Richmond Free Press August 13-15, 2020 edition

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Life imitates art B2

Richmond Free Press © 2020 Paradigm Communications, Inc. All rights reserved.

VOL. 29 NO. 34

RICHMOND, VIRGINIA

www.richmondfreepress.com

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Meet president of Black Social Workers B1

August 13-15, 2020

U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris of California, daughter of Jamaican and Indian immigrants, is first Black woman chosen as running mate by a major party’s presidential candidate

Magic moment Free Press staff, wire report

For the first time, a Black woman will be on a major party’s presidential ticket. On Tuesday, Democrat Joe Biden made history as he tapped California Sen. Kamala D. Harris to be his running mate in his bid to oust incumbent Republican President Trump from office. The new team made their first campaign appearance Wednesday in Wilmington, Del., and

Related story on B3 Mr. Biden, former vice president to President Obama, described the senator as “experienced” and “a proven fighter” who “knows how to govern, knows how to make the hard calls” and will be “ready to do the job on day one.” In her maiden campaign speech, Sen. Harris, 55, the California-born daughter of Jamaican and Indian parents, declared, “America is crying out for leadership,” noting that the Trump administration’s mismanagement of the coronavirus pandemic has left an American dying every 80 seconds, 16 million people out of work and millions of children unable to return to school,

and offered voters a clear choice on Election Day, Nov. 3. “The case against Donald Trump and Mike Pence is open and shut,” Sen. Harris said. “Just look where they’ve gotten us.” Mr. Biden, best known for his eight years as No. 2 to President Obama, was well aware of the potential pitfalls of being a 77-year-old white male standard-bearer of a party increasingly comprised of women, people of color and young voters. He made clear even before he had clinched the Democratic nomination that his running mate would be a woman. His initial list of possible contenders was a sprawling parade of governors, senators, congresswomen, mayors and other Democratic stalwarts. They were young and old, Black, Latino, white, Asian, straight and gay. Some, including Sen. Harris, had competed against Mr. Biden for the Democratic nomination. He chose the former California attorney general and former San Francisco district attorney after considering a short list that also included former national security adviser Susan Rice, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, U.S. Please turn to A4

Carlos Barria/Reuters

Democratic vice presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris speaks at a campaign event Wednesday in Wilmington, Del. It was her first joint appearance with presidential candidate Joe Biden after being named as his running mate.

Free COVID-19 testing

‘All these people are heroes’

Free community testing for COVID-19 continues. The Richmond and Henrico County health districts are offering testing at the following locations: Date/Time

Meet the men behind the projections on the Lee monument By Brian Palmer

Dustin Klein and his partner in projection, Alex Criqui, have lost count of the number of days they have been making their art at the Lee statue on Monument Avenue at the area protesters call Marcus-David Peters Circle. “We came out one night and said, ‘We’re going to project on the monument and see what happens,’ ” Mr. Klein said, as he and Mr. Criqui monitored images of prominent and less recognizable African-Americans they were projecting onto the Confederate monument from a tent just outside the circle. “We did not expect to come out here 40 days in a row afterward,” he said. But there they were on a humid and stormy July night, when rain Please turn to A4

Photos by Brian Palmer

Alex Criqui, left, and Dustin Klein bring their understanding of history and technology to their nightly projections of images of African-Americans onto the Lee statue at Monument Avenue. A picture of the late Congressman John Lewis of Georgia, a lion of the Civil Rights Movement, is projected onto the pedestal of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee’s statue on Monument Avenue, reclaiming the space for the history and triumphs of African-Americans. The projection was done after Rep. Lewis’ death on July 17.

Hanover School Board turnaround orders Confederate signs down by Sept. 7 By George Copeland Jr.

The Hanover County School Board did an abrupt and unexplained about-face Tuesday night and voted 6-1 to remove the signs from two schools named for Confederate leaders before Sept. 7. Last week, the School Board drew the ire of the Hanover Branch NAACP and other advocates when it ordered the signs, which had been removed last

month, to be reinlast week under the stalled temporarily board’s directive. despite a close 4-3 The board issued vote on July 14 to a statement last week rename the schools that signs would be and their mascots to up until the Hanover eliminate ties to the schools administraConfederacy. tion “works through Signs on the marthe transition proMr. Barnette quees at Lee-Davis cess” for renaming. High School and Stonewall Hanover NAACP President Jackson Middle School, as well Robert N. Barnette Jr., who also as a large chrome “LD” sign at the high school, went back up Please turn to A4

Location

Address

Thursday, Aug. 13, 9 to 11 a.m.

Tuckahoe Middle School

9000 Three Chopt Road in Western Henrico County

Tuesday, Aug. 18 4 to 6 p.m.

Diversity Richmond

1407 Sherwood Ave. in North Side

Thursday, Aug. 20, 9 to 11 a.m.

Fairfield Middle School

5121 Nine Mile Road in Eastern Henrico County

Saturday, Aug. 22, 9 to 11 a.m.

Richmond Ephesus Seventh-day Adventist Church

3700 Midlothian Turnpike in South Side

People are advised to bring an umbrella in case of inclement weather or to use as shade from the sun while waiting in line. Appointments are encouraged by calling the Richmond and Henrico COVID-19 Hotline at (804) 205-3501 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Walk-up testing will be offered while test supplies last. Virginia, the nation and the world reached grim new records for the number of positive cases of COVID-19 in recent days. The Virginia Department of Health reported more than 100,000 positive cases of coronavirus in the state during the weekend, while more than 5 million total cases were logged in the United States and 20 million globally. The United States now accounts for a quarter of all global cases of the virus. The Virginia Department of Health reported on Wednesday a total of 102,521 positive cases of COVID-19 statewide, along with 8,532 hospitalizations and 2,352 deaths. A sudden spike of 1,300 new cases last Friday accelerated the state’s path toward these new totals. According to the data, African-Americans comprised 24.8 percent of cases and 25.4 percent of deaths for which ethnic and racial data is available, while Latinos made up 35.9 percent of the cases and 11.2 percent of deaths.

Police reform is major component of VLBC’s agenda for special General Assembly session relief to reduce an impending tidal wave of unemployed Virginians in A bevy of proposals that could jeopardy of losing their homes during make it easier to sue police for using the coronavirus outbreak. excess force, create civilian oversight But the push for criminal justice of police complaints and simplify the reform — fueled by the protests process of expunging criminal records triggered by the May 25 police killare floating into a special session of ing in Minneapolis of George Floyd the General Assembly that is scheduled — could well overshadow other Delegate Bagby issues at the special session, which to open Tuesday, Aug. 18. Gov. Ralph S. Northam called the special is expected to run for at least two weeks, and session to allow the legislature to consider pro- possibly up to a month. posed repairs to the state’s pandemic-damaged budget and to take up rent, mortgage and eviction Please turn to A4 By Jeremy M. Lazarus


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