Richmond Free Press June 8-10, 2023 edition

Richmond Free Press Meet this week’s Personality B1

FRee FRee

Richmond reels from mass shooting at graduation

City in crisis VCU’s Bertimon aces A-10 honor A8

By George Copeland Jr.

Huguenot High School graduate Shawn D. Jackson, age 18, and his stepfather Renzo R. Smith, 36, were killed when gunfire erupted Tuesday in Monroe Park following a graduation ceremony for Huguenot students at the Altria Theater.

During a press conference with city and school representatives at Richmond Police Headquarters on Wednesday, officials struck a somber note as they shared information with the public and sympathy with the victims’ family and friends in the aftermath of the shooting.

“Getting to the graduation stage was not easy for Shawn,” said Richmond Schools Superintendent Jason Kamras, noting that, while he didn’t know him personally, friends and family described him as “bubbly and the life of the party.”

Photos by Regina H. Boone/Richmond Free Press

Caught in the crossfire

‘Living in the city of Richmond, too many moms are burying their children’

Richmond School board member Nicole Jones, left, Richmond School Board Chairperson Stephanie Rizzi, center, and Richmond Public Schools Superintendent Jason Kamras attend the first of two press briefings at the corner of Laurel and Franklin streets following a shooting that left two people dead.

Bonnie Newman Davis/Richmond Free Press

Kendall Scott

By Darlene Johnson

Kendall Scott, 17, was excited to be graduating from Thomas Jefferson High School on Tuesday, which was to take place shortly after Huguenot High School’s graduation at Richmond’s Altria Theater. He was just a few blocks away from the Altria Theater when the shots rang out. Kendall received a call from his grandmother.

they’re shooting’ and she told us to turn back around.”

It wasn’t long before Kendall learned the reason for his grandmother’s frantic call. A fatal shooting had occurred near Monroe Park around 5 p.m. just as jubilant Huguenot graduates and families left the Altria Theater. Seven people were shot and others were injured, including a 9-year-old who was hit by a car during the commotion.

Several hours later, city officials and

turn to A4

Black kids face racism before they even start school

It’s driving a major mental health crisis

By Annie Ma The Associated Press COLUMBUS, Ohio

They open up to her about their dating lives. About pregnancy scares. About their fights with their parents, about the trauma they experience outside school. She keeps a mental

But at predominantly Black schools like the one in Columbus, Ohio, where Ms. Strother works, students’ mental health is further tested by pressures and discrimination they endure because they are Black, as well as poverty and violence in some communities that have faced years of disinvestment.

“Anytime you deal with African-American mental health,

you’re not dealing with one thing,” Ms. Strother said. “It is several things. It is trauma that has not been addressed.”

The drivers of the mental health crisis for Black children begin early and persist through a lifetime. Black children’s first encounters with racism can start before they are even in school, and Black teenagers report experiencing an average of five instances of racial discrimination per day. Young Black

Please turn to A5

Kelly Johnson-Crowder, and daughter, Daisy Johnson, and great grandson, Kendall Scott were on hand for the street renaming.

“My grandmother ws a very, very humble person and to see this being done in her honor means everything to me,” said Mrs. Johnson-Crowder. “She was one who always opened her doors to everyone. She always

Bonnie Newman Davis/Richmond Free Press

Please turn to A4 Please turn to A4 The Richmond and Henrico County health districts are offering testing at the following locations: • Thursday, June 8, 1 to 5 p.m. - Henrico Arms Apartments, 1664 Henrico Arms Place. • Friday, June 9 , 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. - Southside Women, Infant and Children Office, 509 East Southside Plaza. Call the Richmond and Henrico COVID-19 Hotline at (804) 205-3501 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday for more information on testing sites, or go online at vax. rchd.com. The Virginia Department of Health also has a list of COVID-19 testing locations around the state at www. Free community testing for COVID-19 continues Brittany Powell A time to reflect A youngster shows his patriotism during 67th Commonwealth’s Annual Memorial Day Ceremony at the Virginia War Memorial, 621 S. Belvidere St. in Richmond.

Coucilmembers Andreas Addison, 1st District, and Anne-Frances Lambert, 3rd District sponsored the renaming ordinance. See more honorary street signs on A2.

a trusted guide as they negotiate their teenage years.

“She was in the crossfire,” Kendall said. “She told me ‘they’re shooting,

Please

After Mrs. Boyers Cooper’s legal victory, her daughter, Daisy, was forced to attend Carver Elementary, several miles from her home in Westwood, and not allowed to attend the Westhampton School within walking distance of her home because of segregation policies in the school system. Mrs. Boyers Cooper sued and after several years won her lawsuit, forcing integration of Richmond’s schools. Mrs. Boyers Cooper’s granddaughter,

gave the neighborhood kids a a meal, ice cream or whatever she could find. She opened up her home for people to come and stay and let them stay for years, including me.”

Acting

Police Chief Rick Edwards

leads the way with other city officials, including Richmond Mayor Levar M. Stoney, City Council President Michael Jones, to brief members of the media following an afternoon shooting after Hugeunot High School commencement inside Altria Theater that left two people dead, including a graduate and a relative outside the building Tuesday.

New leader of Richmond Crusade for Voters

Jerome Legions Jr. is now the former president of the Richmond Crusade for Voters.

Elected last year to a two-year term, Mr. Legions abruptly resigned Tuesday following a confrontation with members of the executive committee over his leadership style, the Free Press has learned

Former City Councilman E. Martin “Marty” Jewell, who was serving as first vice president, will take over the top post.

Mr. Jewell will serve as interim president until the city’s oldest AfricanAmerican political group holds elections for officers.

The Crusade was founded in 1956 to promote voting in the Black community.

By Jeremy M. Lazarus

Second District City Councilwoman Katherine Jordan remains the only opponent of giving Richmond voters a second chance to decide whether the city should be allowed to host a proposed $560 million casino-resort project in the South Side. She was the lone dissenter on Monday as the City Council moved casino-support legislation to the Monday, June 12, meeting for quick passage.

The three pieces of legislation that will be on the agenda would once again allow Baltimore-based Urban One to develop the gambling center, hotel, park and other amenities on 100 acres of property located at the Bells Road interchange on Interstate 95.

Once those items are passed, which is assured, city officials and Urban One and its partner, racing and gambling giant Churchill Downs, will head to the Virginia Lottery, the casino regulator, to seek authority for a new referendum.

State law requires the Virginia Lottery and its board to review the paperwork and approve the city seeking to put the issue on the ballot. Officials are hoping the review will go smoothly, given that the Lottery’s staff and board approved the first referendum in 2021 after reviewing essentially the same paperwork.

Voters rejected the casino proposal that year by a 1,500-vote margin. The Lottery’s action would allow the city to apply to Richmond Circuit Court for an order to again put the casino on the November ballot in hopes of securing a vote that would allow the project to proceed.

The process for holding the Richmond referendum could grind to a halt, though, if the General Assembly intervenes. The majority-Republican House and majority-Democratic Senate have not approved an amended budget for 2023-24.

Negotiators for both houses have said talks on a budget deal would resume after the primary elections set for Tuesday, June 20. If a deal is struck and voted on before the June 30 deadline, language could be inserted to bar Richmond from holding another casino referendum this year. If the deadline passes, the original two-year budget passed in 2022 would remain in force.

Both sides have not come up with a consensus amended budget, leaving several issues unresolved, including whether Richmond will be able to proceed with a second vote.

Utility bill assistance

Richmond utility customers who are behind in paying their bills can find out their options at a customer support event on Saturday, June 10, at Henderson Middle School, 4319 Old Brook Road in North Side.

The event will run from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. It is the third in a series of programs that the city’s Department of Public Utilities has held since February to help customers with their past-due bills to avoid disconnection.

Cityscape

Slices of life and scenes in Richmond

Three new honorary street posts were placed throughout Richmond last month, commemorating the contributions of notable residents who recently died. Among the honorees are Juliette Stephen Hamilton, a school crossing guard and nurse’s aide, Rev. Kenneth E. Dennis Sr., former pastor, Greater Mt. Moriah Baptist Church, and Langston Randolph Davis Sr., president and CEO of Davis Brothers Construction Co. The signs are located in the 4300 block of Corbin Street in front of Ms. Hamilton’s former home, outside the Davis Brothers Construction headquarters, 2410 Chamberlayne Ave., and outside Greater Mt. Moriah Baptist Church, 913 N. 1st. St.

Fox Elementary employee to plead case before School Board

By Jeremy M. Lazarus

Robin Spears, a 15-year social worker, who has been on paid leave since November 2021 is going to the School Board in hopes the members will reject a recommendation that she be fired for failing to report to a position she said she was never offered.

On Tuesday, Dr. Shadae T. Harris, RPS’ chief engagement officer, upheld the request of Timothy Williams, manager of employee relations, that Ms. Spears be terminated for being absent without leave.

Dr. Harris, who stood in for Superintendent Jason Kamras, issued her finding even though Ms. Spears and her representative, Sa’ad El-Amin, presented evidence that Mr. Williams repeatedly breached RPS’ personnel policies.

“It is so hard to represent employees,” Mr. El-Amin said after the hearing, “when officials ignore their own policies and do what they want.”

Ms. Spears said she presented evidence that Mr. Williams told her on Jan. 27 that a position was available and

that she expressed interest. However, Mr. Williams did not disclose any specifics, she said. She notified him Feb. 3 that she was going out of town for a relative’s funeral and discussion of the position was left until her return. After returning Feb. 6, she said she called then RPS Chief of Staff Michelle Hudacsko and Mr. Williams about the position. She said that Ms. Hudacsko told her Mr. Williams would be in touch with the details, but she said Mr. Williams did not respond to her until Feb. 27 and then only to notify her she was subject to termination for being absent without leave (AWOL).

Ms. Spears noted that the RPS policy requires an employee to be AWOL for five days from an assigned position without a good excuse before discipline can be imposed, “and I didn’t have an assignment at the time.”

Mr. El-Amin said RPS’ policy also

requires Mr. Williams or other human relations staff contact an employee three times about a position, which Mr. ElAmin said did not happen. He said Mr. Williams also did not follow the requirement that an offer of a position be in writing. He said Ms. Spears never received any written communication about a position, the school to which she was to report or the salary. Mr. El-Amin said he would file the appeal to the School Board, which by law must vote on personnel decisions.

Ms. Spears has been on leave since November 2021 after a complaint was filed that she hit an unruly 6-year-old in trying to discipline him in an afterschool program she was directing at Fox Elementary School. Though upheld internally, Ms. Spears was twice acquitted in court based on testimony from adult witnesses who testified that she never hit the child.

Superintendent Kamras recommended that she be terminated due to that incident. Her appeal to the School Board on that issue has not been heard.

Best of the Class of 2023 Richmond Public Schools’ 2023 valedictorians are from left: Michael Flint Keener, Thomas Jefferson High School, Jasmine E. Johnson, John Marshall High School, Elizabeth Childress, Open High School, Lamika Harris, Armstrong High School, Jaylesha Rowland, George Wythe High School, Inayah O’Neil, Richmond Community High School, Jasmine N. Johnson, Huguenot High School, and Jason Parilla, Frankilin Military Academy.

Council waits to hear if another casino vote is in the cards

Regina H. Boone/Richmond Free Press

Still standing

Former Gov. L. Douglas Wilder, center, stands with members of the Astoria Beneficial Club and others gathered to recognize the 50th anniversary of the installation of a statue honoring the late Bill “Bojangles” Robinson.

Photos by Regina H. Boone/Richmond Free Press

Regina H. Boone/Richmond Free Press

Ms. Spears

Mr. Jewell

Mr. Legions

Outdoor concert venue booked for council approval

By Jeremy M. Lazarus

A 7,500-seat outdoor concert venue that will feature 25 to 30 concerts each season is likely headed to the Richmond riverfront. Rejecting calls for delay from a representative from the Virginia War Memorial and residents of the nearby Oregon Hill neighborhood worried about the impact, a unanimous City Council this week put the proposed $30.5 million amphitheater on the fast track for approval at its upcoming meeting on Monday, June 12.

The location is a 9-acre parcel at 470 Tredegar St. Better known as Gambles Hill, the property is owned by New Market Corp., which has agreed to lease the acreage for the complex.

Projected to open in 2025, the amphitheater will be paid for by the development team led by R. Coran Capshaw’s Red Light Management, which is partnering with national entertainment firm Live Nation.

Under a performance agreement that the council is poised to approve, the team will build the venue and then receive reimbursement from the city for 20 years all of the new real estate, admissions and sales taxes that that the operation generates. The city projects that it will contribute about $27 million to the project through

around 2043. The property is valued at around $15.5 million and generates $189,000 a year in real estate taxes, which the city will still collect and retain.

Leonard Sledge, city director of economic development, told the council that the venue is projected to generate more than $600,000 year in new revenue for the city through increased property values and development.

Under the deal, Mr. Capshaw has committed to a goal of having 40 percent of the construction work performed by Black- and minority-owned businesses. After completion, the bathrooms at the site are to be open to the public on days when no concerts are scheduled, while the venue itself will be available for use at cost to nonprofits and the city.

Mr. Capshaw is well known in the music industry. His companies manage more than 400 recording artists and have been involved in building amphitheaters in Charlottesville and Nashville. The national entertainment group Live Nation is a partner and will arrange for Richmond to be part of the circuit of outdoor venues hosting summer concerts.

During Monday’s council committee session, Dr. Clay Mountcastle, executive

director of the Virginia War Memorial, which honors Virginia service men and women who died in military conflicts, urged council to postpone action.

He said he was concerned that the new venue could interfere with programs at his venue and wanted time to meet with Mr. Capshaw and others involved with the project to prevent conflicts.

Council members said those issues could be dealt with after the performance agreement was passed to ensure the financing was in place.

Residents, including Charles Pool and Bryan Green, who represent Oregon Hill civic groups, urged a delay to ensure the new amphitheater could moderate sounds and prevent concert-goers from taking all the street parking spaces, a common occurrence now when the Folk Festival and events at Brown’s Island are held.

Fifth District Councilwoman Stephanie A. Lynch noted that the new venue would be subject to Richmond’s noise ordinance barring loud sounds after 10 p.m., which should reduce that problem.

Mr. Capshaw and his team also assured council that every effort will be made to encourage concert-goers to use nearby decks and parking lots, rather than flooding into Oregon Hill.

Planned Fire Training Center clears final hurdle

By Jeremy Lazarus

The Richmond Fire Department can proceed with building a new training center on a 2-acre section of lawn at Hickory Hill Community Center in South Side, despite the property being zoned as residential.

The Richmond Board of Zoning Appeals voted on Wednesday to approve an exception for the project, clearing the way for the development that fire officials estimate will cost nearly $1 million, about half of which would come from a state grant.

Chairman Rodney M. Poole, who also serves on the Planning Commission, said that testimony and documents presented to the appeals board show the project meets the criteria for a zoning exception as spelled out in the City Charter.

The court-appointed panel is authorized by the charter to allow such public projects “when reasonably necessary in the public interest … in any district in which they are prohibited,” such as land zoned as residential.

The board found that the department and city had proven the new training center was needed and had met their burden of showing that the project during construction and use would “adequately safeguard the health, safety and welfare of the occupants of the adjoining and surrounding property.”

According to the board, the department also met the other conditions – that the development “shall not unreasonably impair an adequate supply of light and air to adjacent property, shall not increase

Gone fishing

The Richmond Department of Parks, Recreations and Community Facilities went fishing June 3 by hosting the Family Fishing Fair on Shields Lake in Bryd Park. Brittany Deleon, project manager of Virginia Outside, left helped Travis Garrison, 9, unhook a big mouth bass that he caught on the scenic lake in Richmond’s West End. Bottom photo, Hayden Lewis, 9, prepress to throw a fish backinto Shields Lake in Byrd Park.The event was designed to familiarize participants with the art and joys of fishing.

congestion in streets and shall not increase public danger from fire or otherwise affect public safety.” City Council had approved the project last month, with vigorous support from the area’s council representative, Reva M. Trammell. The department applied to the appeals board in April to overcome the zoning prohibition. The project had faced substantial opposition from supporters of Hickory Hill and from residents of adjoining neighborhoods. The developer of a bird sanctuary that sits across the railroad tracks from Hickory Hill expressed concern at the disturbance the construction and use of the training center would cause to the wildlife in the sanctuary.

New police precinct building set for East End

By Jeremy M. Lazarus

A new First Police Precinct will be built on the parking lot of the Richmond City Justice Center in the 6th Council District, according to information shared with City Council this week.

The city plans to invest more than $26 million to build the replacement for the current East End precinct, now located at 2501 Q St. in the 7th Council District, documents provided to the council state.

Along with a new building, the project will include a parking deck to accommodate the precinct’s vehicles and those of the Sheriff’s Office, the documents show.

The current precinct building, one of four in Richmond, has stood at the corner of Q and 25th St. for more than 30 years, the document states, would be demolished after the new building opens.

The council is expected to vote next Monday, June 12, to allow the city to hire a company to design and build the police precinct rather than following the traditional process of hiring an architect and then bidding for a general contractor to construct it.

Council has been told that using this process would save time and money due to the continuing inflation in building costs. The project is expected to be complete in 2025.

Council also plans to pass a second resolution next Monday to allow the city to use the same expedited process to build a replacement for Fire Station 21 in South Side.

The new station, which could cost nearly $26 million, according to the accompanying explanatory document, would rise at the old station’s current location, 2505 Richmond Highway. The work is expected to be completed by December 2024, the document states. Demolition at both sites could begin in September, if all goes well, according to the

documents. Funding for both projects was included in the 2023-24 capital budget that the council previously approved.

Your Primary Care Is

Photos by Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press

Democratic primary for 14th Senate District underway

By Debora Timms

With early voting ongoing for the June 20 Democratic primary, the candidates each spoke with the Richmond Free Press about some of the issues that are on the minds of voters in the new 14th Senate District.

The incumbent, Sen. Lamont Bagby, 46, had been serving in the House of Delegates since 2015 before winning the March special election to fill the 9th Senate District seat previously held by Jennifer McClellan. His opponent is 40-year-old Katherine “Katie” Gooch, a pastor in the United Methodist Church and the director of The Pace Center, a church-supported resource for students at Virginia Commonwealth University. Both candidates saw education as a primary concern. Ms. Gooch spoke to one issue that she felt was often overlooked in conversations about education — child care.

“It’s a crisis in this city to try to find quality child care before kindergarten, but even through grade school,” Ms. Gooch said. “This is an area that I think has really not been addressed in significant ways.”

Sen. Bagby stressed infrastructure investments and the fight over a $1 billion surplus

in the senate’s budget that could help to fund projects to ensure students have “quality spaces for teaching and learning to take place.”

Another issue both candidates raised was housing.

Sen. Bagby said bringing localities together with the state and federal government so that all three are working in concert is crucial. Funding for infrastructure once the Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority supplied a comprehensive plan, was a key way he saw the state being able to help.

He added that issues such as housing are also interrelated to others such as education.

“We can pump all the money we want into education, but at the end of the day that child still has to go home. We should be taking care of the community as a whole. That’s all the wrap around services,” Sen. Bagby said.

Ms. Gooch also saw connections between housing and other issues. She believes two ways to address the short supply of available housing is to look at reigning in the short-term

rental market in the city, “think Airbnb and Vrbo,” and creating high-density housing. That’s where she sees another issue coming into play.

“[Housing] and transportation — the two things go hand-in-hand,” Ms. Gooch said. “You have areas that you can make sure you have appropriate transportation opportunities for people to create high-density housing.”

Issues of social and environmental justice on the minds of voters as well such as women’s reproductive rights, LGBTQ rights and voting rights. Sen. Bagby sees the need to address all three with constitutional amendments in the next General Assembly.

“We need to get these things in the Constitution so that when we have a new governor or a new General Assembly, we don’t have Virginians worried about losing those rights,” he said. “Those rights should not be a political football. Those rights should be enshrined in the Constitution.” While Ms. Gooch shares the same policy stances

on these issues as Sen. Bagby, she said she feels uniquely qualified to represent the district in the senate as a pastor and as a woman.

“I know my own biology. I think I can be in the room with Republicans when they are considering some of these extreme measures and changes to Virginia laws and explain it is not a cut and dry issue,” she says. “For LGBTQ issues, that is a community I work with. I think I will be a good advocate because that is the community I serve every day.”

She also added that campaign finance reform is another critical component to getting things done when it comes to social and environmental justice issues, but especially in relation to gun control because “certain lobbyists and corporations have way too much power over Virginia and its lawmaking.”

“Richmond deserves better,” Ms. Gooch said.

Early voting continues until Saturday, June 17. Polls will be open for the June 20 primaries from 6 a.m. until 7 p.m. People in line by 7 p.m. will be allowed to vote. To find your polling location visit elections.virginia.gov.

https://www.elections.virginia.gov/casting-aballot/polling-place-lookup/

Richmond reels from mass shooting at graduation

Continued from A1

family in Monroe Park, he was gunned down. I can’t shake the image of him receiving CPR on the ground, still in his graduation cap.”

Seven people were shot as students, family and friends celebrated in the minutes following the graduation ceremony, according to Police Chief Rick Edwards. The five other men shot, ages, 14, 31, 42, 55 and 58, are recovering with non-lifethreatening injuries from the shooting.

Six others sustained injuries unrelated to the shooting, with three transported to the hospital for anxiety and two injured from falls. Mr. Smith’s nine-year-old daughter was hit by a car as she fled the area, and is being treated for her injuries.

Amari Ty-Jon Pollard, 19, was arrested on Tuesday and charged Wednesday with two counts of second degree murder with additional charges possible, according to police. He is being held without bond, and the case has been continued to a hearing later this month, as shared by Commonwealth’s Attorney Collette McEachin in an email to the Associated Press.

Mayor Levar M. Stoney expressed his desire to see Mr. Pollard prosecuted, but also stressed the need for the community “to put down firearms and lift up our hearts” as a way to recover from this tragedy and ensure peace moving forward.

the heart of Richmond tonight,” he stated. “State law enforcement are fully supporting the Richmond Police Department as this investigation moves forward.”

Chief Edwards said he believed the incident was likely the result of a year-long personal dispute between Mr. Jackson and Mr. Pollard, who police believe attended the graduation. He added that the shooting didn’t appear to be premeditated and that the motive is still under investigation.

Rescheduled Graduation

In response to the shooting, Richmond Public Schools has postponed high school graduations scheduled for this week.

The rescheduled ceremonies will be held at the individual schools with increased security.

The updated schedule for graduations also has been released:

Open High School - Friday, June 9, at 9 a.m. at Richmond

Community High School

Armstrong High School - Monday, June 12, at 11:30 a.m.

Thomas Jefferson High School - Monday, June 12, at 2 p.m.

Franklin Military Academy - Monday, June 12, at 9 a.m.

John Marshall High School - Tuesday, June 13, at 9 a.m.

George Wythe High School - Tuesday, June 13, at noon at John Marshall High School

RPS closed all schools Wednesday in response to the shooting, and later announced all schools will be closed Thursday and Friday, essentially ending the school year.

Mr. Jackson and Mr. Smith’s deaths are the 32nd and 33rd homicides in Richmond this year, according to Chief Edwards.

Tuesday’s shooting was also the second to occur at a Richmond school event this year, after a shooting at George Wythe High School in April left two students injured. Three Armstrong High School students also were shot in two separate incidents Tuesday.

The mass shooting also is the 169th to occur this year according to statistics from The Violence Project, a nonprofit that tracks and researches shootings in America.

The Richmond Behavioral Health Authority is providing counselors for those impacted by this tragedy, and can be reached at (804) 819-4100. The ChildSavers Immediate Response Helpline is also available at (804) 305-2420. Mr. Kamras said a vigil is planned for Mr. Jackson and Mr. Smith.

Amari Pollard

“Our city, our community will not be defined by this violence,” Mayor Stoney said. “Huguenot High will not be defined by this violence.”

“This just needs to stop,” Mr. Kamras said, calling for fewer guns in the community and in the streets, mental health support for children, and state and federal assistance in education, health care and housing. “I’m tired of the vigils, the well-meaning thoughts and prayers and the hand wringing. We need action.”

“Let’s not make this a red issue or blue issue,” Mr. Kamras said. “Can’t we just make it a child issue? Can’t we agree that we all love our children and we need to do better by them?”

Following the shooting, federal, state and local politicians offered condolences, weighed in on the cause of the shooting and suggested necessary responses to prevent future tragedies.

In a statement Tuesday and a floor speech in Congress on Wednesday, Rep. Jennifer L. McClellan mourned the lives lost and called for policy to address and reduce gun violence.

“As the mother of two school-aged children, I cannot fathom the profound heartbreak, sense of loss and trauma these families are experiencing,” Rep. McClellan stated. “We must address the root causes of gun violence and pass common sense gun safety policies that protect our communities.”

Gov. Glenn A. Youngkin also issued a statement Tuesday. “My administration continues monitoring the terrible shooting in

Free COVID-19 vaccines

Continued from A1

vdh.virginia.gov/coronavirus/covid-19-testing/covid-19testing-sites.

Want a COVID-19 vaccine or booster shot?

The Richmond and Henrico health districts are offering free vaccines for COVID-19 and more at the following locations:

Thursday, June 8, 2 to 4 p.m. - Cary Street, 400 E. Cary St., Bivalent Moderna boosters for ages 6 and older, Bivalent Pfizer boosters for ages 5 and older, Novavax primary shots for ages 12 and older, JYNNEOS shots and Moderna/Pfizer baby bivalent boosters. Walk-ups welcome but appointments encouraged.

Wednesday, June 14, 2 to 4 p.m. - Henrico West Health Department, 8600 Dixon Powers Dr., Bivalent Moderna boosters for ages 6 and older, Bivalent Pfizer boosters for ages 5 and older, Novavax primary shots for ages 12 and older, JYNNEOS shots and Moderna/Pfizer baby bivalent boosters. Walk-ups welcome but appointments encouraged.

Anyone can schedule an appointment online at vase.vdh. virginia.gov, vaccinate.virginia.gov or vax.rchd.com, or by calling (804) 205-3501 or (877) VAX-IN-VA (1-877-829-4682). VaccineFinder.org and vaccines.gov also allow people to find nearby pharmacies and clinics that offer the COVID-19 vaccine and booster.

Anyone who is getting a booster shot should bring their vaccine card to confirm the date and type of vaccine received. RHHD also offers at-home vaccinations by calling (804) 2053501 to schedule appointments.

New COVID-19 boosters, updated to better protect against the latest variants of the virus, are now available. The new Pfizer booster is approved for those aged 12 and up, while the new Moderna booster is for those aged 18 and older.

As with previous COVID-19 boosters, the new doses can only be received after an initial two vaccine shots, and those who qualify are instructed to wait at least two months after their second COVID-19 vaccine.

The Richmond and Henrico Health Districts also offer bivalent Pfizer and Moderna boosters to children between the ages of 5 and 11. Children in this age range will be eligible after at least two months since their last vaccine dose.

Compiled by George Copeland Jr.

police confirmed that Huguenot graduate Shawn Jackson, 18, and his stepfather, Renzo Smith, 36, died from their injuries. Amari Pollard, 19, was arrested and charged with two counts of second degree murder for the shooting.

Kendall was afraid for his grandmother, friends and Thomas Jefferson High School faculty when he heard the news. He also was upset that he could not graduate, but he feels safer attending his rescheduled graduation ceremony because of increased security. However, he is afraid of what could happen in public spaces.

“You never know what’s on people’s minds these days,” Kendall said.

Kelly Johnson-Crowder, Kendall’s mother and a teacher at Carver Elementary School, is devastated for the families affected and her son.

“Unfortunately, living in the city of Richmond, too many moms are burying their children,” she said. “It should be the other way around.”

She would like the rescheduled graduation to take place at Thomas Jefferson High School and would feel unsafe at the Altria Theater. However, her family will be out of the country to celebrate Kendall’s graduation and she believes he will miss his opportunity to walk

across the stage.

Mrs. Johnson-Crowder suggests stricter gun laws and harsher penalties could help prevent these incidents from occurring. Correcting bad behavior in children as early as elementary school could also help curb these issues.

“There is no value to human life anymore,” she said. “No one cares about human life.”

Leslie Brown, a VCU employee, and Laurel West, a teacher at Bellevue Elementary, attended a community march near the Virginia State Capitol on Wednesday to protest the shooting.

Ms. Brown believes protests should happen every day because this is an everyday issue somewhere in the United States. Awareness of the shooting could help spark change, but the issue could keep occurring, she said, adding that more legislation should be in place to prevent such incidents.

“I cannot even fathom the choices now in front of parents,” Ms. Brown said. I just don’t understand why you would do that to your friends and neighbors, even people you don’t like.”

Ms. West has run out of words for such incidents and does not understand why the issue with shootings has not been addressed.

“I don’t know what else we need to say,” Ms. West said. “Do we really

believe that guns are more important than our children because we’re sure acting like we do.”

Dr. Dennis Parker, COO of the mental health agency, Hargrove Oliver & Parker Enterprises, also is president of Caliber Virginia, which represents minority community-based mental health service providers across the Commonwealth. Dr. Parker said has worked with a teen who knew someone involved in the shooting at the Altria Theater and the teen discussed the issue in a “very numb, non-emotional manner.”

Dr. Parker is saddened by the shooting and believes such situations are what leads to post traumatic stress syndrome in many Black communities.

This causes numbness in order to survive, he said. Black teens suffer from PTSD expecting that these issues are a part of life and are going to happen.

“It does give you some type of coping mechanism,” Dr. Parker said. “But it also normalizes behavior such that you may or may not take the proactive steps to try to redirect it and change some of that because you get to think that it’s just the way it is.”

Caliber Virginia and Dr. Parker will host a virtual session on June 15 to discuss ways to protect teens and young people.

Ms. Gooch Sen. Bagby

Four RPS schools in line for new names

By George Copeland Jr.

Richmond School Board members will vote to confirm new names for four schools — Ginter Park Elementary, John B. Cary Elementary, Binford Middle and George Wythe High — later this month, after a meeting Monday evening at Thomas Jefferson High School.

The School Board had approved the renaming of three of the schools in November, adding George Wythe in January, as a way to distance the schools from their namesakes, who served in the Confederate Army during the Civil War, owned slaves or both.

The decision led to several public surveys, hearings and suggestions throughout March, with Richmond Public Schools Superintendent Jason Kamras recommending four new names during Monday’s meeting.

Lois Harrison-Jones Elementary was the recommended name for John B. Cary, Northside Elementary for Ginter Park, Dogwood Middle for Binford and Richmond High School of the Arts was the new name recommended for George Wythe.

Of all the names recommended, Dogwood Middle and Richmond High didn’t attract any positive or negative com-

ments from the public or board members, while former school officials, students and others were present to sing the praises of Mrs. Jones, a Richmond teacher who served as the first Black female superintendent in Virginia.

“You will not find anywhere within the shores of this country any person better suited, better qualified, better prepared to receive that honor,” said former School Board Chair Melvin D. Law during the public comment period of Monday’s meeting.

However, another name for Ginter Park, Frances Wood McClenney, also was suggested by members of the public and board members, and led to both spirited support and heated debate among the board.

Like Ms. Jones, the late Ms. McClenney was a landmark African-American educator in Richmond, and worked during the desegregation of schools in Virginia as the first Black teacher, Black principal and female principal of Ginter Park Elementary.

“Frances came to Richmond with a legacy and a history of business and education and freedom fighters who loved humanity,” said Madeline McClenney, Mrs. McClenney’s daughter. “She came to teach all of her babies to read and write and think so they

would matriculate with a foundation that could not be stolen.”

However, much of the discussion from the board was focused on Mrs. McClenney’s association with the clustering of white students into classes separate from black students that was criticized and investigated in Richmond schools in 1992. Board members Shonda Harris-Muhammed, Kenya Gibson and Board Vice Chair Cheryl Burke voiced their support for renaming Ginter Park in recognition of her accomplishments, despite this history.

“I sincerely hope that this board, whatever the decision may be, will take into consideration the work that woman did as a black female during that time in Richmond City Public Schools,” Ms. Harris-Muhammed said.

Other board members had their own opinions on the names recommended so far, with Mariah White disagreeing with the renaming process and suggesting Ms. Jones and Mrs. McClenney be honored with street names insteard. At the end of the discussion, Ms. Gibson introduced a motion to confirm Mrs. McClenney as the new replacement name for Ginter Park, which failed in a three to five vote.

The board is set to discuss the renaming process again at their next school board meeting on June 20.

Black kids face racism before they even start school

Continued from A1 students are often perceived as less innocent and older than their age, leading to disproportionately harsher discipline in schools.

Black adolescents are far less likely than their white peers to seek and find mental health care. In part, that’s because Black families often distrust the medical system after generations of mistreatment — from lack of access to care to being subjected to racist practices and experimentation such as the Tuskegee Study. The country also has a shortage of providers who understand the roles that racial identity and racism play in shaping young Black people’s mental health.

Research and health surveillance data point to a growing mental health crisis among Black youth over decades. Between 1991 and 2019, Black adolescents had the highest increase among any racial or ethnic group in prevalence of suicide attempts — a rise of nearly 80%.

About 53% of Black youths experience moderate to severe symptoms of depression, and about 20% said they were exposed to racial trauma often or very often in their life.

These disparities and lived experiences have systemic roots, including discrimination in housing, education and health care, and they have led to Black people experiencing higher rates of poverty and being underinsured. But financial stability does not shelter Black youth from the toll of racism on their mental health, said Dr. Alfiee Breland-Noble, a psychologist and founder of the AAKOMA Project, a mental health nonprofit focused on youth of color.

“Socioeconomic status adds another layer to it, but that’s not the thing that’s driving a lot of the behaviors that our young people are experi-

Need help?

If you or someone you know needs help, call or text the National Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988. (link: https://988lifeline.org/).

You can also reach the Crisis Text Line by texting CRISIS to 741741. (link: https://www. crisistextline.org/)

If you are looking for a Black mental health provider, organizations like Therapy for Black Kids maintain databases: https://www. therapyforblackkids.org/about.html

For LGBTQ youths, if you or someone you know needs help or support, The Trevor Project’s trained crisis counselors are available 24/7 at 1-866-488-7386, via chat at TheTrevorProject.org/Get-Help, or by texting START to 678678.

encing,” she said. “It’s the fact that people make assumptions about Black kids, based purely on their stereotypes.”

For 17-year-old Lillian, navigating a predominantly white school as a high-achieving Black girl wore heavily on her mental health. The AP is only publishing her first name to protect her privacy in discussing sensitive topics.

At its worst, anxiety isolated Lillian from her close-knit family. She sometimes went days without sleeping, kept awake by her schoolwork and the pressure she put on herself to excel.

All the insensitive comments and racial microaggressions felt relentless, and often came just as she was starting to become closer friends with someone. This school year alone, at least four people have tried without warning to touch her hair, which she loves wearing in puffs, braids and other natural styles.

Others told her she didn’t seem like what they expected, leaving her wondering what exactly they expected of Black girls like her. With few teachers who were people of color at her school, she often felt like she had to work harder to prove herself capable and deserving of the same opportunities and recognition that white students easily received. But in advocating for herself, she worried about coming across as too aggressive.

“I think in predominantly white spaces, we naturally code switch. We’re softer,” Lillian said. “I had to have this large patience for things that I wouldn’t normally have. Because it was my school, it’s like if I’m so aggressive, and it becomes known that I’m the aggressive Black girl, it’s gonna be terrible, and it’s gonna follow me.”

Although many of Lillian’s family members supported her in seeking more intense support for her anxiety — she was ultimately diagnosed with two anxiety disorders — others were less receptive, dismissing her mental health as a need to focus more on her faith.

Outside of school, Lillian volunteers with suicide prevention and mental health workshops.

Another Black girl once told Lillian about a white therapist making a dismissive comment about Black families during a session.

“If you’re going into it with a stigmatized belief about how Black people see mental health, then of course no one is going to want to open up to you,” Lillian said.

As young as 4 to 6 years old, children of color begin to experience race-based traumatic stress, said Dr. Steven Kniffley, a licensed psychologist and senior associate dean for diversity, equity and inclusion at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine.

Racism affects mental health on multiple levels. Besides direct hostility and microaggressions, experts said seeing people of color subjected to racist violence also takes a toll. Called vicarious racism, research has found it can result in greater symptoms of depression and anxiety.

“When we think about our young folks specifically, because of the strong influence of social media on their lived experience, they’re constantly inundated and really overexposed to all the bad things that are going on in our society,” Dr. Kniffley said. “You see a police shooting, and they’re retraumatized over and over again.”

In the Columbus area, where Lillian goes to school, the killing of 16-year-old Ma’Khia Bryant brought the feeling close to home for Black girls in the city. Ma’Khia was holding a knife during a confrontation with a woman at her foster home when police shot the teen. But Ma’Khia’s family later revealed it was Ma’Khia who had called for police to come to the scene, saying she was being attacked and needed help.

The shooting made Fran Frazier, founder of the Columbus-based Black Girl Rising, want to do something for Black girls in the city, who she said felt denied of their girlhood and “adultified” — viewed as older and less innocent. She bought time on a radio station and asked Black women in the area to read love letters to Black girls on the air.

“Our girls have the assumption that, ‘If we don’t look like you think we’re supposed to look, then you can address us as adults,’” Ms. Frazier said. “‘You’re not thinking about us as actual girls.’”

Ms. Frazier led a 2011 study into the lives of Black girls in Ohio that forms the basis of her work now with young Black women around mental health, leadership and resilience.

Through the Black Girl Think Tank, Ms. Frazier said participants identified six key areas affecting Black girls’ mental health: colorism, bullying, body shaming, lack of conflict resolution skills, depression and LGBTQ+ issues.

While nearly all the girls who responded said they liked being Black, and liked being a girl, they felt they had been treated unfairly for being both.

“When you are walking around every day, being reminded that you are a female, that you are a female of color, and nobody in the world actually likes you, that helps you see what the future could be like,” Ms. Frazier said. “Our girls have a lot of hope, but not necessarily what they need to get there.”

Suicides for all Black youths between the ages of 5 and 17 climbed between 2003 and 2017 — but the increase was sharpest for girls and 15- to 17-year-olds. A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention survey found that 22% of Black youth had considered suicide in the past year. For Black youths who are also LGBTQ+, that number was 44%, according to the Trevor Project, a suicide prevention and crisis intervention organization.

Individually and systemically, barriers to accessing mental health care disproportionately deter Black teens from getting the support they need.

The cost of care — sometimes hundreds of dollars for a single therapy session if providers

don’t take insurance, and many do not — can make services inaccessible, but poverty and insurance rates do not fully explain the disparate outcomes.

The fear of being misunderstood or even mistreated by the medical establishment is not without foundation. Most mental health care providers are white — only 4% of psychologists are Black, according to the American Psychological Association. And 80% of mental health providers are not trained in treating race-based trauma, said Dr. Kniffley, the psychologist.

Racist treatment of Black people in medical care dates to slavery, and psychiatry and psychology are not exceptions. In 1851, physician Samuel Cartwright hypothesized that mental ill-

ness was what drove enslaved Black Americans to escape to freedom. Termed “drapetomania,” the belief was rooted in the idea that slavery was such an improvement to Black peoples’ lives that only those who were mentally ill would wish to escape.

And in 1968, psychologists Walter Bromberg and Franck Simon developed the theory of “protest psychosis,” the idea that Black male participation in the Civil Rights Movement caused violent, schizophrenic symptoms.

“That legacy has contributed to a mistrust that Black and brown folks have where their experience has been pathologized,” Dr. Kniffley said. “They’ve been overlabeled with behavioral challenges and learning challenges that have very real-world consequences in terms of what type of schooling you get, what type of jobs are accessible to you, how people treat you.”

Psychologists have taken steps to acknowledge their profession’s history. In 2021, the American Psychological Association issued a public apology and resolution noting psychology’s roots in eugenicist and racist ideas and the negative impact that the field has had on communities of color. The resolution called for prioritizing training and policies meant to address these inequities.

To read more of this article, please visit https://apnews.com/article/mentalhealth-black-children-investigation-31a292733919a935929976e213aef2af

This article is part of the Associated Press series on health disparities impacting Black Americans.

The Associated Press

Research and health surveillance data point to a growing mental health crisis among Black youth over decades. Between 1991 and 2019, Black adolescents had the highest increase among any racial or ethnic group in prevalence of suicide attempts — a rise of nearly 80%.

Tuesday’s bloodletting

The chorus of angry and sorrowful cries continue as yet another mass shooting shocks our nation. This time the once unimaginable struck close to home as Huguenot High School students left the Altria Theater ready to celebrate their newly minted diplomas with family and friends.

Shots rang out and amid the chaos people ran for cover. Most of those fearing and fleeing for their lives survived. Screaming ambulances carried seven others to hospital emergency rooms. Death claimed two of the wounded.

Response from elected officials was swift and unending—just like the gunfire and killings that seem to have found a sweet spot in Richmond.

From Rep. Jennifer McClellan from the halls of Congress:

“We shouldn’t have to live like this. What should have been the happiest day of those kid’s lives turned into every parent’s worst nightmare. Those kids’ saw their freshman year cut short by COVID. They should have felt the joy, yesterday and last night, of graduating. Instead, their final memory of high school is marred forever by trauma.

“The active shooter drills they endured throughout their school years did not prepare them for a shooting at their graduation. Or in a public park. In a grocery store. At a theater. At their house of worship. At a concert. At the mall. Walking down the street. On a highway. In their home. Where are they safe?”

From Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle Sears:

“Even if you took all the guns off the street, from the law-abiding citizens, the others who mean harm, who mean to kill and mayhem, they’re going to have the guns,” she said when speaking to the press Tuesday. “So we have to figure out what’s going on in our communities. We have to find the right problem, so that we can come to the right solution.”

From the Democratic Party of Virginia Chairwoman Susan Swecker, who rebuked the lieutenant governor’s comments:

“Our thoughts today continue to be with the victims and families of this evening’s mass shooting in Richmond. These grieving families in Richmond and across the Commonwealth are why we fight for common sense gun safety legislation. It is to prevent tragedies like this that we champion an assault weapons ban, background checks, and red flag laws.

We are disgusted, yet hardly surprised, by Lieutenant Governor Winsome Sears’ comments following yesterday’s shooting in Richmond. She campaigned as a hardline pro-gun ‘activist’ and a poster child for the NRA. Simply put, serious times need serious, thoughtful leadership – and Lieutenant Governor Sears is not a serious leader.

I’m calling upon Governor Youngkin to publicly disavow her comments.”

From the Richmond Branch NAACP President James “JJ” Minor:

Gun violence is of a major concern to our nation, and especially to the communities served and represented by the Richmond, Virginia Branch NAACP. Curbing that violence, at every opportunity is a concern and major priority. Our condolences go out to all the families in the past and recent homicides in the RVA region. We are praying for all victims affected by this plague of violence and praying for a speedy recovery of the surviving victims and their families.

From the Richmond Free Press:

Elected officials: Stop talking, stop the madness and do something. Now.

Our young people and our residents deserve better than having to constantly witness the city’s carnage and violence.

During Tuesday’s shooting, Daisy Jane Cooper Johnson, the daughter of Bettie Elizabeth Boyers Cooper, a Black woman whose federal lawsuit more than 60 years ago led to the integration of the City’s schools, was nearly gunned down as she approached the Altria to watch her 17-year-old grandson graduate from Thomas Jefferson High School’s ceremonies, which were to follow Huguenot’s.

One can only imagine what Mrs. Cooper would think of Tuesday’s bloodletting.

During an honorary street renaming ceremony yesterday for Mrs. Cooper, her granddaughter, Kelly Johnson-Crowley, lovingly spoke of her grandmother who died last October at age 94. She also mentioned this week’s tragedy.

“This is a bittersweet moment … it should be a happy occasion but my son got to graduation yesterday and had to turn around because of the shooting, said Mrs. Johnson-Crowley. But I’m just really thankful that we’re able to gather and do this in her honor.”

Striking Hollywood writers are nervous about artificial intelligence — also known as AI — and I’m not feeling so good myself.

When I see all those bright, clever and mostly young talents out on the picket lines, I cannot help but ask myself: Could we columnists be next?

The strike by the Writ ers Guild of America, their first since their 2007-08 walk out that lasted 100 days, has brought a new fascinating and troubling issue to the forefront: AI.

The promise of AI has long boggled our human minds. Like putting humans on the moon, the idea of artificial intelligence has been dreamed about for ages—sometimes nightmarishly in forms as varied as Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” or HAL the computer in Stanley Kubrick’s “2001.”

Now in an age that has seen astounding acceleration in the output of scientific and technological innovations, we suddenly look up and see artificial intelligence is upon us, producing new wonders by the day, as well as new and troubling questions.

We are beginning to bear witness to a new unease at the thought that these innovations might make millions of jobs held by flesh-and-blood humans obsolete.

In other words, could the anti-AI backlash in the WGA indicate a new Luddite phase?

You may recall the original Luddites from your history classes. They were a reaction in the industrial revolution to machines competing with human workers during a period of great social and economic change in England in the early 19th century.

Outraged workers rose up and began to destroy the machines. Fearing the worst, the WGA asked in its latest contract proposal that the entertainment industry agree not to use AI to replace writers. Not surprisingly, the industry declined, agreeing only to “annual meetings to discuss advancements in technology.” That rang alarm bells in writers’ rooms across the industry, Should similar alarms be rung by us in the opinionwriting punditocracy?

We’ve seen such backlash movements rise up with varying

degrees of ferocity on the heels of numerous innovations in a variety of industries.

Perhaps now, when not just human muscles but human brains are in a new competition, could it be artists and writers who have their turn as leaders of a backlash?

Since I, too, as a career scribe, have reason to feel competition from the possibility of artificial intelligence competing with whatever intelligence I try to bring to the columnists’ trade, I have delved, however cautiously into the AI world already available on the internet.

Curious, I gave an audition to the pioneer AI called ChatGPT with a typical pundit question:

“Should I trust Donald Trump?”

Without prompting from me, the chatbot instantly responded with an almost-scolding explainer:

“As an AI language model, I don’t have personal opinions or beliefs,” it said. “Trust is a subjective judgment that varies from person to person. The level of trust you have in Donald Trump, or any individual, depends on your own assessment of their character, actions, and track record.

“It’s important to note,” it went on, “that public figures, including politicians, can be viewed differently by different

Celebrating ‘the voice of Black America’

“Show me a person who is full of prejudice, and I will show you a sick, unhappy, fearful individual who is not going anywhere and who is not growing. People don’t shut other people out; they fence themselves in.” – Whitney M. Young Jr.

It was 20 years ago this week that I humbly assumed the responsibilities of leadership of the National Urban League—one of which is the honor to author this very column, To Be Equal, established by the esteemed Whitney M. Young Jr.

The column shares its name and takes its inspiration from Mr. Young’s first full-length book, published on New Year’s Day, 1964, in the wake of what Mr. Young called “the year of the Negro Revolution,” a year that saw thousands of children, marching through Birmingham, Ala., attacked by police dogs and blasted with firehoses; the Woolworth’s lunch counter sit-in in Jackson, Miss.; Gov. George W. Wallace’s Stand in the Schoolhouse Door at the University of Alabama; the assassination of Medgar Evers; the March on Washington for Jobs and Justice; and the deadly bombing of Birmingham’s 16th Street Baptist Church.

The first To Be Equal col-

umn to be published in New York’s Amsterdam News was headlined, “How Much Are Negroes Worth?” Mr. Young recounted his conversation with “a middle-aged white housewife” who declared she harbored no prejudice against Black Americans but could not comprehend the push to desegregate schools. “Her arguments against school in-

Marc H. Morial

tegration, it turned out, were directed against sending her children to slum schools,” Mr. Young wrote. “But supposedly there is nothing wrong with sending Negro children to slum schools.”

The last To Be Equal column published under Mr. Young’s byline ran three weeks after his tragic March 11, 1971, drowning in Nigeria and consisted of excerpts of his various speeches. The last column he authored, also published after his death and headlined, “Old Story, New Beginning,” concerned his efforts as part of a special commission tasked with updating the recommendations of the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders, also known as the Kerner Commission.

“The Kerner report’s sound recommendations have been ignored, and concerned citizens are going to have to put some muscle into their principles if this nation is to survive,” Mr. Young wrote. “The Kerner

Commission recommended, among other things, greater concern by private citizens, and it’s good to note that at a time when many private groups are simply throwing up their hands and refusing to become involved, at least one national organization has devised an imaginative new program.”

That national organization was the National Conference of Christians and Jews, and the imaginative new program was the National Committee for Commitment to Brotherhood, formed to support the work of the National Urban League, NAACP, and Southern Christian Leadership Conference.

The first To Be Equal to be published after Mr. Young’s death was authored by Harold R. Sims, who served as the National Urban League’s acting executive director until the appointment of Vernon E. Jordan. Appropriately, it was a tribute to Mr. Young headlined “Nation Mourns A Great Leader.”

“Whitney Young was a man who transcended the boundaries of race, nationality, and ideology,” Mr. Sims wrote. “He was a man who formed a human bridge between the rich and the poor, the white and the black, the conservative and the liberal. Labels simply don’t apply to such a universal man.”

Each of Mr. Young’s successors has continued to publish To Be Equal, and it has been my honor to uphold the tradition as he intended it to be, “the voice of Black America.”

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people. Donald Trump, as the former President of the United States, has both supporters and critics. His policies, statements, and behavior during his time in office have been a subject of much debate and controversy.

“When evaluating someone’s trustworthiness, it’s often helpful to consider multiple perspectives, examine their actions and statements, and review objective information and facts. This allows you to form a more informed opinion based on your own values and priorities.”

Well, thanks a lot, chatbot, but your on-the-one-hand, on-theother-hand equivocating would be dismissed as hopelessly wishywashy by most readers. Perhaps we should talk about it in the way journalists traditionally do, over your favorite beverage, whatever octane that might be.

aprilcoleman@richmondfreepress.com

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Farewell, Tina Turner

Like many of her devoted fans, I was both shocked and saddened that the euphonious singer, Tina Turner, passed away on Wednesday, May 24, 2023.

From her early performances with husband, Ike Turner, and backup dancers, The Ikettes, on “The Ed Sullivan Show,” “The Smothers Brothers,” “Don Kirshner’s Midnight Special,” and many other 1960 and 1970 TV shows, I was captivated by their fusion of musical genres. I would sit in my rocking chair beside our family’s phonograph for hours playing their many songs — “Nutbush City Limits,” “River Deep Mountain

High,” “I Want to Take You

Higher,” “Come Together,”and of course, the one that they “never did nothing nice and easy on” “Proud Mary.”

When Ms. Turner reinvented herself in the 1980s as a solo artist performing new tunes, I was elated to share that listening experience with my best friend ever, later my wife, who surprised me with tickets to her “What’s Love Tour” at the Classic Amphitheater on Aug. 4, 1993, for my birthday. Her performance live was a dream come true for the 12-year-old still inside that 40-year-old man. Despite it being almost 30 years ago this year, that remains one concert we still love telling others about even today.

In saying our goodbye to Tina, we chose these lyrics from Fleetwood Mac’s “Songbird”: “For you, there’ll be no more crying”; “For you, the sun will be shining.”

RICK KNIGHT

Henrico County

High court diluted Voting Rights Act a decade ago, prompting wave of new voting rules

By Christina A. Cassidy and Ayanna Alexander The Associated Press

ATLANTA

Within hours of a U.S. Supreme Court decision dismantling a key provision of the Voting Rights Act, Texas lawmakers announced plans to implement a strict voter ID law that had been blocked by a federal court. Lawmakers in Alabama said they would press forward with a similar law that had been on hold.

The ruling continues to reverberate across the country a decade later, as Republican-led states pass voting restrictions that, in several cases, would have been subject to federal review had the conservative-leaning court left the provision intact. At the same time, the justices have continued to take other cases challenging elements of the landmark 1965 law that was born from the sometimes violent struggle for the right of Black Americans to cast ballots.

The justices are expected to rule in the coming weeks in a new case out of Alabama that could make it much more difficult for minority groups to sue over gerrymandered political maps that dilute their representation.

“At that point, you have to ask yourself what’s left of the Voting Rights Act?” said Franita Tolson, a constitutional and election law expert and co-dean of the University of Southern California School of Law.

Core parts of the law have been reauthorized with bipartisan support five times since it was signed by thenPresident Lyndon Johnson, the most recent in 2006. But congressional efforts to address the enforcement gap created by the June 2013 Supreme Court decision on what was known as preclearance — federal review of proposed election-related changes before they could take effect — have languished amid increasingly partisan battles over the ballot box.

The recent wave of voting changes have been pushed by Republican lawmakers who point to concerns over elections that have been fueled by former

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President Trump’s false claims that the 2020 election was stolen.

At least 104 restrictive voting laws have passed in 33 mostly GOP-controlled states since the 2020 election, according to an analysis by the Voting Rights Lab, which tracks voting legislation in the states.

Alabama could add another to the list soon, one that would make it a crime to help a non-family member fill out or return an absentee ballot. While supporters argue the law is needed to boost security, critics say it

It was such Jim Crow-era rules that the Voting Rights Act was designed to stop, relying on a formula to identify states, counties and towns with a history of imposing voting restrictions and with low voter registration or participation rates. They then were required to submit any proposed voting changes in advance, either to the U.S. Department of Justice or the federal court in Washington.

The law included ways for jurisdictions to exit the preclearance requirement after demonstrating specific improvements, and dozens had over the years.

Most improved voter access and likely would have sailed through federal review. But at least 14 laws – in Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas and Virginia – added new voting restrictions, the Voting Rights Lab found. These include nine, high-profile bills passed in the aftermath of the 2020 election that would have almost certainly drawn significant scrutiny from the Justice Department.

In Georgia, Senate Bill 202 added ID requirements to mail voting, codified the use of ballot drop boxes in a way that reduced the number allowed in metro Atlanta — and restricted outside groups from providing water and food to voters standing in line. Republicans have said the changes were needed to boost security. Groups in the state have recalibrated their efforts to help voters.

Arizona passed two measures last year requiring voters who use state and federal voter registration forms to prove their citizenship and purging voters based on whether county election officials believe they might not be citizens or might not be qualified to vote.

Those could disproportionately affect Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander communities with cultural family names, said Alexa-Rio Osaki, political director of the Arizona Asian American Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander for Equity Coalition.

could make it difficult for voters who are older, low-income, ill or who do not feel comfortable with the already cumbersome absentee ballot process, which includes a requirement to submit a copy of a photo ID.

“This is voter suppression at its best,” said Betty Shinn, a 72-year-old Black woman from Mobile who recently testified against the bill during a legislative hearing in Montgomery. “It’s no different from asking me how many jellybeans are in that jar or asking me to recite the Constitution from memory.”

At the time of the 2013 decision, nine states and a few dozen counties and towns in six other states were on the list for federal review. That included a small number of counties in California and New York.

In the decade since the Supreme Court decision, which came in a case filed by Shelby County, Alabama, lawmakers in the nine states formerly covered by the preclearance requirement have passed at least 77 voting-related laws, according to an analysis by the Voting Rights Lab for The Associated Press.

The City of Richmond announces the following project(s) available for services relating to: RFP No. 230013149 T.B. Smith Community Center (APRA) -

Construction Manager at Risk

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“If Shelby v. Holder didn’t exist, we wouldn’t have to worry about feeling as if we’re excluded yet again,” she said. “So, we’re talking about targeting our own communities within the state just based on what our name is and whether that looks American or not.”

In North Carolina, voting rights groups are bracing for the return of the state’s strict voter ID law, which the new GOP majority on the state Supreme Court has revived. They say the law will disproportionately affect younger voters. Several North Carolina counties, home to a handful of historically Black colleges and universities, were previously subject to federal review.

The City of Richmond announces the following project(s) available for services relating to:

Monday, June 26, 2023/Time: 2:00 P.M.

Information or copies of the above solicitations are available by contacting Procurement Services, at the City of Richmond website (www.RVA. GOV), or faxed (804) 646-5989. The City of Richmond encourages all contractors to participate in the procurement process.

The City of Richmond announces the following project(s): Request for Services. For all information pertaining to this RFP conference call, please logon to the Richmond website (www.RVA.GOV).

July 21, 2023, Time: 3:00P.M.

or copies of the above solicitations are available by contacting Procurement Services, at the City of Richmond website (www.RVA. GOV), or faxed (804) 646-5989. The City of Richmond encourages all contractors to participate in the procurement process.

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August 07, 2023,

3:00P.M. Information or copies of the above solicitations are available by contacting Procurement Services, at the City of Richmond website (www.RVA. GOV), or faxed (804) 646-5989. The City of Richmond encourages all contractors to participate in the procurement process.

The Associated Press

Evan Milligan, center, plaintiff in Merrill v. Milligan, an Alabama redistricting case that could have far-reaching effects on minority voting power across the United States, speaks in October 2022 with reporters following oral arguments at the Supreme Court in Washington. Standing behind Mr. Milligan are his counsel Deuel Ross, from left, Letetia Jackson, Rep. Terri Sewell, D-Ala., and Janai Nelson, president and director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund.

The Associated Press Betty Shinn, 72, poses for a photograph June 2 at a coffee shop in in Mobile, Ala. A U.S. Supreme Court decision a decade ago that tossed out the heart of the Voting Rights Act continues to reverberate across the country. Republican-led states continue to pass voting restrictions that, in several cases, would have been subject to federal review had the court left the provision

Stories by Fred Jeter

Jokic: Denver’s second round sensation

The Denver Nuggets’ historic success of 2023 really began in 2014 with a draft selection that hardly drew a ripple of excitement across the NBA.

With the 41st pick of the second round, the Nuggets drafted relative unknown Nikola Jokic, with no college experience, from the European nation of Serbia.

He was hardly a household name, even among hoops’ enthusiasts.

The 6-foot-11 center had played for Mega Basket of the Adriatic League in 2013 with modest numbers (11 points, six rebounds, three assists per game).

Denver knew something others didn’t, yet they still dragged their feet well into the second round before making it official.

The Serbian has become an overachiever of all time with two NBA Player of Year Awards, another runner-up finish, and now a chance to lead the Coloradans to their first NBA crown.

His blend of scoring, rebound and sleight-ofhand passing has Jokic in the same conversation

with the greatest big men in pro annals.

There aren’t many NBA rags-to-riches stories. Most game changers were prep and college phenoms who were selected in the draft’s first round (often top half of first round).

Here’s how Jocic’s teammates came to the Rocky Mountains:

Jamal Murray (first round, seventh pick, 2016, from Kentucky)

Michael Porter (first round, fourth pick, 2018, from Missouri)

Aaron Gordon (first round, fourth pick, 2014, from of Arizona)

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (first round, 13th pick, from Georgia)

Jeff Green (first round, fifth pick, from Georgetown

Christian Braun (first round, 21st pick, from Kansas)

Zeke Nnaji (first round, 22nd pick, out of Arizona)

Bruce Brown (second round, 42nd pick, 2018, from Miami.)

Jokic wasn’t even Denver’s first selection in the 2014 Draft. With the 11th pick, the Nuggets tabbed Creighton’s Doug McDermott, who was quickly traded to Chicago for Bosnian Jusuf Nurkic.

It’s not too different among the Nuggets’ Finals opponent Miami Heat.

Front-liners Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo,

Cody Zeller, Kyle Lowry, Tyler Herro, Kevin Love and Victor Oladipo were all first-round picks. An outlier, perhaps even more so than Jokic, is Heat forward Haywood Highsmith. The Baltimore native played collegiately at Wheeling, W.Va., Jesuit and was undrafted despite being 2018 NCAA Division II Player of the Year.

U.Va.’s Woolfolk wears one hat and one helmet

Depending on the season, Jay Woolfolk wears either No. 4 or No. 16 for the University of Virginia.

In blue and orange No. 4, the former Benedictine standout is a tip-top reason why the Cavaliers might go far in this year’s NCAA baseball playoffs.

Wearing No. 16 this fall, the 6-foot, 200-pound righthander may figure heavily in Virginia’s hopes for rising football fortunes.

As a legitimate two-sport athlete, Woolfolk represents a diminishing breed on the high end of NCAA Division 1 sports.

It’s no easy matter, even for someone as gifted as Woolfolk, the son of former JeffersonHuguenot-Wythe and University of Richmond basketball star Pete Woolfolk.

The baseball season and spring football overlap in Charlottesville.

That means Woolfolk had to split time this past spring between being the baseball pitching closer (he leads team in saves) and auditioning to be the Cavaliers’ No. 1 QB when the gridiron season opens Sept. 2 at Tennessee.

If all goes well for Virgnia baseball, the Cavaliers could be playing through the end of June at the College World Series in Omaha. The Cavaliers defeated East Carolina to win the Charlottesville Region and now await the Conway (S.C.) Region champ for the Super Regional June 9-11 in Charlottesville.

August, but football training on the FBS level is year-round.

After two seasons backing up U.Va. quarterback Brennan Armstrong, Woolfolk now figures to be dueling with transfer Tony Muskett for the starting call.

Jay Woolfolk

An All-Big South selection, Muskett came to Charlottesville following some record-setting aerial performances at Monmouth University, N.J.

Woolfolk, blessed with a fastball approaching 98 miles an hour, has been the shining star of the bullpen this season for U.Va. Coach Brian O’Connor.

The Super Regional winner advances to the College World series in Omaha.

Formal football practices under second-year coach Tony Ellis will commence about the first of

He does his best work at “closing time,” generally in the ninth inning of a close game. With a team-high 26 appearances, he has a 2-0 record, a

2.48 earned run average and 38 strikeouts in 32.2 innings.

Woolfolk leads the Cavaliers with nine saves and is an intimidating figure coming out of the bullpen.

As a football player, Woolfolk has seen limited duty. But in 2021, facing Notre Dame, he became the first true freshman to start at QB since 1977.

As a freshman in 2022, he was 3-0 with a 2.87 ERA and 55 strikeouts in 37.2 innings but wasn’t used as much in game-ending situations.

Wearing football pads, Woolfolk has seen limited duty. But in 2021, facing Notre Dame, he became the first true U.Va. freshman to start at QB since 1977.

Woolfolk was the epitome of a two-sport hero at Benedictine. He hurled the Cadets to State Independent Schools titles in 2019 and 2021 and was State Gatorade

Squirrels have more fans than wins

The Richmond Flying Squirrels have struggled at times on the field this season, but their fans don’t seem to care.

Despite a record of 22-28 through games of June 4, the local pros are packing them in like never before at The Diamond.

Starting this week, the Squirrels had drawn 170,726 fans for 25 openings, for an average of 6,829 per game.

Those figures rank first in the Eastern League and eighth in all of 120 minorleague squads, including AAA.

The turnstiles were spinning last week for a homestand against the Erie Seawolves.

•On May 30, the crowd was 7,427.

•May 31: capacity 9,810

•June 1: 7,827

•June 2: 6,625

•June 3: 6,951

•June 4: 5,211

On the field, perhaps the top drawing card is shortstop Marco Luciano, the top-ranked player in the San Francisco organization, based on Baseball America, and 35th in all of baseball.

He also is the only Squirrel on the parent Giants’ 40-man roster.

Still, the 21-year-old Dominican has been slow in getting off the launching pad. He’s hitting just .158 (as of June 4), but 10 of his hits (five doubles, five homers) have gone for extra bases.

Since 2019, Luciano has 45 homers and

Yandy Diaz Wander Franco

Weekend at The Diamond

Thursday, June 8 vs. Altoona, 6:35 p.m. (fireworks).

Friday, June 9 vs.Altoona, 6:35 p.m.

Saturday, June 10 Altoona, 6:05 p.m. (fireworks)

Sunday, June 11 vs. Altoona, 1:35 p.m. The Atloona Curve, Pa., is the AA affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates.

47 doubles while working his way up the Giants’ farm system. There was no 2020 season due to COVID.

player of the Year in 2021.

On the gridiron, the Cadets were 28-2 in his three seasons. There was no 2020 season due to COVID.

His sister, Mia, is following in big brother’s tradition.

The 6-foot-2 junior at Man-

chester High was All-State her sophomore softball season and was All-State in basketball this past winter, helping the Lancers to the State Class 6 finals.

Like her brother, Mia may also be qualified and destined to play two sports on the NCAA

Baseball’s top team has Spanish accent

Tampa Bay has a thriving Hispanic population, so it makes sense the city’s baseball team has a similar makeup.

There is an abundance of Latinos on a Rays squad that boasts the top Major League record (42-19 as of June 4) and leads in the American League East.

In a mostly white, U.S.-born sport on the big league level, the Rays dare to differ.

On any given night at Tropicana Field, manager Kevin Cash might write a lineup card that looks like this:

•Catcher: Christian Bethancourt (from Panama).

•First base: Yandy Diaz (Cuba).

•Shortstop: Wander Franco (Dominican Republic).

•Third base: Isaac Paredes (Mexico).

•Leftfield: Randy Arozarena (Cuba)

•Centerfield: Jose Siri (Dominican)

•Rightfield: Manuel Margot (Dominican)

•Designated hitter: Harold Ramirez (Colombia).

Look for several Rays to be in uniform July 11 for the Major League All-Star Game in Seattle. Bethancourt, Diaz, Arozarena and Franco

might be the best bets among the positional players.

None came to Tampa through the annual draft of high school and college players. All were signed as teenagers (as young as 16) out of their homelands.

Among the positional players, only second base has an everyday white starter in Newport News native Brandon Lowe.

This fits in well in Tampa, with a Hispanic population of some 77,000 on Florida’s Gulf Coast.

An area tourist destination is Ybor City, aka “Florida’s Latin Quarter,” founded in the 1880s by immigrants mostly from Spain and Cuba.

The bustling community, brimming with shops and nightlife, has also been described as the “Cigar Capital of the World.”

It’s unknown if the Rays puff on an occasional celebratory stogie, but there is no question about their performance on the diamond.

The Rays opened the season with 13 straight wins and have never glanced back in an AL East Division that includes the name-brand New York Yankees and Boston

Red Sox.

Founded in 1998 as an expansion team, the Rays have been to two World Series (2008, ’20) and have four Eastern Division crowns (’08, ’10, ’20, ’21).

The “Low Budget Rays” succeed without extravagant salaries.

As of 2021, Tampa ranked 27th out of 30 teams with an overall team payroll of about $70 million. It’s now about $78 million.

By contrast, the New York Yankees and Mets, Houston Astros and Los Angeles Dodgers are more in the $200 millionplus range.

The Rays have far-ranging appeal.

Tampa’s continued success is celebrated not just in Florida, but throughout the Caribbean, South America and Mexico.

The Rays are no flash in the pan. Since 2018 their overall record is 453-315.

Richmonders have little chance to see in person Tampa’s young stars on the rise. The Rays’AA farm club is the Montgomery, Ala., Biscuits of the Southern League. Richmond plays in the AA Eastern League.

O’Neal is a famous name in basketball. Shaquille “Shaq” O’Neal ranks among the all-time NBA standouts.

Now it’s Me’Arah’s turn to put the family name on the marquee.

Me’Arah O’Neal, the 6-foot-4 daughter of Shaq and his former wife, TV personality Shaunie Henderson, is drawing recruiting interest coast to coast.

A rising senior at Episcopal High School in Bellaire, Texas, O’Neal already has scholarship offers from UCLA, Georgia Tech, Rutgers, Kentucky, Virginia and her dad’s alma mater, LSU.

The 7-foot-1 “Shaq” was a two-time All-American at LSU and later earned four NBA championship rings.

Miss O’Neal, who could already dunk at age 14, draws attention wherever she goes. On her recent visit to LSU, she was accompanied by her father and shown around campus by Tigers’ All-American Angel Reese.

News traveled fast across social media.

Another of Shaq and Shaunie’s children is Shareef O’Neal, now playing professionally in the NBA G-League. Shareef played at UCLA and LSU, but was hampered by injuries.

Like Shareef, Me’Arah began high school at Crossroads School in Santa Monica, Calif., before transferring to the Houston area school.

Her travel team has been Sports Academy GBL Swish.

LSU won its first NCAA title this past season under coach Kim Mulkey. Already in the fold for this coming season is incoming freshman Mikaylah Williams, the top-ranked player in the high school Class of ’23.

Bertimon nets A-10’s top honor

Charles Bertimon has aced the tennis test at VCU. He’s all about scoring A’s in the classroom, too.

Bertimon was named Most Outstanding Performer after helping the Rams to a sixth straight Atlantic 10 Conference net title.

The graduate student from France also was named to the Conference’s All-Academic team, and has earned a master’s degree from VCU’s Center for Sports Leadership.

The 6-foot right-hander was 28-9 overall this season and 16-4 in dual matches. He and his brother, Max, were 17-9 overall in doubles and 13-5 in duals.

VCU wrapped up its latest A-10 title in Orlando with 4-0 shutouts of St. Joseph’s, Davidson and Dayton. The Rams lost to Mississippi in the first round of the NCAA Charlottesville Regional.

Charles Bertimon advanced to the NCAA Singles Regional in Orlando before falling to Texas A&M’s Noah Schachter.

Charles Bertimon

Marco Luciano

Another O’Neal is the real deal

Me’Arah O’Neal

Isaac Paredes Randy Arozarena Manuel Margot Christian Bethancourt

Denver Nuggets Center Nikola Jokic

Personality: Elizabeth C. ‘Lizzie’ Childress

Spotlight on Richmond Public Schools 2023 top valedictorian

Lizzie Childress will be recognized as valedictorian at her graduation from Richmond’s Open High School and her 5.2958 GPA also made her the Richmond Public Schools 2023 top valedictorian.

The dual achievement came as a shock to her and her parents.

“I was sure there were other people who had higher GPAs than I did,” Lizzie said. “My parents are incredibly proud.”

Many people think of 4.0 as being a perfect GPA. However, Lizzie was able to go beyond that by combining multiple high school AP classes with the Early College Academy at Reynolds Community College. When she walks across the stage this week to pick up her diploma, she will do it having already earned her associate degree in social sciences on May 15.

The achievement is all the more impressive when you consider the unique challenges that many students faced during the pandemic.

“I’m not the biggest fan of virtual classes because I get distracted easily,” Lizzie said. “I guess I had a lot of late nights because of leaving things to the last minute. I know I need to stop doing that!”

That tendency to procrastinate was offset by a genuine curiosity to learn and master the material she was studying, along with a lot of diligence, hard work and persistence.

Lizzie also credits the love and support of her parents and the example of her grandparents who modeled positivity when faced with difficult situations. Having great teachers helped as well. Lizzie says each and every one of her teachers had an influence on her, some even beyond the classroom.

“I started doing Irish dancing in second grade, but stopped in the fifth grade when my dance teacher moved away,” she said. “It’s really fun and a good source of exercise.”

In 10th grade, Lizzie learned that her English teacher, Caroline DeWald ,also taught classes at Crossroads Irish Dance. She started Irish dancing again and is now a member of the studio’s

adult performance club. She’s hoping to continue performing if she can find the time and a place to take classes during the school year, or at least take some classes whenever she is home on breaks.

Lizzie currently is busy packing and preparing to start college life at Christopher Newport University in August. She will be in the school’s honor program, and is excited that it also offers students the chance to earn a master’s degree in five years. She also selected Christopher Newport because it has a museum studies minor.

“I’ve always wanted to do something with education. Both of my grandmothers were teachers so that’s one reason why I wanted to be a teacher too.”

Lizzie said, before adding that art or history museum education is a career path she’d like to explore further.

“I definitely thought about being a museum educator first, but being able to curate and exhibit sounds really cool as well.”

For now though, Lizzie says her focus is on a more immediate goal.

“I want to make my family and school proud, and not fall as I walk across the stage at graduation.”

Meet the 2023 valedictorian for Richmond Public Schools and this week’s Personality, Elizabeth Clare Childress:

Latest honor: RPS 2023 top valedictorian.

GPA: 5.2958. What makes a GPA soar beyond a 4.0: I participated in the Early College Academy at Reynolds Community College and graduated with an associates degree in social sciences on May 15. I also took multiple advanced placement classes at my high school.

High school: Open High School.

Size of my graduating class: 46.

Extracurricular activities: I perform Irish Dance at Crossroads Irish Dance and am a member of its Adult Performance Club. I also play piano,

babysit and pet sit.

Leadership roles in school activities: I was a student representative at my school and helped plan certain activities.

Family members: Mother, Susan Childress; father, Greg Childress; younger sisters, Merryn and Ruby Childress.

Date and place of birth: December in Richmond.

Where I live now: Richmond.

Reaction to valedictorian honor: Complete and utter shock. The last time I had checked my class rank in junior year I was eighth in my class so being first was news to me.

Reaction to being named No. 1 valedictorian of RPS: I literally did not believe it. I was sure there were other people who had higher GPAs than I did.

Family’s reaction: Shocked and incredibly proud.

Main point I will make in valedictorian address: I want to try to focus on connection.

Universities that made schol arship offers with amounts: University of Mary Washing ton: Finalist for a full ride but received $10,000; Longwood University: $5,000; Champlain College: $88,000; and Chris topher Newport University:

$7,500.

The university I selected: Christopher Newport University.

Reason: I was accepted into their honors program, the campus is beautiful, and they had all of the academic opportunities I was looking for in a college.

How a positive outlook impacts scoring high: I try to use humor when faced with difficult situations, which allows me to have a positive outlook on most things.

What truly motivates me to study and excel: Truly wanting to understand and learn the material so I can actually use it and make a difference, but academic validation definitely plays a small part as well. How much time I devoted to studying: There were many late nights and a few early mornings that I spent studying.

What really makes me smart: I don’t really know… genetics? Also, diligence, hard work and persistence.

A good teacher is: Someone who is passionate about what they teach, and it’s obvious they care about the success and well-being of their students.

Career goals: I’ve always wanted to do something with education, and more recently I have been leaning towards some sort of art or history museum education. I do also really love the National Parks, and a small part of me wants to pursue a career with them.

The secret to earning all As:

do. Don’t be afraid to ask questions so you can understand everything.

Advice I would give my high school freshman self: Enjoy it while it lasts. Everything is going to go by so quickly, so just take advantage of every opportunity you get.

Most unforgettable experience during high school: While virtual learning due to COVID-19 was definitely unforgettable, being the only student to go to a bonfire at the home of one of my Reynolds professors, and meeting basically her entire extended family, is something I will never forget.

Teacher who influenced me the most: All of the teachers I’ve had during high school have greatly influenced me, and I can’t pick just one. The four teachers who have had the greatest impact on me, though, are Irina Alekseeva, Victoria Carll, Caroline DeWald, and Emily Betts.

How: These women have been so kind, patient, encouraging, and wonderful over the past four years I’ve been at Open. They allow me to be myself, and I feel so loved by them.

Hobbies: As I mentioned before, I enjoy Irish dancing and playing piano. I also dabble in stained glass and enjoy hiking and road trips.

How I start the day: I’m usually very tired, but I try to have hope and optimism that the day will be successful.

The three words that best describe me: Caring, quiet and comedic.

If I had 10 extra minutes in the day: I would prob -

through some of my TBR (reading) list.

Best late-night snack: Dill pickle chips or Snickers.

The music I listen to most is:

I love pretty much all music, but I really enjoy pop-rock music and The Beatles. Right now, though, I’m listening to Noah Kahan on repeat.

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

A quote that inspires me: “ It never hurts to keep looking for sunshine.” — Eeyore

At the top of my “to-do” list: Clean my room and start packing for college. The best thing my parents ever taught me: How to put others first and love the people around me for who they are.

The persons who influenced me the most: My grandparents. Book that influenced me the most: “The Little Engine that Could” was a major part of my childhood. I know it’s kind of random for an 18-year-old to remember this book, but it really showed me I could do anything. Also, “The Year of Magical Thinking” by Joan Didion. I read this book recently and it really helped me understand and reflect on a lot of the grief/loss I’ve experienced and the pressure I put myself under.

What I’m reading now: “The Anthropocene Reviewed” by John Green. I really like it because of the random yet specific tangents Green goes on. I can relate to quite a few of the experiences he writes about, and it’s just a really fascinating book that I’ve

Sculpture by with poetry by Sha Michele

Marita Golden’s prescription for Black women and self-care

By Debora Timms

Author, educator and literary activist Marita Golden’s 20th book that will be released June 13 builds on her previous book, which pushed back against the idea that Black women have to be strong all the time.

Her new book, “The New Black Woman: Loves Herself, Has Boundaries, and Heals Every Day,” further pushes the needle against such boxes for Black women.

“Black women, especially, have a tendency to be very invested in giving themselves away totally because it gives them an enormous sense of power,” Ms. Golden said in a recent telephone interview. “But that control and power is at the expense of their health and well-being.”

During the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown, Ms. Golden suffered two silent strokes. She began contemplating her own personal health, as well as the health of Black women in general.

“Given that so much of our experience in this country is proscribed and circumscribed, the health metrics for Black people are actually worse now than before the pandemic,” Ms. Golden said. “We’ve always been in a health emergency in this country.”

Black women in particular are dispropor-

Happenings hub

Here’s a look at what’s happening around Richmond this week to help you plan your outings.

June 9

The Chamberlayne Actors Theater’s production of “Exit Laughing,” a play about three women who take their departed friend’s ashes out for one last night of fun, opens at the HATTheatre at 8 p.m. Continues through June 18. Tickets are $22-$24. cattheater.com

June 10

The music of the fourth Harry Potter film, “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire,” comes alive in a performance by the Richmond Symphony at the Altria Theater at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. $52.50 - $119.50. Richmondsymphony.com

“Juneteenth 2023 a Freedom Celebration,” begins at Manchester Dock at 1308 Brander St. with a free night walk along the trail of enslaved Africans, with historical interpreters at 7 p.m. On Sunday, the event, presented by the Elegba Folklore Society, moves to the African Burial Ground at 1540 E. Broad St., at 4 p.m. Tickets are $5. efsinc.org

June 13

“Beyond Black Radicalism,” a talk by historian Janira Teague at the Library of Virginia at noon. The assistant professor of history at Norfolk State University will discuss how African-Americans migration to New York shaped electoral politics. Registration is required for this free event. lva.virginia.gov.

Gospel singer Johnathon McReynolds performs at The National at 8 p.m.

The Grammy-award winning Chicago native has been called “the future of gospel music” by Kirk Franklin. Tickets are $33-$38. thenationalva.com.

tionately impacted by anxiety and depression. They are more likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias, three times as likely as white women to die from pregnancyrelated conditions and have higher mortality rates from obesity-related illnesses such as heart attack and stroke.

She wrote her 19th book, “The Strong Black Woman,” to explore those deadly statistics and it struck a chord with readers.

“A lot of people who read and enjoyed it said they wanted to know more about my own specific practices for maintaining physical and mental health,” Ms. Golden said. “That’s what led me to write ‘The New Black Woman.’”

The Washington, D.C.-born author lives in suburban Maryland, but Ms. Golden also has a strong connection to Virginia having taught at Virginia Commonwealth University for almost a decade starting in the mid-1990s.

She said the contemplative practices and resources she shares in her latest book are ancient, used around the world and effective.

“It’s been crucial to me to help me listen to myself.” Ms. Golden said. “My contemplative practices were important in helping me maintain emotional and physical balance.”

The starting point for self-care is loving

Sampa sings

Zambian singer-songwriter, rapper and poet Sampa Tembo aka Sampa The Great, and her band perform for a crowd of thousands on Brown’s Island on Friday, June 2, as part of the Friday Cheers concert series in Downtown Richmond. Sampa and her band were the first Zambians to play the Glastonbury Festival in England and Coachella in America.

oneself, she said.

“Self-love is the beginning of all health,” Ms. Golden said. “For Black women that’s a real journey in a society, and sometimes even in our community, that marginalizes us around so many issues and takes us for granted.”

While women are often socialized to put others first, she says mental health professionals advocate differently.

“Just as on an airplane when they say put your own mask on first, in a sense we have to adopt that same policy,” Ms. Golden said. “We have to engage in radical self-care because we are not able to serve others in the way we want to if we don’t take care of ourselves.

Ms. Golden further believes that the legacy of COVID-19 has made public discussions surrounding health and self-care acceptable and urgent.

“We are in a revolutionary period,” she said. “So many Black women are talking about their health. So many Black women are concerned about their health — both mental and physical.

“We’re witnessing the evolution of a new Black woman.”

For more information about Ms. Golden’s upcoming book and events, please visit: https:// maritagolden.com/

The sophisticated soul of Will Downing

By Craig Belcher

Will Downing has been around long enough to be one of the few Grammynominated singers left in his lane. After 26 albums, (including his latest, “Pieces”) the R&B singer is fine with where his career, which began in the 1980s, has put him.

In his signature honey-tinged baritone voice, Mr. Downing acknowledged having withstood the test of time.

“Yeah, I’m one of the last ones standing that do R&B the way adults or a slightly older demographic remembers,” he said from his New Jersey home recently.

As his local fans will tell you, Mr. Downing has strong ties to Richmond. He attended Virginia Union University and decided to become a singer after attending a concert at the Richmond Coliseum that featured the group D-Train. He looks forward to seeing familiar faces when he comes to the Greater Richmond Convention Center on June 16. Guest vocalist Leela James also will perform.

In addition to his music and next album, Mr. Downing discussed a recent family tragedy and pandemic audiences.

Richmond Free Press: Talk to me about the new single.

Will Downing: Well, it’s a single that I didn’t necessarily think I would ever record. We were working on another single at the time, … called “Love on You.” And then at the top of January, my daughter passed away. And that sort of inspired me to record this song in memory of her. And it just took everything in a whole ‘nother

June 16

Maymont’s Summer Kickoff Concert begins at 7 p.m. with bluegrass and country sounds from The Wilson Springs Hotel and South Hill Banks at 8:30 p.m. The music continues on Saturday at 5 p.m. with Skydog and Three Sheets to the Wind. Tickets are $15-$30. maymont.org

“Rootin’ for Everybody Black,” a burlesque and variety show, comes to Strangeways Brewery at 9 p.m. Hosted by Darshe Dazzles and Santobella Spark. Tickets are $17-$27. Eventbrite.com.

If comedian Tony Rock works your wife’s name into one of his performances at the Funny Bone, and you don’t like it, keep your seat. He’s not the one. The sibling of comedian Chris Rock performs at 7:30 p.m. and 10 p.m. Shows continue through Sunday. Tickets are $27. richmondfunnybone.com

Splash party

There was more than enough fun and splishsplashing to go around at Henrico County’s water spray park’s grand opening June 3 at Dorey Park in Varina.

direction. Obviously, our family is going through a litany of emotions here. So it was good, from my standpoint, to kind of release what I was feeling inside from a song standpoint. Richmond Free Press: You’ve been

Will Downing: We did it for something that I had to do the other day for, like a letter that had to be written. And we just did it as a joke, really, just to see how it really worked. And it came out better than anything that I could write. Now, would I use it musically? No. [Laughs]

Richmond Free Press: Can you talk a little bit about how live shows have changed since the pandemic?

Will Downing: When we first started coming back, you know, it was interesting, because, there’s obviously this thing of, you know, you can’t get close to people, some folks are still wearing masks, some people purchased tickets, and didn’t come to the show. So, it would look like grandma’s teeth out there, people just felt they were in a straitjacket so they really wouldn’t enjoy themselves. Now folks are out and about and doing their thing. The bad thing is, that everybody’s back to work and now the market is saturated.

called the “prince of sophisticated soul.”

Who else would you put in that genre?

Will Downing: Oh, well, hopefully there’s only one – me. (Laughs) I think that I’m one of the last sole survivors that kind of do the style of music that I do. And that’s what I was raised on. It seems to be the foundation of R&B, but R&B has changed over the years, to whatever it is now.

Richmond Free Press: Were you ever tempted to crossover?

Will Downing: Nah. That’s not my thing. My thing is, you know, I’m a straight up R&B vocalist. I have jazz overtones to what I do. But I’m primarily an R&B vocalist.

Richmond Free Press: Have you used AI (artificial intelligence) in your creative process?

Richmond Free Press: Are you working on a new album?

Will Downing: I’m working on number 27 even as we speak. So hopefully that’ll be out … if I keep going at this pace, probably like October or November. The latest album is titled “Pieces,” this (new one) would be “Mo’ Pieces”

Richmond Free Press: What can people expect from your show this week?

Will Downing: They can expect the best of what I’ve done for the last 35 years. I mean, we take all of the songs that were very popular, and I call them hits, you know, (and) we string them all together. We have a lot of fun during the show, we go down memory lane together. When people come to see me, it’s like putting on a nice warm jacket, it makes you feel comfortable. It’s like home.

Jonathan McReynolds

Tony Rock

Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press

Photos by Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press

Ms. Golden

Will Downing

Leela James

The Wilson Springs Hotel

Agnes Wilder Nicholson dies at age 98

Agnes Wilder Nicholson, who spent much of her life in education and civic service, died Saturday, May 6, 2023, at age 98. A celebration of her life service took place Wednesday, May 24, at First African Baptist Church, 2700 Hanes Ave.

Mrs. Nicholson was born on May 4, 1925, to the late Robert Judson Wilder Sr. and Beulah Richards Wilder in Richmond. She graduated from Armstrong High School in 1941, and soon after began her career in Richmond

Public Schools as an administrative secretary.

Over the years, Mrs. Nicholson would take on roles at two schools in her West End neighborhood, first at Randolph Middle School and then at Maymont Elementary School. After she retired in October 1988, Mrs. Nicholson was active in the Armstrong High School Reunion Class of 1941.

Mrs. Nicholson also was a member of the Richmond Association of Retired Administrative Professionals,

the Maymont Neighborhood Civic League, the First African Baptist Church Historical Commission and the Richmond/Central Virginia Chapter of the West Virginia State University National Alumni Association.

Mrs. Nicholson was preceded in death by her husband, Charles R. Nicholson Sr. She is survived by her two children, Charles R. Nicholson Jr. and Tracy L. Nicholson, grandson Charles R. Nicholson III, and brother L. Douglas Wilder Sr.

Agnes Abuom, global ecumenist, peacemaker and African church leader, dies at 73

Religion News Service

NAIROBI, Kenya

Agnes Abuom, a global ecumenical leader and peacemaker, died on Wednesday, May 31, 2023, at the age of 73 while undergoing treatment in a hospital in Nairobi.

Sources close to her said she had succumbed after a short illness. Church leaders, ecumenical groups and ordinary Christians in Kenya, Africa and the rest of the world, mourned her as a passionate ecumenist, tireless peacemaker and a fighter for social justice.

“I share deep sadness that Dr. Agnes Abuom passed on this evening at the Coptic hospital in Nairobi,” said the Rev. Fidon Mwombeki, a Tanzanian Lutheran pastor and general secretary of the All Africa Conference of Churches, on Wednesday. “We thank God for Agnes’ life which has been rich and well lived. Her ecumenical ministry spanning decades is iconic. May her soul rest in eternal peace.”

A lay canon in the Anglican Church of Kenya, Dr. Abuom long served as an official of the Central Committee of the World Council of Churches, the global fellowship of Christian churches based in Geneva, Switzerland, most recently as the committee’s moderator from 2013 to 2022.

On her election in 2013, she became the first woman and first African to hold the position of moderator for the WCC.

“She was a woman of humble spirit, great compassion and steadfast faith,” said the Rev. Jerry Pillay, a South African who is the general secretary of the World Council of Churches, in a tribute posted on the organization’s website. “Though small

in frame yet she possessed the energy, strength and vision for leadership far beyond the reach of many people her age.”

She played a significant role in the search for peace in Sudan and South Sudan after the latter gained independence from Sudan in 2011, becoming the world’s youngest nation.

“In Sudan and South Sudan, Agnes will always be remembered as one who faithfully accompanied the Church for so many years in its quest for justice and peace in those two troubled countries,” said John Ashworth, a retired Roman Catholic Mill Hill missionary priest.

Born in 1949 in Nandi, a lush green highland area on the edge of the Great Rift Valley in Southwestern Kenya, her mother was a Protestant Christian and her father a Roman Catholic.

Dr. Abuom began her education at a local mission school and later in an Anglican high school in Nairobi. At the University of Nairobi, where she studied education, she got so deeply involved with student leadership and politics that she did not finish her degree. Threatened with arrest following a political controversy, she fled to Sweden in 1976. While there, she learned Swedish and completed her studies.

While still a student in Nairobi, she first worked with the World Council of Churches assembly in Nairobi, and would later work for the council on youth education before returning to Uppsala University in Sweden to earn a doctorate. She later worked for the council on refugee issues and spent two years as a tutor in Zimbabwe.

St. Peter Baptist Church

When she returned to Kenya in 1989, President Daniel arap Moi imprisoned her at Nyayo House, a skyscraper in Nairobi, where the government is said to have tortured prisoners.

After her release, besides her roles at the WCC, Dr. Abuom represented the Anglican Church of Kenya in WCC governing bodies and served on the All Africa Conference of

Churches Advisory Committee on Peace, Healing and Reconciliation and was a co-president of Religions for Peace.

In 1997, Dr. Abuom founded TAABCO Research and Development Consultants, which advises development organizations on poverty issues, and a regional church trust known as Building Eastern Africa Community Network.

“BACK IN SERVICE” Our doors are open again every Sunday @ 11:00 am. Live

Every Sunday At: BRBConline.org or YouTube (Broad Rock Baptist Church) “MAKE IT HAPPEN”

Joseph Jenkins, Jr., Founder (Dec. 19, 1938 - Dec. 9, 2006) Joseph Jenkins, III. • Jason K. Jenkins • Maxine T. Jenkins

Broad Rock Baptist Church 5106 Walmsley Blvd., Richmond, VA 23224 804-276-2740 • 804-276-6535 (fax) www.BRBCONLINE.org

“BACK IN SERVICE” Our doors are open again Mask required • Must provide vaccination card Every Sunday @ 11:00 am.

Live Streaming Every Sunday At: BRBConline.org or YouTube(Broad Rock Baptist Church)

“MAKE IT HAPPEN” Pastor Kevin Cook

The Associated Press Pope Francis greets Agnes Regina Murei Abuom, moderator of the Central Committee of the World Council of Churches, upon his arrival in June 2018 at the Visser’t Hall at an ecumenical center in Geneva, Switzerland.

Mrs. Nicholson