Remembrances, calls for reform at funeral for Irvo Otieno

hospital workers have been charged with second-degree murder in his death, and an investigation is ongoing.

Video released earlier this month shows sheriff’s deputies and hospital employees restraining a handcuffed and shackled Mr. Otieno for about 20 minutes after he was forcibly led into a hospital room. For much of that time, Mr. Otieno was prone on the floor, pinned by a group so large it blocked the camera’s view of him at times.

Personnel who realized he appeared limp and lifeless eventually began resuscitation efforts, the video showed. Mr. Otieno’s family and their attorneys have said he posed no danger and was simply trying to breathe.

“You know he couldn’t fight back — he was handcuffed and shackled. And if we sound angry, it’s because we are,” Rev. Sharpton said.

Dinwiddie Commonwealth’s Attorney Ann Cabell Baskervill has said Mr. Otieno was smothered to death. An autopsy is still pending.

Mr. Otieno, who emigrated from Kenya as a child, spent most of his childhood in suburban Richmond. He was a “gregarious baby, a lively toddler, an energetic child, a fun-loving athletic

Richmonders want funding for schools, housing, less gas

Continued from A1 is looking to create a revolving loan fund to help the mostly low-income Latino residents of mobile homes buy new manufactured homes, though some council members are skeptical that approach would work.

During the informal session, the council also put a temporary hold on Mayor Stoney’s plan to use $1.7 million in surplus funds from the 2022-23 fiscal year that ended June 30 for a pilot scholarship program that would enable Richmond city graduates to attend community college with no tuition cost.

Council members wanted to hear more details about the proposal before signing off, which could happen at the committee hearing Monday, April 3.

At the budget session, 3rd District School Board member Kenya Gibson was among the advocates for a $7 million increase to fully meet the RPS request, rather than the reduced amount Mayor Stoney has recommended that would force cutbacks in programs and personnel.

On a night when the council honored the John Marshall High School basketball team for its state champion team that also has been ranked No. 1 among the nation’s high schools and whose coach, Ty White, has been honored as the top high school coach, Ms. Gibson said the best way to “show pride” in the team is to provide the additional funds for the schools.

The Rev. Ralph Hodge, pastor of Second Baptist Church, led a contingent from the nonprofit Richmonders Involved in Strengthening our Communities, to urge the council to release $6 million in previously appropriated money to the city’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund and also to provide $10 million from the general fund in the 2023-24 budget to bolster the fund that provides loans to build less costly housing.

The council was told that the mayor’s plan to borrow $50 million during the next five years to support development of more affordable housing would require the city to pay more than $85 million in interest to and sharply limit the trust fund’s impact in encouraging development of more affordable homes and apartments.

In the view of the RISC contingent, the mayor’s proposal undermines a council ordinance from two years ago that called using general fund dollars to support the trust fund.

Other speakers urged the council to allow front line supervisors in public works and public utilities to unionize, noting that they are part of the teams that handle repair and improvement work alongside the workers.

The city’s failure to push for action on climate change in laying out plans for investing hundreds of millions of dollars for replacing old gas pipes and installing new ones rather than encouraging a switch to electrical appliances and heating systems, also was noted by speakers.

The city is currently selling at least 35 percent less natural gas than it did in 2000, one speaker noted, forcing remaining customers to pay more to cover the utility’s costs. Council was urged to consider that the city’s utility will continue to lose customers and needs to prepare for a cleaner energy future rather than sticking with a fossil fuel that will eventually be replaced by power generated by wind, solar and other renewable sources.

Free COVID-19 vaccines

Continued from A1

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 COVID19 testing locations around the state at www.vdh.virginia.gov/ coronavirus/covid-19-testing/covid-19-testing-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: teen and an artistic young man,” his funeral program said. He was also a high-achieving high school athlete who earned an athletic scholarship to attend college.

• Thursday, March 30, 4 to 7 p.m. - Sacred Heart, 1400 Perry St., Primary Moderna shots for age 6 months to 5 years old and bivalent boosters for age 6 years and older, Primary Pfizer shots for age 6 months and older, bivalent boosters for age 5 years and older, Novavax primary shots for age 12 and older, and boosters for age 18 and older, and baby bivalent boosters. Walk-ups welcome but appointments encouraged.

• Wednesday, April 5, 2 to 4 p.m., Henrico West Health Department, 8600 Dixon Powers Dr., Primary Moderna shots for age 6 months to 5 years old and bivalent boosters for age 6 years and older, Primary Pfizer shots for age 6 months and older, bivalent boosters for age 5 years and older, Novavax primary shots for age 12 and older, and boosters for age 18 and older, JYNNEOS shots and baby bivalent boosters. Walk-ups welcome but appointments encouraged.

Thursday, April 6, 2 to 4 p.m. - Cary Street, 400 E. Cary St., Primary Moderna shots for age 6 months to 5 years old and bivalent boosters for age 6 years and older, Primary Pfizer shots for age 6 months and older, bivalent boosters for age 5 years and older, Novavax primary shots for age 12 and older, and boosters for age 18 and older, JYNNEOS shots and baby bivalent boosters, walk-ups welcome but appointments encouraged.

People 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).

Compiled by George Copeland Jr.

He was pursuing a goal of building a music career, streaming his music under the moniker “Young Vo” while working toward starting his own record label, his family has said.

Wednesday’s service was attended by hundreds of mourners that included friends, family, clergy members and representatives from the office of Gov. Glenn Youngkin. An interment was scheduled immediately following the service.

Mr. Otieno’s family and their attorneys have said he was experiencing mental distress at the time of his initial encounter with law enforcement earlier this month, days before he was taken to the state hospital. He was first taken into custody March 3, when he was transported to a local hospital for mental health treatment under an emergency custody order.

Police have said that while at the local hospital, he “became physically assaultive toward officers,” at which point they arrested him and took him to a local jail, something Mr. Otieno’s family says should never have happened given that he was in need of treatment. On the afternoon of March 6, he was transferred to the state hospital, which has a unit that provides care for people admitted from jails or by court-order.

Attorneys for the defendants charged in his death have said their clients were trying to restrain Mr. Otieno. During bond hearings and in statements, several defense attorneys have sought to distinguish their clients from the mass of bodies involved in pinning Mr. Otieno to the floor. All have been granted bond and have pre-trial hearings in April or May.

Attorneys for Mr. Otieno’s family have pushed back at those characterizations and did so again Wednesday.

“They engage in the intellectual justification of discrimination,” said civil rights attorney Ben Crump.

Mr. Crump, Rev. Sharpton and another family attorney, Mark Krudys, called for more robust mental health care services and more training for law enforcement for mental health-related situations. They also said Virginia should consider creating mental health-specific courts under a system like California’s.

Caroline Ouko, Mr. Otieno’s mother, said she never could have imagined what would unfold after her son was first taken to the local hospital for care.

“We will miss you dearly. But rest assured, as you fly in heaven with your God, you are not here physically with us. But we who remain, your family, your friends and my team beside me, we will get to the bottom of what happened to you,” she said, followed by applause.

Bagby wins Virginia Senate special election

Continued from A1 the House, will officially take over Jennifer L. McClellan’s seat in the General Assembly’s 40-member upper chamber.

Rep. McClellan left the Senate after winning an earlier election to fill the 4th Congressional District seat left vacant by the November 2022 death of A. Donald McEachin and is now representing the Richmond area in Congress. The win allows Delegate Bagby to serve out the final year of her term.

Delegate Bagby, who was home with celebrating with family and friends as the results came in, told the Free Press, “I am grateful for the outpouring of support, and I pledge to continue to fight as hard in the state Senate for the people of this district as I have as a delegate.”

Set to be in place when the General Assembly reconvenes Wednesday, April 12, to deal with Gov. Glenn A. Youngkin’s amendments to and vetoes of already approved legislation, Delegate Bagby, who will continue to chair the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus, said he will be ready for whatever comes.

Randall Robinson reshaped American’s foreign policy

Continued from A1 for reparations for Black Americans, while also being a sharp critic of the Black community’s dismal record in addressing the crime and poverty in its midst.

Still an unsung hero in his hometown, Mr. Robinson’s instrumental role reshaping American’s foreign policy is being remembered following his death in St. Kitts, a independent Caribbean island east of Puerto Rico, where he had made his home since 2001.

Mr. Robinson died Friday, March 24, 2023, of pneumonia, according to Hazel Ross-Robinson, his second wife and a native of the island. He was 81.

Former Richmond City Councilman Sa’ad El-Amin lauded his old friend for helping to dispel American myths about Africa and raise the awareness of Americans, particularly Black Americans, about the Motherland.

“He was a key architect in promoting a positive understanding,” Mr. El-Amin said, that boosted Black interest in visiting the continent.

Janine Y. Bell, founder and artistic director of the Richmond-based Elegba Folklore Society that highlights the links between Africa and America, said that Mr. Robinson enabled Americans to understand “the crucial importance of the African continent” as the birthplace of humanity and increased understanding of the influence and contributions that the African disapora has had on the West.

Mr. Robinson was one four children of two teachers, Armstrong High School coaching legend Maxie C. Robinson and Doris Robinson Griffin. His late brother, Max Robinson, became the first Black news anchor for a national broadcast network.

One of his sisters, Jewell Robinson Sheppard, is an award-winning actress, and the other, the Rev. Jean Robinson-Casey, pastors a church in Reston.

Mr. Robinson followed a winding road to his influential role in American policy after graduating from Armstrong. He first earned a basketball scholarship to Norfolk State University, but had to leave in 1959 after being drafted into the U.S. Army.

Returning to Richmond, he completed his undergraduate studies at Virginia Union University. A top scholar, he went on to earn a law degree at Harvard University in 1970 and began his connection with Africa after he spent six months in Tanzania on a Ford Foundation fellowship before graduation. He started out as a legal aid lawyer in Boston, ran a community service center for several years, then started working on African policy after he moved to Washington to work for two founders of the Congressional Black Caucus, U.S. Rep. William L. Clay Sr. of Missouri and U.S. Rep. Charles C. Diggs Jr. of Michigan.

Along with organizing the first forum on Africa for the CBC, Mr. Robinson arranged for a congressional delegate to visit Africa, including a stop in South Africa that proved life-changing.

“I remember being so, so angry,” Mr. Robinson recalled after facing signs barring him from using airport bathrooms because of his skin color. “The scab had been pulled off an old wound. But this was not only a segregated state, it was a police state.”

After returning to Washington, Mr. Robinson, with the support of Rep. Diggs, launched TransAfrica as a lobbying and policy operation and used it as a platform to initially challenge President Ford’s policy of tolerance toward white dictators and autocrats.

Seeking to build support, Mr. Robinson launched a research and policy arm to expand arm of TransAfrica.

“You don’t change policy under the presumption that you must have a majority opinion on your side,” he once told a reporter. “In the final analysis, you need to organize a critical mass of people, which is not necessarily the majority of the Black community.”

In 1984, Mr. Robinson launched the Free South Africa Movement to mobilize groups and individuals opposed to South Africa’s apartheid and in December of that year began holding protests in front of the South African Embassy, despite courting arrest by Washington. police for trespassing. Undeterred, he told supporters, “We will be here in the cold. We will be here in the snow. We will be here in the sleet and rain, day in, day out, week in, week out, month after month. We will not leave until our demands are met.” The movement’s demands included the release of

Mr. Mandela, an anti-apartheid leader who had been imprisoned more than 20 years earlier, and other changes to create a more open society there.

By 1986, the movement had created enough pressure to enable the U.S. Senate to pass the Anti-Apartheid Act of 1986 over then President Reagan’s veto, forcing the government to imposed crippling sanctions on South Africa that ultimately led to Mr. Mandela’s release in 1990 and his 1964 election as the first Black president of that country.

In 1994, Mr. Robinson undertook the hunger strike in a bid to force President Clinton to end the policy of stopping boats full of Haitian refugees and returning them. President Clinton never acknowledged Mr. Robinson’s role, but changed the policy. Mr. Robinson later authored “An Unbroken Agony” on his ordeal and the Haitian experience.

As TransAfrica’s leader, he also focused on policy changes for Ethiopia, Kenya, the Congo and Malawi.

He amplified the reparations debate in 2000 with his book, “The Debt: What America Owes to Blacks,” and followed that with “Reckoning: What Blacks Owe Each Other” that focused on crime, poverty and the prison system, and urged Black Americans to focus on social and economic success.

In 2001, declaring America to be “a huge fraud, clad in narcissistic conceit … and feeling unneeded of any self-examination or responsibility to right past wrongs of which it notices none,” he left TransAfrica and moved with his wife to St. Kitts. The organization, chaired by actor Danny Glover, continues its advocacy work.

In 2004, he wrote about his self-imposed exile in “Quitting America: The Departure of a Black Man from His Native Land.” He also is the author of “Defending the Spirit: A Black Life in America” and two works of fiction, “The Emancipation of Wakefield Clay: A Novel,” and his most recent, “Makeda.” While he mostly stayed out of the country, he taught at Penn State University’s law school since 2008.

Survivors include his three children, Khalea Ross Robinson, Anike Robinson and Jabari Robinson, along with his wife and two sisters.

Hickory Hill community opposes planned fire training facility

Continued from A1 of the community center at 3000 E. Belt Boulevard.

On March 9, the Urban Design Committee, which is charged with reviewing the design, character and location of proposed public buildings and providing recommendations, voted 7-2 to recommend that the Planning Commission turn down and direct the city to find another location.

Arborist Eva Clarke was among the committee members who could not understand why the Stoney administration wanted to wipe out green space in a relatively poor section of the city where parks are scarce and which ranks at the top of Virginia’s list of places where chronic asthma is epidemic and other diseases rife.

Eighth District City Councilwoman Reva M. Trammell expressed disappointment at the vote. She has been a gung-ho supporter — despite being aware her constituents in the area are opposed.

“Our city staff has done due diligence to ensure that Hickory Hill is the best location for the fire training facility,” Ms. Trammell stated in a response to a Free Press query that was crafted on her behalf. “Based on all data, the surrounding community and green space will not be harmed by having the training facility co-exist” with the community center. Assistant Fire Chief Travis Ford told the UDC that the department would not use polluting chemicals or foam and would not even use real flames in the facility.

However, every civic association in neighborhoods that border or are located near Hickory Hill have passed resolutions urging rejection on the grounds that the facility would take over much needed green space. They have united under the banner of the Southside Joint Civic Association to promote their opposition.

Along with the civic groups, longtime residents are urging rejection as well.

Among them is Mechelle EsparzaHarris, who has turned her family’s property that sits across railroad tracks and a creek from Hickory Hill into the Serene Wildlife Sanctuary, primarily for birds.

Lenora McQueen, who has lived in the Bellemeade area for 53 years, also urged rejection.

“The (Hickory Hill) center is a convenient for community meetings, after-school summer programs, physical exercise, recreation and social interaction,” Ms. McQueen wrote.

“South Side already deals with heat islands, noise levels and pollution because of the industrial businesses located nearby. There are already too few green spaces in our South Richmond communities, especially in marginalized neighborhoods, and building a training facility does nothing to protect our green spaces the and the health of our residents.”

The Rev. Monica Esparza, a sister of Ms. Esparza-Harris whose ministry focuses on land stewardship and conservation, said Hickory Hill is the only major green space in this section of the city.

The mayor “would not consider taking a piece of Byrd Park for this kind of facility,” she said. “It is far easier to take a slice of green space from an area where residents are regarded as powerless. The mayor’s slogan may be ‘One city, our city,’ but actions speak louder than words when it comes to fulfilling that theme.”