whose grandfather led a Black fraternal organization now called the Knights and Daughters of Tabor. In 1942, that group established Taborian Hospital, a place staffed by Black doctors and nurses that exclusively admitted Black patients, during a time when Jim Crow laws barred them from accessing the same health care facilities as white patients.

“This is a very painful conversation,” said Smith-Thompson, who was born at Taborian Hospital in 1949. “It’s a part of my being.”

A similar scenario has played out in hundreds of other rural communities across the United States, where hospitals have faced closure over the past 40 years. In that regard, the story of Mound Bayou’s hospital isn’t unique.

But there’s more to this hospital closure than the loss of inpatient beds, historians say. It’s also a tale of how hundreds of Black hospitals across the U.S. fell casualty to social progress.

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the enactment of Medicare and Medicaid in 1965 benefited millions of people. The federal campaign to desegregate hospitals, culminating in a 1969 court case out of Charleston, S.C., guaranteed Black patients across the South access to the same health care facilities as white patients. No longer were Black doctors and nurses prohibited from training or practicing medicine in white hospitals. But the end of legal racial segregation precipitated the demise of many Black hospitals, which were a major source of employment and a center of pride for Black Americans.

“And not just for physicians,” said Vanessa Northington Gamble, a medical doctor and historian at George Washington University. “They were social institutions, financial institutions, and also medical institutions.”

In Charleston, staff members at a historically Black hospital on Cannon Street started publishing a monthly journal in 1899 called The Hospital Herald, which focused on hospital work and public hygiene, among other topics. When Kansas City, Mo., opened a hospital for Black patients in 1918, people held a parade. Taborian Hospital in Mound Bayou included two operating rooms and state-of-the-art equipment. It’s also where famed civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer died in 1977.

“There were Swedish hospitals. There were Jewish hospitals. There were Catholic hospitals. That’s also part of the story,” said Gamble, author of “Making a Place for Ourselves: The Black Hospital Movement, 1920-1945.”

“But racism in medicine was the main reason why there was an establishment of Black hospitals,” she said.

By the early 1990s, Gamble estimated, there were only eight left.

“It has ripple effects in a way that affect the fabric of the community,” said Bizu Gelaye, an epidemiologist and program director of Harvard University’s Mississippi Delta Partnership in Public Health.

Researchers have largely concluded that hospital desegregation improved the health of Black patients over the long term.

One 2009 study focusing on motor vehicle accidents in Mississippi in the ’60s and ’70s found that Black people were less likely to die after hospital desegregation. They could access hospitals closer to the scene of a crash, reducing the distance they would have otherwise traveled by approximately 50 miles.

An analysis of infant mortality, published in 2006 by economists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, found that hospital desegregation in the South substantially helped close the mortality gap between Black and white infants. That’s partly because Black infants suffering from illnesses such as diarrhea and pneumonia got better access to hospitals, the researchers found.

A new analysis, recently accepted for publication in the Review of Economics and Statistics, suggests that racism continued to harm the health of Black patients in the years after hospital integration. White hospitals were compelled to integrate starting in the mid-1960s if they wanted to receive Medicare funding. But they didn’t necessarily provide the same quality of care to Black and white patients, said Mark Anderson, an economics professor at Montana State University and co-author of the paper. His analysis found that hospital desegregation had “little, if any, effect on Black postneonatal mortality” in the South between 1959 and 1973.

Nearly 3,000 babies were born at Taborian Hospital before it closed its doors in 1983. The building remained vacant for decades until 10 years ago, when a $3 million federal grant helped renovate the facility into a short-lived urgent care center. It closed again only one year later amid a legal battle over its ownership, SmithThompson said, and has since deteriorated.

“We would need at least millions, probably,” she said, estimating the cost of reopening the building. “Now, we’re back where we were prior to the renovation.”

In 2000, the hospital was listed as one of the most endangered historic places in Mississippi by the Mississippi Heritage Trust. That’s why some people would like to see it reopened in any capacity that ensures its survival as an important historical site.

Hermon Johnson Jr., director of the Mound Bayou Museum, who was born at Taborian Hospital in 1956, suggested the building could be used as a meeting space or museum. “It would be a huge boost to the community,” he said. Meanwhile, most of the hospital’s former patients have died or left Mound Bayou. The city’s population has dropped by roughly half since 1980, U.S. Census Bureau records show. Bolivar County ranks among the poorest in the nation and life expectancy is a decade shorter than the national average.

A community health center is still open in Mound Bayou, but the closest hospital is in Cleveland, Miss., a 15-minute drive.

Mound Bayou Mayor Leighton Aldridge, also a board member of the Knights and Daughters of Tabor, said he wants Taborian Hospital to remain a health care facility, suggesting it might be considered for a new children’s hospital or

a rehabilitation center.

“We need to get something back in there as soon as possible,” he said. Smith-Thompson agreed and feels the situation is urgent. “The health care services that are available to folks in the Mississippi Delta are deplorable,” she said. “People are really, really sick.”

Thurs., Sept. 12 | 6:00–7:30 p.m. Library of Virginia Lecture Hall | Free A book signing will follow the talk. Registration is required: lva.virginia.gov/public/weinstein ELIZABETH S. D. ENGELHARDT

Missouri Valley Special Collections, Kansas City Public Library

Nurses attend to patients in this historical photo of the children’s ward inside Wheatley-Provident Hospital, a Black hospital in Kansas City, Mo. It opened in 1918, but like most Black hospitals, it closed following the federal campaign to desegregate hospitals in the 1960s.

Regina H. Boone/Richmond Free Press

The site of the former Richmond Community Hospital, which was established to exclusively admit Black patients during

time when Jim Crow laws barred them from accessing the same health care facilities as white patients. A development plan presented by Virginia Union University officials incorporates part of the building into new construction.

Legal battle continues as men acquitted of murder seek to overturn life sentences

By George Copeland Jr.

After years of progress, setbacks and challenges, the effort to free two men acquitted of murder but given life sentences in prison has taken another step forward.

Lawyers for Terrence J. Richardson filed an argument last week in the Court of Appeals seeking to bring new evidence on the case into his innocence petition, based on the results of a two-day evidentiary hearing in Sussex Circuit Court held in late May.

“The Commonwealth should not be permitted to maintain her ill-gotten guilty plea, which not a shred of credible evidence supports,” a supplemental brief to the filing reads. “As demonstrated herein, Mr. Richardson has proven by a preponderance of the evidence that he is entitled to a writ of actual innocence.”

Decades earlier in 1999, Richardson and Ferrone Claiborne were charged with the killing of Waverly County Officer Allen W. Gibson a year earlier. On the advice of their lawyers, they pled guilty to lesser crimes and were acquitted of murder in federal court, only to be given life sentences by a district judge who used their guilty pleas as cause for conviction.

The two recently began to advocate for their freedom after learning that evidence that may have kept them out of jail

wasn’t provided during their trials. With the assistance of attorney Jarrett Adams, they have worked for years to overturn their convictions.

The judge overseeing the May Sussex hearing ruled that Richardson and his lawyers could use an eyewitness statement from Shannequia Gay that wasn’t part of the cases decades earlier.

Gay witnessed Gibson’s murder at the age of 9 and was relied on by police to help identify suspects, but wasn’t a witness or mentioned during the trials that followed. Her statement described a suspect that didn’t match Richardson’s appearance at the time, according to his attorneys.

Gay herself cast doubt on Richardson’s part in the murder when she spoke as one of several witnesses during the hearing.

“Mr. Richardson, look at me,” Gay said. “I think I would remember if I saw you or not. I haven’t seen him.”

The hearing was years in the making for Richardson, Claiborne and their attorneys, and came after multiple turns in their efforts to clear their names and gain their freedom, as the two gained allies in state politics and the Virginia NAACP.

Support from the Attorney General’s Office during Mark Herring’s tenure was reversed under Jason Miyares’ administration, which considers the case a settled matter. The arguments put

forth by lawyers for the Commonwealth of Virginia followed the same track, repeatedly challenging the approach of Richardson’s lawyers and validity of the new evidence.

“Judge, we have the right person who pled guilty in 1998, and we don’t believe these questions are appropriate,” said Brandon T. Wrobleski, senior assistant to the attorney general. Adams said arguments could be heard in court before the end of the year.

School Board candidates face off in Crusade for Voters forum

By Paula Phounsavath

One of the most important job interviews for Richmond Public Schools School Board candidates took place at Third Street Bethel Church on last Thursday. The Richmond Crusade for Voters hosted the candidates forum, which included 11 of the 16 persons running for office.

Each candidate had segments of “yes” or “no” questions, and open-ended questions timing around 30 seconds to a minute to respond on their initiatives and priorities for RPS if elected. The forum was moderated by 12 On Your Side political reporter, Henry Graff.

The candidates found common ground early on, with all of them supporting restricting cell phone use in classrooms, as the Virginia Department of Education released new guidelines on cell phone-free classrooms on the same day. However, opinions were mixed on implementing school uniforms.

The panel included several candidates: incumbent Mariah White (2nd District) and her opponent, former history educator Kathryn “Katie” Ricard; 3rd District (North Side) candidate and senior policy analyst Ali Faruk; opposing 3rd District candidates Kevin Starlings and Charlene Riley; incumbent Stephanie Rizzie (5th district, Central); 8th District (South Side) candidate and Richmond City Police Chaplain Patrick Sherman; incumbent Garrett Sawyer (4th District, South Side) and his opponent, social studies teacher Wesley Hedgepeth; and incumbent Shonda Harris-Muhammed (6th District, Gateway).

Candidates running unopposed in this year’s upcoming election include Matthew Pervical (1st District, West End), incumbent Shavonda Dixon (9th District, South Central), Sherman, and Harris-Muhammed.

The following School Board candidates were not present at the forum: Pervical, Angela Fontaine (4th district), Mamie Taylor (5th District), incum-

bent Cheryl Burke (7th District), and Dixon.

Discussions then began to form heavily around positive behavior interventions and decriminalizing students, with the majority of School Board candidates supporting in-school suspension for elementary school students.

Riley, who is a mental health advocate for students, said she is for in-school suspension, as long as the suspension comes with mental health resources.

“I would support in-school suspension for elementary schools only if the in-school suspension is going to pair with licensed clinical psychologists or therapists,” she said. “Besides holding them in the room all day, at the elementary level, you would need access to mental health services or some sort of resource besides in-school suspension.”

Sterling opposed in-school suspensions, stating mental support services should be provided.

“It’s really important that we provide [students] with wraparound services and also the support services when it comes to mental behaviors to try to

really understand the root causes of that child’s behaviors,” the 3rd District candidate said.

Candidates also were asked for recommendations on how to improve literacy rates among third through seventh graders.

Harris-Muhammad said students should be given books they should enjoy reading.

“Allow the students to choose materials that they enjoy reading. Can we start there first?” she asked.

Towards the end of the forum, Graff asked the candidates to give a grade from “A” to “F” of RPS Superintendent Jason Kamras. Most of the candidates hesitated to raise their hand. Both Ricard and Faruk gave Kamras a “B,” Hedgepeth raised his hand for a “C” and Sherman raised his hand to a “D.” None of the candidates raised their hands for grades “A” or “F.”

The next School Board candidate forum for 3rd District candidates only will be held at the gymnasium of Linwood Holton Elementary School on Sept. 17 at 6:30 p.m. This will coincide along with a forum for 3rd District City Council candidates.

Photo courtesy of Richardson family

Terrence J. Richardson and his daughter Iquisha WyattRichardson.

Regina H. Boone/Richmond Free Press

The Richmond Crusade for Voters hosts a forum featuring Richmond School Board candidates on Aug. 15 at Third Street Bethel AME Church. Eleven candidates from across the city attended the forum and 12 On Your Side Henry Graff served as moderator.

Richmond Free Press

August 22-24, 2024

This business of show

Are you not entertained?

That’s the oft-quoted line from the epic movie “Gladiator,” which won five Oscars in 2000 and I’m going to get around to watching one day. That quote came to mind as I was watching rapper Lil Jon descend the stairs of the United Center in Chicago at the Democratic National Convention on Tuesday night. He was part of a star-studded roll call that turned the convention into a concert for a few minutes, as he performed a political version of his club anthem recorded with DJ Snake, “Turn Down For What.” The energy of the song fits the turbulent political times we’re in.

“It captures a moment with people — they listen to the song, and no matter what they’re doing, it pushes them to do something. If you’re in the gym and it comes on, it’s like, why are you going to stop? Work out harder!” the rapper and Georgia native told Billboard magazine in 2014.

While the Democrats danced and shouted inside, outside the United Center protesters clashed with police and several were arrested. The pro-Palestinian group Behind Enemy Lines and Samidoun organized the protest, which marched hundreds of people through downtown Chicago. The protests are a sobering reminder that after the balloons have drifted from the ceiling at the “party for democracy” in Chicago, there is work to be done. And not just by the custodial staff of the United Center.

The Democrats’ attempt to capture the energy and excitement of a music festival may have fired up the base, which is the point of these gatherings, but does little to address the real issues facing the country. The challenges we face, from economic inequality to social unrest, require serious solutions. It’s up to us, as citizens, to demand more than just a performance.

We’re waiting

Since she became the presumptive Democratic nominee, Kamala Harris hasn’t held a press conference or given an interview. The longest audience she’s given reporters was an unscheduled Q&A session that lasted a little over a minute after a Michigan rally last week. Her artful dodging hasn’t affected her popularity or poll numbers, as the race continues to narrow in battleground states. If this were two or three election cycles ago, I doubt that a candidate could’ve gotten this far, without drawing speculation from the general public and ire from political observers and reporters. Now, the media landscape has shifted and we’re not the only game in town – and politicians know it.

Instead of sit-down interviews with seasoned journalists, Harris has used her own social media platform to communicate with voters. She did have an extended chat with one person – but that was with her running mate, with whom she addressed topics such as Bruce Springsteen, Prince and tacos. A clip from the “interview” received nearly 2 million views on X its first day.

We get it. The vice president is on a campaign sprint. She doesn’t want to stumble out of the blocks and she’s playing it safe, which appears to be working for her. But as the campaign progresses, dodging the press may not only become unsustainable — it could become a liability.

Voters need real answers, not just controlled soundbites and curated social media moments. In order to win the trust of a broader electorate, Harris will need to step out of her social media bubble and into the broader conversation.

We’re waiting.

Blooms at Great Shiplock Park

Developers abandon grain facility plans after activists expose deception

Have you seen this bench?

Last seen July of 2024, coupled with a Confederate marker in Richmond’s South Side.

If you have any information that could help locate this bench, please contact us at (804) 646-0496.

“This proposed structure will be as tall as the Statue of Liberty. It is a major threat to the slave-descendant community of Wallace. This grain elevator would take up hundreds of acres of the fields around you that once formed Whitney Plantation, potentially destroying unknown burial sites. It will contribute to the existing toxic burden with grain dust pollution, and permanently change the landscape of West St. John Parish.”—Whitney Plantation Museum

what would have been one of the country’s largest grain facilities just footsteps from the Whitney Plantation, a historic site dedicated to the memory of those who were enslaved there.

The cancellation of plans for a sprawling grain export facility in Louisiana is a victory for community activism, historic preservation and environmental equity.

Following a three-year campaign by the Descendants Project, Greenfield LLC this month announced that it was “ceasing all plans” to build

That includes my own ancestors; my great-great-grandparents, Victor Theophile Haydel and Marie Celeste Becnel, were

born on the Whitney Plantation. When the last Haydel to own the plantation died in 1860, Victor and Anna were listed as part of the estate’s inventory, valued at 800 and 100 “piastres” – the Cajun word for dollars – respectively.

I was proud to join the fight, chiding the company financing the project as insensitive to the historic, treasured and sacred site of an essential element of African American history, and outlining the adverse health and environmental impacts and the destruction of the surrounding landscape.

Egregiously, the developers altered a report on the project’s impact to erase a historian’s conclusion that the grain elevator would have “an adverse effect on historic properties” and that the entirety of proposed site should be in the National Register of Historic Places, “Thus far, no enslaved cemeteries have been found for either Whitney or Evergreen Plantations despite hundreds of enslaved people being kept there for over 155 years,” Erin Edwards and a co-author wrote in the report they submitted to her employer, Gulf South Research Corporation.

When the company submitted the report to the state three months later, “The determination of the historic district, the findings about the impact on Whitney and the community around it, and the lone sentence about unknown graves had all been removed.”

The Army Corps of Engineers ordered a new study after the deception came to light. The Corps also rejected the second report, criticizing

A timely step toward semi-retirement

As one who sympathized and empathized with President Biden, I was relieved when he decided to step aside for a younger generation of presidential contenders.

Seeing the unmitigated joy — and relief — that seemed to erupt na tionwide, sud denly I, too, decided to take a symbolic step toward semiretire ment just in time for this year’s Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

The thought became more real as the friends and wellwishers gathered at Rainbow/ PUSH this past weekend to celebrate 40 years since the organization’s founder, the Rev. Jesse Jackson, delivered the “Rainbow Coalition” speech that outlined themes that would later shape the Democratic Party platform.

I remember that speech. I was just beginning my career at the Chicago Tribune. Little did I know I would later cover the Black Panthers, Harold Washington’s election as the city’s first Black mayor and, among other adventures, the election of Barack Obama as the nation’s first Black president.

As the Grateful Dead used to sing, “What a long, strange trip it’s been.”

Now, it seems, the sun has come out and the world reminds me of the theme song from “Annie,” although I won’t try to sing it for you.

I’m far more intrigued by how much it now has become Donald Trump’s age and health

that are getting more scrutiny. Remember how the former president in mid-July mockingly offered to accompany Biden to a doctor’s office to take a “unity” cognitive test?

No such talk now. Ironically, Biden’s withdrawal instantly turned Trump’s big age advantage into a liability. As the

oldest presidential nominee in U.S. history, if Trump wins in November he will end his term just short of his 83rd birthday, making him two years older than Biden is now.

Suddenly Biden’s age problem has become Trump’s age problem. Will media and Republican leaders treat Trump’s age concerns as seriously as they did in Biden’s case?

I already have — and I’m not alone.

Trump asked for that when he made issues of age and appearance — and precious little substance — the subject of more airtime than they otherwise might have deserved.

Now that the deeply unpleasant schoolhouse bully side of Trump’s personality gets nudged into center stage, even his own advisers see the barely hidden dangers.

Since replacing Biden in late July, Harris rallies draw crowds so enormous that Trump’s campaign has accused her campaign of faking the crowds with AI, a notion knocked down by media and other witnesses.

Deposed House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, a California Republican, urged Trump to stop grumbling about the size of Harris’ crowds and focus instead

on policy. Similarly, says former primary rival-turned-supporter Nikki Haley, Trump isn’t likely to win talking about Harris’ race or whether she is “dumb,” a card that Trump has pretty much worn out through excessive use.

As Republican pollster Frank Luntz observed in a CNN interview, “If it’s about issues,” he said, “Trump is much more likely to be successful.”

Polling by The New York Times/Siena College, for example, showed Harris up 4 points in three battleground states — Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.

And this good news for Harris’ campaign comes, it’s significant to remember, after the doldrums that the Biden campaign suffered through before Biden stepped aside.

Trump has not been taking it well. He’s been calling Harris “nasty,” a word he used to reserve pretty much for the likes of Hillary Clinton, who’s expected to be celebrating with fellow Democrats at the party’s convention.

For now, I appreciate Biden’s relentless spirit, but I also need a break. I don’t have to be dragged, kicking and screaming into retirement. A nice beer and bratwurst on the beach is good enough for me.

But I’m not quitting journalism. I plan to cut my columns in half from two per week to one, and if all works out well enough, I’d like to explore some of these new media that my son has tried to explain to me.

The gadget they call YouTube sounds interesting.

As they used to say in the days of the old media, stay tuned.

The writer is a columnist for the Chicago Tribune.

the developers for “failing to meaningfully consult with people whose lives would be impacted by the dozens of looming grain silos, new rail, truck and shipping traffic and pollutants from the facility,” or “to account for the ways that the development project might harm communities of color.” Descendants Project cofounder Joy Banner was among the crowd that “burst into jubilant cheers” when the developers made the announcement at a local church. “It shows what happens when communities fight,” she said. “The erasure of the Black communities didn’t work.” The writer is the president and CEO of the National Urban League.

Clarence Page

Marc H. Morial

Persistent racial inequities plague the housing market

Supply and demand: We often hear that this is the fundamental issue when it comes to affordable housing. If only we built more homes, meeting demand, then prices would fall. But like many simple stories, it’s more fiction than truth.

Recently I was reminded of this when hearing about one of our clients at Housing Opportunities Made Equal of Virginia (HOME of VA). She was struggling to find a home she could afford. We work with first-time buyers to make homeownership possible, and this client hoped we could help unravel a problem that seemed to have no solution.

Our client had worked as a nurse for 31 years at a Richmond area hospital. Her wages made it challenging to get by while raising four children, and she never could save for a down payment. When disability suddenly forced her into retirement, her diminished income seemed to put homeownership out of reach — especially in the current market.

The high cost of housing today is news to no one. In Richmond, 52% of renters spend more

than 30% of their incomes on rent — a level economists call “cost-burdened” — making rent here more expensive relative to income than in New York or San Francisco. The average sale price of a home in Richmond is 60% higher today than it was just five years ago. And over the last generation, home prices locally have risen at nearly twice the rate of incomes

Even without these statistics at hand, we all see and feel these realities — in conversations with friends and family, in difficult decisions about how to make ends meet while ensuring access to good jobs and schools. But some of us feel the pinch more than others.

In Virginia, Black women workers like our client make 32% less than white men — a gap that means they will make nearly $1 million less over their lifetimes. At the same time, the average Black family in the United States holds 15% of the wealth of the average white family. This has major ramifications for homeownership, because family wealth is the source of down payments for more than a third of first mortgages. And even when credit scores and debt-to-income ratios are equal, Black Americans are twice as likely to be denied a mortgage as white applicants.

The unavailability of affordable housing was one major factor troubling our client’s finances — and those of many others.

The Partnership for Housing Affordability, a local nonprofit, has found that the Richmond region needs to build 20,000 affordable homes just to meet current demand. When we work with first-time home buyers or renters seeking to move to higher-opportunity neighborhoods, the scarcity of options is an all-too-familiar barrier. Boosting the supply of housing would serve many families in need.

But supply alone will not solve a key problem with demand: Too few Black and Latino Virginians can buy a home or maintain stable renting because of generations of unfairness in the housing market. Redlining, government policy until 1968, walled off communities of color from investment. Today, individuals living in these areas still have lower incomes, reduced life expectancy, and less access to services. These disparities worsen the impacts of income inequality and lack of access to credit. Boosting supply without addressing the inequity issues of demand will only reinforce race-based exclusion.

We have tools to break with the unfairness of years past and create a housing market with more opportunity for everyone. For example, U.S. Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner have cosponsored a bill that would provide down payment assistance to first-time homebuyers. And already, a little-used federal law

empowers banks to create special-purpose credit programs for historically marginalized communities.

Both strategies — down payment assistance and a deeply discounted interest rate accessed through a special program — proved the solution for our client, who closed on her new house last month. She told us she’s grateful for the chance to “build generational wealth,” and appreciating a simpler pleasure, no less special — “just to enjoy a piece of earth that is my own.”

But this happy ending isn’t yet possible at scale. Federal support for down payment assistance, one possible outcome of November’s elections, would help. And banks could dramatically expand special-purpose credit programs. In the meantime, even if scores of new homes are built, long-standing barriers to homeownership and affordable renting will remain the reality for far too many Black and Latino Virginians.

That’s because you can’t trickle down housing. Expanding supply is a one-size-fits-all solution to a problem with many dimensions. As we tackle the crisis of housing affordability, we must be targeted in our approach, nuanced in our thinking, intentional in our actions. And we should put fairness first.

The writer is the Executive Director of Housing Opportunities Made Equal of Virginia (HOME of VA), a fair housing organization founded in 1971 to ensure equal access to housing for all people.

How the Inflation Reduction Act is powering a manufacturing resurgence and a cleaner future

I often think about a factory hallway in Dalton, Ga. that is filled with pictures drawn by children. It is a reminder of what can be, what will be, thanks to the historic Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which celebrates its second anniversary this month. The drawings capture how these children see their parents who work at this solar manufacturing plant. There are pictures of beautiful sunny days, of the Earth with pristine water. Of their parents saving the world. These children see their parents as superheroes.

As I remember these pictures, I wonder: how can anyone not be inspired by these children to fight every day for a better, livable future? For more clean energy jobs, in big cities and rural communities across the country, that will power our economy – and our homes – for generations to come?

Around this anniversary, the news has been filled with reflection on what the IRA has achieved and what still needs to be done. It is – as it should be – a major focal point at the Democratic National Convention happening now in Chicago. You do not have to look hard to find examples of its success. More than 334,000 new clean

energy jobs have been created across the country. More than 3 million U.S. households have collectively saved over $8 billion on upgrades that will save them money and make their homes more energy efficient. In Illinois alone, for example, nearly 140,000 residents claimed more than $260 million in tax credits on their 2023 tax returns for installing solar or making other energy efficiency improvements on their homes.

One fact should loom larger than most: the IRA is still this nation’s biggest single

step ever toward securing a healthy and livable planet for all. No other single piece of legislation has done more to address our climate goals and support the clean energy revolution already underway. Through the Climate Pollution Reduction Grants program, the IRA is projected to reduce greenhouse gas pollution by as much as 971 millio n metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent by 2050. That’s equivalent to the emissions from about 5 million homes’ energy use every year for more than 25 years. Need a reminder of the urgency and necessity of this investment in combating the climate crisis? Just turn on the news. Or step outside. We are experiencing the hottest summer on record … in the hottest year on record. Supercharged storms and wildfires from all that heat are impacting more and more Americans. Hurricane Ernesto is just the latest storm to batter homes and businesses and leave hundreds of thousands of Americans without power. With so many people hurting and

at risk, the IRA remains one of our most powerful tools to mitigate climate change’s harm. We must continue to learn from our experience implementing it, fill gaps where we see them, and double down on our efforts to protect people, places and the planet we call home. And we must remember that throwing everything we have at combating the climate crisis is also the way America wins in the next economy.

In the decades since the North American Free Trade Agreement, the shipping of U.S. jobs overseas has helped destroy towns and cities across America. Now, the IRA is fueling a manufacturing rebirth that is creating good-paying jobs while bringing our energy economy into the 21st century.

Plans to build a new solar cell factory near Minneapolis, Minnesota are currently underway. This factory will create more clean energy jobs in the Midwest while addressing the need for more American-made

solar cells. The solar company Heliene, which co-owns the project, publicly credits the IRA’s tax credits for inspiring its decision to invest in U.S. solar manufacturing. Just an hour drive away from Minneapolis is the town of Becker. It is the home to one of the largest coal-burning power plants in the country. Yet Becker will soon be known for something else: being a national leader in the transition to clean, renewable energy. Xcel Energy is fully retiring the Sherco coalburning power plant by 2030. Literally within eyesight of the old plant, they are building what will become the fifth largest solar project in the United States.

Taking advantage of new and extended tax credits and grant programs, the Sherco solar and energy storage facility will bring 1.8 million solar panels online in 2026. It will employ hundreds of workers – many of them moving over from the coal plant – and power more than 150,000 Midwest homes each year.

The IRA was always designed to set us up for long-term economic success. Part of how it achieves this is by putting money back into Americans’ pockets and ensuring that no community is left out of the transition to cleaner, safer, and more affordable clean energy. Tax credits and rebates are lowering the cost of home improvements and electric vehicles

Thomas Okuda Fitzpatrick

Celtics’ banner ceremony vs. Knicks opens NBA season, featuring tournament and international games

By Tim Reynolds The Associate Press

Boston will get its championship rings Oct. 22, and the rival New York Knicks will be there for the celebration.

The NBA schedule was released last Thursday for the coming season, and Game 1 on the slate is the Celtics hosting the Knicks on opening night — the one where the NBA champions will get their rings and reveal their 18th championship banner.

The second game opening night has Minnesota visiting the Los Angeles Lakers, a reunion of Olympic gold medalists with the Timberwolves’ Anthony Edwards facing off with the Lakers’ LeBron James and Anthony Davis.

The league released 1,200 of the 1,230 games on the schedule Thursday; the other 30 will be slotted in December, depending on how teams fare during the NBA Cup. The schedule for those tournament games was released Tuesday, with Klay Thompson’s return to Golden State as a member of the Dallas Mavericks among the matchups.

Some regular season contests were previously announced, such as Miami and Washington playing in Mexico City on Nov. 2 and the San Antonio Spurs and Indiana Pacers playing a home-and-home in Paris — with Spurs star and France native Victor

Wembanyama as the main attraction — on Jan. 23 and Jan. 25. A look at the rest of the slate: Christmas Day games

Victor Wembanyama and San Antonio go to New York to start the Christmas Day quintuple-header, followed by Minnesota at Dallas, Philadelphia at Boston, the Lakers at Golden State

and Denver at Phoenix.

It’ll be the first Christmas game for the Spurs since 2016 and the first for the Timberwolves since 2017. Milwaukee won’t play a Christmas game for the first time in seven seasons.

All 30 teams playing

There are four nights this season where all 30 teams will be in action,

starting with Nov. 4 — when a new game will start every 15 minutes from 7 p.m. through 10:30 p.m. EST.

The other dates when all teams are playing: Feb. 12, April 11 (the second-to-last day of the regular season) and April 13 (the last day of the regular season).

Election Day among the off days

For the third consecutive year, Election Day — Nov. 5 this year — will not have any NBA games, with the league saying it wants to “continue to encourage fans and the broader NBA community to make a plan to vote and participate in the civic process.

As part of this initiative, the NBA will share important resources from voting organizations and highlight the civic engagement work of teams in their markets.”

Other off days for the NBA this season: Nov. 28 (Thanksgiving), Dec. 24 (Christmas Eve), Feb. 17-19 (the break following All-Star weekend, which starts Feb. 14) and April 12. There will likely be one other dark day in December, depending on how the schedules are set for those teams that do not make the NBA Cup semifinals.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day slate

There are seven games on Jan. 20 as part of the league’s annual celebration of the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.: Dallas at Charlotte, Detroit at Houston, Minnesota at Memphis, Atlanta

at New York, Phoenix at Cleveland, Boston at Golden State and Utah at New Orleans.

Memphis, where King was assassinated in 1968, will host a game on the holiday for the 22nd time in the last 23 seasons.

Durant going back to college, for one night

Kevin Durant could play at least one more game at his college home.

The Spurs will play two games in Austin, Texas, again this season — Feb. 20 against Durant and Phoenix, then Feb. 21 against Detroit. Durant played his one college season at Texas. He had 30 points in his home finale as a member of the Longhorns on Feb. 28, 2007. That schedule means Detroit won’t be going to San Antonio this season.

The Pistons are 1-13 in their last 14 trips to the Spurs’ home arena. LeBron’s 40th birthday This season will be the 22nd in the NBA for LeBron James, tying Vince Carter for the league’s longevity record.

And he gets his 40th birthday off.

The Los Angeles Lakers don’t play on Dec. 30. They’re at home on Dec. 28 against Sacramento (his first NBA opponent, when he was just 18) and then off until a home game Dec. 31 against Cleveland (his first NBA team).

James is 5-5 in birthday games.

Virginia Union gears up for new season with eyes on repeat

James Haskins/Richmond Free Press

All signs point to another strong season if you ask Panthers standouts running back Jada Byers, safety William Davis and defensive lineman Isaac Anderson, who aim to repeat their CIAA championship.

FAMU, Alabama State lead the charge in HBCU Preseason All-America team

Free Press staff report

Florida A&M and Alabama State are flexing their muscles early, dominating the 2024 HBCU Preseason All-American football team announced Wednesday.

The Rattlers, fresh off their 2023 HBCU national championship, landed four players on the squad. Not to be outdone, the Hornets snagged a team-high five spots.

FAMU’s defensive backfield looks downright scary with Kendall Bohler reprising his role as shutdown corner. The fourth-year Rattler, who nabbed 39 tackles last season, aims to give opposing quarterbacks nightmares. Meanwhile, Alabama State’s defense got a shot of adrenaline with linebacker Rico Dozier. The Arkansas-Pine Bluff transfer brings his tackle-hungry ways (128 last year) to a Hornets unit ready to sting.

But don’t sleep on Virginia Union’s Jada Byers. The two-time All-American running back trucked his way to 1,186 yards and 16 touchdowns in 2023, leaving CIAA defenses in his dust.

In total, 17 programs placed players on the 30-man roster, showcasing the depth of talent across HBCU football.

The team, presented by Boxtorow, was selected by national media covering HBCU football. It’s been an annual tradition since 2007, spotlighting the best and brightest before they hit the field each fall.

As the 2024 season looms, these gridiron stars are set to prove their preseason hype is more than just hot air.

2024 HBCU Preseason All-American Team OFFENSE

QB: Myles Crawley, Grambling, r-Sr. Lithonia, Ga.

RB: Jada Byers, Virginia Union, Sr., Hammonton, N.J. #

RB: Donovan Eaglin, Alabama A&M, r-Soph., Houston, Texas

OL: Ashton Grable, Florida A&M, r-Jr., Gordon, Ga.

OL: Trevon Humphrey, N.C. Central, r-Soph., Greensboro, N.C.

OL: Evan Henry, Jackson State, Gr., Dallas, Texas

OL: Arelious Dunn, Alabama State, Sr., Atlanta, Ga.*

OL: Tahj Martin, Grambling, Jr., Lewisville, Texas*

OL: Nick Taiste, South Carolina State, Sr., West Columbia, S.C.

TE: Tavarious Griffin, Alcorn State, Sr., Tallassee, Ala.#

WR: Malachi Langley, Lincoln (Pa.), Soph., Chester, Pa.#

WR: Fabian McCray, Jackson State, Gr., Chicago, Ill. DEFENSE

DL: Ckelby Givens, Southern, Soph., Shreveport, La.#

DL: Malachi Bailey, Alcorn State, Sr., Atlanta, Ga.

DL: Aaron Miller, Benedict, r-Sr., Decatur, Ga.

DL: Treqwan Thomas, Alabama State, r-Jr., Orlando, Fla.*

DL: Elijah Williams, Morgan State, Sr., Jersey City, N.J.*

LB: Rico Dozier, Alabama State, Sr., Abbeville, La.#

LB: Asmar Hasan, Lane, Sr., Atlanta, Ga.

LB: Erick Hunter, Morgan State, Sr., Capitol Heights, Md.*

LB: Jacob Williams, Texas Southern, Sr., Fresno, Texas*

DB: Kendall Bohler, Florida A&M, r-Jr., Orlando, Fla.#

DB: Kenny Gallop, Howard, Sr., Portsmouth, Va.#

DB: James Burgess, Alabama State, Sr., Center Point, Ala.

DB: Karon Prunty, North Carolina A&T, Jr., Portsmouth, Va.*

DB: Deco Wilson, Florida A&M, Gr., Talladega, Ala.* SPECIALISTS

P: Matt Noll, Jackson State, Gr., Robesonia, Pa.

PK: Cameron Gillis, Florida A&M, Gr., Budapest, Hungary

PR: Robert McMinn, Alabama State, Jr., Hollywood, Fla.

KR: Keith Jenkins, Morgan State, Jr., Gainesville, Va.

Honorable Mention

QB: Isaiah Freeman, Lincoln (Pa.)

RB: Elijah Burris, Hampton; Jarett Hunter, Howard

OL: Treyvon Branch, Morgan State; Darius Fox, Howard

WR: Johnny Jones, Edward Waters

LB: Demarkus Cunningham, Ala. State; Malik Moore, Tuskegee

DB: Mikael King, Tuskegee

PK: James Lowery, Tennessee State

KR: DeJuan Bell, Fort Valley State *Tie, #2023 HBCU All-American

By Saurav Pathak

The Virginia Union University Panthers football team is gearing up for the 2024 season, aiming to defend their NCAA Division II Central Intercollegiate Athletics Association championship.

Coach Alvin Parker emphasized player development and creating a positive environment for studentathletes. “Pressure is a privilege,” Parker said Saturday, when the team held its media day. “Stay focused and don’t get complacent.”

Kentucky State University. Their first home game at Hovey Stadium is Sept. 28 against Shaw University, marking the start of CIAA conference play.

Key returners include junior running back Jada Byers, a 5-foot-7, 185-pound social work major from Bridgeton, N.J., and defensive lineman Isaac Anderson, a 6-foot-3, 280-pound psychology major from Gifford, Fla.

The Panthers open their season Aug. 31 at

VUU has added 12 high school recruits and seven mid-year signees for the 2024 season. Twenty starters from last year’s championship team are returning.

Byers, entering his final year, embraces his leadership role. “Gelling with freshmen is just like a big-brother small-brother type of role,” he said. The Panthers’ schedule includes two nationally televised games and three on the HBCU GO channel. The CIAA championship game is set for Nov. 16 in Salem, Va., with NCAA playoff rounds following through Dec. 16. The NCAA championship game is scheduled for Dec. 23.

MJBL crowns 8 champions at Inner City Classic

Free Press staff report

The Metropolitan Junior Baseball League crowned eight champions at its 33rd Annual Inner City Classic national championships, overcoming weather challenges.

The event began with the 20th Annual Bobby Bonds Memorial Symposium in Washington, D.C., hosted by Rep. Jennifer McClellan (Va.-04). Competition opened at Howard University with MJBL Richmond defeating the DC Grays in the 10-under group, while the Heritage Rebels

and Bowie Bucks tied 6-6 in the 19-under category.

Freedom Farm (Nassau, Bahamas) secured the 8-under title, edging Bethlehem (Richmond/Henrico County, Va.) 2-1. Rain affected the 10-under and 12-under divisions, with championships awarded to top seeds MJBL Richmond and Next Level (Charlotte, N.C.), respectively. In other games, Visions Select (Baltimore) claimed the 14-under title with a 12-8 victory over Greensboro (N.C.), while Central Florida 5’s edged

Roadrunners stumble against Sparks

By Saurav Pathak

The Richmond Roadrunners fell to the Maryland Sparks 87-75 in Women’s American Basketball Association (WABA) action last Saturday, dropping their record to 3-2, with four regular season games remaining.

Playing at Henrico High School, the Roadrunners struggled to maintain momentum throughout the contest. Maryland led most of the game, with Richmond briefly taking control twice in the third period for less than 2 minutes each time.

The Sparks sealed their victory with a barrage of four consecutive 3-pointers to start the fourth quarter. Richmond’s play became erratic afterward, with missed passes, rebounds and airballs mounting.

“We knew they are a good 3-point shooting team, but we stopped hustling once they hit those threes,” forward Leslie Szabo said. Despite the setback, Coach BarveniaWooten remains optimistic about playoff chances. “We have to be resilient, we can still do this,” she said.

At halftime, WABA and Wooten honored the late Henrico High School head girls’ basketball

Coach Jean Adkins, Richmond Sheriff Antionette Irving and Angela Rowe, founder of Women Know Sports & Money, a philanthropic organization.

The Roadrunners will aim to bounce back in their next home game against the DC Cyclones 2 p.m. Aug. 31 at Henrico High School. This contest is one of only two remaining home games for Richmond in the regular season, making it crucial for their playoff aspirations.

out Visions Select Baseball_2 (Baltimore) 2-1 in the 16-under division. The Heritage Rebels (Greenville, N.C.) secured the 19-under championship by defeating the Bowie (Md.) Bucks 11-7. On the softball side, Rocky Mount (N.C.) Raiders won the 14-under division with a 7-3 victory over the USZ Angels (Philadelphia), and the USZ Angels (Pa.) triumphed in the 18-under division, beating Southside Chaos (Norfolk, Va.) 12-8. Elijah McKinney received the Charles “Pee Wee” Robinson Award in the 12-under and 10-under divisions. Christian Chance, a pitcher/third baseman from South Central High School in Winterville, N.C., won the Ken Free Most Valuable Player Classic Scholarship in the 19-under division. The symposium featured MLB Executive Dusty Baker and focused on reconnecting baseball to the Black community. Howard University student Alafia Bailey advocated for reinstating the school’s NCAA Division I baseball program. MJBL, founded in 1966 by Dr. William M.T. Forrester, remains the only national youth league focused on inner-city Black athletes.

Coach Parker

A jump start: The Richmond Roadrunners face off against the Maryland Sparks at Henrico High School last weekend.

AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill

Stephen Curry, center, hugs LeBron James, right, after the United States won a men’s gold medal basketball game at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.

Champions Rocky Mount Raiders and runners-up USZ Angels at the 33rd Annual Inner City Classic national championships.

Personality: Troy Mitchell

Spotlight on event chair of Broken Men Foundation’s Youth Academy

According to the National Institutes of Health, more than two-thirds of African American males have directly experienced a traumatic event in their lifetime. NIH also says that 56 to 74% of Black males exposed to traumatic events may have an unmet need for mental health services. Through his volunteer work with the Broken Men Foundation, Troy Mitchell sees the effects of these statistics firsthand — and for him, the work is deeply personal. His experiences have fueled his passion for the cause, making him a dedicated mentor. He’s committed to saving one youth at a time from the adverse effects of trauma and PTSD.

“I’ve been there, done, and seen some of the same things my mentees have seen and done,” Mitchell said.

Mitchell’s own journey is intertwined with the struggles of the young men he mentors. His mother kicked him out of the house at 16. Admitting to being a stubborn, hot-tempered, teenager, he knows he was lucky that he didn’t get into more trouble. This personal connection fuels his passion and commitment to the cause, making his dedication palpable.

“I believe consistency is important,” he says. “I tell my mentees they can call me any time—day or night. I also want them to know that getting mental help is normal. We don’t normalize getting mental help in the black community.”

Growing up in the projects, Mitchell’s father was in and out of the home. His parents grew up together, married young,

divorced when he was 4 and remarried when he was 10. He was fortunate to have family in his childhood neighborhood of Washington Park, where he had the support of both grandfathers, uncles and aunts.

Over the decades, Mitchell says he’s mended his relationship with his mother. She had a kidney transplant last year, spending over four months in the ICU. He gets emotional when talking about his mother’s medical journey and is grateful that her health is improving.

Outside of his philanthropic work, Mitchell enjoys a range of hobbies such as sporting and music events and finds relaxation in riding motorcycles and enjoying a good cigar. He also considers himself a creative type trying to learn about interior design through binge watching HGTV, jokingly referring to it as an addiction.

Lacking the means to travel when he was younger, a stint in the Army sparked his love of travel. Seeing the different cultures of Korea and Germany made him curious about other cultures. He says his favorite place outside the U.S. is the South of France because of the weather and its relaxing scenery. Ghana is where he wants to go next.

Meet the once troubled teenager who defied the odds to mature into a loving son, proud father, devoted mentor, and this week’s Personality: Volunteer position: Mentor.

Occupation: Information Systems security manager. Date and place of birth: Oct. 1 in Richmond.

Where I live now:

Education: Bachelor’s in information systems from the University of Phoenix and a master’s in management information systems from the University of Maryland University College.

Family: Daughter, Bre’h Mitchell, 29, and son, Troy Mitchell II, 24.

Tell us about the Broken Men Foundation Youth Academy: The Broken Men Foundation assists boys who have experienced traumatic experiences, broken homes, or anything that has negatively impacted them. That hurt and pain may have caused them to become stagnant and disconnected from life’s situations.

Location: Richmond.

When, why and who founded: Ellery Lundy founded the organization in 2014 to invest in the next generation of our youths by leading by example, spending quality time, loving them unconditionally and mentoring them through their questions of daily life experiences.

Briefly explain how the Broken Men Foundation Youth Academy works: We assist boys who have had bad relationships.We strive to make broken youths better men by giving them the emotional support to overcome their past, teaching essential life skills and life lessons, empowering them to be more productive citizens and leaders and providing a family of support.

How I became involved with the Broken Men Foundation Youth Academy: My friend for over 40 years, Steve Clarke, is the executive director. It was an easy decision to volunteer my time to assist the youths in my hometown.

Why this organization is meaningful to me: Being a part of young men’s lives who would not ordinarily receive the blessings of access to men willing to support and teach them about life. They wouldn’t usually get it anywhere else.

How I’ve witnessed the Broken Men Foundation Youth Academy make a difference in a young person’s life: I’ve seen a young man in a courtmandated program go from being always angry and ag-

gressive to being able to testify to the younger mentors about self-control and maturity.

Why I accepted the position as the Broken Men Foundation Youth Academy’s 10th Anniversary Celebration Fundraising Dinner event chair: I believe in celebrating outstanding achievements and progress. The organization has been instrumental in enough kids’ lives to deserve to be celebrated.

No. 1 goal as fundraising dinner event chair: To raise awareness that our organization exists. I want to ensure everyone knows we are willing to take on more responsibility for developing our city’s youths.

Why this is a hot ticket: It will allow us to be a more significant asset to our mentees and the community we serve.

How the event will benefit Black boys and young men: The gala will provide muchneeded funding for community activities and possibly a new facility for us.

Details of fundraising dinner dance: The event will be Aug. 31. We will have a social hour at 6 p.m. for our VIP guests, followed by dinner and a special guest artist performing covers of hits. After dinner, we will have a DJ for a night of dancing from 9 p.m. until 1 a.m. Tickets can be purchased through Eventbrite.

Other ways to support Broken Men Foundation Youth Academy: You can donate or purchase merchandise on our website, brokenmenfoundation.org.

How I start the day: I give

God praise for allowing me to see another day.

Three words that best describe me: Manhood, scholarship, perseverance, and uplift (I know that’s 4).

If I had 10 extra minutes in the day: I would sleep a little longer.

My dream dinner party guest: I would invite Richard Pryor because I love his comedy. Best late-night snack: Plums.

Top three songs on my playlist: My top three songs are “Beautiful Life” by Chuck Brown, “Kanday” by LL Cool J and “I Got a Story to Tell” by the Notorious B.I.G.

Something I love to do that most people would never imagine: I watch HGTV.

Most inspiring quote: “Running from it won’t save you.”

The best thing my parents/ guardians ever taught me: To keep God first.

The person who influenced me the most: My mother.

Most influential book: “The Miseducation of the Negro” by Carter G. Woodson. It discusses the disparity in education and resources that were available to Negros during the Depression.

What I’m reading now and my takeaway: I’m not reading anything for sheer enjoyment at the moment because I’m gearing up for my graduate classes at Virginia Union University. Next goal: I’d like to get a master’s in Christian education. I’m in my second semester now.

PATHWAY HOME GRANT

Henrico.

Grammy-winning Arrested Development to headline 2nd Street Festival

Free Press staff report

The 36th Annual 2nd Street Festival returns on Oct. 5-6 in Richmond’s historic Jackson Ward neighborhood.

The free festival features a lineup of live music across three stages. Grammy Award-winning group Arrested Development will headline on Saturday, Oct. 5, performing at 5:50 p.m. Known for their conscious hip-hop and hits such “Tennessee” and “Mr. Wendall,” the group has a reputation for high-energy performances.

On Sunday, Oct. 6, jazz singer Desirée Roots will close the festival at 5 p.m. Roots, a renowned jazz and gospel artist, has shared the stage with legendary performers such as B.B. King and Brian McKnight,. Other performances include Richmond’s “Gospel Cop,” Mervin Mayo, who recently appeared on NBC’s “America’s Got Talent,” and Michelle Lightfoot & The Crescendo School of Music, along with other artists. The Joe Kennedy Jr. Jazz Stage will feature musicians Nathan Mitchell, a Grammy-nominated keyboardist, and blues singer Lady E.

In addition to the musical acts, the festival will offer a variety of other activities. Free walking tours led by Gary Flowers will explore Jackson Ward’s rich history. Flowers will guide groups starting from the Maggie Walker National Historic Site, with tours scheduled for both Saturday and Sunday afternoons. For families, the Kidz Zone, produced by the Children’s Museum and Black History Museum and Cultural Center of Virginia, will offer fun activities including balloon art, quilting

Events to honor slave rebellions and black cemeteries

Free Press staff report

The Virginia Defenders for Freedom, Justice & Equality, in collaboration with the Shockoe Bottom Community Advisory Group, will hold a series of events to honor Gabriel’s Rebellion, the legacy of Black cemeteries and historic slave revolts in Virginia and elsewhere.

The commemoration begins Friday, Aug. 30, marking the 225th anniversary of Gabriel’s Rebellion, a planned uprising against slavery that was thwarted by a storm and betrayal. The community gathering will take place from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. at Spring Park in Henrico County,

the site where Gabriel Prosser and his fellow conspirators met to organize the rebellion.

On Thursday, Oct. 10, the 22nd Annual Gabriel Gathering will focus on the theme “Reclaiming Black Cemeteries – Reclaiming Resistance.” The event will be held from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at the Shockoe Bottom African Burial Ground in Richmond, where a new state historical marker will be unveiled. Participants are encouraged to wear white to honor the history of the site.

The series concludes on Saturday, Oct. 12, with a regional conference focused on reclaiming Black cemeteries and commemorating slave

rebellions in Virginia, South Carolin and Louisiana. Details will be announced closer to the event.

For more information, contact the Sacred Ground Historical Reclamation Project at sacredgroundproject@gmail. com or (804) 644-5834.

Indian fashion, entertainment highlighted at AKKA World Kannada Conference

Free Press staff report

The AKKA World Kannada Conference comes to the Greater Richmond Convention Center Aug. 30 through Sept. 1. The 12th annual event will celebrate Indian culture with fashion, entertainment, and performances from notable Indian artists.

The conference will open with a free parade 7 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 31. The parade will start at 5th and Leigh streets and proceed through the Jackson Ward neighborhood, covering approximately half a mile. The event is expected to draw over 4,000 attendees.

The conference will feature a variety of performances, including dance dramas, ballet, and singing. Vijay Prakash, renowned for his

Oscar-winning song from “Slumdog Millionaire,” will headline the event.

Additional activities include sports such as cricket, pickleball, golf and chess, with prizes awarded to participants. The weekend will also offer seven forums on diverse topics ranging from business to medicine.

AKKA (Association of Kannada Kootas of America) aims to promote and preserve the Kannada language and culture, which has a history spanning over 2,000 years and is predominantly spoken in Southern India.

Tickets for the conference are $250, which includes food, entertainment and networking opportunities. For further details, visit akkaonline.org.

Prosser launched a bold plan for insurrection, instilling fear among slave holders. His efforts are the focus of commemoration in Henrico’s Spring Park.

Louisa NAACP to celebrate African American heritage

Free Press staff report

The Louisa Branch NAACP will celebrate Black History and Culture with Louisa’s 4th Annual African American Heritage Festival on Saturday, Aug. 24, from 10 a.m. to 4 pm.

The community gathering, themed, “Exploring the Arts,” will be held at Moss-Nuckols Elementary School, 2055 Courthouse Road in Louisa. The free event celebrates African Americans in Louisa County and their contributions to Virginia and the United States.

A variety of fun and educational activities will be held indoors and outdoors. Features will include original artwork, music, dancers, speakers, gospel groups, performers, theatrics, hot food vendors, a bookmobile and a moonbounce as well as other entertainment for children and families.

For more information on the festival, please contact the Rev. Larry E. Lewis at (540) 223-0052.

Vijay Prakash

Gabriel

Hip-hop group Arrested Development headlines the 36th Annual 2nd Street Festival in Jackson Ward on Oct. 5 and 6.

‘Exploring Human Origins’ exhibition comes to Union Seminary

Free Press staff report

Union Presbyterian Seminary’s William Smith Morton Library will host the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History’s traveling exhibition, “Exploring Human Origins: What Does It Mean to Be Human?” The exhibit will run Sep. 3 through Nov. 15, offering an opportunity to delve into the world of human evolution.

The exhibition, curated by the Smithsonian and the American Library Association, aims to spark public conversation about human origins and what it means to be human. Through a variety of interactive elements including panels, kiosks, hands-on displays and videos, visitors can explore milestones in human evolutionary history.

“We are so excited that Union Presbyterian Seminary was selected to host this unique and fascinating exhibit,” said Seminary Exhibition Coordinator, Chris Burton. “You won’t want to miss seeing the William S. Morton Library transformed into a science museum, and we have an impressive line-up of

programs planned, with offerings for kids and adults.”

The exhibit will showcase reconstructed faces by John Anthony Gurche and landscape illustrations by Karen Carr Studio. It will encourage visitors to contemplate their place in the natural world and reflect on how human ancestors such as Homo neanderthalensis, Homo heidelbergensis and Homo erectus adapted to various climates over millions of years.

In October, scientists and experts from the NMNH Human Origins Program will visit Richmond to host community events, including a science program, educator workshop, and community conversations. Specific dates for these events will be announced soon on the seminary’s website.

The exhibition is free and open to the public during the library’s operating hours. The William Smith Morton Library is located at 3406 Chamberlayne Ave. Visitors are advised to park on nearby streets, leaving campus parking lots available for students and faculty.

For more information about the exhibition and upcoming events, visit upsem.edu/human.

By Adelle M. Banks Religion News Service

A Baptist missions organization has received a $1 million donation from a Virginia megachurch, boosting its efforts to help girls in Africa.

Lott Carey, a predominantly Black organization long known as the Lott Carey Baptist Foreign Mission Society, has traditionally had fundraisers as part of its annual gathering, which this year occurred Aug. 12 through 15 in Memphis, Tenn.

The Rev. Gina Stewart, Lott Carey president, had announced beforehand she hoped to raise $1 million on the last night of the convention. But Alfred Street Baptist Church, a historic Black church in Alexandria, decided to raise money ahead of that occasion.

Its pastor, the Rev. HowardJohn Wesle y, told Religion News Service he learned during

a church trip to Ghana arranged by the Rev. Emmett Dunn, Lott Carey’s executive secretarytreasurer, about the plight of girls caught up in the Trokosi tradition in that country: Girls are turned over to priests at religious shrines for forced labor and ritual, sexual servitude as payment for the sins of their relatives. Although Ghana criminalized forced labor in 1998, Trokosi priests have continued to practice their servitude system “unchallenged” by law enforcement, according to child rights experts

“It was our trip to Ghana that exposed us to the slave trade industry that you wouldn’t believe still existed in 2024,” Wesley said. “We really felt like God gave us an opportunity to make a difference in freeing some of these young ladies.”

The money will be used to support the ministry of the Ghana Baptist Conventio n , one of the largest denominations in Ghana, to rescue young girls whose families have sold them into the long-established system opposed by the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child. The ministry works to rehabilitate the girls, teaching them at a vocational training center that aims to give them skills to allow them to reintegrate into society.

The $1 million donation is rare for Lott Carey, which has an operational budget of $2.5 million. It received an equal sum from Fountain Baptist Church in Summit, N.J., for relief efforts related to Hurricane Katrina. The donation sum also is

not the first for Alfred Street, which gave $1 million to the National Museum of African American History and Culture in 2015 and donated the same amount to Jackson State University, a historically Black institution in Mississippi, to help students and officials as they dealt with a crisis in 2022 after high levels of lead were found in its water.

Lott Carey, named for a former slave who gained his freedom and was a pioneer missionary in Africa, was founded in 1897.

The infusion of money to support the girls in Africa comes as Stewart concludes her historic leadership of the organization. In 2021, she became its first woman president, marking the first time a Black Baptist organization had chosen a female leader. She has been by Dr. Jesse T. Williams Jr., senior pastor of Convent Avenue Baptist Church in Harlem.

Rev. Wesley

Photo courtesy of Union Presbyterian Seminary

The Union Presbyterian Seminary’s William Smith Morton Library is hosting the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History

Mike Tyson feels good after health scare; ready for bout with Jake Paul

By Brian Mahoney The Associated Press

Mike Tyson is 58 years old and coming off a health scare that forced the postponement of his return to the ring.

The boxer, once considered the most dangerous man in the world, could be putting himself in danger by putting the gloves on again. Yet he was quick to respond Sunday when asked why he was going through with his bout against Jake Paul.

“Because I can. Who else can do it but me? Who else is he going to fight to make this happen?” Tyson said, motioning toward the crowd at a packed press conference where fans cheered the former heavyweight champion and booed Paul.

“We’ve just got to listen to the facts. We’ve got a YouTuber fighting the greatest fighter that ever lived.”

Tyson and Paul restarted the buildup to their match that is now scheduled for Nov. 15 at the home of the Dallas Cowboys in Arlington, Texas. They had been set to meet July 20 before Tyson became nauseous and dizzy on a flight from Miami to Los Angeles in May, with his representatives attributing the episode to an ulcer problem.

Tyson said Sunday he resumed training two or three weeks ago and feels fine.

“Hey listen, I’m just ready,” Tyson said.

The undisputed heavyweight champion 1987 to 1990, Tyson (50-6, 44 KOs) retired in 2005 before coming back for an exhibition match against Roy Jones in 2020. Fans seem excited for his return, with a number of them turned away Sunday because too many showed up for their press conference on the final day of the Fanatics

Fest event in New York.

Paul (10-1, 7 KOs) sparred as much with the fans who booed him as with the fighter across the stage.

“Hey New York, you’re just

like Mike Tyson,” Paul said. “You were good 20 years ago.” Tyson’s most dominant days are actually longer ago than that, and Paul understands that he probably wouldn’t get much

credit for a victory against such a diminished opponent. Yet the former Disney Channel star who insists he will become a boxing champion said there is benefit to fighting Tyson even now.

“Big moments, big pressure, big stages, one of the greatest to ever do it, more experience than me, more fights than me, I’m going to learn a lot in this fight and through this training camp,” Paul said. “So this is helping me in my future fights and everything that I want to accomplish.”

He took a fight after Tyson had to pull out, stopping bareknuckle fighting champion Mike Perry in the sixth round on July 20. Perry, like many of the fighters on Paul’s resume, comes from the mixed martial arts world, rather than from a boxing background.

He preferred to fight Tyson then and is eager now for his second chance.

Legal Notices/employment opportunities

29, 1984, 89-318-295, adopted Nov. 13, 1989, 2006-26-52, adopted Feb. 27, 2006, 2006260-263, adopted Oct. 23, 2006, 2012-163-164, adopted Oct. 8, 2012, 2017-169, adopted Oct. 9, 2017, Ord. No. 2022-036, adopted Mar. 28, 2022, and Ord. No. 2022-190, adopted Jul. 25, 2022, concerning the Beaufont Oaks Community Unit Plan, to amend the use of the parcel known as 6951 West Carnation Street to allow for multifamily use.

ordinance No. 2024-209 To authorize the special use of the properties known as 312 Goshen Street, 901 West Marshall Street, and 903 West Marshall Street for the purpose of a restaurant use, upon certain terms and conditions.

ordinance No. 2024-210

To authorize the special use of the property known as 4000 North Huguenot Road for the purpose of a single-family detached dwelling, upon certain terms and conditions.

Interested citizens who wish to speak will be given an opportunity to do so by following the instructions referenced in the September 9, 2024 Richmond City Council Formal meeting agenda. Copies of the full text of all ordinances are available by visiting the City Clerk’s page on the City’s Website at https:// www.rva.gov/office-cityclerk, and in the Office of the City Clerk, City Hall, 900 East Broad Street, Suite 200, Richmond, VA 23219, from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Candice

It is ORDERED that the defendant, whose whereabouts appear here on or before the 1st day of October, 2024 and protect her interests. A Copy, Teste: FRANK D. HARGROVE, JR., Clerk I ask for this: Law Office of Dorothy M. Eure, P.C. Dorothy M. Eure, Plaintiff’s Attorney VSB# 27724 8460 Mount Eagle Road Ashland, VA 23005 (804) 798-9667

virGiNiA: iN THe circUiT coUrT For THe coUNTY oF HANover KiMBerLY TiLLAr Plaintiff v. TrAviS SKiNNer, Defendant. case No.: cL24001886-00 orDer oF PUBLicATioN The object of this suit is to obtain a divorce from the bond of matrimony from the defendant on the ground of living separate and apart without any cohabitation and without interruption for a period exceeding twelve months.

It is ORDERED that the defendant, who has been served with the Complaint by posted service appear here on or before the 24th day of September, 2024 and protect his interests. A Copy, Teste: FRANK D. HARGROVE, JR., Clerk I ask for this: Dorothy M. Eure, Plaintiff’s Counsel VSB# 27724 The Law Office of Dorothy M. Eure, P.C. 8460 Mount Eagle Road Ashland, VA 23005 (804) 798-9667

virGiNiA: iN THe circUiT coUrT oF THe coUNTY oF HeNrico cHArLeS eDWArD SLAUGHTer, Jr., Plaintiff, v. ANGeLiTA verNiTA roBiNSoN GoLDSTeiN, Defendant. civil Law No.: cL24-2855 orDer oF PUBLicATioN

and without interruption for a period exceeding twelve months. It is ORDERED that the defendant, whose whereabouts are unknown appear here on or before the 5th day of September, 2024 at 9:00 AM, and protect her interests.

A Copy, Teste: FRANK D. HARGROVE, JR., Clerk I ask for this: Law Office of Dorothy M. Eure, P.C. Dorothy M. Eure, Plaintiff’s Attorney VSB# 27724 8460 Mount Eagle Road Ashland, VA 23005 (804) 798-9667

virGiNiA: iN THe circUiT coUrT oF THe coUNTY oF HeNrico ABUTAHer M. ASHAFUDDoULA, Plaintiff, v. MUNNY BeGUM, Defendant. case No. cL24-4605 orDer oF PUBLicATioN

The object of this suit is to obtain a divorce upon the ground of a one-year separation. It appearing from an Affidavit that the defendant is a nonresident individual, other than a nonresident individual fiduciary who has appointed a statutory agent, it is ORDERED that the defendant appear before this Court on September 23, 2024, at 9:00 a.m., and protect her interests herein. A Copy Teste: HEIDI S. BARSHINGER, Clerk I ASK FOR THIS: Janet E. Brown, P.C. (VSB #26482) Couple for Plaintiff 3108 N. Parham Road, Suite 600A Richmond, Virginia 23294 (804) 747-8200 (Tel.) (804) 747-3259 (Fax.)

circUiT coUrT oF THe ciTY oF ricHMoND civil Action No. cL24-2941 JoHN JeroMe HArriS, Sr. and GiLA SWAYZeNe HArriS, Plaintiffs, v. DAviD PHiLLiP BAKer BreNDA BAKer, rorY BAKer JorDAN, GLAScoe A. BAKer, iii Serve: office of the Secretary of the commonwealth and by order of Publication and KArL JeroMe HArriS and eLiZABeTH HArriS Serve: by order of Publication and and UNKNoWN HeirS oF WiLLiAM e. ArcHer Serve: by order of Publication and

The Unknown heirs, descendants, devisees, assigns, and/or successors in title to William e. Archer, if any there be, the consorts or any of said unknown heirs who are married, the lien creditors of said unknown heirs, if any, and other persons who may have an interest in the subject matter of this suit, or may have an interest or claim an interest in the property which is the subject matter of this suit and who are made parties hereto by the general caption “PArTieS UNKNoWN” Defendants. orDer oF PUBLicATioN

“I was ready before, you needed a little break,” he said to Tyson. “Your tummy hurt still?” The fight that will stream on Netflix will be an official bout, though contested with eight 2-minute rounds and heavier gloves than usual. The truest boxing match on the card might be the one that precedes it, when super lightweight champion Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano have a rematch of Taylor’s thrilling victory in 2022 in the first women’s boxing match to headline at Madison Square Garden.

Then Paul will try to show what he hopes to become in boxing, or perhaps Tyson can demonstrate what he once was. He said his health problems won’t prevent that.

“I had a small adversity. I got sick, but I’m better,” Tyson said. “I feel good.”

VSB# 27724 8460 Mount

Ashland, VA 23005 (804) 798-9667

iN THe circUiT coUrT For THe coUNTY oF HANover DArriAN ricHArDSoN, Plaintiff v. KiANA ricHArDSoN, Defendant. case No.: cL24002435-00 orDer oF PUBLicATioN

The object of this suit is to obtain a divorce from the bond of matrimony from the defendant on the ground of living separate and apart without any cohabitation and without interruption for a period exceeding twelve months.

The object of the above-styled suit is to obtain a divorce from the bonds of matrimony from the defendant on the grounds that the parties have lived separate and apart without interruption and without cohabitation for a period of more than one year, since September 15, 2011. And it appearing by Affidavit filed according to law that the above-named defendant, is not a resident of this state and that due diligence has been used by or in behalf of plaintiff to ascertain in what county or city the defendant is, without effect. It is therefore ORDERED that the said Angelita Vernita Robinson Goldstein do appear in the Clerk’s Office of the Law Division of the Circuit Court of Henrico County, 4301 East Parham Road, Henrico, Virginia 23273, on or before September 30, 2024 and Jo whatever necessary to protect their interest in this suit. A Copy Teste: HEIDI S. BARSHINGER, Clerk I ask for this: Rudolph C. McCollum, Jr. VSB# 32825 P.O. Box 4595 Richmond, Virginia 23220 Phone - (804) 523-3900 Fax - (888) 532-1870

virGiNiA: iN THe circUiT coUrT For THe coUNTY oF HANover MicHAeL BUrNS, Plaintiff v. SHANTAL cHerrY, Defendant. case No.: cL24002188-00 orDer oF PUBLicATioN The object of this suit is to obtain a divorce from the bond of matrimony from the defendant on the ground of living separate and apart without any cohabitation

virGiNiA: iN THe circUiT coUrT For THe coUNTY oF HANover SANDY SMiTH DorSeY, Plaintiff v. LAMoNT DorSeY, Defendant. case No.: cL24002222-00 orDer oF PUBLicATioN

The object of this suit is to obtain a divorce from the bond of matrimony from the defendant on the ground of living separate and apart without any cohabitation and without interruption for a period exceeding twelve months.

It is ORDERED that the defendant, whose whereabouts are unknown, appear here on or before the 10th day of September, 2024 at 9:00 AM and protect his interests. A Copy, Teste: FRANK D. HARGROVE, JR., Clerk I ask for this: Law Office of Dorothy M. Eure, P.C. Dorothy M. Eure, Plaintiff’s Attorney VSB# 27724 8460 Mount Eagle Road Ashland, VA 23005 (804) 798-9667

ProPerTY

virGiNiA: iN THe

The object of this suit is to sell a certain parcel of real property situated in the City of Richmond, being originally owned by Jordan Austin more particularly described as follows: ALL that certain lot, piece or parcel of land with all improvements thereon and appurtenances thereunto belonging, lying and being in the City of Richmond, formerly Chesterfield County, Virginia, containing 3.471 acres as shown on plat of survey by Townes Consulting Engineers, Planners and Land Surveyors, dated April 1, 2022 entitled “Plat Showing Physical Improvements of 2115 Broad Rock Blvd for Quality Life of Virginia, LLC”, a copy of which is attached hereto and recorded herewith and to which plat reference is made for a more particular description of the property conveyed.

BEING the same real estate conveyed to Jordan Austin, by Deeds from Mary B. Lipscombe, dated May 15, 1877, recorded November 17, 1877, in the Clerk’s Office, Circuit Court, Chesterfield County, Virginia, in Deed Book 60, page 366. Also, by Deed from Mary B. Lipscombe, dated May 23, 1880, recorded December 10, 1888, in the Clerk’s Office, Circuit Court, Chesterfield County, Virginia, in Deed Book 77, page 43. The said Jordan Austin died intestate and was survived by Wilson Austin, Booker Austin, Preston Austin, Ella Austin, now known as Ella Parks, and Sophia Austin, now known as Sophia Harris. The said Wilson Austin died intestate and is survived by Maude Austin. The said Booker Austin died intestate and is survived by Ruth Austin, Robert Austin, Bettie Austin, now known as Bettie Archer and Beatrice Austin, now known as Beatrice Lawson. The said Ruth Austin died on October 19, 1918 intestate and is survived by Willie Archer, Lillie May Archer and Dallas Archer.

Subsequently Maude Austin, unmarried, Ella Parks and Fred Parks, husband and wife, Bettie Archer and Kimmie Archer, husband and wife, Ruth Archer and Willie Archer, husband and wife, Beatrice Lawson and Aaron Lawson, husband and wife, Preston and his wife, and Robert Austin conveyed the aforesaid property to Sophia Harris, by Deed dated October 2, 1920, recorded February 3, 1920, in the Clerk’s Office, Circuit Court, Chesterfield County, Virginia, in Deed Book 162, page 225. The said Sophia Harris, also known as Sophia Austin Harris, formerly known as Sophia Austin, died February 21, 1952, intestate and per List of Heirs recorded in Will Book 70, page 547 and Will Instrument Number 08-1073, is survived by Nelson H. Harris, also known as Nelson Herbert Harris, Sr. The said Nelson Herbert Harris, also known as Nelson Herbert Harris, Sr., aka Nelson H. Harris, died June 24, 1991, intestate and per List of Heirs recorded in Will Instrument Number 06-626, left his wife, Gila Swayze Harris. The said Gila Swayze Harris, also known as Gila S. Harris died September 29, 1997, testate, with her Will recorded in Will Instrument Number 06-625 leaving the rest and residue of her estate to her three children Nelson H. Harris, Jr., John Jerome Harris, Sr. and Gila Swayzene Harris, share and share alike. The said Nelson H. Harris, Jr. predeceased the said Gila Swayze Harris, having died in 1995. The heirs of Nelson H. Harris, Jr., namely Karl Jerome Harris and Elizabeth Harris, may have an interest in the property by deed, by inheritance or by duly recorded liens. The unknown heirs, devisees, and/or successors in title to William E. Archer and other parties unknown, 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 Karl Jerome Harris and Elizabeth Harris and Unknow Heirs of William E. Archer, if then living or if dead, their heirs, devisees, assigns, or successors in title, and other unknown heirs or parties who have an interest in the subject matter of this suit, who are proceeded against as UNKNOWN HEIRS OF William E. Archer, and PA r T ie S UNKN o WN

appear before Court on or before October 7, 2024 at 9:00 a.m. to protect their interests, if any, in this suit.

TESTE: Edward F. Jewett., Clerk By /s/ Curtis D. Gordon, Esquire, V.S.B. #25325 Dankos, Gordon & Tucker, P.C. 1360 E. Parham Road, Suite 200 Richmond, Virginia 23228 Telephone: (804) 377-7421 Facsimile:

AP Photo/Sam Hodde, File

Mike Tyson, left, and Jake Paul face off during a May 16 news conference promoting their upcoming boxing bout, now scheduled for Nov. 15.