Cherished Holiday Memories B4
• Emancipation Day
B6
• Holiday closings
Richmond Free Press
VOL. 23 NO. 52
© 2014 Paradigm Communications, Inc. All rights reserved.
RICHMOND, VIRGINIA
www.richmondfreepress.com
A2
ee Fr
Fr ee
Kwanzaa
B3
DECEMBER 24-27, 2014
Joe fights back His political future now in hands of voters By Jeremy M. Lazarus
U.S.-Cuba relations ‘a dream come true’ Free Press wire reports
Some Cuban exiles responded with outrage, others with ecstasy. News last week that the United States will restore diplomatic relations with Cuba for the first time in more than a half century divided America’s 1.5 million-strong Cuban exile community and threatened to shake up the political landscape in the vital battleground state of Florida. The reaction in Florida, which is home to about 80 percent of the n a t i o n ’s CubanPresident Obama American population, reflects a generational shift in an exile community whose powerful political influence in the United States and steadfast support for the Republican Party helped keep U.S. sanctions on Cuba in place for decades. But with President Obama’s vow to push for “an honest and serious debate” about lifting the United States’ long-standing economic embargo against Cuba, many Cuban exiles welcomed the turn, seeing a chance Please turn to A4
Secret Service problems go deep Free Press wire reports
The U.S. Secret Service needs a leader from the outside to overhaul the insular agency, beef up staffing and improve training. But first the agency needs to build a higher fence around the White House. These were two of the conclusions reached in an independent review released last week that revealed deep problems at the top of the agency charged with guarding President Obama and other senior government officials. Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson appointed a four-member independent panel to conduct the review. But the agency’s problems, the report noted, “go deeper than a new fence can fix.” It was suggested that an agency director not tied to Secret Service traditions and personal relationships would be better equipped to do an honest reassessment and encourage a culture of accountability. The last Secret Service director, Julia Pierson, was Please turn to A4
Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press
A Christmas wish
With visions of sugar plums and candy canes dancing though his head, Dustin Anderson, 5, prepares to tell Santa his holiday wishes at the recent open house featuring “Santa with Soul” at the Black History Museum and Cultural Center of Virginia in Jackson Ward.
Christmas spirit shines light on special needs By Joey Matthews
Ronnie Carter rose from his wheelchair and walked resolutely to the front of the sanctuary. Turning to the audience, he stirringly sang the hymn, “Jesus Loves Me.” The 60-year-old South Richmond man has an intellectual disability. He is unable to read. But that didn’t stop him from reciting Psalm 23 from the Bible. “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. He leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul …” Mr. Carter declared. When he finished, there was not a dry eye in the sanctuary. On this afternoon in mid-December, tissues passed freely among the rows of families, friends and community members attending Second Baptist Church’s fourth annual special needs Christmas service. The theme: “Celebrating Life, Love and Special People.” Like Carter, participants with special needs merrily sang, danced, mimed and performed karate exhibitions in a celebration that was as emotionally moving as it was joyous. Performers at the Randolph neighborhood church included children as young as 6 and adults up to middle age with physical and mental challenges such as autism, cerebral palsy, Down’s Syndrome and other intellectual disabilities. “It’s not about disability, it’s about ability,” event co-founder Monica Lucas, a Second Baptist member and special needs professional, told audience members. She and Pam Mines, a Chesterfield County mother of two children with disabilities, organized the event to celebrate the talents of people with special needs. Ms. Mines is the founder and president of the JP Jumpers Foundation, whose mission is to “positively impact families affected by autism, special needs and unique
James Haskins/Richmond Free Press
Cory Todd, 25, presents his mother, Cynthia Todd, with a “God Chose Me” award during Second Baptist Church’s recent Christmas celebration spotlighting the talents and contributions of people with special needs and their advocates.
circumstances,” she said. Jayla Brown, 12, enthusiastically welcomed guests at the service’s start with flash cards that read in part: “I am 90 percent non verbal. I smile, laugh and jump to express my needs and wants. Most importantly, thanks for JP Jumpers.” Her mother, Jamilya, a single parent who works and attends school full time, was among six people to receive a “God Chose Me” award for her dedication to help people with special needs. “God gives strength to the weary,” she tearfully told the Please turn to A4
Delegate Joseph D. “Joe” Morrissey’s high school wrestling career seemed to be over when he partially tore a knee ligament. Instead, two weeks later, the 17-year-old won four matches and a state wrestling title as he defied the pain, as well as his parents and doctors, who wanted him to quit. Forty years later, now a middle-aged member of the General Assembly, Delegate Morrissey cites that teenage determination as he fights for his political life in defiance of powerful figures, including the governor and the Speaker of the House, who want him to disappear. “Don’t underestimate me,” the embattled 57-year-old lawmaker said last week as he began his quest for another comeback in a legal and political career splotched with fights, setbacks and rebounds. He is now preparing to run as an independent Tuesday, Jan. 13, in a special election for the seat he now holds — in which he will face two challengers, Democrat Kevin J. Sullivan, a former Teamsters Union officialturned-Charles City County alpaca farmer, and Republican Matt D. Walton, a teacher. Both are first-time candidates for public office. And Mr. Sullivan’s nomination already is generating blowback over the party’s decision to allow a pool of fewer than 60 people to participate in selecting a Democratic challenger to the embattled Mr. Morrissey. It’s all part of an unbelievable political drama that would defy even Hollywood screenwriters to script. Delegate Morrissey’s latest troubles stem from his agreement Dec. 12 to accept a misdemeanor conviction — an Alford plea — to avoid a trial on four felony sexual misconduct charges that could have cost him a long stretch in prison. The conviction is the upshot of an illicit relationship the Henrico Democrat is accused of having in 2013 with an underage receptionist who worked at his law office for three weeks. Both he and Myrna Pride, now 18, still deny having sex when she was 17 and say the evidence against him was concocted. However, he is now the first state legislator to spend his days at the General Assembly building and his nights in a jail cell — Henrico County Jail East in New Kent County — at least through mid-March, when he is to be released on five years’ probation. Please turn to A4
Protests continue despite officers’ deaths Reuters
New York Protestors will continue to march and demonstrate against the killing of unarmed black men by police despite New York Mayor Bill de Blasio’s impassioned request on Monday for protestors to wait until after the funerals of two policemen shot dead in an ambush last weekend. Mayor de Blasio’s plea quickly was dismissed by several activist groups that vowed to continue protests that have stirred the city daily after grand juries chose not to indict police officers who killed Eric Garner in New York and Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo. “It’s a time for everyone to put aside political debates, put aside protests, put aside all of the things
we will talk about in due time,” the mayor said in a speech to a charity with close ties to the New York Police Department, two days after Rafael Ramos, 40, and his partner, Wenjian Liu, 32, were killed. The men were shot Saturday as they sat in their patrol car in Brooklyn. Their deaths electrified tensions that had been coursing for months between City Hall, the police department and the reform-minded protesters who voted for Mayor de Blasio in large numbers. Similar protests, some of them violent, have taken place across the United States, provoking a bitter debate about how American police forces treat nonwhite citizens that has drawn in President Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder. Even Mayor de Blasio’s assurance on Monday that
he would attend the slain officers’ funerals, normally an unquestioned mayoral duty, took on a political charge. Earlier this month, the city’s largest police union said the mayor had abandoned police officers and urged members to sign a letter insisting that the mayor stay away from their funerals should they be killed while on duty. Police identified the killer as Ismaaiyl Brinsley, 28, who wrote online that he planned to avenge the deaths of Mr. Garner and Mr. Brown, who were both unarmed black men killed by white officers. Mr. Brinsley killed himself with a shot to the head. Just hours before driving to Brooklyn and shooting the officers, Mr. Brinsley shot and seriously wounded Please turn to A4