As you leave Richmond and head an hour southwest into Amelia County, the city fades and the noise dims. Confederate flags snap in the wind, Trump banners hang from homes and watchful eyes follow strangers through small towns. For some, the quiet brings a feeling of calm, but for many Black passersby, it also brings unease — and a nervous hope that they have a full gas tank.
Urban farmer Duron Chavis hopes it may soon also bring a sense of belonging and regeneration for a community of Black farmers.
Chavis, who manages several
prominent urban farms, orchards and green spaces in Richmond, is the board chairman of Central Virginia Agrarian Commons, a new nonprofit working to strengthen the region’s food systems by turning land over to Black farmers.
Two years ago, the organization received an 80-acre land donation as a form of reparations from white Amelia County residents Callie and Dan Walker. Now, Chavis is working with the couple to turn their family land into a refuge for Black farmers and other farmers of color.
The property, a portion of which currently serves as a family farm, will eventually become a multi-functional space where Black farmers can live,
work and grow their agricultural enterprises — without needing to go into debt.
The CVAC has launched farm incubation programs in Richmond and Petersburg that will enable emerging Black farmers to move onto bigger projects on the Amelia County land, where they can access low-cost or free land leases as well as farming equipment.
“You got to be in a mindset that this is not just for my generation,” Chavis said. “How we’re trying to set this up is that this is going to be a move that will elevate generations to come. That
Carpenter sworn in as Chesterfield’s first African American police chief
By George Copeland Jr.
Chesterfield County swore in its first African American police chief Tuesday, as Edward F. “Frank” Carpenter Jr. was sworn in during a ceremony at the Beulah Recreation Center.
The event officially recognized Carpenter’s new role, with county leaders, officials and law enforcement in attendance. However, he already has been serving in the position for the past two weeks, following his announcement as chief on Oct. 30. So far, he has described the experience as positive.
“I’ve been treated, both internally and externally, so overwhelmingly with support,”
he said. Carpenter’s selection marks the latest milestone in his nearly 25-year career with the CCPD. He now leads an organization of more than 500 sworn officers and over 100 civilian staff. Carpenter, a Charlottesville native, is the ninth chief in the department’s history, which was founded in 1914. He is married with two children and graduated from the University of Virginia with a master’s in public safety and from the FBI National Academy in Quantico. Carpenter said his approach as chief is defined in large part by the groundwork laid by CCPD, its leaders and community partners over the years.
Botanical Garden employees hope union blooms
By Nick Caffacus VCU Capital News Service
The workers at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden filed for union representation last month amid employee-voiced workplace concerns, which range from lack of equipment to safety policies.
The garden, which spans over 82 acres in Henrico County, has won national accolades as a destination. The Dominion Energy GardenFest of Lights was ranked first in USAToday’s top 10 botanical garden light show list last year.
The garden employs about 60 workers eligible to unionize, but also relies on an extensive volunteer network. Employees from multiple departments at the botanical garden, including horticulture, education and operations, expressed concern that their voices and suggestions are not being heard by their management.
While specific examples were given
Health, the city, and developer Capital City Partners LLC signed a lease agreement for a $325 million development project at the location. The agreement included plans to build a facility with
during interviews, employees requested they not be published in detail over fear of retaliation.
The workers, under the group name LGBG Workers United, officially began the process of unionization with the National Labor Relations Board in October, according to their Instagram page.
Lewis Ginter employees initiated a relationship with the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, or IAM. The association was founded in 1888 and historically represented machinists. Since then, it has expanded to include other professions such as architects, library workers and yoga instructors, according to Bridget Fitzgerald, an IAM union organizer.
Lewis Ginter would be the only garden it represents, but not the only garden to unionize. Portland Japanese Garden employees in Oregon unionized earlier this year.
This includes moving away from a heavy officer presence throughout the county and toward strategies like crime prevention through education, collaboration, providing resources and other methods of public engagement. Carpenter made clear that CCPD operations will continue
Julianne Tripp Hillian/Richmond Free Press
An empty lot at 500 N. 10th St., the site of the former
Londyn Jackson, 14, celebrates with her sister, Sydney Jackson, 10, after crossing the finish line of the VCU Health Richmond 8K on Saturday, Nov. 16. Londyn finished with a time of 45:32, earning a top spot in her age group.
By Barry Greene Jr.
Julianne Tripp Hillian/Richmond Free Press
Col. Edward F. Carpenter Jr., is sworn in as Chesterfield’s ninth police chief Nov. 19 at the Beulah Recreation Center.
Nick Caffacus/VCU Capital News Service
The entrance to Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden as seen on Nov. 18.
Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press
Urban farmer Duron Chavis at the Bensley Agrihood Service Day on June 23.
Cityscape
Slices of life and scenes in Richmond
The City of Richmond Department of Public Works recently announced a citywide “blitz” to replace worn traffic signs and install stop bars. This initiative is part of the City’s ongoing work to create safer streets for all users. Weather permitting, these projects are expected to be completed this winter.
For the week ending Saturday, Nov. 16, COVID-19 accounted for 0.4% of all emergency department visits in Virginia, with overall respiratory illness levels remaining stable compared to previous data. No deaths related to COVID-19 were reported during that period at the time of publication. Data on COVID-19 wastewater trends were unavailable for Richmond and Henrico counties as of the most recent sample collection week, which ended Sunday, Nov. 10.
The Richmond and Henrico County health districts are offering testing at the following locations:
• Thursday, Nov. 21, 2 to 4:30 p.m. - Calvary United Methodist Church, 1637 Williamsburg Road
• Friday, Nov. 22, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. - Southside Woman, Infants and Children Office, 509 E. Southside Plaza
• Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2 to 4:30 p.m. - St. Luke’s Apartments, 117 Engleside Drive
RHHD’s Resource Centers are providing free at-home tests for pickup at select locations:
• Creighton Court at 2150 Creighton Road, call 804-371-0433.
• 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 Virginia Department of Health testing locations, visit vdh. virginia.gov. Additional testing site information can be found at vax.rchd.com.
Want a COVID-19 vaccine?
Individuals interested in receiving the COVID-19 vaccine can schedule an appointment with the Richmond and Henrico health districts by calling (804) 205-3501. Additionally, vaccines.gov provides a list of pharmacies and clinics offering the vaccine. You also can find locations by texting your ZIP code to 438829 or calling 1-800-232-0233.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention offers a vaccine locator at vaccines.gov. Residents also can order four free at-home COVID test kits at covidtest.gov, while supplies last. The CDC recommends the latest COVID-19 vaccine for everyone age 6 months and older. Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines are approved for ages 6 months and up, while Novavax is for those 12 and older.
These updated vaccines are now available at pharmacies and health care providers. Health officials encourage eligible individuals to get their boosters.
For those who received previous doses, the CDC advises waiting at least two months before getting the new vaccine. However, exceptions exist for people completing an initial vaccination series, immunocompromised individuals, those who recently had COVID-19 and individuals receiving an initial series of Novavax doses. Compiled by George Copeland Jr.
Judge deems Youngkin’s actions to withdraw from RGGI ‘unlawful’
By Charlie Paullin
Floyd County Circuit Court Judge
Randall Lowe determined Wednesday that Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin acted unlawfully by withdrawing Virginia from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a program to reduce climate changing emissions that has funneled hundreds of millions to the state to deal with the impact of extreme weather events.
In his five-page opinion, Lowe wrote that “the only body with the authority to repeal the RGGI regulation would be the General Assembly. This is because a statute, the RGGI Act, requires the RGGI regulation to exist.”
“For the reasons set out in this opinion, the court finds that the attempted repeal of the RGGI Regulation is unlawful, and thereby null and void,” Lowe wrote.
The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative is a multi-state program in which electricity producers in participating states are required to buy allowances for the emissions they produce.
The proceeds from the allowances are returned to the states, where, in Virginia, about $830 million had been generated for programs increasing flood resiliency and energy efficiency efforts.
In Virginia, utilities are allowed to recover the costs of those allowances from ratepayers, which prompted Youngkin to call the program a “hidden tax.” In the fall of 2022, Youngkin began the process of repealing the regulation through the State Air Pollution Control Board, and the board approved Virginia’s withdrawal from RGGI in August 2023.
Environmental groups and Democratic lawmakers repeatedly said the withdrawal was unlawful and hurt Virginians.
“This is a win for communities across Virginia who have benefited from the state’s participation in RGGI in the past and those that now will have a chance to continue to see those benefits,” Weitzenfeld said. In response to Lowe’s determination, Christian Martinez, Youngkin’s press secretary said, “We respectfully disagree with the judge’s decision and will pursue an appeal.”
“Gov. Youngkin remains committed to lowering the cost of living for Virginians by continuing to oppose the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, which fails to effectively incentivize emission reductions in the Commonwealth,” Martinez said. “Instead, it functions as a regressive tax, hidden in utility bills passed on to all Virginians.”
This story originally appeared at virginiamercury.com.
Billy Weitzenfeld, the former executive director of the Association of Energy Conservation Professionals said in a statement, “All along we knew that the actions taken by the Air Board and DEQ were wrong.” His group, which filed the challenge over the repeal, was granted standing in the case by Lowe because the repeal of the regulation meant the association was injured by losing a source of revenue to carry out their energy efficiency work.
Homeownership dream becomes reality with Richmond Habitat
Free Press staff report
For Najiyyah Abdullah, a child development services specialist and mother of five, owning a home has always been a dream. On Tuesday, Nov. 12, that dream came true as Richmond Habitat for Humanity dedicated its 394th home to her family. Abdullah, who currently shares a twobedroom apartment with her children—two of whom have autism—said the new house will be life-changing. The single-story home, complete with a fenced yard, will provide the space and security her family needs.
“I’m just very, very grateful and appreciate everyone… and I’m very excited!” Abdullah said.
The home, built through Richmond Habitat’s Women Build program, is the result of 4,145 volunteer hours contributed by 461 volunteers. The project also celebrated a milestone, marking 10 years of empowering women in construction.
CodeVA shifts to remote operations, closes Downtown office
By Brodie Greene
CodeVA, a Richmond-based nonprofit, that provides students across Virginia with computer science education through classes and coding events, closed its Downtown office last Friday. They hosted an “open door clean-out,” selling various educational supplies and craft materials.
Nichole Wescott, director of advancement for CodeVA, said the organization is going primarily remote, but will continue to host camps and trainings around the city.
“We have secured a space to host camps and training as needed in the Richmond area,” Wescott stated.
Over the years, CodeVA hosted computer science summer camps, often working with income-qualified students and occasionally offering free summer camps. In May of this year, Executive Director Tina Manglicmot announced the organization was suspending their summer programs.
“To better ensure the longevity of our organization, we made some painful decisions to reduce our financial obligations while we reorganized and restructured our work,” Manglicmot stated.
Since closing their Downtown location, the organization has moved to the Lynnhaven School in Henrico. According to Manglicmot, the move was for financial reasons.
“The amount of funding we were receiving was not nearly covering the costs, and so CodeVA was about to get in the red.”
The organization shifted its business model in order to operate within its means, according to Manglicmot. The company had to cut staffing costs by 57%, rent and storage costs by 85%, and other resources by 40%.
Despite these changes, the organization’s mission has not changed, according to Manglicmot.
“We’re continuously developing curriculum or continuously working with teachers implementing computer science into their classrooms. That’s something that we have not stopped,” Manglicmot said.
CodeVA intends to expand their statewide impact by developing a computer science curriculum that will be provided for free to out-of-school providers.
“We want to partner with out-of-school time providers. We want to deliver the
curriculum to them for free, but we’ll train their providers and we’ll train them on how to implement that curriculum,” Manglicmot said.
Due to a staffing shortage and lack of funds, CodeVA currently only does classes upon request. The decision to share resources with out-of-school providers allows CodeVA to deliver on their mission of providing computer science education without the concerns of staffing the lessons, according to Manglicmot.
“So what we’re trying to do is build that curriculum and use other people’s spaces, other people’s manpower in order to deliver coding and STEM activities across the state,” Manglicmot said.
One of the first out-of-school providers to receive this curriculum will be the Tuckahoe YMCA in the summer of 2025. After the launch of the new program in Tuckahoe, CodeVA plans to partner with out-of-school programs across the state and provide them with educational materials to implement the curriculum.
“So therefore it reaches everywhere, and it doesn’t just reach one locality,” Manglicmot said.
Free community testing for COVID-19 continues
Julianne Tripp Hillian/Richmond Free Press
Courtesy Richmond Metropolitan Habitat for Humanity
Najiyyah Abdullah and her family stand on the porch of their new home, built through Richmond Habitat for Humanity’s Women Build program. The house, dedicated on Nov. 12, marks Richmond Habitat’s 394th home.
Julieanne Tripp Hillian/Richmond Free Press
CodeVA, a Richmond-based nonprofit focused on computer science education, has closed its Broad Street office. On Friday, Nov. 15, the organization hosted an open clean-out offering items such as shelving, craft materials, tables, chairs and educational supplies.
File photo
Gov. Youngkin
Daughters of Malcolm X sue CIA, FBI and NYPD over his assassination
By LARRY Neumeister The Associated Press
Three daughters of Malcolm X have accused the CIA, FBI, the New York Police Department and others in a $100 million lawsuit Friday of playing roles in the 1965 assassination of the civil rights leader.
In the lawsuit filed in Manhattan federal court, the daughters — along with the Malcolm X estate — claimed that the agencies were aware of and were involved in the assassination plot and failed to stop the killing.
At a morning news conference, attorney Ben Crump stood with family members as he described the lawsuit, saying he hoped federal and city officials would read it “and learn all the dastardly deeds that were done by their predecessors and try to right these historic wrongs.”
The NYPD and CIA did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Nicholas Biase, a spokesperson for the Department of Justice, which also was sued, declined comment. The FBI said in an email that it was its “standard practice” not to comment on litigation.
For decades, more questions than answers have arisen over who was to blame for the death of Malcolm X, who was 39 years old when he was slain on Feb. 21, 1965, at the Audubon Ballroom on West 165th Street in Manhattan as he spoke to several hundred people. Born Malcolm Little in Omaha, Neb., Malcolm X later changed his
name to El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz.
Three men were convicted of crimes in his death but two of them were exonerated in 2021 after investigators took a fresh look at the case and concluded some evidence was shaky and authorities had held back some information.
In the lawsuit, the family said the prosecution team suppressed the government’s role in the assassination.
The lawsuit alleges that there was a “corrupt, unlawful, and unconstitutional” relationship between law enforcement and “ruthless killers that went unchecked for many years and was actively concealed, condoned, protected, and facilitated by government agents,” leading up to the murder of Malcolm X.
According to the lawsuit, the NYPD, coordinating with federal law enforcement agencies, arrested the activist’s security detail days before the assassination and intentionally removed their officers from inside the ballroom where Malcolm X was killed. Meanwhile, it adds, federal agencies had personnel, including undercover agents, in the ballroom but failed to protect him.
The lawsuit was not brought sooner because the defendants withheld information from the family, including the identities of undercover “informants, agents and provocateurs” and what they knew about the planning that preceded the attack.
Malcolm X’s wife, the late Betty Shabazz, the plaintiffs, “and their entire family have
suffered the pain of the unknown” for decades, the lawsuit states.
“They did not know who murdered Malcolm X, why he was murdered, the level of NYPD, FBI and CIA orchestration, the identity of the governmental agents who conspired to ensure
his demise, or who fraudulently covered-up their role,” it states. “The damage caused to the Shabazz family is unimaginable, immense, and irreparable.”
The family announced its intention to sue the law enforcement agencies early last year.
Time reclaimed
Paula D. Royster, left, and Sandra Brownlee discuss the results of an exploration into Brownlee’s lineage last Saturday at Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School. Brownlee was one of several Richmond area residents whose ancestry was researched as part of “Reclaiming Our Time,”,an ongoing project to reveal the histories and DNA ancestry of participants, with a major focus on Richmond’s public housing communities.
The event also included a three-person drum circle and ceremonial weddings for ancestors whose marriages went unrecognized by law.
Medicare plans change every year, so can your health. Visit Medicare.gov to see all your options side by side and compare coverage, costs, and quality ratings.
New in 2025, all Medicare plans will include a $2,000 cap on what you pay out of pocket for covered prescription drugs.
The cap only applies to drugs that are covered by your plan, so it’s more important than ever to review your plan options to make sure your drugs are covered.
If you are struggling with your prescription drug costs, Extra Help is a Medicare program that can help pay for your drug coverage (Part D) premiums, deductibles, and other out-of-pocket costs. If you make less than $23,000 a year, it’s worth it to apply. Visit ssa.gov/extrahelp to complete an application.
AP Photo, File
Malcolm X speaks to reporters, May 16, 1963, in Washington, D.C.
George Copeland Jr./Richmond Free Press
White couple donates 80 acres to Black farmers
Continued from A1
takes perseverance, but it also takes having a big imagination.”
‘Straight up’ reparations
In 1790, Amelia County had Virginia’s largest population of enslaved Africans, with its 11,790 slaves making up 62% of the county’s total population, according to the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research.
The daughter of an Amelia County cattle farmer, Callie suspects her ancestors were slaveholders, though she hasn’t researched her ancestry to confirm it. “There was wealth on my mother’s side, and land on my father’s side,” she says. What she knows for certain is that the land had a plantation home on it until the 1960s, when her father bought the property and dismantled the house.
The Walkers are working with the local NAACP to find descendants of those enslaved on the plantation that was once there. “We’ve found plenty of descendants, but so far, no farmers,” she says.
On leave from her role as a United Methodist pastor, Callie now spends most of her time and energy on community volunteerism and growing food for her household. With her husband continuing to work as a pastor, and the couple owning their home, the arrangement works.
With no children to inherit her family land, she says, the couple was in a rare position to donate the land to advance their faith-based passion for environmentalism and interracial healing.
Initially, the couple wanted to use the land to “build an interracial community” through farming. But after learning about the history of Black land loss and encountering Chavis’ Black liberation and food justice work, the Walkers chose a different route.
“We said, ‘Wait, we just want to straight up use it as an act of reparations,’” says Callie, who also serves on the CVAC board. Callie first encountered Chavis’ work in 2012, when he spoke at the Virginia Association for Biological Farming’s annual conference. Eight years later, at the same conference, they met in the hallway after a workshop on land justice and began talking. In 2014, the pair worked with several other urban and rural farmers to launch CVAC.
Carpenter sworn in as Chesterfield’s first Black police chief
as it has under previous police chiefs, including a case-by-case policy on how body camera footage is handled and keeping information on employee’s names and salaries hidden to ensure its undercover work can continue.
Despite the controversy and legal challenges some of these policies have garnered, Carpenter said transparency and accountability is a priority for CCPD.
The chief identified vehicle-related crimes and pedestrian safety as key challenges to address in 2025, with solutions focused on community education, resources and infrastructure improvements. Public school safety along with officer recruitment and retention also remain ongoing concerns.
Carpenter has emphasized that he does not want his tenure as CCPD chief to be defined solely by being the first AfricanAmerican to attain the rank. Instead, he believes his “diversity of thought” and commitment to service are the unique qualities he brings to the department and the community.
“The bottom line is, I care and I want to serve the community and it doesn’t really matter, the color of my skin,” he said. “It is significant, but I don’t want it to overshadow the work that still needs to be done.”
City officials seek mediation with VCU Health over scrapped redevelopment
Continued from A1
office space, retail areas and parking, alongside a commitment to pay $617 million in rent over 25 years.
VCUHS halted the project in 2022 before construction began, with site conditions and increased construction costs cited in a report from the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission among the obstacles they faced.
VCUHS paid almost $80 million to developers and investors, and to demolish the old building, when it exited the project in February last year. City Council authorized the public safety building’s demolition in late June 2023 and it was completed in August this year.
“While [the project plans] were well intentioned, by late 2021 construction and other challenges made it simply impossible to build the original project,” Marlon Levy said in a statement following the project’s end. “Moving forward today would cause dire long-term financial repercussions.”
VCU and VCU Health have until Friday, Dec. 6, to notify the City if they intend to resolve the matter through a “mutually agreeable” mediator.
“We received the letter today and look forward to reviewing it,” said Grant Heston, vice president of Enterprise Marketing and Communications at VCU and VCU Health when asked for a response.
In September 2022, after looking into Amelia County’s zoning codes, the Walkers signed a deed of gift drafted by Agrarian Trust, an Oregon-based national land trust working to advance collective land ownership and stewardship through multiracial coalitions. The deed allowed the CVAC to take complete ownership of the land. The Walkers retained 20 acres— including their home — to potentially develop affordable retirement housing.
Since the transfer, CVAC has worked with a design architect to develop a plan for buildings on the land. Agrarian Trust has begun fundraising to support the construction of the first residence on the land.
In the meantime, the CVAC has maintained an arrangement with her family to graze beef cattle on its pastures. “The land has been a beef cattle farm for over 50 years, and also had a 30-year crop of pines that was harvested in 2016, and about 30 acres of hardwoods that will hopefully stand for decades to come,” Callie says.
Providing safe spaces for Black farmers to connect is especially important in rural areas, where Black farmers can often face hostility and isolation, Chavis says.
“The idea is that we need a place where people can converge, commune,” he says. “Multiple dorm rooms, kitchen, conference area and then people can radiate out from there into their farm enterprise. They’ll have a place that they can stay while they’re farming on the property.”
A long history of Black land loss
While government leaders, academics and activists debate endlessly over the question of financial compensation for descendants of enslaved Africans, the Walkers’ land transfer is part of a growing trend of white landowners engaging in reparative land donations.
The Northeast Farmers of Color Land Trust, led by Soul Fire Farm in upstate New York, calls on landowners to donate land to be farmed by people of color. Across the U.S., the National Black Food and Justice Alliance is coordinating a reparative effort to reclaim land for Black farmers and secure food sovereignty for marginalized communities.
“[One study] said that 98% of all farmable land is owned by white people,” Dan tells Next City, referencing a 2002 analysis
as he explains his motivation for the land transfer. “Some white people own over a million acres of farmland. We know we can feed people off of very small acreages, but that was just so out of whack, that just blew my mind.”
Black farmers have long faced systemic barriers to land ownership and retention. At the height of Black land ownership in 1910, Black farmers owned 14% of the nation’s farmland– more than 16 million acres – an incredible feat less than five decades after slavery was outlawed.
After the Civil War, newly emancipated Black Americans faced economic and social challenges that made land ownership almost impossible. Many were forced into sharecropping or tenant farming or were pushed off their land altogether. By 1997, Black farmers lost an estimated 90% of that land through lynchings, predatory lending, deceptive legal practices and legal barriers around inheritance.
Today, less than 1% of U.S. farmland is owned by Black farmers. Per one “conservative” estimate, Black farmers in the United States lost at least $326 billion worth of land during the 20th century.
The Walkers encourage other landowners in privileged positions to follow their model. “The first step is just to decide to do it,” Callie says. “Just decide you want to do it, become open, and some relationships are going to start forming. You don’t have to know all the details.”
Callie adds that those leading justice-oriented efforts often don’t have the bandwidth to guide donors through the decisionmaking process. That makes it important for would-be donors to make a firm decision about their intention — and then let your recipients decide the details.
“People who are doing the work that Duron is doing, people who are doing activist and community organizing work … they are busy,” she says. “They don’t have time for people who are trying to figure out what they want to do.”
This story was originally published on Next City, a nonprofit news organization that unleashes the power of solutions journalism to transform communities and VPM News, Virginia’s home for public media, for their joint Equitable Cities Reporting Fellowship For Reparations Narratives. Visit them online at nextcity.org and vpm.org.
Garden employees hope union blooms
Continued from A1
Lewis Ginter employees reached out to various unions over the summer but did not receive any responses until hearing from IAM, Fitzgerald said.
“There isn’t a union for every single profession,” Fitzgerald said. “And as I said, we have looked for opportunities to help workers where we can and when we can.”
Fitzgerald thought it made sense for IAM to potentially represent workers from the garden, partially because one of the oldest local IAM lodges is based in Richmond.
Staff must show that at least 30% of its workforce is interested to begin union proceedings, according to the labor board. This is usually determined by a petition or authorization cards. A secret-ballot election is then held by the workers to officially call for union representation, requiring a simple majority to pass.
The garden workers plan to hold their election on Nov. 21, according to Fitzgerald. If successful, the union representatives elected by the workers and the company management would be legally bound to negotiate employment terms in good faith.
Garden Employees Want a Voice
These collective bargaining negotiations often tackle wage adjustments, overtime benefits and improvements to working conditions.
The efforts to unionize have bolstered employee morale and caused increasing comradery among the different departments according to Eryn Boyle, who has worked at the garden for just over a year.
“I personally feel a lot more empowered, because for a while I was feeling very hopeless and stuck,” Boyle said. “The people feel like they’re making a difference and want to stay here, and want to make things better and see it through.”
At least five employees expressed a great love for their jobs and a desire to see the garden succeed and grow. They are proud of the work they do, even if they consider their job conditions to be less than ideal.
“I love my job, and it’s what I’ve studied and what I want to do with my life,” said Clare Reines, a horticulturist at Lewis Ginter. “I love working at the botanical garden because I can combine art with plants.”
Some garden workers are unsure about joining a union, but the group spearheading the push believes unionization is the best thing for employees, including management. They said it will allow them more of a voice when future decisions are made.
Garden Management Response
The initial email response from the garden’s management stated that a union representative could come between managers and the workers, according to Boyle. Representatives from Lewis Ginter management declined to answer questions, but referred to an official statement.
The statement reads: “We cannot comment on the union’s petition at this time out of respect for the rights of everyone involved and the legal process. What we can convey is that Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden values employees for their individual talents and skills. We are pro-employee and work with staff individually and personally. That is why the majority of our operating budget is dedicated to employees in the form of increased funding for professional development, increased benefits and raises each of the last four years ranging from 3-7%. As an independent, non-profit organization that is wholly dependent on donors and operational revenue, the work of the Garden staff is unique and essential to maintaining a destination that is open to the public throughout the year.”
The garden has hired a union-dissuading
agency in an attempt to dissuade workers from voting in favor of the union, according to Fitzgerald. He pointed out the contrast between a company which says it cannot pay its workers more, but then hires potentially expensive anti-union representation.
Lewis Ginter management did not respond to a follow-up email about the firm it hired.
“It’s [employee] labor that makes this place the very tranquil environment that it is,” Fitzgerald said. “They’ve got ideas, they’ve got suggestions.” Fitzgerald encouraged members of the Richmond community who support worker efforts to voice their support while enjoying the attractions of the garden.
Union Growth Increases in Virginia Arborists at TrueTimber, a tree care company based in Richmond, voted to join IAM this summer. Their vote to unionize passed despite efforts by management to prevent it. The company hired a unionbusting firm after pulling the plug on a promise to pass ownership to the employees, according to IAM.
Union membership in Virginia increased from 3.7% to 4.3% between 2022 and 2023, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Median union wages were 15% higher than nonunion wages, according to data from the same report. National union membership numbers showed little change over that timeframe.
Noah Dalbey, another Lewis Ginter worker in the operations department, said unionization isn’t the extreme change some believe it to be.
“The way the consultants are framing it is they’re kind of trying to make it seem like we’re trying to go for some big radical change that is going to change everything at the garden,” Dalbey said. “All we want is a chance to have a say … to change our workplace.”
Nick Caffacus/VCU Capital News Service
Christmas decorations adorn the front of the E. Claiborne Robins Visitor Center, where guests of Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden can purchase tickets.
Julianne Tripp Hillian/Richmond Free Press
Col. Edward F. Carpenter Jr. gives remarks after being sworn in as the Chesterfield County Police Department’s ninth police chief.
Virginia Housing launches $75M workforce housing program
Free Press staff report
Virginia Housing has announced a new $75 million Workforce Housing Investment Program to expand housing options for middle income workers in areas experiencing job growth.
The five-year initiative will provide grants, loans and subsidies to local governments, nonprofit and economic and industrial development authorities to accelerate housing development.
“This new, flexible program allows us to magnify our collective impact by partnering directly with communities that need assistance for middle income workers,” said Tammy Neale, CEO of Virginia Housing.
Gov. Glenn Youngkin unveiled the program during his address
LEGAL NOTICENOTICE
to more than 1,200 housing advocates at the annual Governor’s Housing Conference in Virginia Beach, highlighting its role in addressing the state’s growing housing demand.
“With record employer relocations and expansions in the Commonwealth, over $85 billion in capital investment, nearly 250,000 jobs created, and a reversal of recent trends on net-out migration, it is clear that Virginia is growing and we need to make sure the supply of housing can meet our surging demand,” Youngkin said.
Virginia Housing plans to allocate $15 million annually for the program, targeting individuals and families earning 80% to 120% of the Area Median Income (AMI), with flexibility for rural areas where AMI limits may rise to 150%.
Awards of up to $3 million will support communities near new or expanding businesses, with up to $5 million available for transformational projects creating 500 or more jobs. The $15 million investment is expected to leverage $100 million in Virginia Housing financing and $150 million in total development costs.
Applications will be evaluated by Virginia Housing, the Virginia Economic Development Partnership, and the Department of Housing and Community Development, with awards announced by June 30, 2025.
Virginia Housing will host a webinar at 2 p.m. Dec. 17 for more information. Registration details are available at VirginiaHousing.com.
NOTICE TO THE PUBLIC OF RENEWABLE PORTFOLIO STANDARD (RPS) FILING BY VIRGINIA ELECTRIC AND POWER COMPANY D/B/A DOMINION ENERGY VIRGINIA CASE NO. PUR-2024-00147
During its 2020 Session, the Virginia General Assembly enacted Chapters 1193 (HB 1526) and 1194 (SB 851) of the 2020 Virginia Acts of Assembly. These duplicate Acts of Assembly, known as the Virginia Clean Economy Act (“VCEA”), became effective on July 1, 2020. The VCEA, inter alia, establishes a mandatory renewable energy portfolio standard (“RPS”) program (“RPS Program”) for Virginia Electric and Power Company (“Dominion” or “Company”) in § 56-585.5 of the Code of Virginia (“Code”). Subdivision D 4 of Code § 56-585.5 requires Dominion to submit annually to the State Corporation Commission (“Commission”) plans and petitions for approval of new solar and onshore wind generation capacity (“RPS Filing”). The Commission must determine whether the RPS Filing is reasonable and prudent, giving due consideration to the following factors: (i) the RPS and carbon dioxide reduction requirements in Code § 56-585.5, (ii) the promotion of new renewable generation and energy storage resources within the Commonwealth, and associated economic development, and (iii) fuel savings projected to be achieved by the plan.
On October 15, 2024, Dominion submitted its annual RPS Filing to the Commission (“2024 RPS Filing” or “Petition”). The 2024 RPS Filing requests that the Commission: (i) Approve the Company’s annual plan for the development of new solar, onshore wind, and energy storage resources (“RPS Development Plan”) in connection with the mandatory RPS Program pursuant to Code § 56-585.5 D 4;
(ii) Grant certificates of public convenience and necessity (“CPCNs”) and approval to construct and operate two utility-scale projects totaling approximately 208 megawatts (“MW”) (“CE-5 Projects”) of solar pursuant to Code § 56-580 D;
(iii) Make a prudence determination for the Company to enter into 24 power purchase agreements (“PPAs”) for solar and energy storage resources totaling approximately 588.4 MW of solar and 377 MW of energy storage (“CE-5 PPAs”) pursuant to Code § 56585.1:4;
(iv) Approve to recover through the Rider CE rate adjustment clause the costs of (a) the CE-5 Projects and related interconnection facilities, (b) two distributed solar projects totaling approximately 6 MW and related interconnection facilities (“CE-5 Distributed Solar Projects”), and (c) the CE-5 PPAs, pursuant to Code §§ 56-585.1 A 5 and A 6; and
(v) Approve an update to Rider CE for recovery of costs associated with the previously approved CE-1, CE-2, CE-3 and CE-4 projects, the CE-2 and CE-3 distributed solar projects, and related interconnection facilities; and the costs associated with the CE-1, CE-2, CE-3, and CE-4 PPAs previously approved by the Commission.
RPS Development Plan
Dominion states that its RPS Development Plan reports on the Company’s progress toward meeting the solar, onshore wind, and energy storage development targets outlined in the VCEA and presents the Company’s development plan for solar, onshore wind, and energy storage facilities through 2035. The Company’s RPS Development Plan calls for additional investment in solar, onshore wind, and energy storage through 2035.
The Company also provides a consolidated bill analysis calculating the projected monthly bill through 2039 for residential, small general service, and large general service customers for each of the four primary portfolios presented in the Company’s 2024 Integrated Resource Plan (“2024 IRP”). According to Dominion, the VCEA with Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) Portfolio from the 2024 IRP is consistent with the 2024 RPS Development Plan. Using the methodology approved by the Commission in Case No. PUR-2020-00134 and the VCEA with EPA Portfolio, RPS Program related resources, including new nuclear modular reactors, are projected to increase the monthly bill for a Virginia residential customer using 1,000 kilowatt hours (“kWh”) per month in 2039 by $88.66 compared to the May 1, 2020 level of $116.18. The Company’s bill projections are not final, and all customer rates are subject to regulatory approval.
Further, the Company also presents its 2023 RPS Program Compliance Report in the Petition, certifying compliance with the RPS Program for compliance year 2023.
CE-5 Projects
Dominion seeks CPCNs and approval to construct or acquire and operate two utility scale projects totaling approximately 208 MW of solar. The name, size, locality, interconnection, and projected commercial operation date (“COD”) for each of the CE-5 Projects is provided below:
approximately $27.7 million, excluding financing costs, or approximately $4,619 per kW at the total 6 MW rating.
The Company also requests recovery in the present case for costs associated with the development of the Peppertown Solar project presented in the Company’s filing in Case No. PUR-2023-00142, which the Commission did not approve. The Company asserts that the limited development costs were reasonably and prudently incurred in order to develop sufficient detail on the project to allow for a thorough analysis and review by the Commission. Dominion proposes that, if approved, the Peppertown development costs would be recovered in the next RPS Development Plan proceeding as part of the 2024 calendar year true-up for Rider CE.
Dominion asks the Commission to approve revised Rider CE for the rate year beginning May 1, 2025, and ending April 30, 2026 (“Rate Year”). The Company is requesting a total revenue requirement of $181,633,855 for Rider CE for the Rate Year. If the proposed total revenue requirement for the Rate Year is approved, the impact on customer bills would depend on the customer’s rate schedule and usage. According to Dominion, implementation of its revised Rider CE on May 1, 2025, would increase the monthly bill of a residential customer using 1,000 kWh per month by approximately $0.79 when compared to the combined total residential rates in the current Rider CE.
Interested persons are encouraged to review Dominion’s Petition and supporting documents in full for details about the Company’s proposals in this case.
TAKE NOTICE that the Commission may apportion revenues among customer classes and/or design rates in a manner differing from that shown in the Petition and supporting documents and thus may adopt rates that differ from those appearing in the Company’s Petition and supporting documents.
The Commission entered an Order for Notice and Hearing in this proceeding that, among other things, scheduled public hearings on Dominion’s Petition. A hearing for the receipt of testimony from public witnesses on the Company’s Petition shall be convened telephonically at 10 a.m. on February 18, 2025. On or before February 11, 2025, any person desiring to offer testimony as a public witness shall provide to the Commission: (a) your name, and (b) the telephone number that you wish the Commission to call during the hearing to receive your testimony. This information may be provided to the Commission in three ways: (i) by filling out a form on the Commission’s website at scc.virginia.gov/pages/Webcasting; (ii) by completing and emailing the PDF version of this form to SCCInfo@scc.virginia.gov; or (iii) by calling (804) 371-9141. This public witness hearing will be webcast at scc.virginia.gov/pages/Webcasting
Beginning at 10 a.m. on February 18, 2025, the Commission will telephone sequentially each person who has signed up to testify as provided above.
On February 18, 2025, at 10 a.m., or at the conclusion of the public witness portion of the hearing, whichever is later, in the Commission’s second floor courtroom located in the Tyler Building, 1300 East Main Street, Richmond, Virginia 23219, the Commission will convene a hearing to receive testimony and evidence related to the Petition from the Company, any respondents, and the Commission Staff.
To promote administrative efficiency and timely service of filings upon participants, the Commission has directed the electronic filing of testimony and pleadings, unless they contain confidential information, and required electronic service on parties to this proceeding.
An electronic copy of the public version of the Company’s Petition may be obtained by submitting a written request to counsel for the Company: Elaine S. Ryan, Esquire, McGuireWoods LLP, Gateway Plaza, 800 East Canal Street, Richmond, Virginia 23219, or eryan@mcguirewoods.com. Interested persons also may download unofficial copies of the public version of the Petition and other documents filed in this case from the Commission’s website: scc.virginia.gov/pages/Case-Information
On or before February 11, 2025, any interested person may submit comments on the Petition by following the instructions found on the Commission’s website: scc.virginia.gov/ casecomments/Submit-Public-Comments. Those unable, as a practical matter, to submit comments electronically may file such comments by U.S. mail to the Clerk of the State Corporation Commission, c/o Document Control Center, P.O. Box 2118, Richmond, Virginia 23218-2118. All such comments shall refer to Case No. PUR-2024-00147.
The Company asserts that the CE-5 Projects are needed to comply with the VCEA and to serve customers’ capacity and energy needs. According to the Company, the total estimated costs for the CE-5 Projects are approximately $605.0 million, excluding financing costs, or approximately $2,908 per kilowatt (“kW”) at the total 208 MW rating.
CE-5 PPAs
In its 2024 RPS Filing, Dominion also seeks a prudence determination for the CE-5 PPAs. The 24 CE-5 PPAs consist of (i) 11 PPAs for utility-scale solar resources totaling approximately 550.4 MW; (ii) one PPA for a solar plus storage facility totaling 20 MW of solar and 7 MW of storage; (iii) four PPAs for stand-alone energy storage resources totaling approximately 370 MW; and (iv) eight PPAs for distributed solar generating facilities totaling approximately 18 MW.
Dominion asserts that the CE-5 PPAs are needed to comply with the VCEA and to serve customers’ capacity and energy needs.
Rider CE
In this proceeding, Dominion makes two requests related to Rider CE. First, the Company seeks to update Rider CE for the recovery of costs associated with (a) the CE-1, CE-2, CE-3, and CE-4 projects and related interconnection facilities previously approved by the Commission; (b) the CE-2 and CE-3 distributed solar projects and related interconnection facilities previously approved by the Commission; and (c) the CE-1, CE-2, CE-3, and CE-4 PPAs previously approved by the Commission.
Second, Dominion requests recovery through Rider CE of the costs of (a) the CE-5 Projects and related interconnection facilities, (b) the two CE-5 Distributed Solar Projects
On or before December 13, 2024, any person or entity wishing to participate as a respondent in this proceeding may do so by filing a notice of participation with the Clerk of the Commission at scc.virginia.gov/clk/efiling. Those unable, as a practical matter, to file a notice of participation electronically may file such notice by U.S. mail to the Clerk of the Commission at the address listed above. Such notice of participation shall include the email addresses of such parties or their counsel, if available. The respondent simultaneously shall serve a copy of the notice of participation on counsel to the Company at the address listed above. Pursuant to 5 VAC 5-20-80 B, Participation as a respondent, of the Commission’s Rules of Practice and Procedure, 5 VAC 5-20-10 et seq. (“Rules of Practice”), any notice of participation shall set forth: (i) a precise statement of the interest of the respondent; (ii) a statement of the specific action sought to the extent then known; and (iii) the factual and legal basis for the action. Any organization, corporation, or government body participating as a respondent must be represented by counsel as required by 5 VAC 5-20-30, Counsel, of the Rules of Practice. All filings shall refer to Case No. PUR-2024-00147. For additional information about participation as a respondent, any person or entity should obtain a copy of the Commission’s Order for Notice and Hearing.
On or before January 7, 2025, each respondent may file with the Clerk of the Commission, at scc.virginia.gov/clk/efiling, any testimony and exhibits by which the respondent expects to establish its case. Any respondent unable, as a practical matter, to file testimony and exhibits electronically may file such by U.S. mail to the Clerk of the Commission at the address listed above. Each witness’s testimony shall include a summary not to exceed one page. All testimony and exhibits shall be served on the Staff, the Company, and all other respondents simultaneous with their filing. In all filings, respondents shall comply with the Rules of Practice, as modified herein, including, but not limited to: 5 VAC 520140, Filing and service, and 5 VAC 5-20-240, Prepared testimony and exhibits. All filings shall refer to Case No. PUR-2024-00147. Any documents filed in paper form with the Office of the Clerk of the Commission in this docket may use both sides of the paper. In all other respects, except as modified by the Commission’s Order for Notice and Hearing, all filings shall comply fully with the requirements of 5 VAC 5-20-150, Copies and format, of the Rules of Practice.
The public version of the Company’s Petition, the Commission’s Rules of Practice, the Commission’s Order for Notice and Hearing, and other documents filed in the case may be viewed at: scc.virginia.gov/pages/Case-Information
VIRGINIA ELECTRIC AND POWER COMPANY
Richmond Free Press
Editorial Page
November 21-23, 2024
A punch to the ego
After a month of promotion, a rescheduling and a lot of hype, former boxing great Mike Tyson finally stepped into the squared circle to face social media influencer Jake Paul last week. Those hoping for a comeuppance for the loudmouth Youtuber, courtesy of Iron Mike, were disappointed. So was anyone with a Netflix subscription or password who stayed up late and expected to see a competitive contest. Paul, in a lopsided decision defeated the sluggish former champion, later admitting that he took it easy on the 58-year-old after he detected that he was running low on energy midway through the fight.
“Yeah, definitely,” the 27-year-old said to a reporter when asked if he held back during the fight. “Definitely a bit. I wanted to give the fans a show, but I didn’t want to hurt someone that didn’t need to be hurt.”
Tyson’s defeat was viewed as another loss for Black Americans, by some online observers, who compared the fight to the results of the recent election. Perhaps they viewed the loss as yet another talented African American defeated by a marginally talented white man?
A meme of a tearful Kamala Harris being held by a dejected Tyson made the rounds. Which was a little ironic, since Tyson is a Trump supporter.
It’s true that Tyson’s defeat did provoke a degree of sadness among his fans and supporters of a certain age, but I don’t think it was connected to the political grieving that’s going on. Tyson was a cultural icon during his time as champion. His name was known by people who never watched the brutal sport. In his prime, he was a ferocious force. Twelve of his bouts were over before the first round. He became the youngest heavyweight champion in history at 20 and earned a rep for devastating knockouts. He was young, gifted and the best at what he did. That’s how we remember him and how many of us prefer to remember ourselves.
Seeing Tyson struggle in the ring and take blows from a much younger and faster fighter was a reminder of our own mortality. We’re not the people we were when Tyson was laying out opponents on the canvas back in the day – and neither is he. Those days are gone and they aren’t coming back. Any attempt to pretend they never left, could lead to embarrassment or getting hurt. (Take my word for it, if I attempt another Michael Jackson leg kick, I might as well put a new hip on layaway.)
It’s a hard lesson to learn. Tyson found out the hard way, but the cost was offset by the $20 million he received, so he’ll be OK. The rest of us can take from this “bout” that we should learn to accept the changes that come with age and cherish the moments when we were at our best, rather than longing for them to return.
Painterly pansies in the West End
With the holiday season approaching, it seems that our country could not be more divided. That division has been perhaps the main overarching topic of our national conversation in recent years. And it has taken root within many of our own families.
Blood may be thicker than water, but for many American families it seems like it is not as thick as politics.
Maybe our national healing can start with our families, around the holiday table.
My family traces its roots in America on my dad’s side back 400 years to Massachusetts – the home of the first Thanksgiving. My mom’s family has also been here the better part of 400 years, but in Virginia and Maryland, tracing back to that area’s earliest white settlers and their African slaves.
When my parents fell in love as young civil rights activists in Baltimore and got married, their marriage was illegal in Maryland. Their relationship was taboo at the time. My father’s family disowned him for marrying a Black woman and he lost his
inheritance.
So, I grew up on America’s racial fault line. And learning about my own family’s history has provided an important perspective on the nature of division both within the family itself and the country – our big, messy American family.
Using DNA research to trace my own family’s origins, I discovered that, like President Barack Obama, I am distant cousins with former Vice President Dick Cheney. That revelation was interesting. But the revelation that I am also distant cousins
with Robert E. Lee was a little harder to swallow. I was the youngest ever national president of the NAACP. He was the Confederate general who essentially fought to preserve the institution of slavery.
And after the Civil War, America’s divisions certainly did not go away. But there are inspiring stories of coming together as well that simply have not been told as much as the stories of division and oppression.
My grandmother’s grandfather was at the center of one of those stories. In the years immediately following Reconstruc-
tion, Edward David Bland – who had been born into slavery – led Virginia’s Black Republicans into coalition with former white Confederate soldiers to form a third party that took over the Virginia state government.
How many of us grew up learning that freedmen and the same Confederates that had fought to keep them enslaved actually came together to form a winning political party based on the common desire to save their state’s public schools?
Known as the Readjusters, the bipartisan, multiracial movement won all statewide elected offices and controlled the Commonwealth of Virginia from 1881 to 1885. In that time, they abolished the poll tax and the whipping post, radically expanded Virginia Tech and created Virginia State University, and readjusted the terms of the Civil War debt to save the free public schools and take the state from a financial deficit into a surplus.
That is just one story that illustrates how as a country we have managed to work through our divisions and move forward. We have common ground. We just need to look for it. And it should not be that difficult to search for and find that common ground within our own families.
Families can be great com-
Dems let a generation of supporters slip away
Far-right streamer Nick Fuentes, who usually welcomes publicity, received the type he probably didn’t want after Donald Trump’s election victory.
The 26-year-old white supremacist and antisemite, who has been banned from multiple social media sites for violating hate speech poli cies, posted on X: “Your body, my choice. Forever.”
Although Fuentes has denied being a white supremacist, the U.S. Department of Justice characterized him as such in a brief related to the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. And, judging from the snippets of his opinions that I have heard, including his trolling about women’s bodies, he appears to fit the description of an all-around bigot.
cultivated infamy. A longtime denizen of the internet’s dark fringes, Fuentes’ renown has grown by leaps after his suspended account on Elon Musk’s X was reinstated earlier this year.
A known leader among the angry grievance gangs in the online hive of far-right and neo-Nazi trolls widely known as
the “manosphere,” among other labels, Fuentes should not be viewed as anything more than a nuisance, in my view.
The manosphere conversation is a product of the widespread anger, frustration and disenchantment that has led to the surprisingly large drop-off in support AND votes for the Democratic Party’s candidates.
The Institute for Strategic Dialogue, which tracks online hate speech, reported this consequence of Fuentes’ tweet: a 4,600% increase in the usage of the terms “your body, my choice” and “get back in the kitchen” on X during a 24-hour period, according to the Washington Post.
In response, women started trolling the troll, posting messages aimed at Fuentes and “doxxing” him with suggestions to send tampons, sex toys and other appropriate gifts to his home.
“His address, my choice,” one clever user wrote.
Kids, do not try this at home. Two wrongs don’t make a right, no matter how amusing it may seem.
Such is the price of carefully
Trump’s winning strategy involved luring and enlisting mostly a male-oriented following that was largely voting for the first time. That formerly apathetic group paid off well for Trump in his previous campaigns. But it worked for him even more in his contest against Democrat Kamala Harris. He pulled out all the stops and it paid off even more.
Scott Galloway, a New York University marketing professor who has studied disengaged young men for decades, told CNN that this election should be remembered as the “testosterone podcast election.”
For the first time in U.S. history, a 35-year-old man without a college diploma is making less than his parents were, Galloway observed, citing averages.
“Against that, do (such issues as) trans rights or the territorial sovereignty of Palestinians even register on your screen?”
In other words, Galloway is
saying what many other critics, including me, have said about today’s Democrats and Harris’ campaign: With its late start, unclear agenda and unfocused message, it failed to excite a critical number of otherwise persuadable voters as, day after day, the polls hardly moved from a 50-50 tie. Kamala Harris’ campaign was “predicated on the dominance and continuance” of a presumed “monoculture,” Jon Caramanica wrote in the New York Times. As a member in good standing of the monoculture, Harris could bask in the endorsements of Oprah, Beyonce and Taylor Swift.
Meanwhile, Caramanica continued, “Trump, denied access to this monoculture, took an approach that was both fragmentary and more modern -- and in many ways more attuned to the rhythm of a young person’s media diet. He leaned into the evanescent, the niche, the lightly scandalous.”
Harris did do some fun podcasts like “Call Her Daddy” and “Club Shay Shay,” but as Caramanica pointed out, they did little to change the narrative of her campaign.
One wonders if the result would have been different if Harris had reached out to this group with even a marginally more effective message, regardless of the media in question.
To win over voters, you have to show them that you understand their problems and that, even when you may not have all the answers, you still truly want to solve those problems.
As hard as it may be for Democrats to admit, Trump made a more persuasive case to those outside the monoculture.
The writer is a columnist for the Chicago Tribune.
posites of many different backgrounds and experiences, just like America itself. Most of us want the same things: a better life for our children, safe communities, good schools, freedom. That we might have different perspectives on what some of these things mean does not make for insurmountable differences. Instead, it begs for conversation and ultimately understanding of why we see things differently. Because whether our ancestors arrived as settlers or immigrants, were enslaved or were among this land’s Indigenous peoples, what we have in common is we are all in the same boat now. Whether we sink or float, it will be together. And to truly thrive, we must heal our divisions. Within our own families is as good a place as any to start. The writer is the Executive Director of the Sierra Club and a professor of Practice at the University of Pennsylvania.
Clarence Page
Ben Jealous
What
the
Black church
can
teach
us about ‘Black on Black care’ and the election
In a recent sermon at Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church in Washington, Pastor William Lamar IV introduced the congregation to the concept of “Black on Black care.” The concept, coined by the Rev. Nick Peterson, assistant director of the African American preaching and sacred rhetoric doctoral program at Christian Theological Seminary in Indianapolis, has lessons for all Americans after an election marked by division, misinformation and dog whistles.
In his sermon, Lamar reflected on his childhood in the South. He spoke vividly of how his grandparents, parents and other members of the close-knit Black community demonstrated their love, particularly their focus on caring for the children not only in their own families but of the Black community at large. The reminiscence, inadvertently or subversively, provided a postelection framework for Black Americans in our fraught time.
“They didn’t speak of, study or write about anti-Blackness and white supremacy,” said Lamar of his grandparents and
their contemporaries. Their actions, along with care of and from the Black church, were the embodiment of Peterson’s “Black on Black care,” he said. This was an antidote to the death-dealing realities for Black people in America historically and now. It affirms Peterson’s suggestion that this kind of “transformative care exceeds the limitations of anti-blackness.”
In the chaotic, confusing and seemingly perpetual political season we live in, the 24/7 barrage of text messages and calls for donations are accompanied by the vile and unacceptable dehumanization of Black people and other people of color. The dangerous racist rhetoric included, famously, the lie that our Haitian siblings eat people’s pets. We’ve heard attacks on Vice President Kamala Harris’ intellect. Our Puerto Rican siblings have been compared to garbage.
We’ve heard speculation that
Black men were not voting in numbers or were actually voting Republican because they couldn’t imagine a woman as president, even as massive nationwide efforts have been led by Black people of faith of both sexes, taking cues from Black faith traditions and leaders. Black faith means not allowing the negative to be the last word. Let’s state then that Haitian immigrants don’t eat dogs and cats. Let us also state
that white Christian nationalists don’t get to define Christianity, and let’s put to rest the idea that Black men abetted a Republican victory. In the words of Michael Harriot, a columnist with The Grio, “Nearly a century has passed since a Republican presidential nominee even came close to winning a majority of the Black vote,” when Black voters backed Herbert Hoover in 1928.
In this election, Faith in Action federations, under the leadership of the Rev. Nicole Barnes, civic engagement director, and other groups across the country used tried and
true mobilization strategies, such as Souls to the Polls, that originated in the Black church. Pastor Rhonda Thomas, executive director of Faith in Florida, has for years led the most expansive Souls to the Polls program in the country. In the two weekends leading up to Election Day, she held 50 of these events in over 30 counties in Florida. These events were as much cultural engagement as they were civic engagement. The FIA federation in Philadelphia — Power Interfaith, led by Pastor Gregory Edwards — filled buses and church vans with community members and multifaith congregations across Pennsylvania to celebrate Soul Food Sundays and get out the vote. On Election Day, the Rev. Mark Tyler, a newly elected general officer in the AME Church and pastor of Mother Bethel AME Church, and his fraternity brothers caravanned on motorcycles through the neighborhoods of low-propensity voters in Philadelphia.
Many congregations, including historic Black Christian denominations and other Black
faith-led organizations, have combined joy and civics. Black Church PAC, led by Bishop Leah Daughtry and Pastor Michael McBride, partnered with gospel artist Kirk Franklin to register, educate and mobilize voters. With the Black Southern Women’s collaborative, a group of womanist theologians, including Irie Lynne Session and Kamilah Hall Sharp, cofounders of The Gathering, are holding virtual “soft space” meetings after Election Day for Black women organizers and clergywomen.
Such expressions of faith and political engagement are not limited to Christians. The Muslim Power Building Project, led by Rashida James-Saadiya, continues to lead through a lens of “Black on Black care.”
These events, and many more like them, show us how Black faith traditions have taught us to care for each other.
The post-election season calls for the same kind of vigilance to keep the community together. There is a high probability of postelection violence. As we carry out the Black tradition of caring for the vulnerable, may we continue to
be committed to each other regardless of political outcomes. This time is an opportunity for Black people of faith to continue the embodiment of Peterson’s Black on Black care. Let us resist the urge to demonize people or hold segments of our communities, whether they are young people, Black men or women, responsible for any outcome. Let us not take the credit for the impact of whiteness and those who follow it. We have inherited ancestral rituals of care for the mind, body and soul. This kind of care ensures that all of the Creator’s children are safe at home. In the uncertainty of the days ahead, intentionally practice Black on Black care, not criticism, and find reasons to celebrate in community. The same tactics that have been used to reinforce anti-blackness will continue in the aftermath of the election, but we can ensure it doesn’t have the last word. The writer is the managing director of power building at Faith in Action National Network and an ordained itinerant elder serving at Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church in Washington.
Trump’s policies on Ukraine could redefine America’s global role
Following a very stunning and dangerous setback for Ukraine, the election of Donald Trump poses even greater obstacles to any favorable outcome in that war.
Because Ukraine is an ally to the U.S. and adheres to the doctrines of democracy and Russia represents a diametrically opposite form of governance the fundamental question is, “Who will we support under a Trump Administration?” After all the variables have been considered, are we going to support nations that agree with and confirm the principles grounded in freedom and liberties afforded by a democracy or a nation that will capitulate to the whims and threats of a communist dictator? It is implausible and dangerous to run with the foxes and bay with the hounds. This nation cannot function under the pretext of a freedom loving people and yet cave into the
demands of a bully. Far too many Americans have been contaminated by the misinformation and propaganda that says because Vladimir Putin flatters Trump he is America’s friend. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Putin’s political survival is dependent upon this struggle — make no mistake. As a U.S. Marine in Vietnam, we captured North Vietnamese troops that carried Russianmade weapons. Russia was our enemy then and since Nikita Khrushchev, Leonid Brezhnev, Mikhail Gorbachev, Boris Yeltsin and now Vladimir Putin, they each have been sternly committed to Khrushchev’s promise to bury America. How can we be so naive?
How in God’s name can intelligent American citizens entrust their children’s futures to be in the hands of a communist dictator? A communist leader, who is guided far more by the communist loyalists in the Kremlin than his association with Trump. Does
Chuck Richardson
Trump or his MAGA followers understand that the struggle for geo-political balance of world power and dominance has nothing whatsoever to do with friendship but the strategic maneuvers to conquer territories and then the minds of its populations?
Regardless of any other policy issues with which you may agree or disagree, none will ever reach the significance nor long term implications of America’s ability to maintain its position of balance and
strength in Eastern Europe or areas around Ukraine. The fate of NATO in Europe in this area is the father of American democracy around the world. Those gullible and misinformed MAGA fanatics have become so immersed in the struggle to insure one man’s quest for power that they have lost sight of a much larger issue. The intensity to ensure the political success of Trump has distorted their view of reality and the much broader view of world circumstances where democracy rivals autocracy and the dominance of tyranny and the aspirations of despots! Every citizen has the right to support and vote for whom he or she chooses, but when personal privilege is in direct contradiction with a larger interest of national security of all Americans, we each are duty bound to make alternative choices for the greater good. At this moment in America’s
history, the guns, tanks and missiles across the borders of Ukraine may very well be ships, submarines or planes off the coast of North Carolina, Virginia and Florida. The physical differences may be thousands of miles apart, but tensions, conflicts and principles that constitute our core values are mutually exclusive and intolerable of each other. It is only a matter of time and space where the contact frictions grind away until we are only minutes from confrontation. For certain, Putin will not cease his invasive ambitions in Ukraine, so who will be next? Poland, Slovenia, Hungary, Serbia, etc.? At what point in this struggle between the freedoms of democracy and the oppression of tyranny will America say, “Enough!”
Do our enlightened leaders possess the insight and visions to see beyond today, or do they hesitate, pause or ponder in
confusion until the borders of the mountain on the horizon of Ukraine become the sea escapes off Hatteras, Virginia Beach or Miami?
The writer is a former member of Richmond’s City Council, a decorated veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps and author of “Cease Fire! Cease Fire! : Councilman Chuck, A Hero(in) Addiction.”
or corina.herrera@vdot.virginia.gov
Dr. Cassandra Gould
University’s
Virginia
Free Press staff report
Virginia Union University
clinched its second consecutive CIAA Football Championship with a thrilling 17-13 victory over Virginia State University on Saturday, Nov. 16, in Salem. The Panthers, now back-toback champions for the first time since 1982-83, secured the win in dramatic fashion with a defensive stand and a game-sealing interception in the final moments.
The Panthers will face Wingate University in the first round of the NCAA Division II Playoffs on Saturday, Nov. 23, in Wingate, N.C., marking their third straight playoff appearance.
A Defensive Stand
Virginia State opened the game with a promising drive, including a 25-yard rush by Jimmyll Williams that helped
now
to
Virginia Union wins CIAA Football Championship, advances to NCAA Playoffs
set up a first-and-goal at the 1-yard line. However, the Panthers’ defense held firm, stopping the Trojans on four consecutive plays to force a turnover on downs.
Virginia Union capitalized on the momentum, orchestrating a strong offensive drive capped by a 2-yard touchdown run by star running back Jada Byers, giving the Panthers a 7-0 lead.
Virginia State answered with a 33-yard field goal to narrow the deficit to 7-3. As the first half wound down, VUU kicker
Brady Myers added a field goal as time expired, extending the Panthers’ lead to 10-3 at halftime.
A Back-and-Forth
Second Half
The Trojans tied the game at 10 in the third quarter when quarterback Romelo Williams connected with Tylique Ray for a touchdown. Virginia Union responded quickly as quarterback Mark Wright found Reginald Vick Jr. for a 23-yard touchdown pass, putting the Panthers back in front, 17-10.
Virginia State managed
another field goal to cut the lead to four, but the Panthers’ defense stepped up once more. With 27 seconds remaining, Virginia Union botched a fourth-down snap, giving the Trojans one last chance from their own 11-yard line. On the very next play, William Davis intercepted Williams’ pass to seal the victory.
Byers Shines Again
Jada Byers, named the game’s MVP, delivered another standout performance, rushing for 178 yards on 32 carries and scoring a touchdown.
Going the distance
Enuma Iyob celebrates Saturday, Nov. 16, as she crosses the
Johnson named interim AD at Va. State
Felicia
has been appointed interim athletic director at Virginia State University, officials announced. Johnson, who has been with the university since 2021, previously served as senior associate athletic director for compliance and senior woman administrator.
“This is amazing,” said VUU Coach Alvin Parker. “We knew we needed to give them a good game after last week. The defense did a great job, and the guys up front were incredible.”
Looking Ahead
Virginia Union enters the playoffs with an 8-3 record and as the seventh seed in Super Region 2. They’ll face Wingate University, the second seed and South Atlantic Conference champions with a 9-1 record.
The matchup will be a rematch of last year’s NCAA playoff game, where Wingate defeated VUU at Hovey Field.
The Panthers’ playoff berth continues a historic run, matching the success of the 1981-83 teams that also reached three consecutive NCAA playoffs.
Ticket details for Saturday’s game will be announced later this week.
“We are grateful to have Felicia Johnson as our interim athletic director,” said VSU Chief of Staff Annie C. Redd. “Her extensive background and compassion for student-athletes make her an ideal fit for this role. Our university is fortunate to have Ms. Johnson, and we are confident she will continue to uphold our standard for excellence in athletics.” Johnson brings years of experience in collegiate athletics to her new role. Before joining VSU, she worked in the athletics department at Virginia Union University from 2007 to 2019. During her tenure, she served as director of compliance, senior woman administrator, and associate athletic director, earning CIAA Senior Woman Administrator of the Year honors twice. In 2019, Johnson made history as the first female athletic director at Virginia Union. She now steps into the interim role at VSU following the death of Peggy Davis, a longtime leader in the university’s athletics department.
“I am deeply appreciative of this opportunity to serve as the interim athletic director at Virginia State University,” Johnson said. “My predecessor, the late Peggy Davis, was a tremendous leader and a champion for student-athletes. I will continue to uphold the pillars she instilled in our program both on and off the field.”
VCU Women’s Basketball adds Daija Preston
Free Press staff report
The Rams just got a major boost. VCU Women’s Basketball Head Coach Beth O’Boyle has officially signed Daija Preston, a dynamic 5-foot-9 guard from Douglasville, Ga., who’s set to make an impact. Preston, who sharpens her skills with Team Berry on the AAU circuit and dominates for Carrollton High School, boasts a list of accolades longer than most highlight reels. Last season, she earned Atlanta Journal-Constitution All-State Honorable Mention and a spot on the 2024 Class 7A First Team All-Region 2.
“We are so excited to welcome Daija to our program,” O’Boyle said. “Daija has an incredible work ethic, a true passion for the game, and is a remarkable student-athlete. She excels on the floor with her explosive ability to get to the rim and her relentless defensive effort.”
Daija Preston
This season, Preston continues to rack up honors, including being named to the 2024-25 GHSA Girls Preseason All-State Second Team and the All-West Georgia Team. Ranked as the sixth-best guard in Georgia by GHSA, she’s also turning heads on the Atlanta Tipoff Club’s watch list as one of the top 50 players in Metro Atlanta. Preston doesn’t just bring individual talent—she’s a proven leader. She guided Carrollton High to a 24-5 record last season, and her squad enters this year ranked No. 8 in Georgia and No. 1 in Sports Illustrated’s preseason poll.
Courtesy Virginia Union University
Union
football team celebrates their second consecutive CIAA championship victory Nov. 16 after defeating Virginia State 17-13 in Salem, Va. The Panthers
advance
the NCAA Division II Playoffs, facing Wingate University in the first round Nov. 23.
Julianne Tripp Hillian/Richmond Free Press
finish line of the CarMax Richmond Half Marathon.
Free Press staff report
Johnson
Felicia Johnson
Personality: Tiara Green
Spotlight on board president of Liberated Arts Foundation
Generational poverty can impact families and communities beyond the apparent financial struggle — there are psychological, educational, health and environmental effects. Black communities suffer from generational poverty at alarmingly high rates.
The official poverty rate of the U.S. Black population reached a historic low of 17.1% in 2022, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, yet an unequal percentage of Black Americans still battle the effects of generational poverty as the official poverty rate for the country that year was 11.5%.
Tiara Green hopes to make a difference in the Richmond area by raising awareness about health disparities in Black and brown communities while uplifting Black artists and the financial value of black art. Her unconventional approach closes the gap on health disparities and uplifts Black art and artists.
“My husband is an artist, and I’m in the health field, so I’m very aware of the issues in the black community,” Green said. “We are marrying our passions.”
Their nonprofit, Liberated Arts Foundation, hosts an annual gala to raise money for organizations battling health disparities in Black communities. Since the Liberal Arts Foundation was formed in 2022, they’ve donated to four organizations.
Sankofa Community Orchard, an organization that provides healthy food in food desserts, is a past recipient. St. Luke’s Legacy Center, whose initiatives and programs deal with generational trauma in the Black community, is another. Organizations like the Nerd
Squad and the Black History Museum, also recipients of the fundraising efforts of the Liberated Arts Foundation, promote education.
“We target organizations that have difficulty getting funding and those that are not getting the recognition they deserve,” Green said. “We look for artists of color because they are underrepresented in art.”
Green and her husband also want to increase awareness of the importance of Black artists and the monetary value Black art holds.
The Liberated Arts Foundation makes a call for artists each year, offering artists of color a venue to display their work. They look for artists whose work reflects the theme for the year and, after a rigorous selection process, the artists display their art at the foundation’s annual gala. This year, the artists’ works will be on display for a month after the gala at the Black History Museum.
Green, a New York native, came to Richmond in 2002 to attend Virginia Commonwealth University. She met her husband, got married and decided to settle here to raise their family.
“It’s a great place to raise a family,” Green said. “I didn’t want to go any further South, and he didn’t want to go any further North.”
Between her demanding career, running a nonprofit, and raising two boys, Green relishes her downtime.
“I love ‘me’ time, and I will take a day off,” she said. “ I can sit in solitude to decompress. I’ll go to the spa, the movies, or a restaurant to be alone.”
Meet the health industry professional making a difference in her community while promoting
artists of color and this week’s
Personality, Tiara Green: Volunteer position: er and board president of Liber ated Arts Foundation.
Occupation: President at Ac cessia Health.
Date and place of birth: 17, Long Island, N.Y.
Where I live now: Chesterfield.
Education: Bachelor’s in exer cise science with a concentration in community health education from VCU and a master’s in education health promotions from Virginia Tech.
Family: Husband, local artist David Marion, and two boys, Caleb and Aiden.
The Liberated Arts Founda tion is: We are a Virginia-based nonprofit rooted in community and art. Each year, the organi zation focuses on a different health or educational need in
Valentine Museum exhibition wins 4 top design awards
Free Press staff report
The Valentine museum and Studio Joseph have won four prestigious design awards for their exhibition “Sculpting History at the Valentine Studio: Art, Power and the ‘Lost Cause’American Myth,” which opened in January.
The awards include the 2024 Golden Hammer Award for Best Placemaking in Arts + Culture from Historic Richmond and Storefront for Community Design, the 2024 VAxDesign Award from The Branch Museum of Ar-
chitecture and Design, the 2024 American Architecture Award, and the 2024 Global Future Design Awards Gold Medal. The Golden Hammer Awards recognize excellence in neighborhood revitalization projects throughout Greater Richmond. The VAxDesign Award highlights visionary thinking in design fields across Virginia. The American Architecture Awards, organized by The Chicago Athenaeum Museum of Architecture and Design, honor significant architec -
tural projects in the United States and internationally. The Global Future Design Awards, established in 2016, recognize innovative architectural de signs that push technological and aesthetic boundaries.
The exhibition, which ex plores the “Lost Cause” myth through artworks by Edward Valentine, the museum’s first president, uses multimedia presentations to connect historical narratives with contemporary perspectives.
For more information, visit thevalentine.org/sculptinghistory.
DIAMONDS • WATCHES
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19 EAST BROAD STREET RICHMOND, VA 23219 (804) 648-1044
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the community and curates an art exhibition to create awareness.
Mission: Through art and art-related fundraising events, Liberated Arts Foundation supports the arts, art education, and nonprofit organizations focused on health and education.
When and why found-
ed: The organization was founded in 2022. However, the work began in 2019 when we hosted our first gala. The goal was to combine my husband’s
awareness about our organization.
Why is it vital for people to have access to art: Art is a powerful tool that can be used as a form of expression, healing and social change. While it holds monetary value, its significance for Black and brown communities extends beyond finance, fostering cultural identity and empowerment.
How to get involved with the Liberated Arts Foundation: Attend our events, volunteer and donate to support our efforts.
Our partners: This year, we are proud to recognize FeedTheS-
best is yet to come. The three words that best describe me: Caring, driven, intentional.
Best late-night snack: A bowl of cereal.
Something I love to do that most people would never imagine: I love gardening.
A quote that inspires me: “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, ‘Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?’ Actually,
Justice reform advocate hosts screening of ‘Kemba’ at VUU
By Paula Phounsavath
Kemba Smith Pradia’s journey from a college student to a symbol of clemency and justice reform began when she was just 19 at Hampton University. Her relationship with cocaine trafficker Peter Hall was marred by physical and emotional abuse, and by the time she turned herself in to authorities on Sept. 1, 1994, she was pregnant and had been on the run for months.
Pradia was sentenced to 24.5 years in federal prison for money laundering, making false statements to law enforcement, and conspiring with Hall’s drugrelated crimes—despite never selling cocaine herself. Her case became a rallying cry for reform in sentencing for nonviolent, first-time offenders. After serving six and a half years, Pradia was granted clemency by then-President Bill Clinton.
Now a prison reform advocate, Pradia will return to her alma mater, Virginia Union University, to host a free screening of “Kemba” on Nov. 21. The film chronicles her life, incarceration, and the public campaign for her pardon.
“When I turned myself in six months pregnant, scared to death and not knowing what
my outcome was going to be, I prayed and asked God to allow me to be a voice,” she said. The screening will begin at 6 p.m. at VUU’s Claude G. Perkins Living and Learning Center, presented in collaboration with Virginia Humanities and the Justice Policy Institute. The movie, which debuted
in February, has been shown in Fort Lauderdale, Chicago, and Phoenix, as well as at a film festival in Rome. For Pradia, the screening at VUU represents a homecoming. She now lives in Ashburn with her husband, Patrick Pradia, to whom she’s been married for more than 15 years.
“I’m elated to come back to [VUU] and look forward to sharing this opportunity with the community,” she said.
Pradia hopes the Richmond audience will gain a deeper understanding of the trauma women face in prison and the importance of supporting individuals after their release.
“We have over 2 million people in prison. Eventually, those people are going to come out and be your neighbor, and we need to make sure there are proper resources available to them,” she said. “I also need the community to understand the mitigating circumstances and trauma that lead women to incarceration.”
Yahusef Medina, Virginia Humanities’ director of community initiatives, emphasized the importance of recognizing injustices in the criminal justice system.
“There are still major in-
justices within this country,” Medina said. “We have to take action and build awareness. Kemba does just that because she’s a prime example.” Medina commended Pradia’s sincerity in advocating for change. “She’s not doing it for show. She’s genuinely committed to raising awareness about issues surrounding the criminal justice system.”
Following the screening, a panel discussion will feature Pradia, Delegate Rae Cousins (79th District, Richmond), Justice Policy Institute Advocacy Director Keith Wallington, Rev. Michelle McQueen-Williams of VUU, and Paul Taylor, founder of the RVA League for Safer Streets. The conversation will focus on systemic injustice and community-driven reform. A brief reception precedes the event at 5:30 p.m. For more information, visit VirginiaHumanities.org/kemba.
‘Flowism’ spotlights new talent in fashion, art
By Paula Phounsavath
Despite the cancellation of Richmond Fashion Week’s (RVAFW) fall fashion season, the fashion and arts scene remains vibrant as emerging artists and photographers showcased their work at the “Flowism” art gallery at Deco at CNB on Nov. 16.
The “Flowism” art gallery was created and hosted by Ryan Azia, RVAFW co-partner and former creative director, to display his artwork and provide a platform for other artists hesitant to present their work.
“A lot of [artists] need that push,” Azia said. “Sometimes a lot of them don’t have enough artwork to present in a full gallery on their own, and then also to let them know that they can do it on their own if they wanted to.”
This is the second “Flowism” art gallery event.
The first event was held at the Les Crepes restaurant in Carytown in September 2021. The name comes from the saying “go with the flow” for artists to consider when running into a creative block.
The show featured artwork from artists and photographers such as Julie Adams, Jay Bordeaux, Christian Chambers, Michael Hostetler, Tyscene Jones, Jane Powers, Justin Uglow and Shamara Xavier.
Jermaine Dabney, RVAFW’s 2023 Rising
Star Award recipient for photography, is known for his work in fashion editorials photography. However, he showcased street and architectural photography at the event to return to his roots after five years of shooting fashion.
“I can do more than just fashion and this is another way that I creatively express myself,” he said. “I just like the way that the light hits different shapes. When I see the light hitting a shape a certain way, I just find it very captivating and I just have to capture it.”
The afternoon’s highlight was a fashion presentation by designer and model scout Noel Calubaquib of Suigens. Known for its cyberpunkinspired regal elegance, Suigens made its debut during RVAFW’s spring season in April.
As the event transitioned, the artworks were moved aside to make room for a runway in the elongated venue. Calubaquib unveiled 20 new designs, staying true to the cyberpunk aesthetic of his previous collection.
The pieces included dresses, coats and vests. Filipino-American rapper Roro Yone opened the show, setting the tone for the striking display. Stoic models strutted in 7-inch stilettos and bold, shoulder-padded outfits, captivating the audience lined along both sides of the runway. The show concluded with the models standing still as attendees took photos for several minutes.
event, which runs Nov. 22-24, will feature the work of more than 160 artists from across the country, offering shoppers a chance to explore and purchase museum-quality crafts.
Over the decades, Craft + Design has earned a reputation as a showcase for excellence in ceramics, precious metals, glass, wood, recycled materials, fiber and innovative designs. As part of the celebration, awards will be presented
Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press
Noel Suigens presented a fashion collection during “Flowism” at DECO at CNB on Broad Street. Part of the former downtown bank’s first floor was transformed into an art gallery and high-fashion runway on Saturday, Nov. 16, drawing about 100 attendees.
Courtesy BET+
A image from the film “Kemba” depicts the moment a young Kemba Smith faces law enforcement at her family’s home, highlighting the emotional and legal challenges of her story. The film will be screened 6 p.m. Thursday, Nov.
City Kwanzaa
to
Free Press staff reports
The 2024 Capital City Kwanzaa Festival, a celebration of African American culture and the seven principles of Kwanzaa, will be held at Exhibit Hall B of the Greater Richmond Convention Center, 5th and Marshall streets. Now in its 58th year, Kwanzaa — created by Maulana Karenga — offers a reflection on African heritage and values. Richmond’s festival, one of the largest Kwanzaa celebrations on the East Coast, features music, dance and cultural messages aimed at strengthening families and uniting the community. Highlights include the African Market offering food and shopping opportunities, and Watoto Kwanzaa, an engaging space for children. The Nia Sessions will provide practical discussions about the holiday’s principles while the day begins with the Ancestral Libation and Candle Lighting Ceremony.
Tickets are $6 in advance and $7 at the door for general admission. Students (ages 12-18) and seniors (65+) can purchase advance tickets for $5 or pay $6 at the door. Group rates of $5 per person are available for parties of 10 or more with advance purchase. Admission is free for children under 12.
Tickets can be purchased at Elegba Folklore Society’s Cultural Center, 101 E. Broad St., or online through Elegba website.
Chris Tsui
Texas board advances plan to allow Bible in school lessons
By Nadia Lathan The Associated Press
Texas’ education board on Tuesday advanced a new Bible-infused curriculum that would be optional for schools to incorporate in kindergarten through fifth grades, one of the latest Republican-led efforts in the U.S. to incorporate more religious teaching into classrooms.
The vote moves the Texas State Board of Education one step closer to signing off on what is known as the “Bluebonnet” textbook, which drew hours of often emotional testimony from school teachers and parents earlier this week.
The board is expected to hold a final vote on the measure Friday.
The curriculum — designed by the state’s public education agency — would allow teachings from the Bible such as the Golden Rule and lessons from books such as Genesis into classrooms. Under the plan, it would be optional for schools to adopt the curriculum though they would receive additional funding if they did so.
Educators, parents and advocates weighed in Monday at the State Board of Education’s final meeting of the year, where many opponents argued that the proposal’s emphasis on Christian teachings would alienate students of other faith backgrounds. Those in favor testified that it’ll give students a more holistic educational foundation.
Educator Megan Tessler testified Monday that the plan contradicts the public school mission.
“This curriculum fails to meet the standard
of an honest, secular one,” Tessler said. “Public schools are meant to educate, not indoctrinate.”
Others strongly backed the idea.
“Parents and teachers want a return to excellence,” said Cindy Asmussen, testifying Monday.
“Stories and concepts in the Bible have been common for hundreds of years,” and that, she said, is a core part of classical learning.
Salisbury Presbyterian Church hosts ‘Singin’ to the World’ concert
Free Press staff report
Joyful Voices Chorus, a Richmond area choir for individuals with Alzheimer’s and dementia and their caregivers, will play its fall concert, “Singin’ to the World,” on Thursday, Nov. 21, at Salisbury Presbyterian Church.
The event, beginning at 11 a.m. in the church’s Fellowship Hall, will feature a variety of songs inspired by global cultures including Scotland, Africa and Germany. Tickets are $12 and available on the group’s website.
Joyful Voices Chorus meets weekly on
Thursday mornings from 10 to 11:30 a.m. at Salisbury Presbyterian Church and provides a unique choral experience for people in the Greater Richmond area. The chorus brings people with dementia out of the shadows through shared music-making, fostering joy, well-being, purpose and community understanding while celebrating the potential of individuals living with dementia. The group performs two public concerts each year and serves as an Early Stages Support Group for the Greater Richmond Alzheimer’s Association. For more information visit joyfulvoiceschorus.org.
Religious experts and the Texas Freedom Network, a left-leaning watchdog group that monitors the state’s education board, said the curriculum proposal focuses too much on Christianity and also dances around the history of slavery.
The program was designed by the Texas Education Agency earlier this year after passage
of a law giving it a mandate to create its own free textbook. Republican Gov. Greg Abbott has publicly supported the new materials. Republican lawmakers in Texas also have proposed displaying the Ten Commandments in classrooms and are likely to revisit the issue next year. The proposal to incorporate religious teaching in Texas public schools mirrors similar efforts around the country, which also are drawing court challenges. In Oklahoma, state officials are seeking to include the Bible in public school lesson plans. But a group of students’ parents, teachers and others recently filed suit, seeking to stop Oklahoma’s top education official from carrying out the plan intended for students in grades five through 12. The lawsuit before the Oklahoma Supreme Court also asks the court to stop the Republican state superintendent from spending $3 million to purchase Bibles in support of the plan. In Louisiana, a new state law sought to have the Ten Commandments displayed in all public classrooms, but a federal judge recently quashed that requirement. U.S. District Judge John W. deGravelles in Baton Rouge said last week that the Louisiana law had an “overtly religious” purpose, and rejected state officials’ claims that the government can mandate the posting of the Ten Commandments because they hold historical significance to the foundation of U.S. law. His opinion noted that no other foundational documents — including the Constitution or the Bill of Rights — must be posted.
Photo/LM Otero, File
A Texas flag is displayed December 2020 in an elementary school in Murphy, Texas.
AP Photo/Julio
Tyson-Paul fight draws record betting for a combat sports event
Associated Press By Mark Anderson
Jake Paul’s unanimous victory over former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson might have been disappointing from a competitive standpoint, but it drew record betting.
BetMGM said the fight between the YouTube star and the 58-year-old Tyson, who showed his age by being a sitting target, was its most-bet boxing or mixed-martial arts fight. The sportsbook took three times the number of bets and four times the money of any combat sport in BetMGM’s history.
Craig Mucklow, vice president of trading at Caesars Sportsbook, said the fight was on par with an NFL Monday night game.
“We knew there would be tremendous interest in the fight, as the betting suggested it was a generational matchup in customer demographics,” Mucklow said. “Those old enough to remember a prime Mike Tyson got to live the
nostalgia one last time, while those not old enough to know Iron Mike were firmly on the Jake Paul side of the counter.”
The amount of betting can’t necessarily be used to draw a direct comparison with betting on big fights in the past since so many major bouts, including Tyson’s biggest fights, occurred before sports betting was legalized beyond Nevada in 2018. It’s still not legal in 38 states. But the fight at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, still drew an enormous handle.
Jake Paul believes he can fight for a title, but Mike Tyson might be done in the ring at 58.
Most of the wagers at BetMGM Sportsbook were on proposition bets, with the most popular being on Tyson to prevail either by knockout, decision or a first-round KO.
Though Paul was a -175 favorite, 67% of the tickets and 53% of the money at BetMGM was on Tyson.
“Paul winning was a good outcome for the sportsbook,” BetMGM senior traderAlex Rella said.
National anglers set sights on Richmond in 2025
Free Press staff report
Anglers across the country will have their sights set on Richmond in April when the James River serves as the third stop of the 2025 Mercury B.A.S.S. Nation Qualifier Series presented by Lowrance.
Scheduled for April 23-25, the event marks a return to the James River for B.A.S.S. Nation after more than a decade. Known as Virginia’s largest river, the James has hosted numerous Bassmaster Opens in recent years but is set to offer a unique challenge for the nation’s top bass anglers.
The series, announced Thursday by B.A.S.S. officials, includes four regular season stops at renowned fishing destinations across the country. GL Compton, tournament manager for the B.A.S.S. Nation, emphasized the significance of the venues chosen for this year’s schedule.
“Each venue has been carefully selected to showcase diverse fishing conditions and vibrant communities,” Compton said. “We’re looking forward to the unforgettable moments that lie ahead on the road to the championship.”
The 2025 series will kick off March 12-14 at Pickwick Lake in Florence, Ala., followed by a stop at Lake Eufaula in Oklahoma on April 9-11. The regular season concludes July 16-18 at Lake Erie in Monroe, Mich.
Top-performing anglers in Richmond and the other qualifying events will advance to the B.A.S.S. Nation Championship, set for Oct. 22-25 on the Upper Mississippi River in La Crosse, Wis. From there, the top competitors will earn a berth in the prestigious 2026 Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic presented by Under Armour. For more information and registration details, visit bassmaster.com/b-a-s-s-nation.
Legal Notices/Employment Opportunities
City of Richmond Department of Public Works Lombardy St over CSX Bridge Replacement Project Design Public Hearing Wednesday, December 18th, 2024; 5:00-7:00 p.m. at Maggie L. Walker Governor’s School, 1000 N. Lombardy St
The Department of Public works invite you to a9end a public hearing Mee=ng at Maggie Walker Governor’s School from 5:00 to 7:00 P.M. on December 18th 2024. This mee=ng will include current plans and related documents concerning the proposed transporta=on improvement. The development team will be available to answer project related ques=ons. Project informa=on, related document and tenta=ve project schedule also are available to review at 900 E. Broad Street, Richmond, VA 23219, 804-646-3421. Please call ahead or email to ensure the availability of appropriate personnel to answer your ques=ons. Your wri9en or oral Comments can be given at the
The City of Richmond announces the following project(s) available for services relating to: IFB No. 250006080; Shockoe Retention Basin OFFICE Roof
For all information pertaining to this IFB, please logon to the Richmond website (www.rva.gov).
Bid Due Date: December 30, 2024/Time: 11:00 AM
Pre-Bid Conference Call Meeting: December 4, 2024 at 9:00AM
Information or copies of the above solicitations are available at the City of Richmond website www.rva.gov or https://procurement.opengov.com/ portal/rva. The City of Richmond encourages all contractors to participate in the procurement process.
The City of Richmond announces the following project(s) available for services relating to: IFB No. 250003146: E. Main St. – Williamsburg Ave. Intersection Improvements (UPC No. 108649)
For all information pertaining to this IFB, please logon to the Richmond website (www.RVA.GOV).
Bid Due Date: January 2, 2025/Time: 2:00 PM
Pre-Bid Conference Call Meeting: December 4, 2024 /Time: 2:00PM
Information or copies of the above solicitations are available at the City of Richmond website www.rva.gov or https://procurement.opengov.com/ portal/rva. The City of Richmond encourages all contractors to participate in the procurement process.
Cortez
Jake Paul lands a left on Mike Tyson during their heavyweight boxing match, Friday, Nov. 15, in Arlington, Texas.
