Richmond Free Press September 7-9, 2023 edition

Richmond Free Press Mr. Washington goes to Italy B4

$19M from projected Casino revenue proposed for child care needs

By Jeremy M. Lazarus

An already short supply of child care operations could soon grow worse in Richmond and across the country, experts say. But the good news is City Hall has a solution, even though it could take three years to fully come to fruition.

Amid projections that thousands of struggling day care providers nationwide could close after federal subsidies disappear at the end of September, Mayor Levar M. Stoney is pointing to the proposed $562 million Richmond casino-resort as a potential lifeline for child care operations.

Joined by two members of City Council and child care leaders, Mayor Stoney announced a major share of the $30 million a year in new projected tax revenue the proposed casino is to generate

yearly would be devoted to addressing the child care crisis.

The plan that he and the council are backing calls for peeling off $19 million a year to go into a new Child Care and Education Trust Fund to be used to subsidize the cost of child care, beef up after school programming and support child care operations.

The aim: To provide a purposeful use for the tax revenue that would push city voters who are on the fence into becoming supporters to win majority support in the Nov. 7 election. In 2021, city voters narrowly rejected the gambling operation.

The key question is whether this proposal will be enough, which voters will answer when they cast their ballots.

The trust fund plan was announced after the partnership seeking voter approval announced a new name for the project: Richmond Grand Resort and Casino. The proposed development, to be built

on a 100-acre site at Walmsley Boulevard and Commerce Road, sits in front of Bells Road interchange of Interstate 95.

Already, there has been pushback from independents and casino foes who see the child care issue as too important to be tied to a gambling operation. Some consider this a cynical effort to put off needed public investment in child care that is needed to help people work.

Among them is 5th District School Board member Stephanie Rizzi, a casino opponent.

She shares the mayor’s stated view that a strong preschool program helps children learn and achieve throughout life, given that 90% of brain development occurs between birth and five

Tenants rally against poor maintenance

‘Housing is a human right! That is why we stand and fight’

By Jeremy M. Lazarus

But for the past two years, Mr. Saddon said his air conditioning unit hasn’t worked. He said that he has received visits from maintenance staff, but nothing changes.

Photos by Jeremy M. Lazarus/Richmond Free Press Above, Patrick Saddon and others at Monday rally against conditions at Red Oak apartments. The rally, attended by several residents, took place on a vacant lot in 3600 block of Chamberlayne Avenue. Please turn to A4

By Jeremy M. Lazarus City Hall has rolled out a revamped plan for helping people who have no shelter. The plan includes opening

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Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press Summer fun A giant slide found a more than willing slider in 5-year-old Lailani Maragh during the 17th Annual WE CARE Community Festival on Aug. 12 at Hotchkiss Community Center. The annual festival promotes wellness and education.

The Associated Press WASHINGTON Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell declared again Wednesday that he plans to finish his term as leader despite freezing up at two news conferences over the summer, brushing off questions about his health as he sought to reassure colleagues he’s still up to the job.

At a weekly, closed-door lunch with fellow GOP senators on Wednesday, Sen. McConnell pointed to the statement released a day earlier by attend-

“They slapped a window air conditioner in my bedroom, but it doesn’t cool the rest of the apartment,” said the frustrated 74-year-old, who has lived in the same unit in the 3800 block of Chamberlayne Avenue for 13 years.

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Patrick Saddon

congressman’s cookout

By Bonnie Newman Davis

When 3rd District Congressman Bobby Scott (D-Va.) hosted his first Labor Day cookout in 1977, about 50 people showed up. This year the popular annual gathering in Newport News at Rep.

Scott’s family home drew more than 1,100 people.

“It’s gotten bigger each year,” said Rep. Scott.

Several Richmond-area residents and political figures made the 70-

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Scott

Photos courtesy of Bobby

McConnell

Mitch

spoke to reporters Wednesday for the first time since his second freezing episode last week.

Meet this week’s Personality B3 Please turn to A4 Please turn to A4

down, and said, “I’m going to finish my term as leader, and I’m going to finish my Senate term.”

Patrick Saddon is supposed to have central air conditioning in his Chamberlayne Avenue apartment.

City Council weighs employee pension proposal

By Jeremy M. Lazarus

City Hall is proposing that new employees be enrolled in the state’s pension system effective Jan. 1, according to a lengthy report City Council received Tuesday.

If supported by the council, the move would represent the first step in phasing out the city’s retirement system in favor of having workers secure pensions through the wealthier Virginia Retirement System.

The city is one of only seven Virginia communities that still has an independent retirement program as most already rely on VRS. The changeover to VRS is seen as assisting with recruiting employees and in improving retirement income.

Mayor Levar M. Stoney’s administration is hoping for a positive council vote as early as the Sept. 25 meeting to begin the process of phasing out the Richmond Retirement System, which will continue to operate only for retirees and current employees who choose to remain members.

The change also would require approval from the VRS board. At this point, Vice President Kristen Nye, 4th District, is hoping to take more time so the date for a council vote remains tentative. A majority of the nine council members would have to be interested in making the shift happen more quickly so it could be effective in 2024.

The main advantage for Richmond employees who enroll in VRS would be better retirement benefits. VRS provides up to a 3% cost-of-living increase each year and also a higher beginning pension.

Historically underfunded, the Richmond Retirement System has provided only one small cost-of-living increase in the past 10 years and uses a lower ratio than VRS to determine the initial pension.

Still, this is a complex issue, the report notes in stating that employees who are now enrolled in the Richmond Retirement System will need to make their own personal decision about whether to move to VRS or stay in RRS.

The proposal calls for the city to spend $1.3 million a year to beef up employee paychecks so that everyone makes a 4% pension contribution to either the city or the state pension plan.

In addition, the city plans to borrow $100 million through pension obligation bonds to enable RRS to reach an 80 percent funded status, up from the current 67%.

Sabrina Joy-Hogg, the city’s chief financial officer, said pension obligation bonds will be employed whether or not the shift to VRS happens.

According to the report, the use of pension obligation bonds would save on the amount of cash that annually must be transferred from the general fund to the pension system, and that savings would create a stream of revenue to repay the bonds.

Cityscape

Help for elderly homeowners who are delinquent in paying taxes

By Jeremy M. Lazarus

City Hall has come up with a new way to help elderly homeowners who have fallen far behind in paying real estate taxes that have overwhelmed their fixedincome budgets. The city’s chief administrator, Lincoln Saunders, announced Tuesday that such homeowners can now qualify for the city’s tax relief program for the elderly and totally disabled that can sharply reduce or eliminates the amount of property taxes due.

He said tdelinquent taxpayers were previously excluded from the program, but

added that the City Attorney’s Office said that no law requires the city to maintain that barrier.

The move is aimed at reducing the public uproar over a change in policy that has the city threatening to sell occupied residences to collect delinquent taxes.

Previously, the city’s policy was to ignore tax delinquency on homes that owners lived in.

Mr. Saunders said the change resulted from an audit report that questioned why homeowners who were delinquent were being treated differently from other property owners who were in arrears.

In late July, the city for the first time

sent notices to 21 homeowners who were two years or more in arrears on their tax bills. The notices informed the residents that their homes could be sold if they did not make arrangements to pay the past due amount.

As yet, no auctions have been scheduled and none would be until next year, Mr. Saunders said, if that became necessary. Mr. Saunders said the city’s goal is to work with the delinquent homeowners to create plans to repay the tax debt. Allowing those who qualify to gain tax relief would be a new tool to help accomplish that goal, he said.

Middle Peninsula genealogy group to host virtual talk ‘Tracing Our Ancestors’

By Debora Timms

Richmond residents who have questions for candidates who seek to represent them in the Virginia General Assembly can do so during a Sept. 17 forum at Virginia Union University, 1500 N. Lombardy St. “Educate, Evaluate, Participate and VOTE!” will be presented by the Richmond Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority and the Urban League of Greater Richmond. Candidates serving the greater Richmond region will be present, and information regarding election and community issues will be provided.

Registration is free and can be done at tinyurl.com/VUUForum or www.eventbrite.com/e/educate-evaluate-participate-and-votetickets-692710755517

More information can be found by contacting Richmond Alumnae Chapter’s Social Action Committee via email at social. act.dstrichmond1@gmail.com or by calling (804) 276-7053.

Free community testing for COVID-19 continues

The Richmond and Henrico County health districts are offering testing at the following locations:

• Thursday, Sept. 7, 1 to 5 p.m. - Henrico Arms Apartments, 1566 Edgelawn Circle.

• Friday, Sept. 8, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. - Southside Women, Infant and Children Office, 509 E. 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.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:

Thursday, Sept. 7, 2 to 4 p.m. - 400 E. Cary St., Bivalent Moderna boosters for age 6 years and older, Bivalent Pfizer boosters for age 5 years and older, Novavax primary shots for age 12 and older, JYNNEOS shots and Moderna/Pfizer baby bivalent boosters. Walk-ups welcome but appointments encouraged.

Saturday, Sept. 9, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. - Liberation Center with the Health Ambassadors, 5501 Midlothian Turnpike, Bivalent Moderna boosters for ages 6 years and older, Bivalent Pfizer boosters for ages 5 years and older, Novavax primary shots for ages 12 and older, JYNNEOS shots and Moderna/Pfizer 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). VaccineFinder.org and vaccines.gov also allow people to find nearby pharmacies and clinics that offer the COVID-19 vaccine and booster.

Those who are 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.

The Pfizer booster is approved for ages 12 and up, while the new Moderna booster is for ages 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.

Historian and genealogist Karice LuckBrimmer will discuss “Tracing Our Ancestors’ Footprints” and how Black people can reclaim their heritage during a virtual meeting of the Middle Peninsula AfricanAmerican Genealogical and Historical Society on Saturday at 11 a.m. Ms. Luck-Brimmer also will discuss her role in tracing the ancestry of Air Force veteran Fred Miller.

In 2020, Mr. Miller purchased an 1850sera Gothic Revival-style house near his childhood home in Pittsylvania County. He wanted a large space to host gatherings for his extended family. In doing so, Mr. Miller found hidden information about his

family’s past. The house, called Sharswood, was a former plantation where his ancestors once were enslaved. Ms. Luck-Brimmer helped uncover the family’s connection to Sharswood and the story behind the discovery made national news on media outlets such as CBS’ “60 Minutes” and the Washington Post.

As an education and community initiatives program associate, Ms. LuckBrimmer works primarily in the Dan River/Danville region where she col -

laborates with local community members and cultural organizations committed to positive change. A public historian and genealogist, she has conducted extensive genealogical research in the Pittsylvania County area and is the founding president of the Danville/Pittsylvania County chapter of the Afro-American Historical & Genealogical Society.

While the Middle Peninsula AfricanAmerican society focuses on the history and genealogy of Virginia’s Middle Peninsula and Northern Neck, its programs are accessible to anyone throughout the United States. For more information, email mpaaghs. va@gmail.com or call 804-651-8753.

UR presents African Film Weekend

Free Press wire reports

Mati Diop was initially disappointed when she, by reading a news article, discovered that she was the first Black female filmmaker in the Cannes Film Festival’s prestigious competition in its 72-year history.

“I hadn’t realized myself. I didn’t know,” the 36-year-old French-Senegalese filmmaker said in a 2019 interview with the Associated Press. “My first reaction is that I found it quite sad. I thought, ‘Oh, is it?’ So there’s still a long way to go before it becomes something completely natural and normal and something that’s not noticeable, the fact that I’m a black woman.”

It’s doubtful that she was disappointed, however when, also in 2019, she became the first Black female director to win an award in Cannes’ 72-year history. Ms. Diop took home the Grand Prix – the equivalent of a silver prize – for her film “Atlantique (Atlantics),” a Senegalese drama about sexual politics among young migrants.

Richmond-area movie buffs can view Ms. Diop’s film and others created by African filmmakers during African Film Weekend on Friday and Saturday at the University of Richmond.

Free and open to the public, African Film Weekend, now in its 16th year, will celebrate the work of first-time African filmmakers. Spanning genres

from romantic comedy to documentary, the films presented will focus on the issues raised by this young generation of filmmakers as they turn to the future. Each film reflects on the ways African and African Diasporan peoples would like to depict themselves as they face the challenges of a global society.

Mamadou Dia, an awardwinning Senegalese film director, screenwriter, and co-founder of the production company Joyedidi, is the special guest presenter. A New York University Tisch School of the Arts graduate, he writes and directs films based on his life growing up in West Africa, exploring the tension between fact and fiction,

realism and abstraction.

“I hope that for a weekend, the University and the greater Richmond community will gather under our symbolic baobab tree to view how issues of importance are conveyed by young African filmmakers,” says Kasongo Kapanga, UR’s chair of the department of languages, literatures and cultures and organizer of the event.

The films include:

“You Will Die at Twenty”

Friday, 3 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

Directed by Amjad Abu Alala Sudan, 2019

“La Colère Dans le Vent (Anger in the Wind)”

Saturday, 8:30 a.m.

Directed by Amina Weira Niger, 2016

“L’arbre Sans Fruit (The Fruitless Tree)”

Saturday, 9:45 a.m.

Directed by Aïcha Macky Niger, 2016

“Atlantique (Atlantics)”

Saturday, 11:15 a.m.

Directed by Mati Diop Senegal, 2019

“The Wedding Party”

Saturday, 2:15 p.m.

Directed by Kemi Adetiba Nigeria, 2017

All films will be screened in the Ukrop Auditorium of the Robins Business School at the University of Richmond. For more information, visit https://llc.richmond.edu/academics/african-film-weekend/ index.html

Regina H. Boone/ Richmond Free Press

Barriers were removed on Aug. 29 at the former site of the Robert E. Lee statue on Richmond’s Monument Avenue. The circular space is now covered with flowers and greenery.

Actors Aminata Kane, from left, Amadou Mbow, director Mati Diop, actors Mame Sane, Nicole Sougou and Mariama Gassama pose for photographers at the photo call in Cannes in May 2019 for the film “Atlantique.”

Ms. Luck-Brimmer

Groups corrall candidates for upcoming elections forum

It makes me proud because we’re doing the right things for people.

In thousands of communities across the country, Bank of America employees like Scott have volunteered to teach financial literacy over the last 10 years, helping millions of people achieve their financial goals.

$19M from projected casino revenue proposed for child care needs

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years of age.

Ms. Rizzi said the school system’s Head Start and Virginia Preschool Initiative programs have plenty of empty spaces and would prefer to see a city-school campaign to get more children enrolled.

“We shouldn’t have to wait for speculative dollars that may never materialize,” Ms. Rizzi said. “The city has the money, and if this is a priority, the city needs to invest now, not wait.”

In a resolution that was introduced after the press conference and may well be voted on at the next meeting, council requests that the city create the new trust fund and ensure that it receives at least $19 million annually to support a robust child care system, regarded as crucial to enable people to work.

To be managed by the nonprofit Thrive From Birth to Five, the fund would enable the city to boost subsidies so that lowerincome families could get some financial help.

In addition, if voters approved the casino, the trust fund would gain initial contribution from a one-time $26.5 million the city is to receive if the referendum is approved.

Tenants rally against poor maintenance

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“They (apartment management) always have a different excuse,” he said as to what needs to be done to get the system to work.

Mr. Saddon’s not alone in being dissatisfied with the operation and maintenance of 24 buildings and hundreds of units along Chamberlayne Avenue that currently are labeled Red Oak Apartments.

On Monday, Mr. Saddon participated in a rally organized by the Richmond Tenants’ Defense Council and its affiliate, the Chamberlayne Tenants Council, and the Richmond Tenants Union to call attention to the problems they have to endure.

The Red Oak management staff did not respond to a Free Press request for comment.

Chantay Williams, 62, who lives in another nearby Red Oak unit, said she and others cannot get monthly statements and also appear to be overcharged for water and sewer service, which is not included in the rent.

She and her husband, Bernest, have waited more than a year to get small repairs done in their apartment where they have lived for six years.

“You call and call and no one responds,” she said. Such issues have attracted the attention of the Richmond Branch NAACP. President James E. “J.J.” Minor III said the organization will use its influence to help tenants get what they deserve — an apartment where everything works and that is well maintained.

“We don’t want the Red Oak to change to poison oak,” said Mr. Minor, a city employee. “Tenants deserve better.” He promised that the branch would begin pressing the city to look into the situation and hold the owners responsible.

These have long been troubled apartments when it comes to maintenance. Six years ago, reports began pouring in about major defects. The city’s inspectors spent a year trying to get the previous owners, Cedar Grove Partners LLC of New York, to address significant problems.

The city condemned 12 of the buildings and won court support to force Cedar Grove to sell.

Ginter Park LLC is the new owner. Like Cedar Grove, the Ginter Park owners are secretive. LLC stands for limited liability company, which by state law does not have to disclose the individual investors.

The volunteer Tenant’s Defense Council hopes that by organizing, the tenants will begin placing their rent in escrow at the court and get a hearing.

The rally closed with the assemblage chanting, “Tenant power is on the rise, now’s the time to organize! We got power — shut it down; we got power, and “Housing is a human right! That is why we stand and fight.”

The immediate contribution is to come from the developer, RVA Entertainment Holdings LLC, a joint venture involving Kentucky-based horse-racing giant Churchill Downs and Maryland-based Urban One, the Black-owned radio and media company. The trust fund would get $4.5 million. Another $14 million would be used to add new, 100-slot day care spaces in the new buildings planned for T.B. Smith and Southside Community Centers that are to be built over the next two years.

The remaining $8 million would go to pay for improvements to parks and recreation facilities, ranging from Humphrey Calder

and the Hotchkiss Community Center to James River Park.

The developers and city leaders hope that once voters review the impact the casino is projected to have on the economy, tourism, entertainment and green space that more will support.

As outlined, the casino would create 1,300 permanent jobs, use part of its property to provide a public park, include a 3,000-seat concert venue, offer a variety of restaurants, add a professional sound stage for production of movies, TV shows and commercials and attract an estimated 250,000 people to the city.

“There will be something for everyone,” said Alfred C. Liggins III, president and chief executive officer of Urban One.

City’s new homeless services plan includes opening North Side shelter, working with Salvation Army

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To be staffed by city employees, the center would register people who need housing help and provide in-person information and referrals to connect them with temporary and permanent housing options.

“One of our goals for the center is to offer divergent services that would prevent people from becoming homeless or enabling them to be rapidly re-housed,” Mr. Saunders said.

He also said he will work with his counterparts in Henrico and Chesterfield counties on a regional commitment.

Fifth District Councilwoman Stephanie A. Lynch, chair of the Education and Human Services Committee, which will review the plan in more detail at its meeting Thursday, Sept. 14, said the proposal “addresses all the points” that the council raised in a memo to the administration.

She said she is particularly pleased the plan includes creation of a staffed center that she said would be a major improvement over the current situation in which homeless people and their supporters are limited to calling a toll-free number to seek help.

Overall, the plan would increase what the city spends to operate homeless services from $2.45 million to $3.2 million a year, Mr. Saunders said. For the 2023-24 winter, the Chamberlayne Avenue building would house up to 150 people on a first-come, firstserved basis during inclement weather, Mr. Saunders said.

Effective next May, the building would be split into a year-round shelter for 50 single adults, with the capacity for housing single adults during inclement weather reduced to 100 beds, he said.

Mr. Saunders told the council that the city has agreed to pay $43,000 a month to lease the Chamberlayne Avenue space, with the potential for future purchase. He said the current plan is to team with the Salvation Army to invest $15 million into the building in a few years, if the group can raise the matching funds.

He said the city would have the option in three years to buy the building from the Salvation Army for $4.5 million if the Salvation Army was unable to raise its share. The Salvation Army purchased the building in 2020 from Eternity Church for $1.75 million, city records show.

The city also plans to lease the former

hostel at 7 N. 2nd St. to enable the homeless services organization Home Again to provide an additional 50 year-round beds for families. The city would lease the building for $15,000 a month for up to three years, with expectations that the new bed space could open in December.

Separately, he said if council approves, the city would lease 10 E. Belt Blvd. as a potential shelter site, though it would open during this winter. The city would lease the space for $26,000 a month, with an option to purchase the building in three years for $3.6 million.

Overall, according to the report, the total year-round shelter beds that nonprofits now operate include 117 beds for single adults and 92 beds for families. If council agrees, the number of year-round beds for single adults would increase to 167 beds for single adults and 154 for families.

Combined, that would mean 321 shelter beds, or a 54% increase over the current 209 beds at CARiTAS, Salvation Army, Home Again and Housing Families First, the main providers. The total does not include the additional beds for veterans, victims of domestic violence and for those recovering from surgery or other medical conditions.

McConnell tries to reassure colleagues about his health, vows to serve out term as Senate GOP leader

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earlier this year.

“I’m going to finish my term as leader and I’m going to finish my Senate term,” Sen. McConnell told reporters, dismissing questions and requests for more detail about his medical condition. “I have nothing to add” to Dr. Monahan’s statement, he said.

Sen. McConnell’s words to the press and his colleagues were his latest efforts to assuage growing concerns about his health and silence questions about whether he can continue to lead his party in the Senate. The famously private Kentucky senator has faced some criticism from colleagues for remaining quiet about the incidents and his health, which has visibly declined since the concussion.

Behind closed doors, Sen. McConnell told other Republicans that his health issues are linked to his concussion. He believes that is a “plausible answer” to the questions, Texas Sen. John Cornyn said.

Sen. Cornyn said Sen. McConnell “hasn’t missed a step” in terms of his cognitive abilities or ability to lead. But

“physically, it’s been tougher.”

“He was more transparent, which I’m glad he did,” Sen. Cornyn said of Sen. McConnell’s comments at the private lunch. “This is not his style. But I don’t think keeping things close to the vest serves his interests and it created a lot of speculation. So I think this is a positive development.”

Other Republican senators also said they were satisfied with Sen. McConnell’s explanation for the two incidents, the first in Washington in July just before the August recess and the second in Kentucky last week.

“I feel really good, I’m behind Mitch and let’s move forward,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.

North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis said Sen. McConnell has ”broad support, and I think that’s known by the majority of the conference.”

North Dakota Sen. Kevin Cramer, who had called for more transparency from Sen. McConnell, said the leader’s remarks were “a strong message. It was confident on his part. It was very direct.”

Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville said that as part of his remarks to the GOP

conference, Se. McConnell touted that he’d raised $49 million for Republican Senate candidates in August. “He convinced me” of his ability to lead, Sen. Tuberville said.

Still, Sen. Tuberville said the circumstances could change.

“I don’t think there will be anything else said about it unless there’s another incident,” Sen. Tuberville said. “And that’s what we’re hoping.”

The letter from Dr. Monahan that Sen. McConnell released Tuesday said there is “no evidence that you have a seizure disorder or that you experienced a stroke, TIA or movement disorder such as Parkinson’s disease.” TIA is an acronym for a transient ischemic attack, a brief stroke.

But there was no elaboration as to what did cause Sen. McConnell’s episodes. The doctor said the assessments entailed several medical evaluations including a brain MRI scan and “consultations with several neurologists for a comprehensive neurology assessment.”

“There are no changes recommended in treatment protocols as you continue recovery from your March 2023 fall,” Dr. Monahan said.

Congressman Bobby Scott’s cookout

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mile trek to see what fellow Democrats are doing and, more importantly, what they are saying. A day after the cookout (the menu, by the way, remains basic: hamburgers and hotdogs), was still excited about the many local, state and national politicians he’d welcomed the day before, most notably former Virginia Gov. L. Douglas Wilder, the nation’s first Black governor.

Minority Leader Rep. Don L. Scott Jr., D-Portsmouth, U.S. Rep. Jennifer McClellan, who seemingly is everywhere at once, came to the cookout, and state Sen. Louise Lucas, state Sen. Mamie Locke and U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger.

In addition to those elected officials, several candidates whose names will be on this November’s ballots made the Bobby Scott Labor Day Cookout pilgrimage, along with Democratic party officials, such as Susan Swecker.

Rep. Scott hosted his first Labor Day Cookout in 1977 when he was running for the House of Delegates.

“We wanted to thank our volunteers, so we had a little cookout and a few people came out,” he recalled. “And then the next year we decided to do it again, and the following year I was back on the ballot, so of course, we had to do it again ... and then it just became a tradition.”

Although the COVID-19 pandemic paused the annual cookout in 2020, it

became a virtual event that year. The rise of the delta variant led to its cancellation in 2021.

While Rep. Scott cherishes all of his end-of-summer events, he is particularly proud of when former President Bill Clinton was among his cookout guests while still president in the late 1990s.

The former president was the perfect guest, he said, and mingled with the crowd throughout the afternoon. He stepped away once, for about 15 minutes, Rep. Scott said, to take a call from Kofi Annan, then

secretary general of the United Nations.

When asked about the United States’ current president, Joe Biden, Rep. Scott was quick to show his ongoing support, touting President Biden’s success in stabilizing the economy, creating more jobs, shepherding a 40% decrease in child poverty and lowering credit card delinquencies.

He also scoffed at suggestions that President Biden is too old to seek re-election.

“Who’s going to do better,” Rep. Scott asked. “If he’s getting the job done, who can do better?”

Photo courtesy of Bobby Scott

U.S. Rep. Bobby Scott greets attendees Monday at his annual Labor Day cookout.

Regional transportation alliance elects new leadership

Free Press staff report

Chesterfield County Supervisor Christopher M. Winslow and Hanover County Supervisor W. Canova Peterson will lead the Richmond Regional Transportation Planning Organization for the 2024 fiscal year.

Mr. Winslow will serve as board chair and Mr. Peterson as board vice chair of RRTPO, a cross-jurisdictional alliance of nine Richmond-area governments that plan transportation initiatives for the region.

“I am pleased to assume this leadership post at a time when the region is moving ahead aggressively and prudently on so many transportation fronts,” Mr. Winslow said. “At the same time that we are guided by the multimodal transportation elements of ConnectRVA 2045, we are also addressing the region’s needs when

it comes to pedestrian safety, a vibrant biking infrastructure and our ever-expanding public transportation needs as commuting patterns are shifting dramatically and development is booming across the region. I look forward to working with Vice Chair Peterson, the board and the wider community in moving these and other issues forward.”

A member of the Chesterfield County Board of Supervisors since 2016 and chair of the board in 2022, Mr. Winslow also serves on the Capital Region Airport Commission, alternate to

the Central Virginia Transportation Authority, and on the board of directors of Greater Richmond Partnership and PlanRVA.

Mr. Peterson was first elected to the Hanover Board of Supervisors in 2011 and currently serves as chair, in addition to board leadership positions in 2013 and 2019. An architect by profession, he serves on the facility space needs, finance and legislative board committees and also represents Hanover on the PlanRVA commission and Central Virginia Transportation Authority.

“Organizations like the Richmond Regional Transportation Planning Organization reflect the spirit of cooperation and collaboration that exists among local jurisdictions, and it is through these alliances that our best work emerges,” Mr. Peterson said. “There is a lot on our plate, and I welcome this opportunity to work with my colleagues throughout the region in addressing these important issues.”

Opening set for GRTC’s new $2.2M transfer station

Free Press staff report

GRTC will officially cut the ribbon to open its new $2.2 million Downtown transfer station at 8th and Clay streets on Monday, Sept. 11.

The new station, built in a former parking lot, actually will go into service on Sunday, Sept. 10, along with some improvements to service.

A replacement for the former station along 9th Street near City Hall, the new space will feature 24-hour lighting, charging ports for phones and computers, bus shelters, island

VSU students help address teacher shortage

Free Press staff report

On Tuesday, students in Virginia State University’s College of Education got a head start on their careers while helping to address teacher shortages in Petersburg through a new program. Starting this semester, five VSU students began work as teachers in Petersburg’s K-12 school system as part of VSU’s Hybrid Education Residency Opportunity (HERO) program.

The program began to take shape in August after Petersburg education officials came to VSU seeking solutions to an overcrowded, understaffed school year

in the fall. The response was to create an asynchronous, early teacher residency where students will continue their learning at VSU while receiving on-the-job experience in Petersburg’s classrooms.

“There are so many programs that fail because they only prepare students for short-term success,” said Willis Walter, dean of the College of Education. “However, this program will allow students to build relationships with students, parents, and other teachers while gaining knowledge and experience to be successful long-term.”

VSU students who are interested in

joining the HERO program must have a B grade average and be part of other teacher programs at the university. Each participating student will have a designated assistant and also earn the same pay as a long-term substitute teacher.

“We’re able to implement what we’re learning in class immediately, so it’s really cool,” said Cameron Chambers, who teaches a kindergarten class at Cool Spring Elementary School. “I immediately said yes to the opportunity because I really wanted to get into the classroom and get started on my field experience.”

platforms to make transfers easier from one bus to another and screens that will allow riders to track bus movements, GRTC has stated.

Along with the new transfer station, GRTC stated that it will speed up Pulse service on Saturdays to 15-minute intervals between buses.

Also, Route 5 (Cary/Main/

Whitcomb) also will move to 15-minute intervals on weekdays until 7 p.m., the transit company stated, and more Sunday service is being added to Routes 7A and 7B. Buses on those two routes that travel to and from the airport will run from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m., rather than from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., GRTC stated.

Mr. Peterson Mr. Winslow

Regina H. Boone/Richmond Free Press

A file photo taken in February 2023 shows construction workers transforming a parking lot at 8th and Clay streets into the new GRTC bus transfer station set to open Monday, Sept. 11.

City acts to secure local cemeteries

By Jeremy M. Lazarus

City Hall has quietly signed a letter of intent to take over abandoned, but historic Black cemeteries in the East End and a far smaller and less well known burial ground on Forest View Drive in South Side, the Free Press has learned.

The letter that the city’s chief administrative officer, Lincoln Saunders, signed June 20 has not been announced, but is regarded as the first step toward establishing a future for East End and Evergreen cemeteries that neighbor Oakwood Cemetery.

Foundation, which nominally retains ownership in the court record. The foundation’s bylaws indicated that if Enrichmond dissolved, the city was to gain its cemetery assets in the city. The city’s Department of Parks, Recreation and Community Facilities has a cemetery division that operates Oakwood and other public cemeteries.

Mr. Saunders

The finding comes as 7th District City Councilwoman Cynthia I. Newbille prepares to host a meeting 11 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 16, at the Powhatan Hill Community Center, 5051 Northampton St. in Fulton.

The copy the Free Press obtained does not include the signature of John H. Mitchell, the last board member of the collapsed Enrichmond

However, the Free Press has been told separately that Mr. Mitchell has since signed the letter. He could not be reached for comment.

If that is the case, the Free Press has been told that it opens the door to a receiver taking control of Enrichmond’s remaining assets and transferring those cemeteries.

Brian Palmer of the Friends of East End Cemetery is hopeful but uncertain of the progress on the city’s acquisition. The volunteer Friends has been engaged all summer in maintaining the 16-acre East End Cemetery that was founded

Neighborhood Housing Services closes

By Jeremy M. Lazarus

Neighborhood Housing Services of Richmond has quietly closed after 40 years of promoting neighborhood improvement and helping people purchase their first home.

A former affiliate of Neighborworks America, the last NHS act was to sell its headquarters at 2712 Chamberlayne Ave. this summer to a private developer.

Former board members told the Free Press that the organization never recovered from the disruption of the pandemic. Fundraising and government grants were no longer available, leaving the group unable to proceed.

The nonprofit lost its status as a charity earlier this year after it failed to file required financial statements with the IRS for three years in a row.

Born in 1982 with city support, NHS initially focused on sparking a revival of the Barton Heights community by providing loans, tools and other help to encourage renovation of homes. It also built new homes on vacant lots.

The group later expanded to

other parts of the city and for years was the go-to place for first-time homebuyers seeking assistance.

Through Neighborworks America, the Richmond group had links to financial resources outside of Richmond, and at one point was able to help clients gain low-interest loans and purchase a home with only a $500 downpayment.

East End Cemetery

106 years ago. He said maintenance has been entirely neglected at the far older Evergreen until this week, when he saw a city crew mowing a front portion for the first time. The 60-acre burial ground dates to 1891.

Mr. Palmer said he hopes for more clarity at the meeting Councilwoman Newbille will host.

Both East End and Evergreen were begun as private cemeteries for African-Americans, including such luminaries as charity leader and businesswoman Maggie L. Walker and fiery newspaper editor John Mitchell Jr. as well as thousands of other notables and residents. The Forest View cemetery occupies less than a half-acre at Forest View’s intersection with Bassett Avenue.

Census shows city’s Black population declining

By Jeremy M. Lazarus

The Black community’s share of Richmond’s population is continuing to fall, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

The bureau’s latest estimate of the city’s population released in July indicated that the city’s white population represents nearly 50 percent of the 229,395 residents in the city as of 2022, or 113,819 people.

The Black population represented 44.6% of the population or 102,202 people, the bureau indicated.

The Census Bureau produces yearly estimates in between the official 10-year count and this most recent report points to increasing momentum in the demographic shift that has been underway for at least a decade.

The official count and the estimates do vary widely.

For example, in the official 2020 Census, the bureau counted only 97,442 white people and 90,644 Black people in Richmond, strongly suggesting an undercount given the bureau’s estimate that the city has added only 3,000 people since the

NOTICE TO THE PUBLIC OF THE APPLICATION OF VIRGINIA ELECTRIC AND POWER COMPANY FOR REVISION OF RATE ADJUSTMENT CLAUSE: RIDER US-3, COLONIAL TRAIL WEST AND SPRING GROVE 1 SOLAR FACILITIES, FOR THE RATE YEAR COMMENCING JUNE 1, 2024 CASE NO. PUR-2023-00137

•Virginia Electric and Power Company (“Dominion”) has applied for approval to revise its rate adjustment clause, Rider US-3.

official Census was taken.

Still, a review of the official Census data since 1990 as well as the yearly estimates documents what is evident: The growth of the white population in areas that were once predominantly Black.

The change is partly due to the growth in the Hispanic population, which largely identifies as white, but also to the influx of white people from other parts of the state and the nation who have relocated to the city.

To date, the long-term trend has not had a significant impact on city politics.

•In this case, Dominion has asked the State Corporation Commission (“Commission”) to approve Rider US-3 for the rate year beginning June 1, 2024, and ending May 31, 2025

(“2024 Rate Year”)

•For the 2024 Rate Year, Dominion requests a revenue requirement of $36,683,424, which would decrease the bill of a typical residential customer using 1,000 kilowatt hours of electricity per month by $0.06.

•A Hearing Examiner appointed by the Commission will hold a telephonic hearing in this case on February 7, 2024, at 10 a.m., for the receipt of public witness testimony.

•An evidentiary hearing will also be held on February 7, 2024, at 10 a.m., or at the conclusion of the public witness portion of the hearing, whichever is later, in the Commission’s

•Further information about this case is available on the SCC website at: scc.virginia.gov/pages/Case-Information -

Surry County, Virginia (collectively, “US-3 Solar Facilities” or “Facilities”).

adjustment clause, designated Rider US-3, for the Company to recover costs associated with the construction of the Facilities. The Commission’s approval was subject to certain conditions and requirements, including a performance guarantee for the Facilities, which were accepted by the Company. The Colonial Trail West began commercial operations on The Company states that the collective capacity factor of the US-3 Solar Facilities for calendar year 2022 was 21.8%, which represents a weighted average and does not include year 2022 is below the 25% target capacity factor under the performance guarantee for the Facilities. Employing the same methodology used in Case No. PUR-2022-00120 to of curtailments within these calculations.

In this proceeding, Dominion has asked the Commission to approve Rider US-3 for the rate year beginning June 1, 2024 and ending May 31, 2025 (“2024 Rate Year”). The two components of the proposed total revenue requirement for the 2024 Rate Year are the Projected Cost Recovery Factor and the Actual Cost True-Up Factor. The Company is Company is requesting a total revenue requirement of $36,683,424 for the 2024 Rate Year. According to the Application, the revenue requirement presented here incorporates the credit for lost REC revenues discussed above.

If the proposed Rider US-3 for the 2024 Rate Year is approved, the impact on customer bills would depend on the customer’s rate schedule and usage. According to Dominion, implementation of its proposed Rider US-3 on June 1, 2024, would decrease the bill of a residential customer using 1,000 kilowatt hours per month by approximately $0.06. The Company indicates that it has calculated the proposed Rider US-3 rates in accordance with the same methodology as used for rates previously approved by the Commission. Interested persons are encouraged to review Dominion’s Application and supporting documents in full for details about these and other proposals.

The Commission entered an Order for Notice and Hearing in this proceeding that, among other things, scheduled a public hearing on Dominion’s Application. On February 7, 2024, at 10 a.m., the Hearing Examiner assigned will hold the telephonic portion of the hearing for the purpose of receiving the testimony of public witnesses. On or beforewebsite at scc.Virginia.gov/pages/Webcasting; (ii) by completing and emailing the PDF version of this form to SCCInfo@scc.virginia.gov public witness hearing will be webcast at scc.virginia.gov/pages/Webcasting

Beginning at 10 a.m. on February 7, 2024, the Hearing Examiner will telephone sequentially each person who has signed up to testify as provided above.

An electronic copy of the public version of the Company’s Application may be obtained by submitting a written request to counsel for the Company: Elaine S. Ryan, Esquire, Mceryan@mcguirewoods.com the Commission’s website: scc.virginia.gov/pages/Case-Information

On or before January 31, 2024, any interested person may submit comments on the Application electronically by following the instructions on the Commission’s website: scc. virginia.gov/casecomments/Submit-Public-Comments the State Corporation Commission, c/o Document Control Center, P.O. Box 2118, Richmond, Virginia 23218-2118. All comments shall refer to Case No. PUR-2023-00137.

Commission at: the

Good news

Done deal

A vote Wednesday in the state House and Senate represents good news. The vote ended a lingering stalemate over parceling out about $3.5 billion in new revenue that had accumulated after the current 2022-24 budget was approved in 2021.

Gov. Glenn A. Youngkin could sign what he has been presented or propose his own changes that the legislature would need to deal with before the process would be complete.

Still congratulations are in order for the senior legislators who made it happen.

When everything is signed, sealed and delivered, the majority of Virginia adults will feel the impact of the deal in the form of a check. Anyone who filed state income taxes this year will get a rebate check for $200, with couples who filed a joint return receiving $400.

The deal also ensures that a program to reduce health care premiums will remain intact and that parents of schoolchildren will be aided by the revival of a sales tax holiday for the purchase of school supplies and clothing.

State workers will feel the impact in the form of larger than expected raises in December. Other winners include the public schools that will receive increased funding to deal with student learning loss and mental health services that will gain more funding to establish and support crisis centers.

Also, state prisons will gain an independent representative called an ombudsman who will be charged with reviewing policy and procedures and working to improve conditions in prisons.

Some crucial items did not make the cut.

The legislature ignored warnings that hundreds of struggling day care providers are likely close now that the federal pandemic subsidies that helped improve pay for workers and cover some operating costs no longer exists. In Virginia, closures are projected to end day care for nearly 90,000 children.

Also, Richmond was expected to receive another $100 million in state funding to support city efforts to end the release of raw sewage into the James River during heavy rains, but the governor’s proposal to make that labeled on the cutting room floor.

It’s for the culture

Just a reminder that the city’s 2023 edition of the Summer Festival of the Arts will wrap up this weekend with a really cool, free festival from 1 to 6 p.m. Saturday at the Dogwood Dell amphitheater in Byrd Park.

AfroFest RVA celebrates African nations and the cultural diversity of the Motherland. The open-to-all event will offer information about 27 countries and also feature various foods, a fashion show and performances by musical artist Rhythm and KanKouran, a West African dance company.

We also encourage you to take in many of the fun and informative events that continue to make Richmond a destination city. (If we sound likes boosters, well, why not?)

In this Free Press edition, we highlight the last days of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts exhibit that showcases “Benjamin Wigfall and Communications Village” and “Whitfield Lovell: Passages.”

The VMFA’s exhibition of works by Richmond native Benjamin Wigfall is the first retrospective of his career covering his early years growing up in Church Hill, his work as an abstract painter and printmaker and his pioneering socialartwork in founding Communications Village, a community art space in Kingston, N.Y.

Local historian and radio personality Gary Flowers offers his thoughts on the exhibit in a promotional video made by the VMFA.

“No one can tell you what this exhibition is until you see it for yourself, until you feel it for yourself,” Mr. Flowers said, noting the images he saw typified the Jackson Ward that in its heyday was known as “Black Wall Street” and the “Harlem of the South.”

And tonight, at 6:30 p.m., Mr. Lovell will discuss the creation of his 2001 work. If you can’t attend in person, check out his talk for free via livestream on the museum’s website.

Also, there’s still time to visit The Black History Museum and Cultural Center of Virginia’s “The Art of Freedom II” exhibit. But don’t wait too long. Dec. 17, when the exhibit ends, will be here before we know it.

The Jackson Ward museum exhibit features the work of Virginia-born and Virginia-based artists. The more than 80 pieces in the exhibit were created in various mediums by painters, sculptors, illustrators, photographers and artisans working with fabric, glass and wood. Open since May 24, each piece displayed manifests the artists’ personal expression of the meaning of freedom.

Finally, there are two film festivals this weekend and next that you will not want to miss.

After a three-year hiatus, African Film Weekend returns to the University of Richmond on Sept. 8-9.

Free and open to the public, African Film Weekend, will celebrate the work of first-time African filmmakers with five movies that will be shown. Spanning genres from romantic comedy to documentary, the films focus on the issues raised by this young generation of filmmakers as they turn to the future. Each film reflects on the ways African and African Diasporan peoples would like to depict themselves as they face the challenges of a global society.

Mamadou Dia, an award-winning Senegalese film director, screenwriter, and co-founder of the production company Joyedidi, is the special guest presenter.

“I hope that for a weekend, the University and the greater Richmond community will gather under our symbolic baobab tree to view how issues of importance are conveyed by young African filmmakers,” says Kasongo Kapanga, chair of the department of languages, literatures, and cultures and organizer of the event.

Also not to be missed is the The Afrikana Independent Film Festival Sept. 14-17 with more than 50 films, workshops and panel discussions.

Among the features and events this year, the festival will feature the premiere of its first film production, “Ninki Nanka.” The movie is the end result of Afrikana’s first filmmaker residency, and was created in collaboration with Oakwood Arts and Virginia Public Media.

“As we step into our eighth annual festival, I’m excited to see Afrikana present new experiences that expand how the Black story is stored and shared,” said Enjoli Moon, founder of the Afrikana Independent Film Festival. “As Richmond continues to grow as a cultural hub, we are looking forward to celebrating filmmakers, chefs and artists from across the diaspora and the Richmond region.”

Hope to see you there.

Razzle-dazzle vs. racial violence

Sixty years after Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s historic March on Washington, much of his dream is still just a dream.

I’d like to offer a more cheerful message, but that’s hard today, even for a resilient self-described optimist like me, after this year’s anniversary march on the Washington Mall was followed the next day by a racially motivated rampage in Jacksonville, Fla.

Authori ties say 21year-old Ryan Christopher Palmeter fa tally shot three people in a Dollar General store with an AR-15-style rifle and a handgun before turning the gun on himself.

He was white, and the three victims, later identified as Angela Michelle Carr, 52, Anolt Joseph “AJ” Laguerre Jr, 19, and Jerrald De’Shaun Gallion, 29, were Black.

Speaking at a news conference Sunday, Sheriff T.K. Waters described the suspect as a white man who “hated Black people,” and then he released a suicide note, a will and a written rant of racism that the sheriff described as “quite frankly, the diary of a madman.”

One cannot help but note that the Saturday rampage was the latest high-profile racially motivated attack carried out by a white gunman in the United States. It follows the mass shooting last year that targeted Black people and left 10 dead at a supermarket in Buffalo, N.Y. And an attack in 2019 at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, by a deranged gunman who told police he wanted to kill Mexicans.

“This is a dark day in Jacksonville’s history. There is no place for hate in this community,” Sheriff Waters said. “I am sickened by this cowardly shooter’s personal ideology.”

And earlier in August, after a two-month trial, a federal jury in Pittsburgh unanimously recommended the death penalty for a white Pennsylvania man who killed 11 congregants in October 2018 at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh. He also critically wounded two others and injured five police officers.

Yet, I think Dr. King would be saddened by the cynical messages of political rancor that we have been hearing recently in the race for the Republican presidential nomination.

Yes, I’m talking about you, Vivek Ramaswamy, but not only you.

The multimillionaire entrepreneur, who wowed much of the crowd with his rhetorical razzle-dazzle at the first GOP presidential debate, this week defended his own, comparing racially tinged remarks by U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley, a Massachusetts Democrat, to the rhetoric of “the old wizards of the grand KKK.”

“I think it is the same spirit to say that I can look at you and based on just your skin color that I know something about the content of your character — that I know something about the content of the viewpoints you’re allowed to express,” he told CNN anchor Dana Bash in an Aug. 27 interview.

Mr. Ramaswamy was responding to a question about his own experience as a darkskinned Asian American. The conservative Republican cited as an example the progressive Rep. Pressley’s reported remark in 2019 that “we don’t want any more brown faces that don’t want to be a brown voice.”

In clarifying her remarks, Rep. Pressley said she was talking about “the collective impact of lifting up one’s lived experience,” not just skin color. Mr. Ramaswamy painted the divide

Enigma of high-stakes testing

Hello again, folks. Let us continue to go down the rabbit hole of understanding standardized testing and why it has become the cornerstone of the American education system.

In the labyrinthine corridors of American education, one metric has loomed large and cast its shadow over countless schools and students: testing. The ubiquity of standardized tests in modern education raises a fundamental question — why has testing become the yardstick by which we measure the worth of our schools? To understand this, we must embark on a journey through history, navigating the twists and turns of education policy, where decisions made decades ago continue to shape the landscape today.

The origins of our testing fixation can be traced back to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA), a landmark legislation aimed at enhancing educational standards and accountability. One of the central pillars of the ESEA was Title I, which sought to address the educational disparities between children from low-income backgrounds attending urban or rural schools and their middleclass peers in suburban schools. Initially designed to close the achievement gap, Title I laid the foundation for the future evolution of testing in education.

In the ensuing years, the focus shifted from financial regulations to student achievement, culmi-

nating in the Hawkins-Stafford Elementary and Secondary School Improvement Act of 1988. This pivotal moment refocused Title I on school improvement and excellence programs, setting the stage for high-stakes testing. Under this new regime, schools that received funding were held accountable for their student’s performance on standardized tests. The stakes were high, and schools that failed to meet the required standards faced the threat of closure.

As time went on, the Improv-

ing America’s Schools Act of 1994 (IASA) brought further changes to Title I, aligning it with the goal of improving instruction for all students.

The IASA introduced math and reading/language arts standards to assess student progress and provide accountability. Thus, the seeds of high-stakes testing were sown even deeper into the fabric of our education system.

The reauthorization of Title I in 1994 saw the federal government urging schools to commit to continuous progress in improving student outcomes. Schools had to define annual outcomes and service improvement targets and report their progress to maintain funding.

This accountability structure, though well-intentioned, raised significant concerns.

One of the most pressing issues was the disproportionately negative impact of high-stakes testing on the highest-poverty schools. These schools faced extraordinary challenges, yet they were held to the same standards

as their better-resourced counterparts. Despite efforts to support them with grants and technical assistance, many struggled to meet the mandated targets.

To add to the complexity, the push for charter schools further muddied the waters. The No Child Left Behind Act, enacted in 2002, offered incentives for struggling schools to be converted into charter schools if they couldn’t meet performance targets. This raised eyebrows and ignited a debate about the true purpose behind these policies.

The heart of the matter lies in the question of why we entrusted standardized testing, a deeply flawed metric, to determine the fate of schools and students. We need to challenge the notion that closing schools or turning them into charters is the solution to educational inequity. It is imperative to consider the broader structural and systemic issues that underpin the disparities in educational outcomes.

High-stakes testing, when used as the sole arbiter of school success, narrows the focus of education to mere test preparation, stifling creativity, critical thinking, and genuine learning. It narrows the scope of what it means to be educated and undermines the holistic development of our children.

We must strive for a system that recognizes the richness and diversity of human potential, that empowers teachers to teach, and that values each child as an individual on their unique educational journey.

The writer is a humanities teacher for Boston Public Schools and a 2023 International Literacy Association 30 Under 30 Literacy Champion.

The Free Press welcomes letters

The Richmond Free Press respects the opinions of its readers. We want to hear from you. We invite you to write the editor. All letters will be considered for publication. Concise, typewritten letters related to public matters are preferred. Also include your telephone number(s). Letters should be addressed to: Letters to the Editor, Richmond Free Press, P.O. Box 27709, 422 East Franklin Street, Richmond, VA 23261, or faxed to: (804) 643-7519 or e-mail: letters@richmondfreepress.com.

as unfair judgment of him for his skin color, which Dr. King quite wisely advised us all to avoid.

That’s fair and proper. But when Mr. Ramaswamy went on to blame the news media and politicians for a racialized culture, as if racism doesn’t exist, it sounded like a slap in the face to voters of color who still have legitimate complaints.

“I’m sure the boogeyman white supremacist exists somewhere in America,” he said. “I’ve just never met him.”

I’m sure there are three Black folks in Jacksonville who wish they could say the same, if they weren’t dead.

Sure, it’s hard to see what you already have decided does not exist. Unfortunately, in today’s angry political world, it is more tempting to exploit racial differences than to build bridges.

The writer is a member of the Chicago Tribune’s editorial board and a columnist for the newspaper.

Regina H. Boone reginaboone@richmondfreepress.com James Haskins, Rudolph Powell and Clinton A. Strane Vice President – Administration Tracey L. Oliver traceyoliver@richmondfreepress.com

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Clarence Page

Ashley Clerge

No, Donald, you’re not being persecuted like the Scottsboro Boys

“War Is Peace, Freedom Is Slavery, Ignorance Is Strength.” So wrote George Orwell in 1984, his famous dystopian novel about authoritarianism. The book gave us the term “Orwellian,” describing situations where facts are ignored, truth is turned on its head, and 2+2=5. Now, almost 75 years after its publication, the United States is confronting its own brush with authoritarianism, by prosecuting former President Trump for his attempt to seize power after losing the 2020 election.

One of Mr. Trump’s recent federal court filings is truly Orwellian. Mr. Trump was trying to delay his trial by almost three years. The filing compares the Trump case, a self-proclaimed billionaire, to the Scottsboro Boys, nine

Black youths who suffered one of the most notoriously racist judicial persecutions in U.S. history,

On March 25, 1931, a freight train was passing through Alabama en route from Chattanooga to Memphis. Two white women on the train, 23year-old Victoria Price and 17-year-old Ruby Bates, accused a group of Black youths of gang raping them. Age 12 to 20, they were arrested and hauled to jail in nearby Scottsboro, Ala. A mob formed outside the jail, hoping to lynch the accused. Fortunately for the prisoners, both the sheriff and Alabama’s governor were opposed to lynching. The governor ordered the Alabama National Guard to surround the jail.

Retired California Superior Court Judge LaDoris Hazzard Cordell called Mr. Trump’s failed comparison to the Scottsboro Boys “stunningly stupid” on CNN

While protected from the mob, the Scottsboro Boys had no defense against Alabama’s deeply racist justice system. The day after their arrest, all nine were indicted. Two weeks later, eight of the Scottsboro Boys had been tried, found guilty, and sentenced to death. Their ordeal continued for decades. Ruby Bates subsequently recanted her accusation and testified on behalf of the nine. Two appeals made it to the U.S. Supreme Court, resulting in remarkable rulings that set the standards for requiring effective counsel and adequate time to prepare a defense, and barring racist exclusion of people of color from juries.

Which brings us to Mr. Trump. On Aug. 1, Mr. Trump was indicted on four counts related to his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss— including the charge of conspiracy against rights, originally enacted in 1870 to prosecute the Ku

Klux Klan for denying freed Black citizens their right to vote. Special Counsel Jack Smith asked for the trial to begin in January 2024.

The Trump lawyers countered with a request to delay his trial until April 2026. In their court filing, they invoked the Scottsboro Boys’ Supreme Court decision, Powell v. Alabama, in which the Court ruled that the scandalously fast pace of their arrest and sentencing to death, along with the shoddy legal representation they received, were unconstitutional.

In rejecting Mr. Trump’s outlandish request, U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan said, “Many cases are unduly delayed because a defendant lacks adequate representation or cannot properly review discovery because they are detained.

Denis Moynihan

That is not the case here.”

Retired California Superior Court Judge LaDoris Hazzard Cordell called Mr. Trump’s failed comparison to the Scottsboro Boys “stunningly stupid” on CNN.

Anthony Michael Kreis, assistant professor of law at Georgia State University, said on the Democracy Now! news hour, “The important lesson from the Scottsboro Boys case is that in Alabama in the early 1930s, you had powers that be who used the criminal justice system in order to reinforce white supremacy—all-white juries, rushed sham trials, lack of criminal process and procedure. That’s just not what’s happening here in Washington, D.C., in the special counsel’s case at all. Donald Trump has been afforded every opportunity to have a robust defense.”

The Scottsboro Boys were victims of racism. Mr. Trump, conversely, has long been known for his racism, from discriminating against people of color as prospective tenants in the 1970s, to calling for the execution of the wrongfully accused Central Park Five in a full-page newspaper ad. Mr. Trump refused to apologize or retract his demand, despite their exoneration after spending years in prison. In 2017, he referred to the white supremacist mob in Charlottesville, Virginia, including Klansmen and neo-Nazis, as “very fine people.”

The Scottsboro Boys were falsely accused of rape, and had their lives ruined. Mr. Trump has been accused of sexual misconduct, sexual assault, or rape by no less than 26 women, and has so far avoided any consequences save a recent $5 million civil court verdict finding he had sexually abused writer E. Jean Carroll.

Clarence Norris was the sole living Scottsboro Boy to receive a pardon in 1976. He died in

1989. In 2013, the remaining Scottsboro Boys received posthumous pardons from the State of Alabama. Their story of justice denied and delayed belongs in every school curriculum, not purged with Black history as is happening in red states from Arkansas to Florida. The Scottsboro Boys have no place, however, in cynical, Orwellian court filings from criminal defendants like Donald Trump.

This commentary originally was published in

racism

Common Dreams, a nonpofit reader-supported independent news outlet.

Amy Goodman is the host and executive producer of Democracy Now!, a national, daily, independent, award-winning news program airing on over 1,400 public television and radio stations worldwide.

Denis Moynihan has worked with Democracy Now! since 2000. He is a best-selling author and a syndicated columnist with King Features.

Amy Goodman

The Scottsboro Boys were victims of racism; Donald Trump, conversely, has long been known for his

Here’s how Tim Scott, the top Black Republican in the GOP presidential primary, discusses race

The Associated Press OSKALOOSA, Iowa

Tim Scott seldom specifically brings up race in Iowa. Nor does the Republican presidential candidate have to.

He is often the only Black person at his campaign events in the state. The South Carolina senator introduces himself as the product of early-life mentors who taught him not to be bitter.

When race comes up, he often says the United States is not fundamentally racist.

“We don’t have Black poverty or white poverty. We have poverty,” he told an all-white audience Thursday in Oskaloosa after being asked about race. He earlier had spoken about his poor Southern upbringing and his late grandfather, born into Jim Crow-era South Carolina.

“The brilliance of this nation is that we keep moving forward, even though there are lots of forces who want us to think the problem is that someone doesn’t look like you,” Sen. Scott said.

Sen. Scott, the only Black GOP presidential candidate campaigning aggressively in the early-voting state, is betting that his upbeat message of personal responsibility, wrapped in the Christian faith he comfortably cites, is a good fit for Iowa Republicans who might split from former President Trump. So far, Sen. Scott and others in the White House race remain far behind Mr. Trump, and the senator did not achieve a breakout moment during the first GOP presidential debate.

Sen. Scott has been criticized by scholars who say his rejection of systemic racism, especially in light of the recent racist killings in Florida, plays down larger social and political obstacles facing African-Americans.

But dozens of Iowa Republicans interviewed over the past several months say his position, common in the 2024 GOP field, resonates more coming from Sen. Scott than from others.

“It definitely means more from him,” said Mary Rozenboom, a 77-year-old retired hospital employee from Oskaloosa who is white. “He’s saying, ‘This is me. I’m Black. But I succeeded because I worked hard, and those opportunities remain in America.’”

Recent polls suggest Sen. Scott’s support in the state hovering around 1 in 10 among likely participants in Iowa’s first-in-thenation caucuses, still four months away.

That is significantly behind Mr. Trump and slightly behind Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. Still, it suggests Sen. Scott’s position in Iowa is slightly stronger than it is nationally, where his support in most recent polls hovers in the low single digits.

Sen. Scott may have unique advantages among Republican voters on race issues, according to political experts, even if his argument may be out of step with more diverse voters or in a

general election.

Among voters for Republican candidates in the 2022 midterm elections, just 18% said racism is a very serious problem in U.S. society, compared with 61% of voters for Democratic candidates, according to AP VoteCast data.

“He’s a Black man who rejects the idea of systemic racism, which is very popular in Republican circles,” said Christine Matthews, a national political pollster who has worked for Republican candidates. “It absolutely resonates more.”

But Yohuru Williams, founding director of the Racial Justice Initiative at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minn., said Sen. Scott is deliberately trying to appeal to voters who want to

it’s not.”

He achieved his political rise in South Carolina, once the cradle of the Confederacy. As in Iowa, the Republican primary vote there is vastly white.

When he won a seat in the U.S. House in 2010, Sen. Scott became the first Black Republican elected to Congress from South Carolina since the 1890s, during an era when white Democrats ousted many Republican officeholders after Reconstruction and disenfranchised Black people through state-sponsored violence, including lynching.

Sen. Scott won the House primary by beating Paul Thurmond, the son of longtime South Carolina Sen. Strom Thurmond, a segregationist who fought against civil rights legislation. Sen. Scott was later appointed to the U.S. Senate and has been re-elected twice to six-year terms. Bonnie Boyle, upon leaving a June event, compared Sen. Scott to the late former Secretary of State Colin Powell and Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, Black figures popular among Republicans.

“I don’t think I’m prejudiced, but I know a lot of people who are, and I don’t think the color of your skin should matter,” said Ms. Boyle, who is white. “Tim Scott says you can rise above the perception that you’re stuck, and you can make it, and I like that a lot.”

believe that racism is not a serious problem.

“He’s glossing it over and saying he’s achieved all these things because he’s taken advantage of every opportunity and worked hard,” Mr. Williams said. “It creates this kind of powerful, yet flawed, narrative that it’s grievance politics on the left that are solely responsible for economic inequality, for continued police brutality, for housing inequality.”

“But it buys him points with that GOP base that says, ‘Finally, someone who sounds like me who is a Black person which proves I’m not racist,’” he said.

Sen. Scott argues that racism is one of many forms of hatred that exist in the U.S. and that American society has improved over time.

He was asked to comment this summer on the accusation by Joy Behar, a host of the ABC talk show “The View,” that he failed to understand systemic racism.

“I said America is not a racist country,” he said. “Because

Most of the Republican presidential candidates deny the U.S. faces systemic racism. And the study of race in American society has animated core Republican audiences. Several Republican-controlled states have invoked critical race theory in legislation restricting how race can be taught in public schools. GOP lawmakers in some states have also tried to outlaw or defund diversity and equity programs intended to address disparities in racial representation.

Sen. Scott’s success has not come by ignoring America’s legacy of slavery and segregation, said Stephen Gilchrist, a Black man who is a Republican and chairman and CEO of the South Carolina African American Chamber of Commerce.

“He tries to live up to the creed of Dr. Martin Luther King, where we shouldn’t be judged by the color of our skin but by the content of our character,” said Mr. Gilchrist, who has not endorsed a candidate for 2024. “He’s inspired many of us who are African-American Republicans.”

But Frederick Gooding Jr., an African-American studies professor at Texas Christian University, said untold more Black Americans have worked just as hard as Sen. Scott but struggled against invisible barriers.

“He did work hard,” he said. “But it’s not quite that simplistic.”

The lending support you need for the life

deserve.

The Associated Press

GOP presidential contender Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., speaks at the Iowa State University extension of Mahaska County in Oskaloosa on Aug. 31.

Stories by Fred Jeter

National audiences watch VUU crush Morehouse 45-13

Virginia Union University’s Panthers weren’t blinded by the bright lights.

Playing in front of national TV (NFL Network) and radio (Westwood One) audiences, the squad was up for the challenge – and then some.

Led, as expected, by junior All-America tailback Jada Byers, VUU trounced Morehouse College, 45-13, in the HBCU Hall of Fame Classic in Canton, Ohio.

“I’m extremely excited how we represented ourselves and the conference (CIAA),” VUU’s Coach Alvin Parker told a legion of postgame press.

“This team is out to make its own identity. It doesn’t want to be compared to any others and I respect that.”

Byers, among the nation’s top backs statistically on any level, carried 24 times for 147 yards and three touchdowns, including a 29-yarder in the first quarter that left a host of befuddled Tigers grasping at air.

“I tell ’em, it’s not about me,” Byers told the press. “I’ve got the best front five in the nation in front of me and today we showed everyone what VUU football is all about.”

Byer’s bevy of blockers include returnees Justin Meade and Mark Lawton and intriguing freshman Mathias Nielsen, a 6-foot5, 295-pound tackle from Denmark.

While Byers’ performance was expected, a newcomer to the spotlight was southpaw quarterback Christian Reid, making his first start as a graduate student.

The native Georgian hit 11 of 15 passes for 153 yards and

VUU’s football team, coaches and staff stand in front of the Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. The team trounced Morehouse College, 45-13, in the HBCU Hall of Fame Classic.

a TD toss to Joe Johnson. Playing no favorites, he connected with 10 different Panthers for receptions.

Play of the game honors went to Jabrill Norman, who had a 68yard interception return for a TD along with six tackles and a sack.

Shamar Graham and Curtis Allen had nine tackles each.

Byers was named offensive Player of the Game; Norman, a transfer from Mars Hill, N.C., got defensive top honors.

It was clear domination. VUU had 440 yards total offense compared to Morehouse’s 230. The Tigers’ first TD came off a blocked punt and the second against a host of reserves.

To be fair, SIAC affiliate Morehouse is coming off a 1-9 season with a new coach, Gerard Wilcher.

Trojans get the best of a crazy ending

VSU 33-24 win over NSU a breakthrough victory

It couldn’t have ended any better for Virginia State or any worse for Norfolk State. Before 21,640 fans and an ESPN-Plus audience at Dick Price Stadium, the visiting Trojans pulled off an improbable 33-24 victory in the season

and force overtime.

Then everything went wrong for NSU, and everything turned to sunshine for the Trojans.

The snap from center went through the holder’s hands and was scooped up by VSU’s Dante Clark, who rumbled 77 yards for

season.

Under second-year Coach Henry Frazier III, it was a breakthrough victory for his Division II program (36 scholarships) to upend an FCS opponent (with 63). It also marks the Trojans as a clear contender for the CIAA

Jackson State, added 89 yards overland in 12 totes.

Steve “Romelo” Williams, a transfer from Central Connecticut playing his first game as a Trojan, completed 13 of 19 passes for 133 yards.

Chantz Baylor from Virginia Beach led the defense with nine tackles while preseason

All-CIAA Willie Drew (Smithfield) had four tackles plus an interception.

Dominating Matt Foster, a 6-foot-7, 315-pound offensive lineman from Georgia, helped clear the way for 487 yards (316 rushing) offense and 22 first downs.

VUU plays well on the road and that’s a good thing.

The maroon ‘n’ steel express is headed to Durham Stadium this Saturday for a 1 p.m. CIAA contest with Shaw. Then comes a trip to Salisbury, N.C., on Sept. 16 to play Livingstone.

VUU’s home opener will be Sept. 23 against defending CIAA champ Fayetteville State. That will also serve as the Willard Bailey Classic and the VUU Hall of Fame weekend.

Coming off a 9-2 season with an NCAA bid, VUU is likely to be favored in every game this regular season. It helps that presumed toughest games against Fayetteville, Bowie State and Virginia State will be at Hovey Field.

Also making their mark in Canton was VUU’s Ambassadors of Sound marching band. The spirited contingent was featured on TV for about 10 minutes at halftime.

Like the football team, the Ambassadors came to play and that they did.

Virginia State University running back Upton “Juice” Bailey rushes for yards during the game against Norfolk State University last Saturday.

opener for both HBCUs.

Here’s what it came down to:

Trailing 27-24 with one second left, NSU lined up for a chip-shot 23-yard field goal (about the same as an extra point) to try and tie the game

the final score as time expired.

“I want to apologize to our fans; we have to do a better job in preparing our team,” said NSU Coach Dawson Odums.

It was VSU’s first win over NSU since 2017. NSU had won eight of the last nine before this

crown and Division II ranking.

Headliners for VSU included:

From Petersburg, Upton “Juice” Baily rushed for 184 yards on 18 tries, including an 80-yard highlight reel special touchdown. Kymani Clarke, a transfer from

Dante Clark, who delivered the final thrill, is a redshirt freshman from far-away Stockton, Cal. VSU will play its home opener Saturday at 2 p.m. against invading Tusculum, Tenn. The Pioneers of the Division II South Atlantic Conference were 8-3 last year but started this season with a 38-7 loss at FCS Kennesaw, Ga., State.

NSU will travel to Hampton to renew the “Battle of the Bay” at Armstrong Stadium at 6 p.m. The Pirates are coming off a 35-31 win over Grambling State in the Brick City Classic in Harrison, N.J.

Coach Prime comes out swinging

“Sanford & Son” has given way to Sanders & Son as a top entertainment attraction.

Only this is real life drama minus any funny business.

In his long-awaited debut as Colorado head coach, Deion Sanders’ Buffaloes stunned No. 17 ranked Texas Christian, 4542, Sept. 2 in Fort Worth.

“Do you believe us now?” asked Coach Sanders, addressing the press.

Colorado was 1-11 last season and among the worst teams in the country. TCU made the four-team College

Local basketball referees help reboot SlamBall league

Ray Bullock Sr. has refereed nearly every level of basketball there is, from youth leagues to the NBA. Now he can add SlamBall to his list.

The longtime director of Mid-South Basketball Officials of Virginia recently wore a whistle during the rebooted (after 20-year hiatus) SlamBall season at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas.

Joining Bullock from his Mid-South group were Melanie Brown, Ellis Coleman Sr. and Ray Bullock Jr.

The elder Bullock also arranged for Tammy Holman from Maryland to participate in the two-month-long experience.

So, what is SlamBall?

“It’s a combination of four sports, basketball, hockey, football and gymnastics,” Bullock said.

“It’s awesome.”

There are four trampolines, serving as launching pads, near the basket, making for some high-flying, gravity-defying action.

“Some of the guys were practically getting their whole bodies over the top of the backboard,” he said.

The officials had all their expenses covered. The

refs’ weekly salaries were “between about $1,00 and $1,800,” Bullock said, … “but some of the players were getting $5,000 a week.”

Games were every Thursday, Friday and Saturday, with ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPN+ covering.

Before any games began, the officials took a three-and-a-half week training course to learn the rules and- regulations of the unusual sport.

Some rules:

Scoring: Players are awarded three points for a dunk and four points for a shot from about 23-feet and beyond. Other shots are two points.

Shot clock: A jiffy 20 seconds.

Fouling: Defenders cannot touch an offensive player once he has gone airborne. However, it’s OK(even encouraged) to bump the offensive player while he is dribbling.

“When a player gets hit hard, they call it ‘lightning him up.’”

“This is a full-contact sport, with what most would consider illegal contact,” Bullock said.

There is no foul limit for disqualification, “but

you can be ejected,” Bullock said.

SlamBall originated in Southern California in about 2000 with former VCU hoops star George Byrd among the most decorated performers. For various reasons, mostly involving financing, the sport ran out of gas in 2023 – now it’s on the comeback trail.

There is no shortage of applicants. Most of the Slam Ballers are former basketball pros and college players. However, others come from football, hockey and track and field backgrounds.

Over some 30 years, Bullock (out of Hillside High in Durham, N.C.) has refereed himself and groomed young officials for youth, middle school, high school, independent travel, all levels of college and the pros.

He’s sent four of his pupils to the NBA (including Richmonder Curtis Blair), about 12 to the Gatorade G-League and some 60 to the college level.

This was no one-night stand in Vegas, Bullock says.

“We’ve all signed two year-contracts,” he said. “We’ll be back next year …. This is going to last; not like before,” he assures.

Morgan State upsets UR

As upsets go, this was a classic.

Morgan State boasts some of history’s greatest football players, and it was like they’d all returned to the Bears’ lineup for one joyous night in the prime of their lives.

As a prohibitive underdog, the visiting Bears defeated — no, make that shocked — the host University of Richmond Spiders, 17-10, on Sept. 2 at Robins Stadium.

Playing a relentless brand of defense, Coach Damon Wilson’s Bears ousted FCS No. 16 ranked UR, a perennial FCS contender and the 2008 national champion.

Morgan has sent at least 100 players to the NFL, most notably Hall of Famers Willie Lanier, Len Ford, Leroy Kelly and Roosevelt Brown. But that mostly was decades ago before college entrance doors opened wider for Black athletes.

In more recent times, the FCS/HBCU’s have struggled to keep up with the more established FCS programs. In fact, the MEAC and SWAC champs don’t even compete in the FCS playoffs, preferring the Celebration Bowl.

With what happened at UR, perhaps they should.

At least in spirit, Bears’ “old-timers” were there on UR’s West End campus to record a rare victory for any HBCU over a member of the powerful Coastal (formerly Colonial) Athletic Association.

In the only previous meeting between UR and Morgan, the Spiders won 46-24 in 2014. UR had never lost to any HBCU.

Much credit goes to second-year Bears Coach Wilson, who came to Morgan last year following a brilliant run at Bowie State.

At Bowie, Coach Wilson was 89-45 overall, including 62-21 in CIAA, with five NCAA Division II playoff bids. CoachWilson was 4-7 a year ago in his first season with Morgan.

From Richmond, the Bears travel to Akron for a 6 p.m. Saturday scrap against the FCS Mid-American Conference Zips.

For aching UR, the travel itinerary leads to East Lansing, Mich., where the Spiders will take on Big 10 juggernaut Michigan State at 3:30 p.m.

Football Playoffs. The Buffs were a 20-point underdog.

Starring for the Buffs was Sanders’ son, quarterback Shedeur Sanders, who completed 30 of 47 passes for a school record 510 yards and four touchdowns.

Shedeur transferred from Jackson State to Colorado with his dad. Coach Sanders was 23-3 in three seasons coaching at Jackson.

“For real … Shedeur Sanders … from Jackson State … an HBCU … playing on this level?” Coach Sanders said.

Here’s how Shedeur put it:

“A lot of y’all didn’t believe in us,” he told the press. “You’ve got to understand Coach Prime, my dad, has been a winner everywhere he’s been.”

The Colorado roster has undergone nearly a 100 percent turnover from a year ago. Shedeur wasn’t the only Jackson State transfer to shine for the Buffs. Travis Hunter caught 11 passes for 119 yards and made a diving, acrobatic interception near the goal line to foil the Horned Frogs.

As a rare two-way performer, Hunter is already drawing talk as a Heisman Trophy candidate, similar to Michigan’s defensive back/receiver Charles Woodson in 1997.

The next episode of Sanders & Son is Saturday at Nebraska. Ratings are expected to be high for the noon kickoff on FOX.

Danielle Williams

Ex-CIAA star is world champ

Danielle Williams has put the CIAA back on the world track and field map.

A graduate of Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte, Williams won the 100-meter hurdles two weeks ago at the World Games in Budapest.

A native of St. Andrew, Jamaica, the 30-year-old Williams represented her native country in Hungary. Her winning time was 12.43. In 2015, she won the same event at the World competition in Beijing, China. She was the bronze medalist in the hurdles at the 2019 Worlds in Doha, Qatar.

Wire photo

Shadeur Sanders leads Colorado to win over Texas Christian.

Randy Singleton/Richmond Free Press

The doctors you chose, the plan to match

Keep your doctors with an in-network plan

You chose your Bon Secours care team — a team whose focus is, and always has been, on providing quality, compassionate care for those we serve. Now it’s time to choose the Medicare plan to match. Due to stalled negotiations between Bon Secours and Anthem (otherwise known as Elevance Health), your coverage may be impacted.

Our Medicare Advantage contract with Anthem Virginia was terminated effective August 1 and Bon Secours providers are considered out-of-network for nearly 13,000 Richmond-area patients who have Anthem Medicare Advantage health insurance.

If you are a Bon Secours patient with Anthem Medicare Advantage coverage, here is what you can do to make your voice heard:

1. Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment opens October 15. Talk to your broker, or call the Centers of Medicare & Medicaid (CMS) at 1-800-633-4227, and understand your options to pick a plan that keeps your Bon Secours providers in-network. Bon Secours remains in-network with all other major Medicare Advantage health plans in Virginia.

2. Call Anthem at the number on the back of your insurance card and tell them how important it is for you to keep you uninterrupted in-network access to Bon Secours.

Bon Secours is committed to continue doing our part and working hard to reach a new agreement with Anthem on behalf of our patients and the communities we serve — so nothing comes between you and the caregivers you know and trust.

Filmmaker finds his passion while fighting

By Kimberly Fields

Nile Price uncovered his passion for film from a hospital bed.

“I had already found peace within myself at 12 years old that if I didn’t make it to see 13 or if I didn’t make it to see 16, I was at peace with the life that I did have,” Mr. Price said.

At birth, Mr. Price was diagnosed with sickle cell anemia, also called sickle cell disease. According to the Sickle Cell Disease Association of America, sickle cell anemia is an inherited blood disorder that affects red blood cells. Sometimes these red blood cells become sickle-shaped (crescent shaped) and have difficulty passing through small blood vessels. When sickle-shaped cells block small blood vessels, less blood can reach that part of the body.

As a child, Mr. Price spent more time in the hospital than out as he received treatment for his illness. He was unable to attend school with his classmates as often as he liked at Ratcliffe Elementary School and Wilder Middle School. An endless supply of movies to watch supplied by the Child Life Department of the hospital

for his life

helped pass the time.

“I remember watching TNT one time and they were playing ‘Gladiator’,” says Mr. Price, 27.

“I was like, ‘Oh my God, what is this’? This is amazing! I was telling my mom, ‘Look, his wardrobe is getting darker as he gets crazier. It’s ridiculous!”

Mr. Price took notice to more than just the story line, but production also. It would be after his recovery that he revisited his interest in filmmaking

In 2009, Mr. Price was cured of sickle cell disease. He received a bone marrow transplant from a matched donor, communicated with her in writing for one year, and met Laura Kulbert, his donor, the following year.

“I was told that to be 100% cured, my donor would need to be of the same race,” Mr. Price said.

Yet, Ms. Kulbert, is white.

“It wasn’t until I finally met Aunt Laura in person that I learned that there was a 5% chance window that this was even possible.”

Mr. Price attended Douglas Freeman High School and, at this point, had lived most of his childhood believing that he would be an attorney. It took one elective to change his mind. Preparing for his senior

year, Mr. Price took a photography class thinking it would be an easy A. It turned out to be more than an easy A.

He became a part of the school’s morning show during his senior year and began producing football highlights as well. This passion stayed with him as he began college at Norfolk State University.

Mr. Price currently is a Virginia Museum of fine Arts Cy Twombly Fellow and a senior at New York University Tisch School of the Arts, where he will graduate with a master’s of fine arts in film directing in May 2024.

Price

As a child, Nile Price spent more time in the hospital than out as he received treatment for sickle cell anemia. He was given an endless supply of movies to watch while in the hospital, which sparked his interest in filmmaking. His film “For the Moon” will be shown during the Afrikana Film Festival on Sept. 16.

Mr. Price’s interest in movies also led to the production of his film, “For the Moon.” It’s about a young Ronald McNair, the astronaut who died on the space shuttle Challenger in 1986. In the film, a younger Mr. McNair refuses to leave a library for white people only without the books he desires.

“I love history and I love reading about people,” Mr. Price

said. “I think what makes a good biopic a good biopic is when you have a great turning point. (Mr. McNair) has so many, but as a child to do that, I saw a lot of agency, fearlessness, and that is something that I wanted to showcase.”

Audiences can view “For the Moon”at the Afrikana Film Festival on Sept. 16. Please visit www.afrikanafilmfestival. org for more information.

Afrikana Film Festival returns next week

Free Press staff report

The Afrikana Independent Film Festival returns Sept. 14-17 with more than 50 films, workshops and panel discussions.

Among the features and events this year, the festival also will feature the premiere of its first film production, “Ninki Nanka.” The movie is the end result of Afrikana’s first filmmaker residency, and was made in collaboration with Oakwood Arts and Virginia Public Media.

The festival also will debut the “Diaporic Fork,” a tasting event where Afrikana and Buna Kurs Ethiopian Cafe will highlight authentic Ethiopian cuisine.

“As we step into our 8th annual festival, I’m excited to see Afrikana present new experiences that expand how the Black story is stored and shared,” said Enjoli Moon, founder of the Afrikana Independent Film Festival.

For more information on the Afrikana Independent Film Festival, visit www. afrikanafilmfestival.org. Those looking for sponsorship opportunities should contact Nigel Richardson at nigel@ afrikanafilmfestival.org

Festival events

A Taste of Liberation Dinner:

Southern Spoons from the Gullah to the Gulf, 7 p.m., Friday Sept.15, The Valentine Museum, 1015 E. Clay St.

Evening “Ninki Nanka” world premiere

Doors open at 7:30 p.m., screening begins at 8 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 16, VCU Institute for Contemporary Art, 601 W. Broad St.

The Art

II

Black History Museum and Cultural Center of Virginia showcases creations by Virginia-born or Virginia-based artists such as painters, sculptors, illustrators, photographers, original printmakers and fabric artists. The exhibit runs until Dec. 16.

Artist talks coming to 2 local museums

By Debora Timms

Visitors to the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VMFA) have until Sept. 10 to see two exhibitions that share a connection to Richmond before they come to an end — “Benjamin Wigfall and Communications Village” and “Whitfield Lovell: Passages.”

The VMFA’s exhibition of Richmond native Benjamin Wigfall is the first retrospective of his career covering his early years growing up in Church Hill, his work as an abstract painter and printmaker and his pioneering social artwork in founding Communications Village, a community art space in Kingston, N.Y.

Purchasing a ticket for the Wigfall exhibit also allows visitors to explore the most comprehensive exhibition to date of contemporary artist Whitfield Lovell’s work. It features an immersive, multisensory homage to Richmond’s historic Jackson Ward neighborhood titled “Visitation: The Richmond Project.”

Local historian, radio personality and fourth-generation Jackson Ward resident Gary Flowers, gave his thoughts on the exhibit in a promotional video made by the VMFA.

“No one can tell you what this exhibition is until you see it for yourself, until you feel it for yourself,” Mr. Flowers said, noting the images he saw typified the Jackson Ward that in its heyday was known as “Black Wall Street” and the “Harlem of the South.”

On Thursday, Sept. 7, the artist himself will be at the VMFA. Beginning at 6:30 p.m., Mr. Lovell will discuss the creation of his 2001 work. Tickets are required to attend the special evening event in person, but it also will be livestreamed for free on the museum’s website with no advance registration required.

The Black History Museum and Cultural Center of Virginia (BHMVA) also will provide opportunities for visitors to engage with some of the artists on display in the museum’s exhibition, “The Art of Freedom II.”

Featuring Virginia-born and Virginia-based artists, the more than 80 pieces in the exhibit were created in various mediums by painters, sculptors, illustrators, photographers and artisans working with fabric, glass and wood. Open since May 24, each piece displayed manifests the artists’ personal expression of the meaning of freedom.

On Saturday, Sept. 9, from 2 to 4 p.m., the community is invited to a presentation and conversation to hear directly from some of the featured artists about how they interpret their work and what inspires them. No registration is required to attend this free event, or a second event which will take place on Saturday, Oct. 14.

“The Art of Freedom II” will be on exhibit at the BMHVA through Dec. 17.

Regina H. Boone/Richmond Free Press

Two Virginia Museum of Fine Arts exhibitions, “Benjamin Wigfall and Communications Village,” and “Whitfield Lovell: Passages” will end Saturday, Sept. 10. Richmond native Benjamin Wigfall (1930–2017) was an artist, educator and champion of arts equity. The exhibition highlights the period from his early years in Virginia in the 1950s to his founding of Communications Village, a community art space in Kingston, N.Y., in the 1970s. Whitfield Lovell is Bronx-born and a 2007 MacArthur Fellowship recipient and conceptual artist whose VMFA exhibit is his most comprehensive exhibition to date of his work. Mr. Lovell’s works “contemplate the ordinary lives and extraordinary journeys of the African-American experience while raising universal questions about identity, memory and America’s collective heritage,” according to the VMFA.

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of Freedom

atThe

It’s easy to tell Angela KellyWiecek loves the Richmond region.

The Hanover County resident was born in Petersburg and lived for a time in Chesterfield as a teen. She also has served as the Chickahominy District Representative on the Hanover County Board of Supervisors since 2011.

Those combined experiences, including her current role as board chair for Richmond Region Tourism, have provided what Ms. Kelly-Wiecek describes as a “regional perspective.”

Richmond Region Tourism’s footprint covers Chesterfield, Hanover, Henrico and New Kent counties, along with the cities of Richmond and Colonial Heights and the town of Ashland.

“With world-class dining options, entertainment venues, rich history, vibrant outdoor recreation and inclusive attractions, the Richmond Region speaks for itself in many ways,” she said. A highlight for her includes attending festivals with her husband of 23 years, Paul Wiecek, and their son, Stephen, currently in his third year at the University of Virginia.

Among the fall events that earn her recommendation are AutumnFest at the Hanover Tavern, the Richmond Folk Festival in Downtown Richmond and the Maymont Oktoberfest in Maymont Park. Ms. KellyWiecek further suggests steering youngsters to AutumnFest to watch trains come through town, or dining in Shockoe Bottom or on the riverfront during the Richmond Folk Festival.

If Ms. Kelly-Wiecek sounds like a cheerleader for Richmond Region Tourism, she is. The organization began in 1983 to promote tourism, attract visitors and ensure them memorable experiences. RRT also supports and showcases the region’s assets to local residents as well.

One way the nonprofit does this is through their I Am Tourism program.

“Whether you are new to

Personality: Angela Kelly-Wiecek

Spotlight on board chairwoman of Richmond Region Tourism

our region or have been here all your life, this free program equips participants with everything they need to know about the region’s top attractions and historical spaces,” Ms. KellyWiecek said. “I would love for everyone to become an I Am Tourism ambassador.”

There is always plenty to learn and new places to visit, she added. She currently lists exploring local wineries at the top of her to-do list. In May, her visit to two such wineries in New Kent was a Mother’s Day treat from her son.

“My goal is to visit the remaining ones,” Ms. KellyWiecek says. “Although we keep adding wineries in our region, so it might take a while!”

Along with her new board post, Ms. Kelly-Wiecek said her mission is to “put more into this world than I take out of it.” It is a mindset she developed by watching her parents earlier in life.

“I learned that you should always contribute to the community around you,” Ms. KellyWiecek said. “Not only will you help others, but you will help yourself in the process.

Meet a proponent of enriching the cultural lives of Richmonders and visitors and this week’s Personality, Angela Kelly-Wiecek:

Volunteer position: Chair, Richmond Region Tourism.

Occupation: This is my 12th and final year as the Chickahominy District Representative on the Hanover County Board of Supervisors.

Place of birth: Petersburg. Where I live now: Hanover County.

Education: Associates degree in science from Richard Bland College of the College of William and Mary, bachelor’s in

business administration from Averette University.

Family: Husband, Paul and one son, Stephen. Richmond Region Tourism is: The region’s destination organization helping enrich the lives of residents and visitors by sharing the unique culture and humanity that is the Richmond Region. We generate economic prosperity through tourism by attracting conventions, meetings, sports tournaments, and visitors, all while ensuring everyone has an unforgettable experience.

Mission: Our mission is to share a passion for the Richmond region with the world.

How I became involved with RRT: Hanover is a proud partner and participant in Richmond Region Tourism, and I am honored to represent our citizenry as we showcase all the amazing assets of our region.

No. 1 goal or project: Our new Tourism Improvement District is really exciting and went into effect on July 1,

2023. We are particularly proud of how the Richmond Region approved the TID with tremendous support from hotel owners and stakeholders. It will generate as much as $8.2 million annually to support the promotion of the region as a leisure, conference and sports tourism destination and provide the resources to compete aggressively with other comparable markets around the country.

No. 1 challenge facing RRT: One challenge (and opportunity) ahead of the region is a headquarter hotel. We need a Downtown headquarter hotel to provide more guest rooms for visitors to stay. This will allow the region to compete for larger conventions. In partnership with the Greater Richmond Convention Center Authority, the City of Richmond Economic Development Authority is currently evaluating proposals from finalists to redevelop City Center, which would include the headquarter hotel.

Proudest moment of RRT: I’m exceedingly proud of how we were able to use our strategic reserves during (the height of) COVID-19. We were able to retain our staff, be creative in supporting and promoting safe and outdoor based activities in the region, and have fully recovered! In fact, we set records this spring surpassing our previous high-water marks for RevPAR (revenue per available room night).

How RRT is funded: Richmond Region Tourism’s primary funding comes from a tax (transient lodging tax) that hotel guests pay on lodging. We are also partially

funded by the Greater Richmond Convention Center Authority (GRCCA), local partners and sponsors.

Top three must-see places to visit in the Richmond Region: We have outstanding places and activities for active living enthusiasts like Pocahontas State Park, we have museums large and small and for every area of interest – Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, the Science Museum, The Children’s Museum of Richmond, the Hanover Museum of History and Culture and the Keystone Antique Truck & Tractor Museum in Colonial Heights.

A hidden gem to many might be: Historic Pole Green Church – this is really a beautiful and peaceful place to visit and reflect on how so much of the history of our nation began right here in Virginia.

Why Richmond Region Tourism knows inclusivity of all cultures is important: Richmond Region Tourism prioritizes diversity and inclusion throughout all its efforts and demonstrates its commitment through two programs: BLK RVA and OutRVA. The organization launched BLK RVA with local community leaders in 2019 to celebrate the region’s Black community, businesses and culture. Visitor data from Longwoods International reveals travel by AfricanAmericans to the Richmond Region is 27%, which is 12% higher compared to the national average. OutRVA is a program of Richmond Region Tourism promoting LGBTQ tourism in partnership with community members and organizations.

Upcoming events: The Richmond Region Open takes place on Monday, Sept. 18 at Magnolia Green Golf Club. This signature event for the Richmond Region Tourism Foundation funds four

annual hospitality scholarships, local education, DEIA initiatives and programs, and local sports tourism grant programs. Register before Sept. 8 to reserve your spot

How I start the day: I try to start each day with focus and optimism (and lots of caffeine).

I always have a list of “must do’s” and “hope to do’s.”

Three words that best describe me: I’m going with vivacious, compassionate and optimistic.

If I had 10 extra minutes in the day: Ideally, I would spend 10 minutes meditating. But the reality is that it would probably be taken up with an extra phone call – I make and take A LOT of phone calls given the many regional boards where I represent Hanover.

If I hosted a dream dinner party, my one special guest would be: Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. She has such a compelling personal story. Her grace under pressure, her confidence, and her accomplishments are something I admire.

Best late-night snack: Specialty cheese (probably from The Caboose in Ashland) or dark chocolate!

Book that influenced me the most: “Fast Food Nation” by Eric Schlosser. Reading this book, changed the way I thought about food and nutrition and made me a real advocate for locally owned restaurants.

What I’m reading now: “Choosing to Run” by Des Linden. I’ve always loved biographies because you get insight into other people’s thought processes and perspectives.

Next goal: After 12 years in local government, I’ve had a great opportunity to see the many needs of our community and the region. So in all aspects, I am focused on finding the next way to serve my community and put more into this world than I take out of it!

In ‘Equalizer 3,’ Denzel Washington’s assassin goes to Italy

By Lindsey Bahr The Associated Press

Filmmaker Antoine Fuqua has been dreaming about taking the Equalizer abroad for years. The action franchise (very loosely based on a 1980s television series) starring Denzel Washington as the reluctant assassin Robert McCall had rooted itself in humble domestic beginnings, in Boston.

But after two films and $382.7 million in box office receipts in the past decade, the time seemed ripe to travel.

“Denzel is an international movie star,” Mr. Fuqua told The Associated Press. “We thought it would be nice to see a man of color in a story that’s more international. Why not take this character around the world? Luckily, Sony loved the idea.”

And there was only one place that was ever seriously on the list: Italy. Mr. Washington, Mr. Fuqua said, goes every summer and has since his kids were babies. He loves the culture, the people, the food. He even speaks some Italian.

“He just feels right there,” Mr. Fuqua said.

And for Mr. Fuqua, it was the stuff of filmmaking dreams to get to shoot in Cinecittà Studios in Rome and bump up against cinema history walking where Fellini and so many other greats have before him. In Naples, they found an authentically 1970s New York grittiness that required little to no production design for a pivotal showdown. And on the Amalfi coast, they stumbled on the small village of their, and McCall’s, fantasies in the picturesque Atrani.

It’s the kind of place you’d believe someone like McCall (or anyone really) might feel immediately tied to and protective of, which is what happens in “Equalizer 3,” which opened in theaters nationwide Sept. 1. The difference is McCall is more uniquely suited to take on the Camorra. Single-handedly, of course.

“When we went to that small town, we knew that was the place,” Mr. Fuqua said. “The people were so beautiful, we were sitting around and they would just bring us coffee and espresso. We didn’t even ask for it. Or big giant lemons because it was so hot. You fall in love with the people in a town like that.”

The only complaint, which isn’t even really a complaint, was about the steps. One of the jewels of Atrani is a medieval church perched on the mountainside high above the beach that

they decided would be perfect for an important scene between McCall and Dakota Fanning’s CIA analyst. But the only way to get there is to climb up over 700 steps.

It wasn’t a pleasant journey with all the equipment necessary to shoot a scene, but it was a good reminder of purpose for Mr. Fuqua and his cinematographer, three-time Oscar winner Robert Richardson. They wanted to show a real place, not a vacation destination.

“It’s not a travelogue,” Mr. Fuqua said. “It’s beautiful in the Mediterranean, but for the people who live there it’s real life. The fisherman live off what they catch. They live in small houses. They walk up those steps every day.”

The film brings together a core team with decades of history, including producers Todd Black and Jason Blumenthal. In addition to the “Equalizer” films

Mr. Fuqua directed Mr. Washington in “Training Day,” which would win him his first lead actor Oscar, as well as in the recent remake of “The Magnificent Seven.”

And Mr. Black has produced all of the films Mr. Washington has directed as well as several others. It was Mr. Washington who introduced Mr. Black and Mr. Fuqua for the first “Equalizer”, which all assumed would just be one film, not a franchise.

“You can’t think about franchises, or awards, when you’re making a movie. If you’re making a movie to win an award, or even to get nominated,

The

Denzel Washington in a scene from “The Equalizer 3,” which was filmed in Italy where Mr. Washington goes every summer because he loves the country’s food, culture and people. Below, filmmaker Antoine Fuqua also directed Mr. Washington in “Training Day,” which would win him his first lead actor Oscar, as well as in the recent remake of “The Magnificent Seven.”

or have a franchise, you’re dead in the water going in probably,” Mr. Black said. “Not 100% of the time, but you shouldn’t think that way.”

Instead, they took it one script at a time and “let the audience decide.” The audience, it seemed, liked seeing Mr. Washington as McCall more than once. Both the first and second film made over $190 million each against production budgets that didn’t exceed $65 million and Sony was interested in a third. It helped also that Mr. Black and Mr. Fuqua had become friends, with the priceless trust that comes along with it. Both know that on their films, everything will be safe and controlled, whether that’s handling an

Press

unexpected fan situation for their star or making sure that it’s not too dangerous to shoot in Naples at night.

“We’ve never had an incident at our movies because we are so vigilant,” Mr. Black said. “And Antoine really protects actors.”

Now Mr. Black and Mr. Fuqua have found themselves in the unusual situation of having to be the primary voices promoting “Equalizer 3” in lieu of their movie stars, who along with Hollywood writers, are deep into a long strike. But while some films released without the help of a star’s late-night anecdotes and red carpet appearances have faltered at the box office over the past month, Mr. Black feels confident in “Equalizer 3.”

“I have other movies coming out that definitely need my actors to promote them, but everyone knows Denzel Washington is the ‘Equalizer,’” Mr. Black said. “We’re very, very confident, thanks to Antoine for making a gorgeous film that works and that audiences love so far. We’re in really good shape.”

Both just mostly miss having Washington by their side for the press tour. The 68-year-old star, Mr. Black said, is much “mellower” now than years ago and is fun to do publicity with. Mr. Fuqua also observed that McCall in “Equalizer 3” might even mirror a bit where Mr. Washington is in his life too. Both are a little more quiet and a little more patient.

“He’ll call me and Todd at 4 in the morning to look at the sunrise,” Mr. Fuqua said. “That wasn’t Denzel before. It’s nice to see him really stopping and appreciating life.”

Associated

Coming full faith circle

New pastor at Greater Mt. Moriah Baptist

By Jeremy M. Lazarus

The Rev. Donté McCutcheon has taken the pulpit at Greater Mt. Moriah Baptist Church, adding to an already busy schedule.

The energetic 38-year-old Richmond native already is pastor of the 150-member Love Cathedral Community Church that he founded in 2015 in South Side.

A former city Health Department employee, he also is the full-time wellness coordinator at Virginia Union University,

with responsibility for improving the health and well-being of students.

Still, he said he was eager to shoulder the responsibility of leading Great Mt. Moriah, the church he grew up in.

Raised by a grandmother in the Gilpin Court area of Jackson Ward, Rev. McCutcheon said that the church at 913 N. 1st St. was just a few doors away from where he lived, and he regarded the pastor, the Rev. Kenneth E. Dennis Sr., until his death in February 2021, as his mentor.

Former MCV researcher LaVerne Wingo Cooper dies at age 92

By Jeremy M. Lazarus

LaVerne Amelia Wingo Cooper devoted her life to trying to find cures for diseases as a clinical researcher at the Medical College of Virginia – most notably sickle cell anemia, a genetic blood disorder that is most prevalent among African-Americans.

Physician Robert B. Scott Jr. and Richmond social worker Florence Neal Cooper Smith have for decades led the fight to raise awareness of the disorder and improve treatment through a research center at MCV, Virginia Commonwealth University’s medical arm.

Mrs. Cooper was described as a key supporting figure in Dr. Scott and Mrs. Cooper Smith’s work. Mrs. Cooper was passionate about clinical research and loved what she did for a living, her family wrote in her obituary.

Mrs. Cooper’s service as a researcher and in church and community affairs is being remembered following her death on Friday, Aug. 18, 2023. She was 92.

Family and friends celebrated her life on Wednesday, Aug. 30, at St. Paul’s Baptist Church in Henrico County.

Born in Amelia County, Mrs. Cooper grew up in Richmond when her family moved to the city.

She graduated from Armstrong High School and began her research career at MCV after graduating in 1951 with a degree in biology from Virginia Union University. She retired around 1991 after more than 40 years.

Mrs. Cooper also was a 75-year member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority and held several leadership positions in the Upsilon Omega Chapter in Richmond as well as on the regional and international levels, her family said.

In 1954, she helped found The Mothers Club, a support group for young mothers that continued for 65 years, and was an active player in the Setteyags Pinochle Club.

She also was an 80-year member of Ebenezer Baptist Church in Jackson Ward, where she taught Sunday School, created costumes for the drama ministry and became a leader in the seniors group, Seasoned Spices.

Mrs. Cooper was predeceased by her husband, William S. Cooper, Sr., and one of her sons, Kenneth E. Cooper.

Survivors include her son, William S. Cooper Jr.; two siblings, Sandi C. Wingo and Thelma C. Wingo; two granddaughters, three grandsons, and eight great-grandchildren.

The family requests that memorial donations be made to the William S. Cooper Scholarship Fund through the VCU School of Pharmacy or to the Florence Neal Cooper Smith Professorship in Sickle Cell Research Fund through the MCV Foundation.

“I have a lot of emotion about becoming the pastor of the church in the neighborhood where I was born and raised,” Rev. McCutcheon said. “The community protected and shielded me as I grew up. Now I have an opportunity to continue the legacy of this church as an important resource,” particularly as a food distribution site five days a week.

He said the Love Cathedral grew out of his service to Greater Mt. Moriah, creating a bond between the two churches, each of which he said lists about 150 members on the rolls.

One top goal, he said, is to begin rebuilding the Greater Mt. Moriah congregation that began to shrink after more than

two years without a pastor. He took the pulpit Aug. 20 and now preaches Sunday services at 10 a.m. at Greater Mt. Moriah and then drives across the James River to lead the noon service at Love Cathedral located at 3120 Hull St. Rev. McCutcheon also wears other hats. He leads the Heart for the City nonprofit that he created at Love Cathedral and chairs the Healing, Educating and Loving

Riverview Baptist Church

People or HELP Community Advisory Board. He also is active in the Richmond Chapter of the James Cleveland Gospel Music Workshop of America and serves on the board of the Richmond Boys Choir.

A graduate of Virginia Union, he earned his master’s of divinity at the university’s seminary in 2018 and was licensed to preach by the Rev. Marvin Jefferson of Christian Deliverance Fellowship Ministries.

Before starting his current VUU position earlier this year, Rev. McCutcheon had been part of the Richmond City Health

District staff since 2008. He was part of the team that investigated communicable diseases. He also helped create a night clinic through the Minority Health Consortium and served as a trauma health coordinator for adults and youths impacted by gun violence.

Meanwhile, another Jackson Ward church, historic Ebenezer Baptist, has begun the search for a new pastor following the departure of Dr. Adam L. Bond, who is now an assistant professor of religion and African-American studies at Baylor University in Texas.

St. Peter Baptist Church

Dr.

Rev. McCutcheon

Mrs. Cooper