Richmond Free Press © 2019 Paradigm Communications, Inc. All rights reserved.
VOL. 28 NO. 48
RICHMOND, VIRGINIA
www.richmondfreepress.com
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Happy Thanksgiving NOVEMBER 27-30, 2019
Joy from pain 2 women impacted by gun violence work to bring comfort to others at Thanksgiving and throughout the year By Jeremy M. Lazarus
Regina H. Boone/Richmond Free Press
Kele A. Wright, left, and Shavon M. Ragsdale are seeking to turn grief into positives for the community through their organization, The Village Against Violence. They stand in front of the Richmond Urban Ministry Institute, 3000 Chamberlayne Ave., where the group is based.
Turning tragedy into something positive for the community — that’s what two Richmond area women are striving to do even as they grieve losses from gun violence. Shavon M. Ragsdale, 33, who lost a close friend, and Kele A. Wright, 35, who lost a daughter, have created a nonprofit, The Village Against Violence, and are hosting benefit events ranging from a back-to-school rally to feeding the homeless, all in seeking to make a difference for others. Ahead of Thanksgiving, they are grateful they can honor those they lost by uplifting others. For example, the two are busy collecting Christmas gifts for selected families in honor of Amiya Moses, Ms. Wright’s 12-year-old daughter who was killed by a stray bullet in December 2015 while playing outdoors with friends on Old Brook Road in North Side.
“We plan to bless 16 families as she would be 16 this year,” said Ms. Wright, a call center supervisor who serves as president of the organization she and Ms. Ragsdale launched in June to partner with other groups. The gift distribution is to take place at 5 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 15, in collaboration with the Richmond Urban Ministry Institute, which is sponsoring a community caroling event at the same time at its headquarters, 3000 Chamberlayne Ave., where The Village Against Violence also has space. In another example, The Village Against Violence joined with Good Shepherd Baptist Church and other groups last Saturday to serve free dinners to the homeless and others in need at the sanctuary in Church Hill. Volunteers and monetary support came from the church, United Healthcare, a DTLR store, the Please turn to A4
Remains found in VCU well returned to Richmond after Smithsonian study By Jeremy M. Lazarus
The bones of 53 African-Americans are back in Richmond after a 25-year sojourn at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington. Virginia Commonwealth University and scores of interested people lined the 300 block of North 12th Street on Monday to somberly welcome hearses carrying the human remains found in an abandoned well 25 years ago during a construction project on the university’s medical campus. Gov. Ralph S. Northam joined Mayor Levar M. Stoney, Richmond Delegate Delores L. McQuinn, also chair of the Richmond Slave Trail Commission, and dozens of others in participating in the ceremonial return of the remains that the Smithsonian determined to be those of nine young children and 44 others ages 14 and older, none of whom have been identified. An African ritual was part of the ceremony described as a time “we answered the call of
our ancestors” by Dr. Joseph Jones, chair of VCU’s East Marshall Street Well Project Family Representative Council that was formed in 2015 to represent descendants of those whose remains were found. The ceremony of return was held in the auditorium of the Hermes A. Kontos Medical Sciences Building at 12th and Marshall streets that now covers the well site discovered in 1994 during the building’s construction. Then VCU President Eugene P. Trani had the bones and other artifacts found in the well sent to the Smithsonian for further research. The remains now will be stored at the Virginia Department of Historic Resources until VCU and the East Marshall Street Well Project committees move forward with recommendations on a final resting place, possibly the city-owned African Burial Ground in Shockoe Bottom. VCU has been pondering that issue since 2013. Please turn to A4
Regina H. Boone/Richmond Free Press
Richmond Delegate Delores L. McQuinn, a minister and chair of the Richmond Slave Trail Commission, prayerfully puts her hand on the Kente cloth covering one of 17 boxes of human remains found in 1994 in a well on Virginia Commonwealth University’s medical campus. The remains, which were returned to Richmond during a ceremony on Monday, will be stored by the state Department of Historic Resources while planning for an appropriate burial and memorial continues.
Agelasto wraps up City Council service with a look back By Jeremy M. Lazarus
Bill Cosby in photo taken by his daughter, Erinn C. Cosby.
Bill Cosby speaks from prison By Stacy M. Brown NNPA Newswire
Bill Cosby broke his silence, granting his first exclusive interview since beginning his sentence at SCI-Phoenix, a maximumsecurity Pennsylvania penitentiary near Philadelphia. In a special phone call on Nov. 25 with the National Newspaper Publishers Association’s BlackPressUSA.com, Mr. Cosby said Please turn to A5
Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press
Balancing act Life can be a balancing act, even when you’re young and on a see-saw. On Sunday, Ava El, 6, left, plays on a see-saw with friend Tye’asjah Morris, 6, right, at the Third Avenue Tot Lot in Highland Park as her sister, Kailee El, 8, waits her turn. The youngsters were at the lot at Third Avenue and Althea Street under the watchful eye of mother Ashley El, who can be seen on the bench in the background.
City Councilman Parker C. Agelasto, 43, wrapped up his final week and walked away before Thanksgiving from City Hall and his post as the 5th District City Council representative. Forced to resign 13 months before his second term ends because he moved out of the district, he believes he has helped create progress for the district and the city. His successor, Councilwoman-elect Stephanie Lynch, will be sworn in on Monday, Dec. 2. Mr. Agelasto is now focused on his family and on conservation as executive director of the Capital Region Land Conservancy. Mr. Agelasto In an interview with the Free Press, he said he is leaving office believing that he made a difference in the diverse district that stretches from Oregon Hill to Carytown and from Byrd Park to Swansboro in South Side. Since his first election to represent the district in 2012, Mr. Agelasto said he pushed to ensure that 5th District civic groups got a chance to review any development applications that went to City Hall. With at least 14 civic associations, “we have one of the most active groups of citizens in the city,” he said. Please turn to A4