NJG-Volume-123_No-51_Dec_21_2023

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Vol. 123, No. 51 | $1.50

December 21, 2023 - December 27, 2023

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POLITICAL DRAMA MARKS 2023; WHAT’S UP NEXT IN 2024?

New State NAACP President Begins

By Stacy M. Brown vote for his removal. This President Trump, the year look-back window that Tenure With High Hopes Senior National Correspondent move would come back to MAGA prince, had ardently Gov. Kathy Hochul signed @StacyBrownMedia

NNPA NEWSWIRE In a rollercoaster year of political drama, 2023 unfolded with Republicans engaged in a high-stakes power struggle, setting the stage for a cascade of events that would rock the political landscape.

The year kicked off with a heavyweight bout within the Republican ranks, as Kevin McCarthy clinched the Speaker of the House position after a fierce battle that took 15 rounds of voting. The twist?

McCarthy had to agree to a provision allowing any caucus member to trigger a

haunt him when MAGA firebrand Matt Gaetz seized the opportunity after President Joe Biden decisively outmaneuvered McCarthy in negotiations to avert a government shutdown that former

sought.

In terms of Trump, the year began with the former president entangled in a legal web woven by New York politicians. E. Jean Carroll’s lawsuit against Trump resulted from a one-

INSIDE:

SELF-DESCRIBED DICTATOR ...

“We’re closing the border and we’re drilling, drilling, drilling. After that, I’m not a dictator.” ...see Trump Forewarns, page 8A

and opened in November 2022. The civil jury sided By Leonard with Carroll, awarding E. Colvin her a hefty $5 million in Chief Reporter Emeritus damages. But that was just New Journal and Guide the tip of the legal iceberg For the first time in for the wannabe dictator. ...see 2023, page 8A 88 years, the Virginia State Conference of the NAACP held a one-day convention attended by over 200 delegates from branches, youth, and college chapters across the Commonwealth.

The heaviest item on the brief gathering’s agenda was the election of Rev. Cozy Bailey as the state Conference’s new president. Bailey replaces Robert Burnette. Rev. Bailey has served as the Region 3 Vice President and President of the Prince William Branch.

Bailey, 69, is a consultant for a large nonprofit organization in Northern Virginia. He said that before entering the private sector in the late 1990s, initiative, administration he spent several decades officials have unveiled serving in the U.S. Marine the comprehensive Corps as an officer, where Biden-Harris Safer States he honed his leadership Agenda, outlining key skills and style. actions for states to adopt.

During a recent interview These include encouraging with the New Journal and states to establish Guide, Bailey said, “I have dedicated offices for gun the qualifications and violence prevention, invest organizational skills to in evidence-informed understand how to motivate solutions, prioritize support and move” a sprawling for survivors and victims, organization such as the reinforce responsible gun NAACP toward its mission ownership, advocate for to “pursue Civil and Social strengthened background Justice.” checks, and hold the gun Bailey is taking the reins industry accountable. of an organization facing ...see Safer, page 6A the challenges of fighting

Biden-Harris White House Funds States To Reduce Gun Violence

By Stacy M. Brown

addressing this critical Senior National Correspondent issue.

The White House @StacyBrownMedia established the Office of Gun Violence Prevention NNPA NEWSWIRE In a move to combat in September 2023, under the rising issue of gun the direction of Vice violence, Vice President Kamala Harris is leading the Biden-Harris Administration’s Safer States Initiative. The White “Safer Together” House said the initiative Plan Unveiled aims to provide states with essential tools and support In Hampton to effectively reduce gun Roads violence and save lives, ...see page 6A building upon President Biden’s commitment to

President Harris, focusing on strengthening federal partnerships with cities and states to support their efforts to reduce gun violence.

To kickstart this

INSIDE:

DEL. CLARK IS CO-CHAIR ON NAT’L GUN VIOLENCE PREVENTION CAUCUS WASHINGTON, D.C. Virginia Delegate Nadarius Clark has been named Co-chair of the nation’s new Gun Violence Prevention Caucus.

Clark will serve as co-chair along with Sen. Adam Ebbin (SD-39) after attending a White House meeting convened for state and federal leaders from across the country. The caucus is charged with addressing the surge of gun violence in U.S. communities, particularly among young people.

Returning from the event, Del. Clark gave remarks about the importance of addressing the issue of gun violence to ensure a safe and secure future for the next generation in Hampton Roads.

“In our commonwealth, there are over 1,100 gun deaths this year

Associate Editor New Journal and Guide

alone. Firearms are the leading cause of death for children and teens in Virginia. Every year, approximately three million American children witness incidents of gun violence.

Holiday Notice:

The young people of Virginia have been raising the alarm in communities across the state that the time is long overdue for action. ...see Clark, page 6A

The New Journal and Guide Office Will Be Closed For The Holidays.We Will Reopen On January 2, 2024.

Bailey takes the reins of an organization fighting for constitutional rights for all Virginians. for constitutional rights for all Virginians, its relevance as the state’s largest Civil Rights organization and securing the resources and human resources to pursue those aims. ...see NAACP, page 2A

ALPHA FRATERNITY FILES COMPLAINT OVER NEW GEORGIA POLITICAL MAPS

By Rosaland Tyler

Photo: Courtesy

Rev. Cozy Bailey

Alpha Phi Alpha, a 117-year-old-Black fraternity, recently filed a lawsuit over Georgia’s newly drawn political maps, which Gov. Brian Kemp promptly signed into law despite a recent ruling by a federal judge that said the new political map diminishes Black Voting power.

A new court date, Dec. 20, was recently set by U.S. District Judge Steve Jones. The judge claimed that the 2021 maps did not create appropriate options for Black voters, whose population has increased

since 2010, at a time when the population for White citizens has decreased.

Alpha Phi Alpha’s recent lawsuit argues Georgia’s new political map still fails to create more opportunities for Black voters to select candidates for Congress and the General Assembly.

“The 2023 proposed plans fail to address the vote dilution found by this court after (the) trial,” Alpha attorneys wrote in their complaint. “They instead perpetuate it.”

Jones, the judge said, the current Republican redistricting effort continues to discriminate against Black voters. ...see Alphas, page 6A

New Journal and Guide

2A | December 21, 2023 - December 27, 2023

I have the qualifications and organizational skills to understand Continued from page 1A how to motivate and move” a sprawling organization such as the “That means being able to NAACP toward its mission to ‘pursue By Stacy M. Brown Senior National Correspondent address the frustrations of the state of affairs of the cases Civil and Social Justice.’” – Rev. Cozy Bailey @StacyBrownMedia

NAACP

ProPublica Report Raises New Concerns About Thomas

A representative for the House of Democrats is of inequities people of color NNPA NEWSWIRE are facing or rights denied,” calling for Thomas’s As Democrats intensify their call for said Bailey. “For example, join allies who will converge the legacy and mission of healthcare, restoration of on Richmond during the the NAACP. I will attend Justice Clarence Thomas to recuse himself recusal in any Trump cases rights of felons after leaving upcoming session of the the state meeting of the from the case scrutinizing Donald Trump’s Chapter Youth Division potential immunity, recent findings from because of doubts about his prison, education, and General Assembly. and speak to them directly legal advocacy group ProPublica have Bailey said the Democrats, economic advancement – to regenerate youth added a new layer of complexity to the objectivity. who have a thin majority in to name a few.”

Bailey said the NAACP would work for the general population even if some layers disagree with its mission to recognize and eliminate discrimination.

Bailey said that the state NAACP has a diverse ‘mixture of people’ in leadership who have the education and experience to continue its legacy.

Bailey said he and NAACP officials, as well as activist partners, want Governor Glen Youngkin to clarify his policy on the criteria for restoring the voting and civil rights of felons who have paid their time and debt to society for wrongs.

The NAACP challenged Youngkin and state election officials who earlier this year scrubbed the names of residents from the voting rolls without viable explanation.

During the convention, attendees heard a report from the Lawyers Committee on Civil Rights, detailing an overview of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests to the Governor’s Office and Department of Elections over the past year.

This presentation included a recent lawsuit victory of the FOIA request on the Governor’s restoration process.

Bailey said that in 1971, when the state revised its Constitution, it installed and retained some of the vestiges of the Jim Crow era.

“In Virginia, the Governor is the lone official who can restore the Constitutional rights of the convicted felons, including the right to vote,” said Bailey. “No other state in the Union has this provision in its Constitution.”

Bailey, born in St. Louis, Missouri said he was introduced to political and social activism by his mother, who “put me in place” to knock on doors in the early 70s for Democratic Congressman William Clay, who served three decades in the U.S. House Representatives before he retired.

Bailey said Clay was in tune politically with the Missouri State NAACP, and aware of its importance of engaging politically, to advocate for the civil rights of minorities.

“He was my hero,” said Bailey. “Congressman Clay said the NAACP has no permanent friends or enemies, Just permanent interests, and that is true today.”

Bailey said he and his NAACP colleagues will apply this idea when they

NEW JOURNAL AND GUIDE P.O. Box 209, Norfolk,VA 23501 Phone: (757) 543-6531 Fax: (757) 543-7620 PUBLISHER AND EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Brenda H. Andrews ASSISTANT TO THE PUBLISHER: Desmond Perkins ASSOCIATE EDITOR: Rosaland Tyler CHIEF REPORTER EMERITUS: Leonard E. Colvin PRODUCTION: Tony Holobyte New Journal and Guide (USPS 0277560/ISSN 8096) is published weekly on Thursday for $50 per year, $30 per year for six months by New Journal and Guide Publishing, Incorporated,5127 East Va. Beach Blvd., Suite 100, Norfolk, VA 23510. Periodicals Postage Paid at Norfolk, VA 23501. Postmaster: Send address changes to New Journal and Guide, P.O. Box 209, Norfolk, VA 23501. The New Journal and Guide is not responsible for any unsolicited manuscripts, photographs or related materials.

both houses, align with the policy goals of the NAACP. The NAACP’s 2024 Legislative Agenda was approved during the November convention. It will focus on education, environmental and climate justice, healthcare, housing, race and justice, workforce, labor and economic empowerment, voting rights, and political representation.

Bailey said he would also meet with “leaders of both caucuses” of the House and Senate to lobby for the passage of various progressive legislation.

Bailey said that by the time his tenure ends as leader of the State NAACP, he wants to educate, enrich, and spur the interest of the next generation to join and lead the state NAACP. “I am very concerned that many young people do not have the passion and fire burning in them to be part of the process, to get rid of the economic and political inequities we face,” said Bailey. “We must educate them about

participation and the next generation of leaders.”

Bailey has a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics. He is also an associate minister at First Mount Zion Baptist Church in Dumfries, Virginia, and a member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Incorporated, and Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity, Incorporated.

Re-elected officers include Mark Lomax (Newport News Branch), Vice President; Warren Williams (Fredericksburg Branch), Treasurer; and Sylvia C. Wood (Richmond Branch), Assistant Treasurer. Also re-elected were James E. Ghee (Prince Edward Branch), Region 6 Vice President; Rev. Michael Turner (Staunton Branch), Region 7 Vice President; and Jane Cabarrus (Northampton Branch), Member at Large.

Lewis Johnson (AlbemarleCharlottesville Branch) and Carmen Taylor (Hampton Branch) are newly elected Members at Large. ...see NAACP, page 8A

ethical challenges surrounding the Supreme Court justice. ProPublica’s investigative report titled, “A Delicate Matter,” revealed that Thomas, previously under scrutiny for failing to report gifts from prominent Republican donors, raised concerns about the financial strain on justices and advocated for removing a law prohibiting judges from receiving speaking and other fees.

Hank Johnson, a representative for the House of Democrats, is calling for Thomas’s recusal because of doubts about his objectivity in the case involving Trump’s immunity from federal prosecution. The letter, dated December 15, underscored the Democrats’ apprehension, particularly considering the activities of Thomas’s wife and the couple’s post-2020 election activities, raising questions about the justice’s ability to remain unbiased.

“Faith in the Supreme Court has plummeted, and fewer than half of all Americans trust the Supreme Court,” Johnson wrote in the letter to Thomas.

“Public perception is growing that the Supreme Court flouts the rules, in large part due to your recently reported ties to and luxury travel with billionaire Republican donors that you hid for decades. The public pressure has grown so intense that last month the Supreme Court announced a formal, though unenforceable, Code of Conduct.”

Johnson then detailed Ginni Thomas’s involvement with the twice-impeached and four-times indicted former president’s

alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election and to obstruct its certification – the very conspiracies at issue in this case.

“Your wife not only attended the pro-Trump rally that preceded the January 6 attack on the United States Capitol, but she was also one of nine board members for a conservative political group that helped lead the ‘Stop the Steal’ movement,” Johnson asserted.

Meanwhile, ProPublica’s latest revelations amplify the existing ethical concerns surrounding Thomas. The report detailed a 2000 conversation between Thomas and Republican congressman Cliff Stearns, where Thomas expressed worries about the financial well-being of justices. In the discussion, Thomas suggested that one or more judges might contemplate resigning without a salary increase.

Further, the investigation disclosed Thomas’s lobbying efforts to eliminate a law prohibiting Supreme Court justices from receiving speaking fees.

Thomas’ 2000 comments to Stearns, a vocal conservative who’d been in Congress for 11 years and occasionally socialized with the justice, set off a flurry of activity across the judiciary and Capitol Hill. “His importance as a conservative was paramount,” Stearns said in a recent interview, according to ProPublica. “We wanted to make sure he felt comfortable in his job, and he was being paid properly.” ...see Thomas, page 8A

From The Guide’s Archives

Archives taken from the pages of the (New) Journal and Guide December 22, 1934 Edition of the Guide Double Crossed Parents of Newport News

By John R. Picott NEWPORT NEWS Formation of further plans to continue to push the fight for a new Negro Grammar school here and reports of delegates from the seventh annual Parents-Teacher Congress held at Virginia State College during the Thanksgiving holiday were main features of the regular monthly meeting by the Huntington High School’s Patrons of the high school last week.

After an emphatic promise from the city council that funds for a new Negro Grammer school would be in this year’s budget it was not mentioned leading up to the panel approving the budget during a meeting a week ago. Nor was there any money in the newly approved budget nor explanation for the absence.

Because of this, Huntington patrons were prepared to declare they have been literally double crossed, and they plan to push more vigorously than ever before to fight for a new school to relieve the crowded conditions in the Colored public schools.

The monthly meeting, which was presided over by President Roseanna Rainey, was featured also by the reports from delegates, H. F. Walker Rosie L. Banks and Rosanna Rainey.

Ex-Slave Burns Fatally Lighting Pipe PORTSMOUTH Back in the slavery days women developed the smoking habit and sought the consolation of tobacco through pipes. One former slave who has reached the old age of 96 years and who still clung to her pipe smoking found it to be a tragic consolation Wednesday night.

Mrs. Harriet Snith of 1810 Effingham Street, while she was attempting to light her pipe, her clothes caught fire. Frantic, she screamed for help at the same time making futile efforts to put out the searing inferno her clothing quickly became.

Several people nearby responded to her agonized

cries but when they went to her upstairs room, Smith was a human torch.

Dr. W.E. Reid was horridly summoned. He rendered first aid and then advised rushing the woman writhing in pain to the King’s Daughters Hospital in Norfolk.

At the hospital doctors and nurses did all that was humanly possible for the old lady whose life nearly spanned a century before she died.

Race In Mourning As Maggie L. Walker Is Buried RICHMOND Richmond was in mourning all day Wednesday as Colored Schools declared a holiday, and business establishments White and Colored displayed flags at half-mast.

Leaders of varied interests and opinions were united in heartfelt grief. Thousands of people of all stations of life wearily trudged the streets in the dismal falling rain.

Maggie Lena Mitchell Walker, 70 who died on December 15 was buried.

The nationally famous woman philanthropist, and fraternal leader died at her home Saturday at 8:30 p.m. following a long illness. She had been in a coma since Friday night and prior to that she had shown no signs of a setback in her condition and retired early Friday night fully conscious.

Funeral services were held at the First African Baptist Church at 1 p.m. with Rev. W. T. Johnson pastor in charge.

Internment was made in the family section of Evergreen Cemetery.

She is survived by a son Melvin D. Walker; four grandchildren Maggie Laura Walker, Armistead Walker, Mamie Evelyn Walker, and Elizabeth Mitchell Walker, a foster daughter Pollie Payne, and two daughters-inlaw Hattie N.F. Walker and Ethel R. Walker of this city.

Active Pallbearers for the deceased were male employees of the home office of the St. Luke organization.

At the request of Mrs. Walker, the Honorary pallbearers were women employees of the Maggie L. Walker Youth Council and members of the executive Councils of the I. O. of St. Luke.

Colored schools of

Richmond Public Schools system were granted half holidays by proclamations of Superintendent J. H. Binford in order that they pay tribute to Mrs. Walker.

The Public-school ceremony was carefully planned. Realizing that the 13,000 Negro School children could not be accompanied by the church for the service they were placed to form a standing guard along the path of the procession from her home to the church.

DECEMBER 18, 2002 EDITION OF THE GUIDE

A HOLIDAY TRADITION

Negroes Vote By Invitation

By Whites In Mississippi JACKSON, MS (ANP) Last Friday thousands of Negroes in Mississippi who had never been inside a polling place fearing being lynched by their white neighbors, were carried in the white farmers’ automobiles to cast their ballots in favor of the retention of the Bankhead Cotton Act. It was necessary in Friday’s voting for the measure to receive two thirds vote.

Inasmuch as more than half the cotton farmers and tenants in Mississippi are Negroes, their votes held the balance of power.

In the operation of the Bankhead Act so far, Negro farmers being smaller ones, have been the principal sufferers. Only the big white plantations owners made any money.

Thus, when election day rolled around the big farmer got down off his high horse and urged Negroes to vole for the Bill.

Negroes were told the operation of the bill would not affect them so adversely this next year, if they voted for it.

Because of the exemptions of the small three-bale farmer.

The subject of great public importance to Mississippi was treated at length by the pen of Colonel Frederick Sullens, the vitriolic and conceited editor of the Daily News.

The same Sullens who wrote Roy Wilkins, the Editor of the NAACP’s ‘The Crisis Magazine” asking questions about racial conditions in America’s most backward state. In an editorial entitled “Sambo Invited to Vote” Sullens commented: “Sambo from the cotton patch will enjoy a unique experience Friday. He is cordially invited to come to the polls and vote as

Photo: Derrick Smith

Virginia State Senator Yvonne Miller (right) of the 5th Senatorial District presents poinsettia as a gift annually to civic league leaders in the districts.

About 45 guests were on hand for this year’s Christmas Luncheon, last held at the Longshoreman’s Hall on Princess Anne Road.

he thinks or – think he thinks – concerning the Bankhead Cotton Reduction Act. “Inviting our Colored brethren to the polls in Mississippi is something unique. It has not happened in a long number of years.”

“Sambo should feel his importance when he goes to the polls on Friday especially as he is earnestly urged to bring Rastus with him.”

25,000 Hear Elder Michaux; Thieves Rob Choir’s Bus

By Samuel R. Johnson

Special to the Guide ROANOKE A man’s eagerness to see and hear Elder Solomon Lightfoot Michaux, radio’s “Happy Am I” evangelist resulted in his death here Monday Night.

The victim of the accident was Isaac Pelgrin who died in Burrell Memorial hospital from severe injuries suffered when he fell Sunday night from a window at the Roanoke Auditorium to which he had

climbed after being unable to secure a seat inside to look on the visiting evangelist and his entourage of singers and devotees.

An estimated 25,000 people White and Colored heard Michaux during his stay here over the weekend.

On the night of the tragedy the Elder preached on “God did Not Have Anything to Do with His Death.”

The visiting choir which accompanied him here in two buses were victims of bandits who on Sunday evening during services entered one of the vehicles and stole valuable properties. Thieves were busy inside the auditorium too, one man losing an overcoat that he valued at $25.

Police received reports on the thefts. The elder’s attraction so emptied the local churches Sunday that he felt constrained to “apologize” to Dr. A.L. James, a leading local minister. He promised those who attended the revival would return to their churches better Christians. On Monday night ninety percent of the local ministry had seats on the platform.

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New Journal and Guide

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YEAR END DAYDREAMING

By Dr. E. Faye Williams, Esq. (Ret.)

PROFESSOR EMERITUS OF SOCIOLOGY VIRGINIA TECH

WHAT SERMON ON THE MOUNT?!

By Wornie Reed, Ph.D.

With the rise of Jerry Falwell’s Moral Majority, “Evangelical” soon became Over three-fourths of so-called Evangelical synonymous with “conservative Christians voted for Christian,” and eventually with Trump in 2016.

A notable fact that year was that exit polls showed “White conservative Republican.” about 80 percent of White Evangelical Christians supported Trump despite his unfamiliarity with the Bible, his divorces, his vulgar rhetoric, his association with porn stars, and his attacks on nonwhite peoples around the world.

That percentage held steady at 81 percent in 2020, with substantially more fervor. In 2020 Trump’s job approval rating among White Evangelical Protestants was higher than other religious groupings, including non-religious.

Some of you may wonder how Evangelical Christians can support a such a man, but dear friends, it is worse than that. Many of these people have abandoned Christ and Christianity and taken up Trump and Trumpism.

To illustrate this cultural rot I will refer to two prominent religious anti-Trumpers–Russell Moore, a former top official of the Southern Baptist Convention, and Tim Alberta, a journalist and best-selling author who is steeped in the evangelical tradition.

Moore, currently editorin-chief of Christianity Today, reports in media interviews: “Multiple pastors tell me, essentially, the same story about quoting the Sermon on the Mount, parenthetically, in their preaching – ’turn the other cheek’ – [and] to

have someone come up after to say, ‘Where did you get those liberal talking points?’ When the pastor would say, ‘I’m literally quoting Jesus Christ,’ The response would be, ‘Yes, but that doesn’t work anymore.

That’s weak.’”

Russell Moore adds that Christianity is in a crisis due to the current state of right-wing politics.

He has found himself at odds with other evangelical leaders because of his frequent criticism of former President Donald Trump.

He resigned his position with the SBC in 2021 following friction over his views on Trump and a sex abuse scandal among Southern Baptist clergy.

In 2019, Tim Alberta started warning about the division of Christians into two camps – those who view issues through the eyes of Jesus versus Christians who process everything through a partisan filter.

According to Alberta, Trump did not create the problem in the evangelical church. It had started before him.

With the rise of Jerry Falwell’s Moral Majority, “Evangelical” soon became synonymous with “conservative Christian,” and eventually with “White conservative Republican.”

In his new book,

The Kingdom, The Power, and the Glory, Alberta concludes: “More than any figure in American history [Trump] transformed evangelical from spiritual signifier into political punch line, exposing the selective morality and ethical inconsistency and rank hypocrisy that for so long lurked in the subconscious of the evangelical movement.

To be fair, this slowmotion reputational collapse predated Trump; he did not author cultural insecurities of the Church. But he did identify them, and prey upon them, in ways that have accelerated the unraveling of institutional Christianity in the United States.”

Alberta also reports an astounding data item. A poll this past August by CBS News and YouGov reflects the crisis that the country is in. Only 44 percent of Republican primary voters trust what religious leaders tell them to be the truth. Among the Trump supporters in the poll that number was 42 percent. Yet, 71 percent of those same respondents said they trusted Trump to tell them the truth.

Remember, this is belief in a man who made 30,573 false or misleading claims in four years as president, as tallied by the Washington Post.

(TRICEEDNEYWIRE.COM) Happy and blessed holidays to all. I’m indeed blessed to know that you read what I write. Despite all the horrors that have happened many of you’ve been kind enough to let me know what you’re thinking.

Again, I’m going to let you know what I’m thinking!

What if we talk a bit about year-end politics? What if we take away the titles of D’s, R’s and I’s from those parties because some of them have done some scary things the past year – some scarier than others?

What if we require candidates for office to explain what they will do to resolve the problems the people they represent face daily?

If they’re running for the first time, just tell us what you’re going to do for us.

Tell us about the things you’ve already done to prove to us you can do what you’re now promising us to do.

If you’ve already served in the office for which you are now running, tell us what you promised to do to help us when you ran. Tell us if you did it. If not, why not, and why should we give you another chance? Tell us what you’re planning to do to help us if you’re re-elected. Let opponents speak for themselves.

You have to admit that positive accomplishments during the past year have been slim to none in many areas and by many who want another chance. We would then ask ourselves if

In 2024, can we just try a bit harder to care about each other, to be part of the solution, and not the problem?

in life – such as having Dr. E. Faye Williams, Esq. (Ret.) adequate good quality food, a safe neighborhood, a we want to continue electing school where they can get people if they continuously a good education, a chance fail to honor their promises. they’ll be treated fairly by Before they’re a part our system of justice. of sending our billions of Wouldn’t we have a better dollars to other nations, nation if all adults had a do leaders even bother to good job and everybody approve what recipients spoke respectfully to each did with the last funds and other so young people equipment we sent? When didn’t learn from them to we receive grants from our be dishonest, disrespectful, government, we must show and worrisome? what we’re going to do with I know what I’m hoping the funds, and in the end, for in 2024 may be just a we must prove we did it or dream, but success usually we won’t get any more. begins with a dream. In a Our current system for few days, most of us will what our tax dollars are find something good to do donating is not working to celebrate the holidays – for those of us who pay then go back to forgetting taxes. When those we elect to be kind to each other. don’t do things to help us In 2024, can we just try with what we hold dearly, a bit harder to care about they must stop clogging each other, to be part of up our mail and telephones the solution, and not the from being granted the problem? It’s my greatest opportunity to tell more lies. wish that those who run All candidates should for office and seek our vote have a checklist of in 2024 will offer all of accomplishments and no us something better than opportunity to run on just we’ve seen in 2023. bad-mouthing and blaming Let’s be a positive opponents for what they did example not only for our or didn’t do. nation but for the world. Let In the coming year, can us invest more in America we stop blaming everything so that we can truly say to on young people? Let’s ask the world, “We are who we ourselves what we’ve done say we are.” to give them a fair chance Love & Blessings

Unemployment And Inflation Rates Are Falling.

Why Aren’t We Celebrating?

By Julianne Malveaux

People aren’t celebrating (TRICEEDNEYWIRE.COM) because even if For all of 2023, overall unemployment have been they are doing below 4 percent. These rates are lower than they have great, their outlook been for 50 years. People is murky. This is should be celebrating these low rates, but instead troubling now but they are surlily looking may be a deciding askance at the Biden-Harris Julianne Malveaux Reviving Fashion administration and their factor in the 2024 You Fair Cosmetics accomplishments.

588 percent looks more don’t have to do much more election. than scratch a potential like 10.96 percent, which under Rogers’ voter to find a disgruntled is a Depression level rate leadership is not citizen. The statistics don’t for whites. Everything is federal minimum wage matter to them. It’s better than it was a year of $7.25 an hour, or less just a business much perception that counts ago, better than it was. than $15,000 a year for more than anything. And Before the beginning of someone who works 40 venture, but perception is skewed by COVID. But better doesn’t hours for 50 weeks. Even a cultural micro experiences. The mean equal or equitable. at $15 an hour, or $30,000 a year, that’s hardly a sandwich at the fast-food Better isn’t good enough. resurgence ...

The same is true with living wage. And most store cost nearly $20 (not

THE COMEBACK OF AN ICONIC BEAUTY BRAND

By Marc H. Morial (TRICEEDNEYWIRE.COM) “Having the confidence we need as Black women to get out there every day is not easy. Doors are opening, I’m happy about that, but once we get in that door, it’s still not easy.

Any little edge I can get, if it’s my Nuditude lipstick, I’m happy to have that edge that makes me feel comfortable to be able to do a presentation that I have to do and to get people to support the two brands and the communities that I represent.”

– Desiree Rogers

T r e n d s e t t i n g .

Pioneering.

Elegant.

Iconic. The year was 1973 when Eunice W. Johnson, wife of Ebony Magazine founder John H. Johnson and founder of Ebony’s Fashion Fair show, introduced Fashion Fair Cosmetics to the world.

The line was created in direct response to the difficulty Ebony Fashion Fair’s runway models had in sourcing makeup for their different skin tones. Recognizing this gap, Eunice’s makeup line quickly became a symbol of empowerment and representation. However, in 2018, after years of challenges and a period of decline due to an emerging competitive market, Fashion Fair cosmetics filed for bankruptcy.

Three years later, in 2021, Fashion Fair

Marc H. Morial cosmetics was officially brought back to life, marking a return to its roots, and reclaiming its space in an industry it helped revolutionize over 30 years ago – all with New Orleans native, Desiree Rogers, at the helm as the company’s new CEO and co-owner.

Reviving Fashion Fair Cosmetics under Rogers’ leadership is not just a business venture, but a cultural resurgence – one that she is committed to preserving and evolving.

Since its rebranding, Desiree, and her partner Cheryl Mayberry McKissack, have made it their mission to modernize the historic beauty brand to compete in today’s beauty market. The company hired a Black dermatologist to help create vegan, crueltyfree products and began testing their products on melanated skin. But even with these improvements, some wonder if nostalgia and name recognition is enough for the brand to reclaim its former

relevance.

Unlike when Fashion Fair launched in the 1970s, it is reentering a market in what is arguably known as the golden era of Black beauty products. Over the last 10 years, popular Black-led brands including Beauty Bakerie, Fenty Beauty, Mented Cosmetics have emerged, offering as many as 40 foundation shades to its customers.

And yet, even with a seemingly oversaturated market, Black women still experience hurdles when finding products that meet their unique needs.

In 2021, 73 percent of Black women reported that Black beauty products were often out of stock, according to Mckinsey & Company. And when they were in stock, 44 percent reported they were hard to find. This explains why Black brands make up only 2.5 percent of revenue in the overall beauty market, despite accounting for 11.1 percent of total beauty spending products, and 12.4 percent of the U.S. population. ...see Beauty, page 5A

to mention you had the priciest sandwich, double fries and a big drink. The standard meal with drink and fries might have cost you $8); The electric bill was way too high.

It cost you more to fill up your tank than it did three years ago (but it was cheaper than last year, right). People are angry and looking for someone to blame. The President of the United States is their first target, although the President can’t be blamed for all the economic woes that people are experiencing (or in some cases not experiencing).

It is true that the unemployment rate released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics every first Friday is an imperfect measure of our employment situation. If you adjust the overall unemployment rate, at 3.7 percent, for those who have dropped out of the labor market, work part time when they want to work full time, and consider other measured of underutilization, the unemployment rate looks more like 7 percent. For African-Americans, our

the inflation narrative. A year ago, we were battling an inflation rate of more than 9 percent, and people were panicking about rising prices, supply chain issues, and predatory profiteering. Now, the rate hovers around 3.2 percent.

Progress, no?

But the pricing that hits most of us hardest, day to day, is food prices. Food prices are up 25 percent since the beginning of the pandemic.

The groceries that cost $100 two years ago cost $125 now. People feel it with specific items they are buying, eggs and milk for example. Economists can talk about good new, but too many people aren’t feeling good news in their pocket.

People aren’t celebrating because they want the right now, not the long run.

Unemployment rates are lower than ever (but not low enough for Black people), inflation is dropping (but not quickly enough for those who are income challenged), and employment means little when wages are low, as they are for the millions who earn less than the

low-wage workers cobble together two or three jobs, and don’t have health or other benefits.

It’s getting better after COVID. Half as many workers earn $15 an hour or less than a year ago.

But wages rise slowly, and despite the “help wanted” signs that dot every urban street, too many workers say wages aren’t high enough to fully support them. So, the economic good news means little to them if their material conditions have not improved.

This is not the first time we’ve had macroeconomic good news and microeconomic angst.

The data say one thing, people’s lives say another.

People aren’t celebrating because even if they are doing great, their outlook is murky. This is troubling now but may be a deciding factor in the 2024 election.

Dr. Julianne Malveaux is an economist, author, and educator. Surviving and Thriving: 365 Facts in Black Economic History is in its 2022 second edition.

Copies are available at info@speakloudly.com.

New Journal and Guide

December 21, 2023 - December 27, 2023 | 5A

OP-ED

THE HOLIDAY SEASON AND CHILDREN’S SEPARATION FROM INCARCERATED FAMILY MEMBERS

By Ebony Underwood

After 33 years of separation from incarceration, I still remain in awe that I am able to spend the holiday season with my dad outside of prison walls.

I am extremely grateful for my father’s freedom.

However, it would be misleading for me not to share that I am also still emotionally jolted by the holidays and decades of separation I experienced away from my father.

The holidays represented a dark time in my life. It was a reminder of when my father was arrested and later sentenced to life in prison. Although I attempted to tuck away the pain, it somehow always seemed to resurface.

My father was arrested between Thanksgiving and Christmas. There were no gifts that Christmas, just the weight of uncertainty and pain. The trauma of my father’s arrest upended my Mom and her attention was focused on our economic fate. Without instructions or tools for how to emotionally cope with this physical separation, my once anticipated hope

Beauty Continued from page 4A Fashion Fair’s relaunch can also be seen as a representation of economic empowerment.

Black-owned businesses face systemic challenges

The holidays represented a dark time in my life. It was a reminder of when my father was arrested and later sentenced to life in prison.

for the holiday season evolved into a reminder of devastating pain.

The reality of this form of separation exists for millions of children and families across the US. Inhumane policies accelerated the rate of incarceration over the last 50 years. The result generations of children and parents left to cope with the profound consequences of separation each holiday season.

Post pandemic many families remain separated.

For the last three years, millions of children were unable to physically hug, kiss, or visit in-person their incarcerated Mom or Dad during the holiday season.

Nothing can replace this

bond, but with the surge of technology, predatory telecom vendors continue to create conditions that monetize love and put families in financial debt with costly video calls and phone calls, as the sole option for children to connect with their incarcerated parents.

Rickeyra has no memory of her father outside of prison walls. She was three months old when her 21-year old father, Ricky Jivens, was sentenced to life in federal prison.

Nonetheless, Ricky has never wavered in remaining connected to his daughter throughout his 31 years of incarceration.

From her earliest memories, Rickyera remembers phone calls, letters, quizzes and questionnaires from her Dad to keep actively engaged.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, Ricky’s facility has revamped visiting policies

making it nearly impossible to have a humane in-person visit, with a plastic barrier and phone that separates incarcerated individuals from their loved ones. After decades of separation, Rickeyra yearns to spend Christmas with her father outside of prison.

DeRonte was an infant when his father, Ronald Craig, was sentenced to 40 years in prison. Now 25, DeRonte is a college graduate and successful entrepreneur. Remaining connected to his only child despite prison walls, Ronald always motivated and helped to cultivate his son’s growth as an entrepreneur. DeRonte’s one wish this holiday season is for his father’s freedom.

including limited access to capital, distribution networks and lack of data and research, making it less likely for these businesses to sustain themselves. The return of Fashion Fair signifies the triumph over these obstacles, showcasing the resilience and viability of Black entrepreneurship.

Eunice Johnson sought to

redefine beauty standards by creating a cosmetics line that celebrated the unique beauty of Black women.

As the industry continues to evolve, Fashion Fair stands as a testament to the transformative power of recognizing and celebrating the beauty in diversity and reshaping societal perceptions of Black beauty.

By Donal Ware

Credit: American Forum

Ebony Underwood

When her father, Omar Torres Montalvo, was incarcerated 25 years ago, six-year-old Sylvia became introverted. She was deeply traumatized by the housing instability caused to her family. Today, Sylvia says it is her father from prison who has helped to lift her spirits. Omar’s continued encouragement, love and guidance to his daughter has given Sylvia the strength to move beyond her shyness. She’s turned her pain into power and is determined to celebrate the holiday season with her father outside of prison.

Rickeyra, DeRonte and Sylvia are WE GOT US NOW Actionists.

Understanding first-hand the traumatizing impacts of parental separation throughout a child’s life, these young people seek to advance the well-being of this subpopulation of children through narrative, policy, and system change.

As subject matter experts, they educate stakeholders, inspire allies and empower

other daughters and sons to let them know they are not alone. Each of their experiences gives a glimpse into the resilient, enduring, continuous hope and love they carry from childhood.

I survived the weight and expansiveness of this type of love. I believe by prioritizing the health and well-being of children impacted by a parent’s incarceration while simultaneously uplifting a vision for shared safety can result in best practices for visiting procedures, sentencing policies and telecom services that shifts the collateral damage of parental separation for children.

As I prepare to celebrate the holiday season, I recognize the blessing of my father’s freedom, acknowledge that I am still healing, and am inspired by what’s possible for the future of children with incarcerated parents.

Ebony Underwood is the Founder / CEO of WE GOT US NOW and a 2021 Aspen Institute Ascend Fellow.

OP-ED

MEAC’S BUDDY POUGH: AN UNSUNG LEGEND RETIRES boxtorow.com

With the South Carolina State Bulldogs’ 2023 victory at the Norfolk State Spartans, a legendary coaching career has come to an end. Pough, the “most winningest” coach in SC State history, the man who has put so many players into the National Football League, including two of the best currently in the league in San Francisco 49ers defensive tackle Javon Hargrave and Indianapolis Colts linebacker Shaquille Leonard, is retiring.

Officially, this time.

He was supposed to have retired several years ago and decided to come back.

It was one of the many great decisions he made and benefited others, including the MEAC, greatly.

The pinnacle of all of his success was his Bulldogs winning the 2021 Celebration in dominating fashion over the heavily favored and cocky Jackson State Tigers coached by Deion Sanders. It was a 31-10 victory by SCSU in a game shown on network television on ABC. As the game ended, Pough shed a tear. And just like his life’s work, the win, although huge for him and his legacy and quite predictable, was not about him. It was about his alma mater South Carolina State and about the MEAC. This was a game that took Pough six years to get to.

He should have gotten there in 2015, when the Bulldogs were leading North Carolina A&T 6-2 late in the fourth quarter, thanks to a suffocating, dominating defensive performance by the Bulldogs. The Bulldogs potential game-tying field goal sailed wide left and the North Carolina A&T dominance over HBCU football for the rest of the 2010s began and it began a bit of downward trajectory for SCSU and eight consecutive losses to A&T. That trajectory began to change, when in 2019, Pough announced that he would retire. The 2019 team went 8-3 and won a share of the MEAC title. Pough rethought retirement, SCSU wanted him back and so they mutually agreed on his return. No 8-3 season in 2019, no Celebration Bowl and HBCU national championship in 2021.

Buddy Pough

as an assistant coach at the University of South Carolina, hired by Brad Scott in 1997 and then being retained by the legendary Lou Holtz.

“I did not know Buddy Pough at all, but I knew he was the assistant coach and I called Buddy and he wasn’t at home,” recalled legendary head coach Lou Holtz, who, in 1999, was hired as the head coach at South Carolina. When Coach Holtz called Pough he wasn’t at home. “His wife said he was at the playoff game looking at recruits. Now here’s an individual that didn’t even know if he would have a job or not and he was already out recruiting.

“Once I met him and spent time with him, he was just class. You look at him as a recruiter, as a coach, as a staff [member]; he’s just fun to be around.”

Coach Holtz went on to say that in 2002, Pough came to him and said that he had been offered the job at South Carolina State, but he didn’t think he was going to take it. “I said Buddy you have to take it. I said think of how many people you’ll be able to influence, the lives you will change by being the head coach.

“We missed him. It was a very unselfish thing for me to do because you just don’t replace a Buddy Pough very easily. I think the world of him. He’s a very rare individual. You don’t find many people like him.”

Prior to his time at South Carolina, Pough was a very successful high school coach in South Carolina, winning a state championship and being named Coach of the Year three times. Prior to that, he was an assistant coach at SC State for nine seasons.

During his time as a player at South Carolina State, he played offensive line under the legendary Willie Jeffries, College Football Hall of Famer and first ◆◆◆ Black head coach at an Pough came back to FBS school.

When taking over the his alma mater in 2002 after a successful stint team in 2002, Pough came

behind Coach Jeffries, who retired, finishing with a respectable 6-6 record.

Pough’s first two years were solid, combining for a 13-9 record and a second place finish in the MEAC in 2002. He broke through in 2002, winning his first of eight MEAC championships (2004, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2-13, 2014, 2019, 2021), and four MEAC Coach of the Year Awards (2002, 2009, 2019, 2021). I think the College Football Hall of Fame will be calling one day.

Pough has a coaching tree that includes University of Virginia head coach Tony Elliott, Florida head coach Billy Napier, and The Citadel head coach Maurice Drayton.

What’s most striking about Coach Pough was how personable he was. On conference calls, even if he didn’t know you, he would address you by name. He had a way with the media, an extremely likeable way. And he didn’t really give you a lot of “coachspeak.” If you asked him a question, he would give you an answer.

The two most things dear to Pough’s heart were South Carolina State and the MEAC. Pough has been mot only a strong advocate for the MEAC, but an outspoken one. And in his one and only shot at showing the world that the MEAC was in fact not dead, he came through in fine fashion, as his Bulldogs defeated Jackson State and won the HBCU national championship in 2021. The MEAC needed that and he put the conference on his back.

When asked how he wanted to be remembered, Pough said: “I always wanted to be remembered as a guy who tried his best to make the game exciting and fun. At the end of your career here, we want you to be a better person at the end and a guy who could go back home to wherever he was going to and be a positive influence on everybody around him.”

That and more.

Donal Ware is the host of the nationally syndicated sports talk radio program BOXTOROW, airing in over 28 markets across the country and on SiriusXM College Sports Radio and on SiriusXM Channel 142 H.B.C.U. He is a Morgan State University graduate and has been covering HBCU sports for more than 25 years, 18 of those as BOXTOROW host.

New Journal and Guide

6A | December 21, 2023 - December 27, 2023

“SAFER TOGETHER” INITIATIVE Safer UNVEILED IN HAMPTON ROADS Continued from page 1A TO ADDRESS GUN VIOLENCE

By Melissa Spellman The Staff Reporter New Journal and Guide

Gun violence has devastated our country, our communities, and our families. In a recent Facebook post, Sentara Health shared that the Norfolk General trauma program will treat more than 500 victims of gun violence and assault this year alone.

Many organizations committed to gun violence prevention are doing great work in the Hampton Roads community, including C.L.E.A.N. (Citizens Learning About Neighborhoods), The Berkley Timberwolves Football and Youth Sports organization and Malon’s Project Inc. However, with gun violence becoming more prevalent everyday there is more work to be done, more lives to impact, and more organizations and individuals willing to heed the call. Recently, an initiative “Safer Together” to answer the call was unveiled to the public at a gathering at Norfolk State University.

“Safer Together,” a Gun Prevention and Intervention initiative, is designed to serve Norfolk, Portsmouth, Chesapeake, Newport News and Hampton. This initiative will work with communitybased organizations (CBOs), hospitals, and academia to reduce community violence in Southeastern Virginia.

The $2 million initiative is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Justice and is a part of the national Community Violence Prevention and Intervention grant program.

Alex De Paula, Program Director and a key contributor to securing the grant, shared that this initiative was one of 16 awardees across the country to receive this grant.

“No CBO (community-based organization) in Virginia has ever secured a federal grant of this magnitude,” said De Paula.

He expounded on what this new pilot program entails.

“The Safer Together initiative is a multi-stakeholder regional approach to gun violence prevention and intervention across Hampton Roads. It brings three CBOs, three hospital-based programs, and a research partner to collaborate on effective violence prevention and intervention strategies,” said De Paula.

The violence prevention component is the work to be done by three CBOs which include Ketchmore Kids and Give Back 2 Da Block.

The intervention component involves Hospital Based Violence Intervention Programs (HBVIP) directed

by Riverside, Sentara, and Chesapeake Regional Medical Center.

Norfolk State University will serve as the research partner component of the initiative, providing data collection, research, and reporting.

“Our focus is on case management support to hospitals that treat gunshot wound victims,” said De Paula. He added that high risk individuals for gun violence are also at risk of retaliatory violence. That’s where Ketchmore Kids and Give Back 2 Da Block come in as Violence Interrupters and serve as Credible Messengers.

De Paula explains that these Violence Interrupters are members of organizations known in their respective communities where they are trusted. He noted that often there is an assistance program already available in a health clinic, however, when it is offered to victims of gun violence by the hospital staff, patients and families are not receptive. This is likely due to mistrust of medical staff and law enforcement. When there is a Violence Interrupter present serving as a Credible Messenger, the patients and families feel safe, and build a trust that is necessary to access resources.

When gathering research De Paula asked hospitals, ‘what was the number one need of your patients’?

resounding answer was housing assistance in the sense of relocation services. For this reason, $300,000 will be designated for relocation services. De Paula explained that when a violent act happens in the victim’s community, they no longer feel safe. This requires relocation temporarily until they feel safe to return or can transit to a new permanent residence.

Alex De Paula views gun violence as a public health issue. He is passionate about this initiative and helping more community-based organizations to come together to have a greater impact in our communities.

De Paula stated, “If you are not from the community, you can feel detached from the community and its issues feeling that it doesn’t affect

you or your family.”

He argues that if you get involved or give back to the community whether it’s mentoring at-risk youth or helping a family address food insecurity, many people will find that they have more in common with these individuals and communities than they thought.

De Paula suggests that if you want to help with gun violence prevention, volunteer your services.

“You don’t have to go to a shooting to help a family in crisis. What you can do is volunteer with an after-school program, help kids with their homework, or with school supplies.”

De Paula believes that showing up and showing the youth that someone cares that alone is gun violence prevention.

To actively support states in implementing these agenda items, officials said the Justice Department is introducing two executive actions: • Safe Storage Model Legislation: Emphasizing

the role of safe storage in reducing incidents such as school shootings, suicides, accidental shootings, and thefts. The model legislation offers a framework for states to require secure storage of firearms, including in vehicles, with people responsible for injuries caused by unsecured firearms.

• Lost and Stolen Firearms Reporting Model Legislation: The proposed law shows how

House of Delegates such as investments in community violence intervention programs, suicide crisis

centers and targeted violence intervention planning, as well as incentives for responsible gun ownership, such as secure storage, lost/stolen firearm reporting and gun safety training.

Del. Clark represents Virginia’s 84th District. In 2021, he became the first African-American Delegate to represent his district and the youngest Democrat ever elected to the General Assembly.

To learn more about the Gun Violence Prevention Caucus, subscribe to the Clark for Delegate official newsletter at www.clarkfordelegate.com.

are shifting in a new direction.

For example, on Dec. 12, 2022, at a time when records show the state is experiencing a clear demographic shift – Black populations increased.

Black voters overwhelmingly favored Democrats, and White voters overwhelmingly supported Republicans.

Alphas have filed other lawsuits including the 2021 Alpha vs. Raffensperger, whose plaintiffs included the

ACLU and civil rights groups that challenged newly- drawn state House and Senate district lines. As a result, about two years later a federal court ordered Georgia to redraw state legislative district maps, according to news reports.

Earlier this year, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity voted to move its 2025 convention out of Floria, due to racist policies, amid new state standards for teaching Black history.

Clark Continued from page 1A “That’s why I’m proud to be leading the charge for safer communities in the Gun Violence Prevention Caucus and I look forward to introducing datadriven legislation that is proven to help secure our communities.”

The legislative convening covered a number of strategic initiatives that will be priorities for Democrats in the Virginia

Alphas Continued from page 1A Jones has the authority to appoint a mapmaker to revise the state’s boundaries.

The fraternity has filed other groundbreaking lawsuits in Georgia, at a time when the state’s racial demographics

states can make sure that lost or stolen guns are reported quickly to the police to combat gun trafficking.

“In the months ahead, the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention will continue to proactively work with states to make sure they have additional resources and support needed to advance these agenda items,” administration officials wrote in a fact sheet.

Del. Nadarius Clark

New Journal and Guide

December 21, 2023 - December 27, 2023 | 7A

NEW JOURNAL AND GUIDE REVIEW

JAZZY CHRISTMAS SHOW RAISES FUNDS & SPIRITS

By Glen Mason

New Journal and Guide Arts and Culture Correspondent It was 45 degrees Fahrenheit outside the historic Attucks Theatre Saturday night, December 15. Still, for a charitable cause (the H.O.P.E. Foundation), virtuoso saxophonist Stephanie Sanders turned it into “Una Noche Caliente,” which translates to One Hot Night at A Jazzy Christmas Show.

Sanders warned the holiday-spirited, sold-out audience that her saxophone would be the transporter to South America. If there was room, everyone would have done the Salsa when she went into a solo. Sanders and the featured artists Jackiem Joyner and Paul Taylor were backed by the Fuzz Band.

Jazz all-star turned mentor Najee upped the evening a notch with the surprise Hampton Roads introduction of Ellis Hamilton. A young tenor saxophone artist whose music is beyond his years.

With an introduction by the evening’s hostess, Barbara Ciara, the Fuzz Band opened the evening, warming up with

a meditative, soothing piece reflecting the holiday spirit.

Duane Smith plays a virtuoso piccolo trumpet. A.J. Knight synched the footnote on bass guitar with Chris Wilkes on drums and journeyman musician B.J. Brown on keyboard.

Sanders is coming off the excitement of releasing her first solo album, “I’m Done.”

“With her album, it’s her time she got the recognition she deserves. That’s why I booked her,” said Jazzy Christmas show promoter Cynthia Dowd.

“Stephanie K. Sanders is a musician extraordinaire!

Most people know her for her saxophone skills, but she is a principal bassoonist! I have been following her for over 10 years. You’ll never be disappointed when watching her perform,” said Tourean Johns, concert merchandiser and member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. Sanders’ “295 To Mercedes Drive” was another excellent piece she shared from her album.

A Jazzy Christmas continued with internationally renowned saxophonist Paul Taylor and Norfolk’s prodigal

Photo: New Journal and Guide

Stephanie Sanders rehearses for Attucks performance son Jackiem. Joyner opened with the Chris Brown hit “Can We Talk” with a smooth jazz cover. When Joyner mixed alternating songs and stanzas with Taylor, they brought the house down on “God Bless Ye Merry Gentlemen.”

When it was time for a solo on keys, B. J. Brown thought he’d take the audience to church. Following his emotional lead, Taylor took it to another spirit-infused level.

With sugar plums dancing in his head from his early years in Norfolk, Jackiem melodically morphed into a “Have A Merry Christmas” interpretation.

Photo: Courtesy

Native Norfolk Jackiem Joyner (at left) returned to his hometown to keynote the Jazzy Christmas show.

Joyner proclaimed to an endearing round of applause, “Park Place, Ocean View, and Norview. Those were the communities we lived in. Man, it’s nice to be back home. I was actually born in Norfolk General Hospital,” said Jackiem, touching the audience. “I live and work in L.A. now, but there’s nothing like coming back home.”

Then “Say Yes” was played as a poignant tribute to

Norfolk with a “fire” solo on the piccolo trumpet featuring Smith.

Jackiem and Taylor’s “Noel” holiday serenade made for a jazzy Christmas spiced with Brown’s keyboard solo had heads swaying to the rhythm. Then Joyner and Smith segued into a rendition of the Yule time standard “Silver Bells.”

Smith’s trumpet was the right accompanying note to

Joyner’s sax’s syncopation.

There were other highlights of a Jazzy Christmas at the Attucks Theatre. Dowd and Ciara presented a check to the H.O.P.E. Foundation. Cohost Najee introduced Ellis Hamilton, who played his hit “My Heart To Yours.”

Joyner then brought all the artists to do a solo to jazz the night out. Now, that was epic enough sound to last until a jazzy Christmas this weekend.

Kwanzaa Ceremony & Karamu Founding members and supporters of the Black Vanguard Resource Center, a communitybased organization which functioned in Hampton Roads from 1974 until 1990 and were sponsors of the Annual African Feast at Norfolk State University for over a decade, will host a Kwanzaa Ceremony and African feast Karamu on January 1, 2024 from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. in conjunction with the Coastal Virginia Unitarian Universalist Church located at 809 S. Military Hwy. in Virginia Beach, Virginia.

The Kwanzaa celebration will feature guest speaker and Social Justice Activist Rev. Dr. Yvonne Delk an ordained

minister with the United Church of Christ. The event will feature a special salute to Anthony G. Lewis, a local printer and founding member of the Black Vanguard Resource Center who transitioned on October 15, 2023. This celebration will include African drumming, inspirational dance, poetry, a Kwanza candle lighting ceremony and sharing of the Nguzo Saba principles. The day will close out with a traditional African feast Karamu.

Everyone is invited and Free Will Donations will be accepted. Vendors are welcome.

Contact Diana Chappell for more information (757) 343-3358.

VAF’S 2024 LINE-UP INCLUDES ALL GENRES – CLASSICAL, JAZZ, ROCK AND BROADWAY

By Rosaland Tyler Associate Editor New Journal and Guide

Next year’s lineup for the Virginia Arts Festival will include performances by several award-winning musicians, renowned dancers, Step Afrika, and a Hampton Roads native who won a Tony Award for her performance in, “Tina – The Tina Turner Musical.”

Among those who will be performing is Adrienne Warren, a Hampton Roads native who won the 2020 Tony for Best Leading Actress in a musical for

her starring role in the Broadway production of “Tina – The Tina Turner Musical.”

Warren will perform on April 18 during a onenight-only show at the Attucks Theatre. She is a Portsmouth native and the daughter of two high school coaches. She began her performance career in church and attended high school at the Governor’s School for the Arts.

Warren graduated from Marymount Manhattan College in 2009.

Warren has starred in many memorable roles. She

Among those who will be performing is Adrienne Warren, a Portsmouth native who won the 2020 Tony for Best Leading Actress in Broadway’s “The Tina Turner Musical.” played Mamie Till-Mobley, the mother of Emmett Till, in the ABC series, Women of the Movement, in 2022.

She recently co-starred opposite Viola Davis in Gina Prince Bythewood’s The Woman King.

According to news reports, she is scheduled to star in Dreamland, a period piece about Oklahoma’s well-known Black Wall Street neighborhood, Greenwood.

Dreamland explores the daily lives, interpersonal relationships, and class struggles of Greenwood’s residents – all taking place in the shadow of an oil boom that ignited longstanding tensions between the city’s Black, White, and displaced Native American populations.

“We are thrilled to have her as part of our season,” said Alli Pereira, VAF Director of Public Relations, who noted the 27th season will feature renowned artists and groups from all genres – classical, jazz, rock and Broadway.

“I think what we do really well is present all the

different genres,” Pereira said. “We are not a one-sizefits all. We are in different venues, different cities.”

The Virginia Arts Festival was created in 1997 as a way to draw tourists to the Hampton Roads region.

On Jan. 20, Trumpeter Anthony Herber will perform at 7:30 p.m. at Attucks Jazz Club.

On March 16, Saxophonist Troy Roberts will perform at Norfolk’s Attucks Jazz Club at 7:30 p.m.

On April 14, Step Afrika will perform at Norfolk’s Chrysler Hall at 3 p.m.

On April 30, Dance Theatre of Harlem will perform at Newport News’ Ferguson Center at 7:30 p.m. Also, the Dance Theatre will perform at Chrysler Hall on May 3 at 7:30 p.m.

In May, the Martha Graham Dance Company will perform at the Sandler Center for the Performing Arts.

In June, Samara Joy, who won two 2023 Grammy Awards – for Best Jazz Vocal Album and Best New Artist – will perform in Virginia Beach.

New Journal and Guide

8A | December 21, 2023 - December 27, 2023

As 2023 draws to an end, the stage for an electrifying 2024 election Continued from page 1A cycle, leaving political enthusiasts waiting for the next chapter in this New York District Attorney Alvin Bragg upped the ante, gripping saga that has American bringing criminal charges against Trump related democracy on the brink.

2023

to alleged hush money payments intended to bury his extramarital affair with porn star Stormy Daniels.

Special Counsel Jack Smith followed suit, indicting Trump separately for election interference and mishandling classified documents. Trump found himself navigating a legal labyrinth, with Georgia District Attorney Fani Willis later adding racketeering charges, alleging an attempt to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia.

The twice-impeached former president will be facing 91 felony criminal charges in 2024 after a civil jury found him guilty of sexually assaulting a woman.

Remarkably, amidst these legal storms, Trump maintained a strong lead as the GOP’s top pick for the 2024 presidential nomination.

Some polls showed him

ahead of President Biden in a hypothetical general election matchup.

As the Republicans grappled with defending the events of January 6, 2021, and new House Speaker Mike Johnson faced allegations of using offensive language in a controversial book, the dramatic year continued for Republicans with the expulsion of New York Representative George Santos. Santos became the third congressman in the last 50 years to be ousted from the chamber, facing accusations ranging from lies and fraudulent activities to bizarre behavior.

Santos’s fabrications, including false claims about his mother’s tragic demise during the 9/11 attacks and contradictory statements about his religious background, were

laid bare. The Department of Justice delivered a stunning blow with a 23-count indictment, charging Santos with conspiracy, wire fraud, making false statements to the FEC, falsifying records, aggravated identity theft, and access device fraud.

For Democrats, the offyear election outcomes hold greater significance for 2024 than current polling, offering a more pertinent gauge for the upcoming elections regarding resource allocation, investment, and direct voter communication. The Biden-Harris team believes big wins in the November 2023 elections showcase the Democrats’ ability to outperform expectations.

Biden eagerly monitored Tuesday’s election returns, keen on swiftly congratulating the triumphant Democrats.

Self-Described ‘Dictator’ Trump Forewarns On Retaliation If Elected

By Stacy M. Brown

We’re closing the border and we’re drilling, drilling, drilling,” NNPA NEWSWIRE Trump proclaimed. “After that, I’m On the far-right wing Steve Bannon’s podcast, a not a dictator.’” former Donald Trump ally, Senior National Correspondent @StacyBrownMedia

Kash Patel, who served in the Justice Department and held key positions in the Defense Department and National Security Council, made it clear that if the former president secures another term, his administration will take legal action against individuals in the media – both criminally and civilly.

During the podcast interview, Patel conveyed the intention of the prospective administration to target alleged conspirators within both government and media circles concerning the 2020 election, which Trump lost to President Joe Biden. The statement aligns with Trump’s persistent claims of election fraud, despite widespread refutations from federal and local officials, numerous courts, former campaign staff, and even his own attorney general.

In a subsequent Fox News Channel Town Hall on the same day, the twiceimpeached former president, who faces 91 criminal charges that mainly stem from his alleged attempts to fraudulently overturn his loss to Biden, evaded a

direct commitment to abstain from potential retribution in a second White House term, responding to a question with an accusation against the Biden administration of abusing power. “We’re closing the border, and we’re drilling, drilling, drilling,” Trump proclaimed. “After that, I’m not a dictator.”

In the Bannon interview, Patel, who works for the Center for Renewing America, a conservative think tank connected to a network of groups hoping Trump will come back, made it clear that Trump would go after media figures who allegedly spread false information about the 2020 election.

Trump, whom a judge also found to have committed massive business fraud, was ordered to pay the writer E. Jean Carroll $5 million this year after a civil jury concluded that he sexually assaulted her.

“We’re putting you all on notice,” Trump threatened in his Fox News appearance.

Trump’s history of targeting the media, labeling them as “Fake News” and the

“Enemy of the People,” has been a consistent theme throughout his political career. In a September post on his Truth Social network, Trump reiterated his intention to investigate NBC News and MSNBC for “countrythreatening treason” and limit their access to airwaves, accusing them of threatening democracy.

In the same interview, Bannon hinted at Patel’s potential role as the director of the CIA in a hypothetical second term for Trump.

Meanwhile, at a recent fundraising event, Biden expressed that he may not have sought reelection if Trump were not in the race.

The president said democracy is “more at risk in 2024” and suggested that Trump and his allies aim to “destroy” democratic institutions.

Biden emphasized the urgency of preventing a Trump victory, portraying the former president as the embodiment of retribution for his supporters and someone committed to rooting out perceived “vermin in the country.”

he received the first payment of a $1.5 million advance for his memoir, a record-breaking sum for justices at the time.

Ginni Thomas, who had been a congressional staffer, was by then working at the Heritage Foundation and was paid a salary in the low six figures.

Thomas also received dozens of expensive gifts throughout the 2000s, sometimes coming from people he’d met only shortly before. Thomas met Earl Dixon, the owner of a Florida pest control company, while getting his RV serviced outside Tampa in 2001, according to his biography, “Supreme Discomfort.” The next year, Dixon gave Thomas $5,000 to put toward his grandnephew’s tuition. Thomas reported the payment in his annual disclosure filing.

Larger gifts went undisclosed. Crow paid for two years of private high school, which tuition rates indicate would’ve cost roughly $100,000. In 2008, another wealthy friend forgave “a substantial amount, or even all” of the principal on the loan Thomas had used to buy

the quarter-million-dollar RV, according to a recent Senate inquiry prompted by The New York Times’ reporting. Much of the Thomases’ leisure time was also paid for by a small group of billionaire businessmen, who brought the justice and his family on free vacations around the world.

(Thomas has said he did not need to disclose the gifts of travel and his lawyer has disputed the Senate findings about the RV.) By 2019, the justices’ pay hadn’t changed beyond keeping up with inflation.

But Thomas’ views had apparently transformed two decades before. That June, during a public appearance, Thomas was asked about salaries at the court. “Oh goodness, I think it’s plenty,” Thomas responded. “My wife and I are doing fine. We don’t live extravagantly, but we are fine.”

“A few weeks later,” ProPublica concluded, “Thomas boarded Crow’s private jet to head to Indonesia.

He and his wife were off on vacation on an island cruise on Crow’s 162-foot yacht.

Chambers previously served as the Youth and College secretary and member of the Committee. He is Continued from page 2A Executive a graduate of the University of Virginia and served as president of the UVA Chapter Ty’Leik Chambers is the from 2021 to 2022. newly elected president of the The Youth and College Youth and College Division. Division elected Chloe

Edwards (UVA Chapter) as secretary and re-elected Monique Randolph (Richmond Branch) as a youth advisor.

To learn more about the Virginia NAACP or become a local branch, youth council, or college chapter member, visit www.naacpva.org.

Thomas Continued from page 2A According to ProPublica, “Stearns’ office quickly enlisted the assistance of a lobbying firm working on the issue, and he delivered a speech on the House floor about how inflation is eroding judges’ salaries.” Thomas’ warning about resignations was relayed at a meeting of the heads of several judges’ associations.

L. Ralph Mecham, then the judiciary’s top administrative official, fired off the memo describing Thomas’ complaints to Justice Rehnquist, his boss.

“I understand that Justice Thomas clearly told him that, in his view, departures would occur within the next year or so,” Mecham wrote of Thomas’ conversation with Stearns.

During his second decade on the court, ProPublica noted that Thomas’ financial situation appears to have markedly improved. In 2003,

NAACP

Photo: Courtesy

Congress is session In Kentucky, Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear secured a victory over Republican Daniel Cameron by skillfully navigating the state’s increasingly conservative landscape. Simultaneously, in Pennsylvania, Democrat Dan McCaffery triumphed in the state’s Supreme Court election, focusing his campaign on abortion and other rights. Virginia

witnessed Democrats seizing complete control of the statehouse, dealing a setback to Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin by emphasizing abortion access in legislative campaigns. From winning the high-profile gubernatorial race in Kentucky to securing a pivotal ballot measure in Ohio and gaining majorities in Virginia’s state legislature, Democrats emerged as the

prevailing force, placing the issue of abortion at the forefront of their successes.

As the year drew to a close, Trump’s legal battles and the GOP’s internal strife set the stage for an electrifying 2024 election cycle, leaving political enthusiasts waiting for the next chapter in this gripping saga that has American democracy on the brink.

LAST 2023 THOUGHTS ON TRUMP AND BLACKS NJG—With the alleged rise this year among African-American support for a second term of ex-president Donald J. Tump, New Journal and Guide found this editorial cartoon by Walt Carr to be food for thought to ingest and digest.

—Publisher Brenda H. Andrews

New Journal and Guide

December 21, 2023 - December 27, 2023 | Section B

SECTION B

COMMUNITY & MORE ...

COACH GLEN AND BERKLEY TIMBERWOLVES RECEIVE CITY’S PROCLAMATION ...see page 2B

REP. BOBBY SCOTT KEYNOTES ODU’S 139TH COMMENCEMENT NORFOLK Nearly 1600 undergraduate and graduate Old Dominion University students received degrees in two ceremonies on Dec. 16 during its 139th commencement exercises.

U.S. Representative Robert C. “Bobby” Scott served as the featured speaker for both ceremonies. He has represented Virginia’s 3rd Congressional District since 1993.

“Make no mistake about it,” he said. “Your college education is more important now than ever because of the moment we find ourselves in today.”

A lifelong public servant, Congressman Scott encouraged students to stay active and involved with their community.

“That means more than just voting,” he said. “It means following the news, attending city council meetings and contacting your elected officials at every level of government.

Possibly even running for office yourself.”

ODU President Brian O. Hemphill, Ph.D., asked the new graduates to think about the vital roles they will play in society.

“You are among the most fortunate people in one of the most fortunate countries

on Earth,” he said. “And because of the special status you hold as an educated person, others will look to your leadership.”

Nina R. Gonser, vice president for digital learning, recognized the hundreds of students, representing 31 percent of ODU’s student body, who earned their degrees through ODUGlobal this semester. She noted that more than 22,000 students have earned ODU degrees via distance learning over nearly 40 years.

Congressman Scott was awarded an honorary doctorate of humane letters from the University.

Photo: Chuck Thomas/Old Dominion University.

L-R: Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Austin Agho, Ph.D.; President Brian O. Hemphill, Ph.D.; and Board of Visitors Rector Bruce Bradley.

New Journal and Guide

2B | December 21, 2023 - December 27, 2023

Coach Glen and Berkley Timberwolves Receive City’s Proclamation

By Melissa Spellman Staff Reporter New Journal and Guide

After celebrating the (SYFL) South Youth Football Championship win on November 11, 2023, the Berkley Timberwolves 12U Champions received The Proclamation from Norfolk City Mayor Kenny Alexander on December 5, 2023. Not only are the Berkley Timberwolves Champions, they are a team of honor roll students!

If you are from Berkley, then you know Coach Glen. If you know Coach Glen, then you know about the amazing Timberwolves football team and youth sports organization. The Berkley Timberwolves are an organization committed to saving the youth in the city and their community. Their goal is to save as many youth as they can through athletics, mentoring, discipline, and education.

Glen Yearling affectionally known as Coach Glen was born and raised in Norfolk. He has lived in the Berkley community for nearly 35 years. He has been impacting lives through coaching for over 40 years.

Yearling’s foundation of coaching started around age 10. “I was always a big kid. All the leagues had weight limits back then, so I couldn’t play.

I wanted to play for the Oak Mount Corrupters, so the coach brought me on,” said Yearling.

The coach kept a young Yearling at his side, allowing him to learn the game, film the games, and even write plays. In the

Photo: Courtesy

(L-R) Coach Glen Yearling and Coach Larry Williams early 1980s he became a part of the coaching staff of the Oak Mount Corrupters under Coach Lenwood Baker.

As he grew to become a head coach his impact began to take off. He attributes his desire to coach to his early years in youth sports. “I wanted to save lives because somebody saved my life,” said Yearling.

In the late 80s to mid1990s he coached the Park Place Crusaders. After which he would come to Berkley and began coaching the Berkley Cougars in 1996. In 2004, Coach Glen founded the Berkley Timberwolves football and cheering organization.

His coaching philosophy is a simple one. “I don’t want to just save one. I want to save all of them.”

Coach Glen says his motivation to his kids is to watch your coach. His

aim is to serve as a living example to the youth he mentors. “Watch me work hard. I can’t ask you to work hard if I don’t,” he said.

The community leader went on to say that “We all have standards for our kids, we want the best for our kids, we want them to see our hard work so that they can have something to build on. It’s the same way I feel about the kids I coach, the kids in the streets, and the kids in the community.”

Coach Glen believes that children must have someone to look up to.

He affirms that it is unreasonable to ask a child to do hard work in school, on the football field, or at home, if you as their coach, are not modeling a strong work ethic to your team. “Watch me. Watch everything I do, and you will never see your coach slacking” he said.

Coach Glen, a surrogate father to so many, strives to embody what being a presence in a child’s life really means. Many of his former players, some now in their 30s, can speak

to the coach’s passion, dependability, and work ethic. Even as his mentees become adults, they still call on Coach Glen with problems or for advice.

Yearling says when it comes to mentoring kids or anything you do, don’t halfway do it. Love what you do and put your all into it. He expressed that his greatest achievement as a coach thus far is seeing his kids make it from these mean streets into signing college scholarships, going into the military, having good jobs, and being good fathers.

Coach Glen says it warms his heart to see the kids being proud of themselves and achieving heights they didn’t think were possible. “Some kids never thought they could achieve greatness. When they sign their college scholarships they are overwhelmed and break down crying and that does

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Members of the Timberwolves

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something to my heart,” he stated.

Once a Timberwolf always a Timberwolf.

Coach Glen, who raised two children as a single father, says his players who have become fathers themselves tell him ‘I’m doing what I saw you do.’

“Kids need hope” said Coach Glen “and somebody to keep them motivated.” Coach says, “I am that person.”

The community father expressed, when murder and violence happen, the first thing people say is that the kids don’t have anything to do. Coach Glen contends that this is not true. “My organization is saving lives. We need more people willing to help.” He pushes back that it’s not enough to say our kids don’t have anything to do. He suggests to everyone, “Just be willing to help. Be willing to help save them.” ...see Berkley, page 3B

(2X2)

New Journal and Guide

Berkley Continued from page 2B Among those positive influences who are willing to help are the Timberwolves coaching staff Coaches Larry Williams, Aspen Hart, Lenny Zacks, Cheerleading Coach Shalonda Short, and Rachelle Smith, who handles all the paperwork.

The Berkley Timberwolves have a football and basketball team and can use the help of the community. Funds are always a major necessity.

The Timberwolves have two vans that need repair.

December 21, 2023 - December 27, 2023 | 3B Some parents do not have transportation and prefer their kids not to walk to practice as a matter of safety.

Many families cannot afford the registration fees.

The team members are often seen out in the community fundraising.

One solution Coach Glen has implemented is through the Timberwolves Landscaping, Hauling, and Trash Removal for Kids, a business that is teaching the youth work ethics and helping them earn money to pay for their registration fees.

If the community would like to support the Berkley Timberwolves contact Coach Glen (757) 337-9798 or visit www. berkleytimberwolves.com.

Group To Honor Local Legendary Black Radio Personalities; Noted Volunteers

By Leonard E. Colvin

Chief Reporter Emeritus New Journal and Guide In 1947, there were no African-American announcers on any of the radio stations in the Hampton Roads, and they did not own any broadcast outlets either.

However, the Black community had various other forms of entertainment, from movie theaters such as the Attucks to theater groups and bands that provided live entertainment.

One of the bands featured Jack Holmes, a popular singer and comedic personality.

An owner of a whiteowned AM radio found out about Holmes’ electric personality and golden voice and hired him to host a 15-minute radio show for Blacks on WLOL-AM. The 15-minute program was sponsored by the company that produced Sweet Tea Snuff, then a favorite alternative to cigarettes.

According to Chester Benton, a longtime Black radio personality and executive who began a career in 1969, Holmes’ broadcasts became so popular they were increased to four hours a week.

Benton, known as the Griot of radio history in

the area, said this began the Golden Age of Black Broadcasting.

He said it was fueled by African-American radio announcers or Disc Jockeys (DJs) and their unique artistic and cultural contributions to Hampton Roads and beyond.

Soon, Holmes left the stage as a singer and became a prominent voice on WRAP AM radio in 1952, which was a whiteowned radio outlet at that time.

On December 30 at the Virginia Beach Central Library, the Connectional Ministries and Mission 2000, Inc. and G Paris Media Groups will honor living and deceased radio pioneers and personalities like Daddy “Jack” Holmes, Benton, Leola Dyson, the first Black female on radio as well as many leaders, activists, noted politicians and clergy with the Presidential Volunteer Lifetime Achievement Awards for their work.

The event will begin at noon with a reception followed by the ceremonial procession of the honorees, who will

Currently, there will be 35 living individuals to receive the 2023 Presidential Volunteer Lifetime Achievement Award on December 30 at the Virginia Beach Central Library. be bestowed with a Pin of honor for their work.

“Hampton Roads has an extensive background as it relates to their involvement in the Radio Industry since 1952,” said Rev. Glenda MurrayKelly, whose agencies are sponsoring the event. “As we reflect on the music industry, we cannot forget the great radio announcers or Disc Jockeys in the area.”

“As a youth, I can recall Daddy Jack Holmes and Leona Dyson on the airwaves, said MurrayKelly.

“At midnight, Holmes always asked the question, ‘Do you know where your children are?’”

“There will always be a ram in the bush, and the ram that started in 1947 was Holmes,” recalled Murray-Kelly. “I

LOCAL VOICES

The 10 Commandments of Less

By Sean C. Bowers Would a penny for your thoughts leave you penniless, Does lack of understanding and common decency make you broke and senseless Is the inability to have empathy to break down apathy based and rooted on being heartless Can simplistic love thy brother principles turn movements parables Bob Marley, Muhammad Ali, Martin Luther King still minister today those ideals to countless When we come to understand we are indeed our sisters’ and brothers’ keepers, no one remains friendless Will blood thirst for financial monetary elixirs be allowed to be substituted replacing piece of mind, which is truly priceless How do we life poets become lighthouses who warn of impending dangers for the lost and directionless Where from within do we find the will to stand for those whom we have already lost, those who cause our dreams of the night to be sleepless Why when we already know the answers, do we plead the fifth along continued dead end paths condemning ourselves to be eternally restless Are we going to be remembered through out all history because of how we were kind-less and more thoughtless Less is not in this case, more, Time to rewrite the final score Would a penny for your thoughts leave you penniless

remember, as a teenager, listening to the radio and hearing these words during the morning hours: ‘Get Up From There,’ to awaken slumbering listeners at dawn to launch his morning show.”

Murray-Kelly said the late Bishop L.E. Willis, Sr. became the first African-American to own and operate a Radio Station in Hampton Roads (WRAP). He went on to buy up a string of small radio stations from Virginia down the Southeast and out west as far away as Arkansas and Texas.

The writer of this article will also be receiving the Presidential Volunteer Lifetime Achievement Award 2023 for his many stories written on the history of Black Radio Announcers and the industry while Chief Reporter for The New Journal and Guide Newspaper.

“We plan to pin as many as we can with gold or silver pins,” said MurrayKelly. “If the announcer has more than twenty years of service, they will be pinned with the gold pin, and less than twenty years a silver pin.

T-Shirts are available for ordering.”

This event combines the 20-year-old Presidential Volunteer Lifetime Achievement Awards and the celebration of the radio announcers.

“The intended purpose is to bring honor to some of the Radio Announcers who have labored so hard during the early part of their career without recognition or little pay.”

Murray-Kelly said the event would be hosted by Phil Nelson, one of the many announcers who left the Hampton Roads after starting his career.

He is expected to give tribute to Benton, Jay Lang, Willis, and others for opening the door of opportunity for him.

Currently, there will be 35 living individuals to receive the 2023 Presidential Volunteer Lifetime Achievement Award. Benton will receive his long overdue service award as well. Chesapeake community servant Dr. George Reed will also receive a Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award. Delores Pruitt Polite will be crowned “Hampton Roads Queen of Sound.”

The late Gordon Banks, Jacobby Debouvier, Founder of Black Men Rock, Bernice Willey, mother of Regina Mobley, and Mr. Tommy L. DeRamus, Sr.’s family, will attend to receive their recognition.

The event is free and open to the public; however, seating is limited.

New Journal and Guide

4B | December 21, 2023 - December 27, 2023

MOMENTS of MEDITATION

By Rev. Dr. Archie L. Edwards, Sr.

BELIEVING IN GOD Read: 1 John 5:1-12 Throughout this letter, John has impressed on his readers the crucial importance of ethical behavior. To walk in the light, to do what is right, to love other people – these are the standards that John calls Christians to accept and to practice.

Why does he have such high expectations? How can fallible human beings possibly measure up to these lofty criteria? John knows that everything depends on faith – faith in God, who, in the person and work of Jesus Christ is the foundation on which everything else is built.

Apart from that foundation there can be no authentic Christianity. God has provided a variety of witnesses whose testimony about Christ is linked to saving faith. They are all mediated by God’s Spirit so that we may believe Him and, through the power of faith, experience a new life that is characterized by love.

THE TESTIMONY OF VICTORIOUS LIVING. In John 5:1-5, John continues the theme of the love that believers have for one another, which he connects with victorious Christian living – a witness to the power of saving faith. The basis for love among the family of God, as

well as a victorious life, is faith in Jesus Christ as the Son of God (vv. 1a, 5). Those who have been born of God will love the other children of their Heavenly Father (v. 1b).

Loving God means obeying God, and obeying God means loving God’s children (vv.

2-3a; 3:21-23). Genuine love for God inevitably results in our loving one another, just as loving one another is a sure demonstration of our love for God. The two matters are so intertwined in John’s thoughts that to love God is also to love each other, and to love each other is also to love God. THE TESTIMONY OF THE SPIRIT, WATER AND BLOOD. The second witness to the reality of faith that John cites consists of three elements that have historical roots in the life of Jesus, and which testifies to His divine origin and saving mission.

These are the Spirit, the water and the blood, which unite in bearing witness to Him (vv. 7-8). The fact that John calls on three witnesses may reflect his Jewish heritage (“a matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses,” Deuteronomy 19:15), but more likely it is an effort to refute the false teaching about the nature

of Jesus that was part of the incipient Gnosticism of that day.

The context within which John writes suggests that his primary concept is once again to establish in the minds of his readers the fact that it was Jesus Christ, the Word become flesh, who accomplished their redemption. According to this view, the “water” to which john refers is the water in which Jesus was baptized at the beginning of His public ministry. The “blood” is Jesus’ blood, which He shed on the cross when He gave Himself as a sacrifice to atone for sin.

The testimony of the Holy Spirit is in accord with the testimony of the water and the blood. This may refer to the witness of the Spirit to the hearts and minds of believers (see 1 Corinthians 2:12). It may also refer to the Spirit’s testimony at the time of Jesus’ baptism, when the Spirit descended on Jesus like a dove (Matthew 3:16; Mark 1:10; Luke 3:21-22.

In any case, the testimony of the Spirit, whether given visibly so it would be seen by everyone, as at Jesus’ baptism, or to the heart of an individual like John, as at the crucifixion, corroborates the testimony of the water and the blood about the person and work of Jesus.

THE TESTIMONY OF ETERNAL LIFE. The final piece of evidence that John finds for the truth that God has revealed through His Son is the inner witness of eternal life. For those who accept the Father’s testimony about the Son, there is an inner witness whose voice in the human heart speaks clearly and says, “You now have eternal life as a result of putting your faith in Jesus Christ” (see 1 John 5:11). ...see Believing, page 6B

Entreprenurial-Minded Detroit Pastor Dies

By Rosaland Tyler Associate Editor New Journal and Guide

One by one, mourners walked toward the pulpit and described how the Rev. Charles Adams improved the city of Detroit, as well as the neighborhood located around Hartford Memorial Baptist Church, during his two-day funeral held at the church on Dec. 14-15.

Adams pastored the historic Detroit church for more than 50 years. He died on Nov. 29 at age 86 after suffering from pneumonia and experiencing cardiac arrest.

Many of the mourners cited Adams’ accomplishments which began long before he and multiple civil rights and political leaders eulogized Rosa Parks in 2005 at Greater Grace Temple in Detroit.

While Ebony magazine cited many of Adam’s accomplishments when it twice named him one of the nation’s top 15 Black preachers and one of the 100 most influential Black Americans, Adams’ lengthy resume suggests he also blazed a trail for today’s mega-churches.

Adams and his parishioners slowly purchased vacant land near the Detroit church during his 52-year tenure.

Membership increased from 400 to nearly 10,000 during Adam’s tenure, which began in 1969 when he became the church’s third pastor. The church had to relocate in the late 1970s.

Rev. Charles Adams As the years passed, Adams and his congregants built a McDonald’s, a Long John Silver’s, a Kentucky Fried Chicken and a Super K Mart on the nearly vacant stretch of land which is called Seven Mile. (It was damaged during the 1967 riots).

But the church slowly bought up properties on the stretch of near-vacant land.

The pastor’s entrepreneurial mindset created hundreds of jobs. The church also bought an occupied strip club called the Lodge Freeway, located on the corner of Seven Mile. Adams and his parishioners transformed it into a Kentucky Fried Chicken.

He sought “to transform this city through economic development, a move unseen in Detroit at the time,” Darren A. Nichols wrote in a Dec. 14 op-ed in the Detroit Free Press. “It made him the forefather of what we consider the norm for mega churches now.”

Not only did Adams believe that “Detroit’s

fate was in the hands of its residents, and that the collection plate made churches accountable,” Nichols continued in his op-ed. “His vision was to occupy land on Seven Mile near his church that was still vacant slightly more than a decade after the 1967 riots.”

Through the years, the church also launched meal deliveries for seniors; a Head Start program that once had 1,000 youths; as well as tutoring, and a Bible studies institute. It also provided rental homes to families.

Adams was a graduate of Fisk, the University of Michigan and Harvard University. He also headed the Detroit Branch of the NAACP in 1984.

“Adams was a force to be reckoned with,” said the Rev. Wendell Anthony, who currently heads the Detroit NAACP, speaking said in a press release after Adam’s death.

“Every politician wanted him on their side,” Anthony said. “Every adversary was concerned when he was not on their side. But for our community, Charles Adams was always on the side of justice, truth and equity of opportunity.”

In his op-ed, Nichols said, “Adams never ran away from a fight, or his convictions.”

The late pastor’s son, the Rev. Charles Christian Adams delivered the eulogy for his father, who died four years after he retired, and his son replaced him at Hartford Memorial Baptist.

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6B | December 21, 2023 - December 27, 2023

SPORTS ILLUSTRATED NAMES Believing DEION SANDERS SPORTSMAN Continued from page 4B OF THE YEAR FOR 2023 What makes the eternal life of a believer different from the never-ending existence of an unbeliever is not its duration, but its quality. Eternal life as God intends it to be experienced by human beings comes through having the Son. Apart from Him there is no true life (v. 12). Jesus said, “I have come that they may

By Lauren Victoria Burke

have life, and have it to the full” (John 10: 10; “more abundantly,” King James Version). Or, as Paul put it, “If by the trespass of the one man, death reigned in life through that one ransom, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ” (Romans 5: 17).

Rev. Dr. Archie L. Edwards, Sr., is an Associate Minister at Second Calvary Baptist Church in Norfolk.

After all the NNPA Newswire controversy Contributor that came with New Colorado Buffaloes Coach Deion Sanders his decision to has been named Sports leave an HBCU, Illustrated’s “Sportsman of the Year.”

Jackson State After all the controversy that came with his decision University, to leave an HBCU, Jackson State University, Sanders Sanders remains remains a winner even after a losing season. The a winner even Colorado Buffaloes record is 4-8. after a losing But the excitement around season. The the Buffaloes, despite the

By Stacy M. Brown record, led to excitement for Senior National Correspondent Colorado all of college football. @StacyBrownMedia Even though the Colorado Buffaloes record NNPA NEWSWIRE Buffaloes did not make it to Pac 12 championship Renowned actor Andre is 4-8. But the and have lost their last six Braugher, celebrated for his games, Sanders’ short time compelling performances excitement as head coach has brought Super Bowl champion an outstanding baseball in iconic television series attention and money to a after winning with the San player, playing as an around the such as “Brooklyn Ninefailing sports program in Francisco 49ers in Super outfielder. He was drafted Nine” and “Homicide: Life Colorado. Sanders’ son, Bowl XXIX and the Dallas by the New York Yankees in Buffaloes, despite on the Street,” has died at star quarterback Shedeur Cowboys in Super Bowl the 30th round of the 1988 61 after a brief illness. His the record, led Andre Braugher Sanders, did not finish the XXX. Sanders was known MLB Draft. publicist, Jennifer Allen, season for the Buffaloes for his exceptional speed Even after a season with to excitement first confirmed the news to after a leg injury. and coverage skills, which an unimpressive record Variety.

But the excitement earned him the nickname Sanders remains optimistic. for all of college A two-time Emmy around Deion Sanders, 56, “Prime Time.”

“Coach Prime” is causing winner, Braugher gained Renowned actor despite the team’s record, Deion Sanders attended excitement in the same way football. widespread acclaim Andre Braugher,

Emmy-Winning Actor Andre Braugher Dies At 61

has been undeniable.

Sanders’ had already been a legend because of his exceptional skills on the field and his impact on the sports world as a multi-sport athlete and a charismatic personality. Sanders was the first time two-time

Florida State University, where he played both football and baseball. In football, he played as a cornerback and a punt returner. He won the Jim Thorpe Award as the best defensive back in college football. Sanders was also

he did at Jackson State even though the population at Colorado is only 1.3 percent Black. Sanders is promising improvement next year.

Lauren Victoria Burke is an independent investigative journalist and the publisher of Black

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Virginia News. She is a political analyst who appears regularly on #RolandMartinUnfiltered.

She can be contacted at LBurke007@gmail.com and on twitter at @LVBurke

for portraying Captain Raymond Holt in the police procedural comedy “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” from 2013 to 2021.

Braugher’s character, an officer who appeared tough but displayed his care for all, was paired with Andy Samberg’s Detective Jack Peralta, the polar opposite of Holt.

Many may recall Braugher’s role as Detective Frank Pembleton on NBC’s “Homicide: Life on the Street,” which earned him the title of lead actor Emmy in 1998 when he departed from the series.

In the critically acclaimed police drama that Barry Levinson, Tom Fontana, and David Simon created, Braugher stood out due to his intense performances.

In addition to his Emmy successes, Braugher received acclaim for his role as a master criminal in the FX series “Thief,” for which he earned another Emmy in 2006.

His multifaceted career prompted reflection on the complex portrayal of police officers in the media, as discussed in a 2020 Variety cover story where he emphasized the need to address the depiction of law enforcement on television collectively.

Born in Chicago, Braugher graduated from Stanford University before pursuing drama at the Juilliard School. His career began with a notable role as a Union soldier in the

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celebrated for his compelling performances in iconic television series such as “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” and “Homicide: Life on the Street,” has died at 61 after a brief illness. film “Glory,” portraying Thomas Searles, a free Black man who joined the first Black regiment.

From there, he seamlessly transitioned to television, notably appearing in “Kojak,” “Homicide: Life on the Street,” “Hack,” and “House, M.D.” Braugher’s versatility extended to the big screen, where he left an indelible mark with roles in films such as “City of Angels,” “Frequency,” “Poseidon,” “Primal Fear,” “Duets,” “The Mist,” “Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer,” “Salt,” and “The Gambler.”

His wife, Ami Brabson, who also starred in “Homicide: Life on the Street,” and their three children survive him.

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December 21, 2023 - December 27, 2023 | 7B

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