Meet Virginia’s poet laureate B1
Richmond Free Press © 2020 Paradigm Communications, Inc. All rights reserved.
VOL. 29 NO. 37
RICHMOND, VIRGINIA
www.richmondfreepress.com
ee Fr
Fr ee
Icon forever B2
SEPTEMBER 3-5, 2020
Relief? Richmond School Board votes 6-0 to open five schools for emergency day care for 500 children of essential workers and low-income families By Jeremy M. Lazarus and Ronald E. Carrington
Richmond Public Schools Superintendent Jason Kamras acknowledges that a huge number of parents with children in the school system may need help with child care to avoid financial ruin. On Monday, he notified the School Board during a special meeting that 63 percent, or 850 of the 1,344 parents who responded to an online survey, reported that they would have no other option but to quit working to look after their children now that classes will be offered only online beginning Tuesday, Sept. 8. “We’ve heard some heart-wrenching stories in writing and during tonight’s public comments,” Mr. Kamras noted, “from parents worried about losing their jobs and their homes because they want their children to have the proper supervision during the virtual semester” and are out of options because private day care is financially
Regina H. Boone/Richmond Free Press
Shayla D.B. Holman, right, principal of Overby-Sheppard Elementary School in North Side, and Assistant Principal Duane Samuels survey a room packed with books and other items that parents were to pick up between 2 and 5 p.m. Thursday so students could be ready for the start of online classes Tuesday, Sept. 8.
Mayor Stoney
Please turn to A4
Mr. Kamras
Parents anxious about virtual learning as new school year starts By Ronald E. Carrington
Mr. Barlow
Ms. Lynch
As Richmond Public Schools launches a new school year Tuesday, Sept. 8, with all virtual learning, parents and students are grappling with the reality of not having face-to-face instruction. Parents’ questions are very simple: Will RPS have adequate services and resources to keep
my child on track academically and at the right grade level? Even with school officials having worked long and hard during the summer providing professional development and teacher training for virtual instruction to ensure students will be engaged and captivated, parents are still anxious Please turn to A4
Pink and green, OK; but no AKA symbols Early in-person voting starts Friday, Sept. 18 around campaign of Kamala Harris By George Copeland Jr.
By Reginald Stuart
When U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris was announced as Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden’s running mate, social media was flush with the pink and green excitement of Sen. Harris’ sorority sisters of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority. The sorority, the oldest of the historically AfricanAmerican Greekletter sororities, was started in 1908 Dr. Glover on the campus of Howard University, Sen. Harris’ alma mater. Sen. Harris pledged AKA during her undergraduate years, a connection she proudly mentioned during her vice presidential nomination acceptance speech on Aug. 19 at the virtual Democratic National Convention. But as the Nov. 3 election draws closer and people around the country are energized to work for their favored
Photo courtesy of James Witherspoon
Vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris with members of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority at an event in July 2019 in Atlantic City.
candidate, officials at the AKA’s national headquarters in Chicago have sent out a warning to its more than 300,000 members in more than 1,000 chapters in the United States: Get-out-the-vote efforts are fine, but avoid direct sorority involvement in partisan politics to protect the sorority’s tax status. Contacted about the two pages of guidelines that have been circulating among sorority members with the dos and don’ts of political activity and en-
dorsements, Dr. Glenda Baskin Glover, international president of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, was circumspect in a recent Free Press interview. “We are extremely proud of Kamala,” said Dr. Glover, who also is president of Tennessee State University in Nashville. “She has the qualities we, as HBCU leaders, impart to our students. She possesses all the qualities of qualifying Please turn to A4
State high court criticizes Judge Cavedo in throwing out Confederate statue injunction By Jeremy M. Lazarus
Complaints that Richmond Circuit Court Judge Bradley B. Cavedo made up the law in a bid to halt Mayor Levar M. Stoney’s removal of racist Confederate statues just gained support from the Virginia Supreme Court. In an order issued Aug. 26, the state’s highest court threw out a July 10 restraining order Judge Cavedo slapped on Mayor Levar M. Stoney and the city to prevent them
from removing the statue of Confederate Gen. A.P. Hill in North Side. The state’s highest court also sharply rebuked Judge Cavedo for putting the 60-day order in place. Judge Cavedo, who later removed himself from the case and others involving Confederate artifacts, issued the injunction on behalf of an anonymous plaintiff he allowed to remain unidentified. “The circuit court abused its discretion,” stated the Virginia
Supreme Court order that found the plaintiff had no legal right to seek an injunction and that Judge Cavedo had no authority to issue it. The order was a clear victory for Mayor Stoney and his legal team that had sought the review, and it also bolstered the claims of attorney David Baugh and former City Councilman Sa’ad El-Amin. Both have filed a separate request with the Judicial Inquiry and Review Commission seeking Judge Cavedo’s removal for
abuse of his position. The commission’s review of such complaints is conducted in secrecy. In its order, the state Supreme Court found that Judge Cavedo should have thrown out the anonymous plaintiff’s case rather than accepting the pleadings as valid. With six justices participating, the Supreme Court found that the state law the plaintiff relied upon had been changed Please turn to A4
Time out for unity Jasmine Howell and her son, Aiden Howell, 4, relax and listen to speakers after participating in the Unity Walk through the Museum District last Friday to commemorate the 57th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s historic 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. Speakers at the event, organized by Coming to the Table, recited excerpts from Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech that was delivered at the 1963 march. The walk also marked the 65th anniversary of the lynching of Emmett Till, a 14-year-old from Chicago who was brutally murdered in Money, Miss., in 1955 for allegedly whistling at a white woman. His lynching, and a photo of his disfigured body lying in a casket that was published by JET magazine, drew widespread public attention to the brutality Black people faced, particularly in the South, and helped mobilize the Civil Rights Movement.
Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press
For the first time, Virginia voters won’t need to provide an excuse to vote ahead of Election Day on Tuesday, Nov. 3, thanks to changes in state law. Beginning Friday, Sept. 18, registered voters can vote in person at designated locations. In-person early voting will continue through Saturday, Oct. 31. Sept. 18 also is the day local voter registration offices will start mailing out ballots to voters who have requested them. There’s more good news. Voters will not need a witness to sign the envelope containing their completed ballot. A court ruling sought because of the pandemic eliminates that requirement. The state is even paying the postage for mail-in ballots. Details on early in-person voting, voting by mail, requesting an absentee ballot to vote by mail and acceptable forms of ID to vote are available on the state Department of Elections website at www.elections.virginia.gov. Here is information on Richmond area locations for in-person early voting: Richmond Initially, there will be just one location for in-person early voting — 2134 W. Laburnum Ave., the new address of the Richmond Voter Registrar’s Office. Early voting will take place from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, with Saturday voting on Oct. 24 and Oct. 31. Mail-in ballots also can be dropped off Please turn to A4
Free COVID-19 testing Free community testing for COVID-19 continues. The Richmond and Henrico County health districts are offering testing at the following locations: • Thursday, Sept. 3, 9 to 11 a.m., Tuckahoe Middle School, 9000 Three Chopt Road in Western Henrico. • Tuesday, Sept. 8, 4 to 6 p.m., Southwood Management Properties, 1400 Southwood Parkway in South Side. If it rains, event moved to Sept. 10 at Hotchkiss Field Community Center. • Thursday, Sept. 10, 4 to 6 p.m., Hotchkiss Field Community Center, 701 E. Brookland Park Blvd. in North Side. • Saturday, Sept. 12, 9 to 11 a.m., Fairfield Middle School, 5121 Nine Mile Road in Eastern Henrico. If it rains, event moved to Sept. 14 at Diversity Richmond. • Monday, Sept. 14, 4 to 6 p.m., Diversity Richmond, 1407 Sherwood Ave. in North 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. The Virginia Department of Health reported on Wednesday a total of 122,542 positive cases of COVID-19 statewide, along with 9,678 hospitalizations and 2,641 deaths. According to the data, African-Americans comprised 25.7 percent of cases and 26.5 percent of deaths for which ethnic and racial data is available, while Latinos made up 32.8 percent of the cases and 10.9 percent of deaths. With more than 1,000 positive cases of COVID-19 reported each of several days and reports of more than 500 cases in Virginia colleges, state health officials reported that Virginia’s positivity rate has risen to 7.7 percent. In the face of these statistics, and data on how previous summer holidays resulted in case increases, Gov. Ralph S. Northam said on Tuesday there are no plans to change COVID-19 restrictions and guidelines for Labor Day. “I understand from a business perspective the importance of Labor Day, but we’ve come too far to go back,” said Gov. Northam, adding that the pandemic is “moderately contained” in the state. He also stressed the importance of more residents taking advantage of free COVID-19 testing.