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PRST STD - U.S. POSTAGE PAIDRICHMOND, VA PERMIT NO. 639Vol. 28 No. 6 (2167 Edition) Jan. 29 - Feb. 4, 2014 FREE

INSIDE: Calls for community mentorship, blood donations

From staff and wire reportsRichmond Mayor C. Jones recently

joined members of Richmond City Council and Richmond School Board, staff, parents and students for the grand opening of the new state-of the art Martin Luther King, Jr. Middle School. The move could be seen as symbolic as the mayor signals a new beginning for the city with his State of the City address on Jan. 30, at the school.

The mayor is expected to highlight his administration’s many projects, including plans for a new baseball stadium and new retail spaces in Shockoe Bottom, the certification success of the much-maligned and once closed Richmond Juvenile Detention Center, as well as the economic impact of the Bon Secours Washington Redskins Training Camp .

“All of the things my administration is doing, such as creating more jobs, creating more opportunities, and expanding the city’s tax base, are all done with an eye towards creating a better Richmond where all youth can achieve and obtain their greatest potential,” said the mayor in the latest edition of his Building a Better Richmond newsletter.

The results of a study conducted by the Center for Sport Leadership at VCU and Richmond Region Tourism as well as an analysis of tax data for the area surrounding the Redskins training camp, found a total estimated economic impact of $10.5 million on the Richmond area. Training camp was held over three weeks last July and August and attracted a total of 165,571 visits, according to the city. Critics however argue that few local businesses benefited from the camp as promised because local vendors were not allowed to set up shop there.

The mayor’s Revitalize RVA plan that

includes a proposal for a baseball stadium in Shockoe Bottom, has likewise drawn sharp criticism from local activists and local groups, including the Defenders for Freedom, Justice & Equality, which opposes the “desecration of a site made sacred by mass human suffering”. The area was once the largest slave-trading market north of New Orleans.

Still, the mayor is expected to make the argument that the history of Shockoe Bottom will be respected, according to details in his plan.

“Our great city has made tremendous strides forward within the past year.” said the mayor in his newsletter. “There

are cranes signaling new construction dotting our skyline, new businesses and jobs coming online, crime continues to decrease, and the city’s population is growing.

“Richmond is ‘cool’ again! So what does the upcoming year have in store?”

The mayor’s address to the city begins at 6:30 p.m.

Meanwhile, President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address this week is intended to help him put a difficult year behind him and reassert command before the capital is consumed with election-year politics.

After five years in office, Obama has,

by his own account, come to feel acutely the limits on his power and the shrinking horizons before him — all of which make his annual nationally televised speech to Congress a critical opportunity to drive an agenda that may yet shape his legacy.

But perhaps more so than in any of his previous congressional addresses, the president realizes that he has little chance of major legislative victories this year, with the possible exception of an overhaul of immigration law that Republicans are also making a priority. As a result, aides said, he is presenting a blueprint for “a year of action” on issues like income inequality and the environment that bypasses Congress and exercises his authority to the maximum extent.

“This presidency is not going to be defined from here forward by big legislative initiatives,” said Jeff Shesol, a speechwriter for President Bill Clinton who was consulted by this White House. “Given that, he’s got to convey a sense of focus and forward momentum. He’s got a lot of time left in this presidency, and I think people will want to get the sense that he knows how to operate in this environment and that there is a strategy.”

In a recent email to supporters the president’s senior adviser, Dan Pfeiffer, characterized Obama’s message as “opportunity, action and optimism” and promised “a set of real, concrete, practical proposals” to strengthen the economy and expand opportunity.

But Pfeiffer acknowledged the limits. “The president will seek out as many opportunities as possible to work with Congress in a bipartisan way,” he wrote. “But when American jobs and livelihoods depend on getting something done, he will not wait for Congress.”

The state of... city and nation looks forward

Mayor Dwight C. Jones looks on as new RPS Superintendent Dr. Dana Bedden speaks at the recent grand opening of the new 152,435 square foot Martin Luther King, Jr. Middle School.

2 • Jan. 29 - Feb. 4, 2014 The Richmond Voice

Cathy Jones, MSN,

AGACNP-BC, CCRN-CMC

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Virginia Blood Services is asking donors to endure the brutal wintry conditions and donate blood over the next two weeks. This will allow Virginia’s largest blood services provider to replenish blood needed for area patients that could not be donated due to the ongoing arctic-like weather currently affecting the Virginia area.

Extreme and hostile weather conditions have impacted VBS service areas, prompting some donors to miss scheduled visits at its mobile blood drives and community donor centers.

A nationwide shortage has hence developed, affecting hospitals, trauma centers and thousands of patients coast-to-coast who are scheduled for elective surgery in the coming days and possibly weeks.

“First and foremost, we want our donors to be safe in these winter conditions and to visit us when they feel safe traveling,” said Julie Moore, executive director, Virginia Blood Services, “but we need more blood donations to rebuild our community blood supply to appropriate levels to ensure high-quality patient care.”

The American Red Cross has also recently called upon all eligible blood and platelet donors to help offset a weather-related shortfall in donations. Platelets, a key clotting component of blood often needed by cancer patients, must be transfused within five days of donation, so donations are constantly needed.

“It’s the blood products already on the shelves that help save lives when severe weather hits,” said Page Gambill, CEO of the American Red Cross Mid-Atlantic & Appalachian Blood Services Region.

Eligible donors are individuals who are 17 years of age (16 with parental consent in some states), weigh at least 110 pounds and are in generally good health.

“Winter weather is expected to continue to negatively impact our blood donations,” said Moore of VBS. “Patient needs don’t change with the weather. That’s why we’re asking our donors to overcome the conditions and make their way to donate at a donor center or mobile drive.”

For more information on where to donate, visit vablood.org, or call 800-989-4438.

Urgent need for blood donors as cold weather makes donations vital and scarce

The Richmond Voice Jan. 29 - Feb. 4, 2014 • 3

Del. Charniele Herring said last week that she is running for the seat of retiring Rep. James P. Moran Jr. (D-Va.), adding to a crowded field and leaving a vacancy atop the Virginia Democratic Party.

“If elected, I will continue the good works of Congressman Jim Moran to foster the economic development of Northern Virginia, address the needs of our veterans, work for access to affordable health care, and protect the privacy of a woman and her health care decisions,” she said in.

Herring, who represents Alexandria in the General Assembly, is at least the third Democrat to join the race to succeed Moran. Del. Patrick A. Hope (Arlington) made his campaign official Thursday, and businessman Bruce Shuttleworth — whom Moran trounced in the 2012 Democratic primary — said he is running again.

Other Democrats expected to run include state Sen. Adam P. Ebbin (Alexandria), Del. Alfonso H. Lopez (Arlington) and Alexandria Mayor William D. Euille. Former Virginia lieutenant governor Don Beyer also said Thursday that he was “interested” in running for the seat.

But Herring may be the only woman in the field, an advantage on a potentially long primary ballot in a district that leans strongly toward Democrats. In 2012, President Obama took 68 percent of the vote in the 8th Congressional District, which includes Arlington, Alexandria,

Falls Church and part of Fairfax.Because of her House bid, Herring said in

her statement that she will step down from her role as chairman of the Democratic Party of Virginia. Her resignation will take effect March 15, when her successor will be chosen at the party’s central committee meeting.

Herring said she will work to fill the party’s vacant executive director position before she steps down. The most recent executive director, Lauren Harmon, left in January to take a post with the Ohio Democratic Party, where she had worked before coming to Virginia. © WaPo

Charniele Herring joins field for Rep. Moran’s seat, will step down as chair of Va. Democrats

Del. Charniele Herring

“You can tell these kids all day, but it’s [mentors] coming out here, week after week. That’s how they know that you care: by investing in their futures.”

That’s why Stephen Cotton has become a mentor at Bon Air Juvenile Correctional Center. January is National Mentoring Month, and marks the one-year anniversary of Virginia Department of Juvenile Justice’s Re-Entry Mentoring Program. Coordinator Ashley Williams invites others to follow in Cotton’s footsteps to provide incarcerated youth an adult they can trust -- something they may never have had before.

“All of Virginia’s 1.26 million school-aged children and youth could benefit from the presence of a trusted, caring and consistent adult mentor in their lives,” said Williams. “This is especially true for the more than 180,000 of them who are living in poverty and approximately 600 incarcerated juveniles who may lack the

resources or positive guidance and support to become productive adults.”

DJJ notes that it is committed to improving the lives of youth, reducing recidivism, and improving public safety in the community. The Re-Entry Mentoring Program is meant to prepare

juvenile offenders for entry back into the community. Mentoring provides residents with a supportive adult who has the opportunity to offer them academic support, pro-social guidance and employment preparation.

The program matches volunteers from the community with juvenile correctional center (JCC) residents who anticipate release within 120 days. Mentors commit to spend one hour a week with their residents until their release, and then provide support two hours a week for the remainder of time following the resident’s re-entry into the community.

Williams said that mentors are always in high demand at both the Bon Air JCC and the Beaumont JCC. All mentors receive a three-hour “Introduction to Mentoring” training conducted by the Virginia Mentoring Partnership and other DJJ professionals. The Department of Juvenile Justice currently recruits from the Richmond metro area and the Tidewater region. Iterested in learning more? Call or e-mail Ashley Williams at 804-588-3896 or [email protected].

- Contributed report

Stephen Cotton mentors a resident of DJJ’s Bon Air Juvenile Correctional Center.

Volunteer mentoring provides support for incarcerated youth


By Sylvina PooleFebruary is National Heart Health Month

and a perfect opportunity to educate people about the risks, symptoms and available treatments for cardiovascular disease, according to medical professionals who are investigating new approaches to heart health.

The city of Richmond is at the forefront of a national study to help fight cardiovascular disease. Along with surrounding localities, the city is being asked to participate in the study to identify bad cholesterol.

Heart disease, like several other diseases, disproportionately impacts African Americans. Researchers in Richmond are investigating a new way of treating cardiovascular disease. The study called the Fourier Study is a clinical research study that looks at an investigational medicine called AMG-145 and how it could decrease the future risk of heart attacks, strokes and other

related cardiovascular illnesses for people with a past history of these conditions.Here in Richmond, James M. McKenney, PharmD-Professor Emeritus of the School of Pharmacy at Virginia Commonwealth University and CEO of National Clinical Research is the lead investigator on the study.

McKenney is calling on adults ages 40-85 to participate in the study. Research centers from around the world - and right here in Richmond are currently recruiting individuals with a prior history of heart attack, stroke or related cardiovascular events to participate.

According to the American Heart Association, cardiovascular disease kills more people every year as compared to other diseases like cancer or chronic respiratory disease combined.

The American Heart Association notes that one in three individuals in the United States has some form of cardiovascular disease even with the availability of

treatments. The association estimates that two-thirds of high-risk patients do not have illnesses that are well controlled.

One in four deaths in the state are linked to heart disease and in 2012, over 400 individuals in Richmond died from diseases related to the heart. Additionally, 25 states have better heart health outcomes compared to Virginia.

The Fourier study, sponsored by Amgen, with participation here in Richmond by the National Clinical Research, Inc., will work to find out if an investigational medication may reduce the risk of future heart attacks, strokes, related cardiovascular events and death in individuals with a prior history of these conditions. The study is investigating a different approach to reducing LDL cholesterol or “bad” cholesterol, said McKenney.

“This is important because cardiovascular disease claims more lives each year than cancer, chronic lower respiratory disease and accidents

combined. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 71 million American adults (33 percent) have high LDL, or “bad” cholesterol and only one out of every three adults with high LDL cholesterol has the condition under control,” he added. “So now, people in Richmond who qualify, can participate in the Fourier study to assist the research team in finding out if an investigational medicine might help to improve that statistic.”

McKenney said also that “while cardiovascular disease affects the general population, what you may not know is that African-Americans are disproportionately affected by cardiovascular disease.”

He cites these numbers:• In a 2009 study, African-American

males were 30 percent more likely to die from heart disease, as compared to non-Hispanic white men.

• African-American women were 1.6 times as likely as non-Hispanic whites to have high blood pressure.

City to participate in national cardiovascular health study

By Sylvina PooleTo celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr.’s

holiday last week, the city of Richmond’s Neighbor-to-Neighbor (N2N) initiative held its “Servicing the Dream” program.

The MLK federal holiday is commemorated as a day of service across the country. N2N leaders were joined by AmeriCorps ACES (Action for Community Enhancement Services), Salvation Army Boys and Girls Club, and

New Jubilee Heroes and Dreams.Richmond Mayor Dwight C. Jones

launched the Neighbor-to-Neighbor program in May of 2010 with the intention of engaging residents, businesses and city employees in volunteerism, as they support their neighbors with a commitment to service. Neighbor-to Neighbor projects have included mentoring to children in schools, visiting the elderly, as well as providing home repairs the elderly

Neighbor-to-Neighbor hosts MLK event

L-R: Gov. Terry McAuliffe, Paul Manning and Jennifer Swinson who works with Paul Manning and the Neighbor-to-Neighbor program. PHOTO: Hugh B. Jones

population, beautification projects throughout the city, supporting various special events and youth programs to include back-to-school shopping and several others.

The “Servicing the Dream” event which was held at the Salvation Army Boys and Girls Club at 3701 R St. The program also featured the city’s Chief Service Officer Paul Manning as the keynote speaker and a

discussion on the value of volunteerism.The mayor named Manning as the city’s

chief service officer in 2010.Members of AmeriCorps, ACES

and University of Richmond students did maintenance work at the Boys and Girls Club. The Richmond Preparatory Christian Academy did yard work for the seniors and disabled persons in the 7th District.


Grades 3-5

Topic: What Black History Month means to me.

Essays due bur Feb. 192 winners announced on Feb. 26

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Va. students: Write a two-page essay

By Zenitha Prince(TriceEdneyWire.com) - Virginia

lawmakers recently introduced legislation to increase the employment chances for ex-felons, continuing the ex-offender restoration reforms championed by former Gov. Robert McDonnell.

State Sen. Don McEachin (D-Dist. 9) and Del. Rob Krupicka (D-Dist. 45) recently introduced legislation in their respective chambers that would prohibit state agencies from inquiring about criminal history on employment applications.

So-called “ban the box” bills are among several measures advocated by civil rights groups and other activists on behalf of ex-offenders. The initiative gets its name from the box on job applications in which applicants have to indicate whether they have a criminal history. The movement seeks to give those applicants a chance to exhibit their skills, talents and personalities during the hiring process before they have to reveal their criminal past.

“When a person has served his time and is ready to become a constructive

member of our society, we need to make sure that can happen,” McEachin said in a statement. “This legislation will create that opportunity for folks who want to get jobs and take care of their families instead of keeping them down and keeping them in a perpetual cycle of incarceration and unemployment.”

Advocates believe that when ex-offenders gain employment they are less likely to re-offend.

“75 percent of former offenders remain unemployed for up to one year after release,” Gail Arnall, executive director of Offender Aid and Restoration, said at a press conference to announce the new legislation. “Unemployed former offenders are 2.1 times more likely to be re-arrested than employed former offenders.

Businesses are missing out on qualified applicants because they are making assumptions about them before interviewing them. Employers have the right to know someone’s criminal background, but at least give them a chance at an interview.”

Bill would prohibit criminal history queries on applications

Brian C. Little, Sr. has been named as the new cultural affairs manager for Petersburg.

He will serve in what the city calls a pivotal role to create diverse programming and special events using arts and cultural opportunities to bridge the gap from Petersburg’s past, present and future.

“The future looks bright and full of opportunity to explore the gifts of discovery,” said Little as he continues to work with people to get them to think outside of the box and create new learning opportunities for themselves and their communities. “Lets bridge gaps to build one world that celebrates each unique part of individuality.”

Little is a native of Washington who has resided in Richmond for the past 20 years. He most recently served as cultural arts manager for the city of Richmond. He has worked in educational programming for Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens, as

executive director of the Black History Museum and Cultural Center of Virginia, and the Virginia Repertory Theatre. Little is a graduate of Ferrum College.

Petersburg welcomes new ‘cultural affairs’ manager

Krupicka, whose district includes African-American neighborhoods in Alexandria, Arlington and Fairfax, added that the measure could also help the state conform with federal censure.

“This is also an important liability issue for Virginia,” he said. “The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has started to take actions against employers that fail to hire somebody solely due to a criminal background. Virginia can avoid this legal liability by ensuring we give prospective employees of the state a fair chance at a job interview by eliminating the criminal background box on employment applications. ”

In May 2013, McDonnell made the restoration of voting rights an automatic process for nonviolent felons.

“A critical component of ensuring the security and protection of our citizens is reducing recidivism,” he said at the time. “Over 90 [percent] of inmates will be released from prison back into society.

“By making sure we have an effective system in place to give past offenders the opportunity to resume their lives as productive citizens, we can better keep them from committing another crime and returning to prison. This reduces victimization and prison expansion and is smart government.”

Brian C. Little, Sr.

State Sen. Don McEachin (back) and Del. Rob Krupicka (left)

The 2014 session of the General Assembly is streaking by and will soon be a memory. This year’s session is memorable for several reasons. First, it is the first year of a new governorship, which always brings a certain level of excitement, together with a period of uncertainty as new people get accustomed to new jobs. Second, the legislature convenes with the idea of addressing problems and balancing the budget for all the people of Virginia. While each session resembles the previous one, new legislators and a new administration guarantee a new twist.

For the past several years, I have been forced to deal with the state’s system of mental health on behalf of my son. In November a lot of issues related to that system were thrust in my face. I am determined to take the experience I have and use what I’ve learned to try and prevent future tragedies. To that end, I’ve introduced several pieces of legislation.

First, I introduced legislation requiring the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services (DBHDS) to review the qualifications of workers charged with evaluating people in crisis. Current regulations require the person performing the evaluation to have a master’s degree or its equivalent or be a registered nurse with a certain amount of experience in the psychiatric field. However, based on my experience, it is not clear that every person charged with doing evaluations has the necessary skills and qualifications; I have asked the department simply to review the regulations and make a report to the General Assembly. Before wholesale changes are made to current law,

we need to take into account that which is currently on the books and review whether it works.

Second, I’ve called for increasing the amount of time a person may be held under an emergency custody order (ECO). Current law allows a person to be held for four hours with, under certain circumstances, one two-hour extension. That time frame is the shortest in the nation. Most states hold people between 24 and 72 hours before a determination is made that they should be held pursuant to a temporary detention order. While that legislation has drawn a lot of fire, specifically from the Virginia Sheriffs’ Association and the ACLU, it makes sense to me to bring Virginia in line with the rest of the country. There should not be an incident of one who is in need of stabilization services being released, or “streeted.”

Just as important as extending the time

6 • Jan. 29 - Feb. 4, 2014 The Richmond VoiceOP-ED

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By Sen. Creigh DeedsGuest commentator

See “Mental health” on pg. 7 See “Amiri Barakaˮ on pg. 7

Mental health must be a priority

Featured correspondent: Remembering the life and legacy of Amiri Baraka

On Jan. 9, with the passing of the prolific poet, playwright, essayist, and critic Amiri Baraka, one of the literary giants of the 20th century was called home. As we offer condolences to his wife, children and family, we remember the 79-year-old Baraka not only for his bold, inventive and iconoclastic literary voice, but also as a courageous social justice activist. His ideas and work had a powerful impact on both the black arts and Civil Rights Movement beginning in the 1960s.

Baraka was best known for his eclectic writings on race and class. He extended many of the themes and ideals of the 1960s ‘Black Power’ movement into the realm of art, which he saw as a potent weapon of change; and like many good revolutionary artists, he sometimes went out of his way to offend the status quo. He has been variously described as a beatnik, a black nationalist and a Marxist. But he was first and foremost a writer and social commentator of uncommon skill and insight.

His 1963 masterpiece, “Blues People,” which explored the historical roots and sociological significance of the blues and jazz, has become a classic that is still taught in college classrooms today. Almost every black and progressive writer and thinker of the 20th century shared a kinship, friendship or feud with Baraka. But, undergirding everything he wrote and stood for was his desire to lift up the downtrodden and disenfranchised, especially in his hometown of Newark, New Jersey.

As a testament to his broad influence, more than 3,000 people attended his funeral last Saturday at Newark Symphony Hall. The actor Danny Glover officiated and noted Baraka’s influence on his career. Cornel West called Baraka “a literary genius.” Sonia Sanchez read a poem for him written by Maya Angelou. Speaking at the wake the night before, Jesse Jackson honored Baraka as “a creative activist and change agent who never stopped fighting or working for the formula to create social justice.”

Born Everett LeRoi Jones, the writer changed his name to Amiri Baraka in 1968

The Richmond Voice Jan. 29 - Feb. 4, 2014 • 7LETTERS TO THE EDITORP.

T. H

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Amiri Baraka from page 6 Mental health from page 6In responseThe pro-business organization Venture

Richmond sponsored a two-page, full-color ad in the Jan. 22 Richmond Times-Dispatch promoting the Revitalize RVA development project. According to the newspaper’s Special Projects department, a similar ad would cost $10,738. The ad lists 13 project supporters, nine of which are business groups.

We would like to point out that to date more than 2,400 people have signed online and hard-copy petitions opposing a stadium in Shockoe Bottom because it is “a place of great historical importance to people of African descent.” Three dozen Virginia scholars, historians and museum officials have signed a statement against the stadium. Hundreds of opponents of all races have attended vigils, community forums and City Council meetings.

Those who support development on the Boulevard and in Shockoe Bottom but who oppose including a commercial sports stadium on what was once the largest slave-trading district north of New Orleans do not have anywhere near the financial resources to respond with a similar ad. This alone illustrates the fact that this struggle is between powerful business interests and their political supporters on the one side and, on the other, the vast majority of the people of Richmond, who have expressed their preference on this issue in many ways. It is now up to City Council to respect the wishes of the community and reject this public-money-for-private-profit scheme.Ana Edwards & Phil WilaytoRichmond

Right solutionsWe join Sen. Creigh Deeds and others

in recognizing that Virginia must do better when it comes to serving people

and families in crisis. We also know that we can make positive changes that do not compromise the basic civil liberties of any Virginian.

Individuals must not be treated as criminals simply because Virginia is not providing adequate funding for mental health facilities and transportation. We are encouraged by our legislators’ determination to do the right thing for Virginians with mental disabilities and their families and doing it the right way. We look forward to joining them in this process.Claire Guthrie GastañagaVa. ACLU

Nervous endorsement?Mark Warner has been endorsed by John

Warner. [The Republican Party of Virginia] won’t be making an official statement.

But I would point out just how early and odd this endorsement is. You’ve all seen plenty of campaigns, and know this kind of endorsement is a September/October thing, not February thing.

Letting it become public in February shows that Mark Warner and his allies know just how toxic the Mark Warner record on Obamacare is.

He could have stopped it, but he didn’t. Now every single person in Virginia who has lost coverage, been forced to change doctors, or been slammed with higher premiums and deductibles have one place to lay the blame: U.S. Sen. Mark Warner.

He could have stopped it with one word, but he chose Barack Obama over what was best for Virginians.

If I were him, I’d be nervous, too.Garren ShipleyRichmond

period is to eliminate the requirement that the duration of the ECO be extended by a magistrate. Particularly in rural areas, merely having to seek an extension is a waste of precious time.

Coincident with my legislation, others have introduced bills to require that a state facility be a provider of last resort. That legislation essentially would require that a bed be available when one is deemed necessary.

The third bill I sponsored calls for the establishment of a digital registry of available, public and private, psychiatric beds. The department has been working on a registry for about three years; however it is not a mandate in the law. In this internet driven information age, it makes no sense for precious hours to be wasted on the phone looking for a bed when live time information could be readily accessible.

The last bill I introduced relating to mental health calls for a comprehensive study of our mental health care delivery system. We need to look not only on how we provide services in the area of crisis intervention, but how we deal with mental health issues long term. What kind of care should we be providing to people who are mentally ill?

The study resolution has been rewritten to include issues related to the re-institutionalization of the mentally ill in our jails and prison system. The issues are absolutely related, and I hope we can move this matter forward.While it is difficult for me even to talk to friends right now, I made a decision to speak publicly about my circumstances in order to prevent future tragedies. And I chose what I consider to be the biggest megaphone. By taking to the airwaves, I hope that I can effect as much change as possible and in some way help the millions of families across the country who are struggling and looking for help.

to reflect his embrace of Islam and the philosophy of Malcolm X. He attended Rutgers, Howard and Columbia, served in the Air

Force and began his literary career in the 1950s in the Beat poet scene of New York’s Greenwich Village. His one-act play, “Dutchman,” won the Obie Award as the best off-Broadway production of 1964. In 1965, he co-founded the Black Arts Movement in Harlem, infusing the ‘Black Power’ movement with powerful artistic voices.

His numerous awards and honors include his selection as the Poet Laureate of New Jersey in 2002 and his 1995 induction into the exclusive American Academy of Arts and Letters.

Controversy was a mainstay of Amiri Baraka’s career. Ishmael Reed, another provocative poet and contemporary of Baraka recently noted, “Amiri Baraka was controversial because his was a perspective that was considered out of fashion during this post race ghost dance, the attitude that says that because we have a black president, racism is no longer an issue, when the acrimonious near psychotic reaction to [Barack Obama’s] election only shows the depth of it.”

Amiri Baraka always challenged us to face such uncomfortable truths – and we are better because of it.Marc Morial

8 • Jan. 29 - Feb. 4, 2014 The Richmond VoiceRELIGION

By Bob AllenABP - Former congressman, U.N.

ambassador and Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young is a featured speaker at this year’s Cooperative Baptist Fellowship General Assembly June 23-27 in Atlanta, CBF coordinator of ministries Bo Prosser reported to the Fellowship’s Governing Board Jan. 23 at First Baptist Church in Decatur, Ga.

“Andrew Young will challenge us on Thursday night with a ministry to the world, and that will be a wonderfully exciting time for us,” Prosser said at the second meeting of the 16-member body charged with administration in a new organizational structure of the 23-year-old moderate Baptist group adopted in 2013.

Prosser is staff liaison to the new Ministries Council which, along with a Missions Council, decentralizes power from a larger Coordinating Council that previously governed the whole CBF program. He said CBF partner Christian Churches Together also is planning a banquet with an unnamed speaker to encourage the predominantly white, 1,800-church Fellowship to embrace greater diversity.

“I am excited about that as well,” Prosser said. “I can’t announce it yet, because it’s not confirmed, but we’ll get it to you as quickly as possible.”

CBF Executive Coordinator Suzii Paynter said the General Assembly, to be held in 2014 under one roof at the newly remodeled Hyatt Regency in downtown Atlanta, is a major expression of CBF identity, a priority highlighted in the report of a blue-ribbon 2012 Task Force chaired by Alabama pastor David Hull and tasked with charting the movement’s course for the next 20 years.

Paynter, the first woman to lead the group which broke away from the Southern Baptist Convention in 1991 to defend principles like academic freedom in theological education and the freedom of local churches to call female pastors, said “how to clarify our identity” has been a major question since her election last year.

“One of the things that has been evident to me [is] as we have operated as CBF, we have expected identity to be a byproduct of what we did,” Paynter said. “So we would do things, and people would identify with them. What I have come to understand is that creating identity — and the task force

report addressed this as a priority — is not something that should be incidental but has to be intentional.”

“We want to elevate the task of identity building,” Paynter said. “I’d say the General Assembly is one expression. A major focus of that meeting should be building identity.”

Another, she said, is establishing the fellowship’s role in the larger Baptist family, reflected in cooperative work with groups like the New Baptist Covenant and Baptist World Alliance, as well as in the mission of local churches the Fellowship serves.

“Sometimes I feel it’s like an hourglass, where you’re in the middle and relating outward to a lot of audiences and then you are relating inward to a lot of audiences,” she said. “A part of our identity, I think, is to address both those domains.”

Paynter said internally, the CBF staff in Decatur, Ga., for now is focused on “highlighting congregational life and diversity.”

“If we did so much support at the beginning of CBF for missions and seminaries, it takes intentionality to really focus on supporting congregations now,” she said.

Another point of emphasis, she said, is reform of governance and the Movement

Leadership Team, the designation for 18 employed coordinators of CBF state and regional affiliates.

“It is clear that our health and life depend on the state and regional expressions of CBF,” she said. “So how do we bring that together?”

“In looking at governance, I have really tried to be intentional about and thoughtful about bringing their wisdom, their leadership, their voice into every area of CBF life,” Paynter said. “This truly seamless organization has got to more intentionally have a conversation about state and regional leadership.”

Paynter said state and regional leaders have an important role to play in CBF life, “because they are representing the local church, essentially.”

Paynter, who in recent months juggled demands of her job with distractions of having to rehab her family’s home, one of 1,500 flooded last Halloween by torrential rains in Austin, Texas, said one thing that kept her going was commitments she previously made to speak in CBF churches.

“The joy of my life in the last six months has been going to these fabulous churches,” she said. “We just have fabulous churches. They know who they are. They express their ministry. They are unique. They are winsome, full of life and leadership. It is

just a joy.”“We talk about it in the staff a lot,”

she said. “People come back after the weekend and [talk about] where they’ve been, and it’s just so beautiful to see this constellation of churches and the beautiful way in which they express themselves.”

Young, 81, a former pastor, joined the staff of the National Council of Churches in 1957, the year President Eisenhower sent federal troops to desegregate public schools in Little Rock, Ark. He left his job as a pastor in 1961 to work with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, a civil-rights organization started by Martin Luther King Jr.

After King’s assassination, Young became the first African-American since Reconstruction to be elected to Congress from Georgia in 1972. He supported the 1976 campaign of President Jimmy Carter and was appointed by Carter as ambassador to the United Nations in 1977.

Young returned to Atlanta and in 1981 was elected the city's mayor. He served as co-chair of the Atlanta Committee for the 1996 Olympic Games,

In 2003, Young founded the Andrew Young Foundation, an organization formed to “work toward a global community of peace, prosperity and inclusion” around the world.

CBF General Assembly to highlight diversity, top exec says

CBF Moderator Bill McConnell shares a light moment with moderator-elect Kasey Jones (left) and executive coordinator, Suzii Paynter. Andrew Young is inset.


Keeping the Faith

By Ronnie McBrayer

Ronnie McBrayer is a syndicated columnist, speaker, and author. Visit his website at www.ronniemcbrayer.me.

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Like a rockThis year Bob Seger will celebrate his

tenth anniversary as an inductee into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The honor is his because of his hardscrabble, up-by-the-bootstraps life story; the way he can forge lyrics that are a combination of personal autobiography and everyman’s experience; and of course, there is the legendary intensity with which he delivers his melodies.

Of equal legend are his songs: “Turn the Page,” “Night Moves,” “We’ve Got Tonight,” and “Still the Same” – tunes that launched Seger to worldwide fame, carried him to the top of the charts, and gave many of us a soundtrack for our coming of age years.

My personal Seger favorite is “Like a Rock.” Most people today associate this iconic song with Chevrolet pickup trucks. I associate the apropos lyrics with the evening of my high school graduation: “I stood there boldly, sweatin’ in the sun, felt like a million, felt like number one; the height of summer, I'd never felt that strong, like a rock.”

And then the refrain that Seger screams into the microphone, a refrain about himself as a younger man: “Like a rock, I was strong as I could be; like a rock, nothin’ ever got to me; like a rock, I was something to see; like a rock.”

Seger captures the years of youth, perfectly. It is a time of unbridled optimism, strength, and arrogance. A young man or woman can do anything, be anything, try anything, and overcome anything. No challenge is too big, too tough, or too much – body and soul are as solid rock.

Honestly, a young person needs this kind of bravado. He or she needs a kind of audacious swagger when life is just getting started. But he or she will also learn – life teaches everyone this lesson – that the do-everything, dare-anybody, defy-anything ability of youth, doesn’t last.

We live a little while and experience a few disappointments. We bury loved ones, lose a job, a marriage, a house, a career, or a fortune. We are betrayed by a friend, a

business partner, or a lover. We suffer, hurt, age, have our hearts broken, or muddle through a couple decades of muted frustration.

Then we learn, and this learning

is as absolutely necessary as youthful strength, that we really aren’t “like a rock” at all – at least not anymore. The challenges of life are indeed too big, too tough, and too much. We learn that life, like erosion, has a way of reducing the hardest stone into sand.

Admittedly, this realization might cause you to hit the booze or pills and collapse into a hopeless stupor – many past the prime of youth do exactly that. But the recognition of weakness and personal limitation – that we won’t always be “standin’ arrow straight, chargin’ from the gate, and carryin’ the weight” – is not cause for despair. It is liberation.

It is deliverance from the “try-harder-and-do-more” life. It is a release from the gladiator’s ethic of “I have to kill myself (or others) to overcome.” It is freedom from the totalitarianism of “If it’s going to be, it is up to me.” In short, it is surrender, and surrender is true faith and true life.

“If you try to hang on to your life,” Jesus said, “then you will lose it.” This “hanging on” includes personal arrogance, strength, ambitions, and our self-reliant approach to life. We learn to let these go, not because we have hopelessly given up, but because we have given over. We have exchanged our failing abilities and life for the power of God and his life.

In the end, we won’t always “stand boldly in the sun.” We retreat into the darkness. We aren’t always as “strong as we can be,” because we face things in life that are stronger than we are. Our steady hands will grow shaky and our clear, bright eyes will grow dim. But it’s all okay if we have learned to live differently, if we have learned to live a life entrusted to the Rock that is Christ.

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10 • Jan. 29 - Feb. 4, 2014 The Richmond VoiceEDUCATION

Large majorities of Virginians have concerns about how mandatory testing is impacting students and teachers in the classroom but also think Standards of Learning tests help with school accountability and academic standards, according to a new Commonwealth Poll recently released by Virginia Commonwealth University’s Commonwealth Educational Policy Institute.

The poll found a majority of Virginians (62 percent) strongly or somewhat agree that SOLs hold schools accountable and 55 percent agree that SOLs ensure that students meet the same academic standards.

Even with those benefits, Virginians see testing having negative effects in the classroom. Three-in-four respondents (75 percent) strongly or somewhat agree that preparing for SOLs means teachers can’t cover all the important material needed, with 55 percent strongly agreeing with the statement. The percentage of respondents that strongly agree has increased 10 percent (from 45 percent to 55 percent) since 2002, the last time the question was asked. A large majority also thinks that SOLs are putting too much pressure on students, with 63 percent strongly or somewhat agreeing.

One proposed benefit to testing is increasing student performance. However, when asked, a large majority of respondents said that increased testing made no difference (33 percent) or hurt (35 percent) student performance. The percentage of respondents who indicated that testing hurts performance has increased 9 percent since the last time the question was asked in 2007-08. Respondents were also asked how much they agreed with the statement, “SOLs improve student achievement.” A majority (54 percent) strongly or somewhat disagreed. The percentage of respondents that disagreed has increased by 16 percent since 2002, the last time the question was asked.

“While SOLs are still seen as helping with accountability and standards, over time the numbers of Virginians with concerns about how mandatory testing

negatively affects students, teachers and performance is increasing,” said William C. Bosher, Jr., Ed.D., executive director, Commonwealth Educational Policy Institute and distinguished professor of public policy in the Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs at VCU.

“With regard to local school options, the public remains supportive of providing local school divisions with greater options for how they do business.”

Minorities and those with lower levels of education or income were more likely to think testing has benefits for students. Thirty-nine percent of minorities said that increased testing has helped student performance, while only 17 percent of whites said the same. Minorities were also more likely to agree that SOLs improve student achievement. A majority of 55 percent strongly or somewhat agreed with the statement, compared to 37 percent of whites.

There were also significant differences by gender, with women being more likely to see the negative effects that SOL tests have in the classroom. Seven in 10 women strongly or somewhat agreed that SOL tests are putting too much pressure on students, compared to 56 percent of men. Women were also more likely to think that SOL preparation negatively impacts teachers’ ability to cover all the important material in the classroom. A solid majority of women (60 percent) strongly agreed with the statement. Only 49 percent of men felt the same.

“It is interesting to see that minorities were more likely to view SOLs as helping achievement and performance, while women were more likely to see the negative effects on teachers and students in the classroom,” said Farrah Stone Graham, Ph.D., assistant professor in the L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs and director of the survey.

When asked about how to address schools that consistently fail to meet testing standards, a majority (53 percent) opposed the idea of those schools being taken over by another entity. However, one region, south central Virginia, had a majority of respondents (53 percent) who favored the strategy.

More than seven in 10 respondents (72 percent) favored allowing students who are homeschooled to participate on local public school sport teams and 63 percent favored allowing localities to have the option to start the public school calendar before Labor Day, marking a 5 percent decrease from last year.

There were regional differences on the issue of homeschooler participation in

public school sports; however, all had majority support. The south central region was the most supportive with 81 percent, and the northwest was the least supportive of the option, with 66 percent. Parents of public school students were much more evenly split on the issue of changing the school calendar, with 40 percent opposing the idea, compared with 28 percent of those who don’t have children in public schools.

When respondents were asked to select which type of school they thought would provide the best education, 51 percent indicated public school as their choice. Almost one-third (32 percent) said private school. A much smaller percentage indicated a charter school (8 percent), home school (6 percent) and virtual school (1 percent). Public school employees and retirees and minorities were more likely to choose public school with 60 percent and 57 percent, respectively, indicating the option.

The Commonwealth Education Poll was conducted by landline and cell telephone from Dec. 27, 2013, to Jan. 3, 2014, with a random sample of 803 adults in Virginia.

Poll:Virginians concerned about impact of SOLs on classroom learning

By Jordan CrawfordVOICE intern

Scrambling to concoct a haphazard excuse such as your dog eating your homework may soon be unnecessary. Some Virginia Beach students can purposefully forget to turn in assignments and still be treated as if they’d done them.

The city’s public school teachers are “strongly discouraged” from giving students zeroes when they don’t turn in assignments. Officials say a better grade may be a 50 or a 63, low enough to faze students, but not so low that it drags down their averages the way zeroes do.

In a recent School Board discussion some members said teachers should be allowed to give zeroes and some said they shouldn’t. The board didn’t change the way the division handles zeroes, but some said they’d be interested in making changes in the future.

George Parker, assistant superintendent for secondary schools, said the division believes grading should be fair and accurate and used for academic feedback and not for discipline.

“Teachers are given grading guidelines, but they’re also allowed to set their own rules that principals then approve,” he said. “The problem with zeroes is that just a few can drag down a student’s grade so far that their average no longer reflects whether

they’ve mastered the material. Then, it’s hard for students to pull their averages back up.”

Parker advises that one solution is to give a higher grade like a 50 or a 63 for missing assignments. A 63 is the highest failing grade students can receive. A 64 is considered a D.

But some board members said that doesn’t prepare students for the real world. Board member Leonard Tengco, an attorney, said lawyers can lose a case if they don’t file paperwork within a certain time frame. Board member Sam Reid said zeroes keep students from blowing off their school work.

“A zero is an incredible motivator to get that student to at least turn in an assignment and try,” he said.

Board member Em Davis, a former elementary school principal, said the decision to use zeroes has to be a teacher’s prerogative. She said not all teachers assign and grade equally and taking away that right damages a teacher’s professional integrity.

Board member Dottie Holtz, a former teacher, said it isn’t fair to students to let teachers handle zeroes differently.

“It’s a philosophical difference among teachers that’s never been solved,” said board member Betsy Taylor, a retired administrator.

VB officials push to eliminate zeroes

Farrah Stone Graham

12 • Jan. 29 - Feb. 4, 2014 The Richmond VoiceENTERTAINMENT & LIFESTYLES

By Gerrick D. KennedyThe gasps, groans and expletives were

abundant backstage Sunday as Macklemore & Ryan Lewis swept the rap categories during the untelevised portion of the Grammy Awards ceremony.

Their massive hit “Thrift Shop” took rap performance and song, and their debut, “The Heist,” nabbed the trophy for rap album over breakout Compton rapper Kendrick Lamar’s striking debut, “Good Kid, M.A.A.D City.“

The controversy was immediate. The indie Seattle duo’s early wins sparked a trending topic on Twitter as outraged hip-hop purists and critics admonished voters for picking the pair’s work over albums from Drake, Kanye West, Jay Z and Lamar.

It was always unlikely that the duo, up for seven awards including song and album of the year, would leave the Grammys empty-handed. Still, many didn’t expect the Seattle hip-hop outliers to make a clean sweep of the genre categories.

But neither did Macklemore.Following his bounty of wins, the rapper

sent a text message to Lamar and later posted a screenshot of the message to his nearly three million Instagram followers.

“You got robbed. I wanted you to win. You should have,” he wrote. “It’s weird and sucks that I robbed you. I was gonna say that during the speech. Then the music started playing during my speech, and I froze. Anyway, you know what it is. Congrats on this year and your music. Appreciate you as an artist and as a friend. Much love.”

In a longer caption for the photo, Macklemore said Lamar “deserved best rap album.

“I’m honored and completely blown away to win anything much less 4 Grammys. But in that category, he should have won IMO,” he wrote. “And that’s taking nothing away from The Heist. Just giving GKMC [‘Good Kid, M.A.A.D City’] it’s proper respect.”

He never posted Lamar’s response — if one ever came.

Rap fans have been heavy-handed with criticism of Macklemore’s success. With a more pop-oriented brand of rap informed as much by indie rock as traditional hip-hop, he's dominated mainstream radio with hits like “Thrift Shop,” “Can’t Hold Us” and “Same Love.”

Despite a rise from underground rap

to mainstream star that took more than a decade, Macklemore has become an easy punchline in the rap world, often dismissed as a gimmicky pop act.

Some of the harshest criticisms, unfairly, have focused on his race, and the leg up that it may have given him over his black peers — think pieces are plastered all over the Internet — and he’s discussed the role his race may have played, once telling Rolling Stone that being white helped his success.

“We made a great album,” he said, “but I do think we have benefited from being white and the media grabbing on to something. A song like ‘Thrift Shop’ was safe enough for the kids. It was like, “This is music that my mom likes and that I can like as a teenager,’ and even though I’m cussing my … off in that song, the fact that I'm a white guy, parents feel safe. They let their 6-year-olds listen to it. I mean, it’s just ... it's different. And would that success have been the same if I would have been a black dude? I think the answer is ‘No.’”

Controversy aside, “The Heist” is, at its core, a hip-hop album — though many debated that point during Grammy week, and a recent report from Associated Press indicating that some members of the Recording Academy had questioned its rap category credentials only added fuel.

Regardless, was “The Heist” rap album of the year? One must admit, Macklemore has a point.

Queen Latifah, who officiated at the vows of more than 30 straight and gay couples during Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’ performance of “Same Love,” said their success should serve as a reflection of the longstanding social and cultural impact of hip-hop.

“Honestly, I don’t think that this is new ground for hip-hop in terms of what Macklemore is capable of, I think this is exactly what hip-hop is capable of,” she said. “When I started rapping, it was much more common for rappers to speak about things going on in the world … anything that was some type of social injustice, we’ve always been able to talk about

through hip-hop.”“I hope this is inspiration to the rappers

and hip-hop artists out there that you can continue to tackle any subject you want. Macklemore and Ryan Lewis are hugely successful ... from making good music, No. 1, and No. 2, speaking about things that actually affect people. Or just talking about a thrift shop.”

Grammys: Macklemore agrees Kendrick Lamar should have won

Macklemore (foreground) & Ryan Lewis won the rap album Grammy, among others.

Kendrick Lamar

Macklemore (left) & Ryan Lewis


k Ask Alma ❖❖❖❖❖❖❖❖❖❖❖❖❖❖❖❖❖❖❖❖❖❖❖❖❖❖❖❖❖❖❖❖❖❖❖❖❖❖❖❖

***** Want advice? E-mail questions to [email protected]. Follow her on Facebook at “Ask Alma” and twitter @almaaskalma *****

New VUU head football coach, Mark James, with athletic director Joe Taylor and VUU President. Dr.Claude G.Perkins Ph.D PHOTO: Reggie Howell

Virginia Union University last week named Mark James as the school’s 26th head football coach.

James had served as the Panthers' defensive line coach for the past two seasons and has made several coaching stops along his way to Virginia Union. He was a head coach for nine years at two major high schools in south Florida.

He started his coaching career as a high school defensive assistant at Coconut Creek in 1997. In 1998, James made the decision to attend Virginia Union University after transferring from University of Louisville. Upon graduation in 2000, he returned back to the south Florida area to return to his coaching pathway.

James was the head coach at Dillard High in 2004-2005. From 2005-2011 he

was the head coach at Boyd Anderson where he won three district championships and led the team to become the school’s all-time winningest football coach.

James has also had short stints at Norfolk State University (linebackers) and St. Paul’s College in 2011 (offensive coordinator). James was a defensive lineman at University of Louisville from 1990-1993 and Virginia Union University from 1998-2000.

He earned a degree in history from VUU in 2000. A married father of three, James was named the National VUU Alumni of the Year in 2007. He earned his masters degree in educational leadership from Florida Atlantic University and is scheduled to earn his PhD in higher education administration in June.

Co-worker constantly complainsDear Alma,

I have a co-worker who is unhappy with his job and isn’t too shy to say it. If you greet him in the morning he will say, “Man I hate this job. I am sick of this place.” Then he will go on to disparage his supervisor and co-workers. He never talks about projects he works on – just how he doesn’t like this person or that. He is a real downer and can turn a good morning into a bad one quickly.

I try to disengage from conversation quickly, hoping he will get the hint that his comments about co-workers I happen to admire make me uncomfortable. But he doesn’t get it. Should I go to human resources or just tell him point blank to stop? I don’t want to start an argument in the middle of the office.Not an office snob

Dear NAOS,I’ve experienced this type of co-worker

myself. I’m taken back to something my mama

use to say: “You catch more bees with honey than you do with vinegar.” Of course, I didn’t know what she meant until I turned 40. But that’s another story for another time.

My suggestion to you is to treat him with kindness. You become the shining light. Give him the exact opposite of what he’s giving you. When he says,

“Man I hate this job. I’m sick of this place,” you say, “Wow, really? It’s a tough time to look for a job, and we all should be grateful we’re working, but good luck man. I hope you find what you’re looking for.”

When he starts talking bad about other co-workers, you say, “Oh, really? I didn’t get that vibe from him. He was very helpful to me. What project were you working on?”

Do you see where I'm going with this? He’s starting fires in the office, and I’m appointing you the new HFMIC – Head Fire Marshall In Charge. So start putting out those fires.

Use this experience as a teachable moment. When you do what’s right in the middle of what’s wrong, it makes you feel better. This applies anywhere – at work, at school or at home. Present the positive. I promise; you’ll catch more bees with honey.

VUU names new football coach

By Alaina SchneiderMassey Cancer Center

In 2010, the total cost of cancer care in the United States reached $125 billion. Globally, the economic toll from cancer is nearly 20 percent higher than the leading cause of death: heart disease. Cancer patients are also living longer today, further increasing the cost of their continued care. As the health insurance exchanges have opened and heated debate about the Affordable Care Act (ACA) continues, many questions remain, including the $125 billion question: “How will the ACA affect the most expensive disease: cancer?”

VCU Massey Cancer Center is currently examining the effects of the ACA on cancer survivors. Scientists from Massey’s Cancer Prevention and Control research program are studying the ACA’s impact on Medicaid-eligible populations, employment-based insurance, health benefit exchanges and safety-net providers.

The effect of Medicaid expansions on cancer screening

In 2006, Massachusetts expanded its health insurance coverage to nearly all residents of the state, becoming the policy template for the ACA, which will expand Medicaid coverage in many states. Massey researcher Lindsay Sabik, Ph.D., led a team to examine how cancer screening changed before and after Massachusetts’ health care reform. She found that, overall, the reform appeared to have increased breast and cervical cancer screening, particularly among low-income women, suggesting a positive effect of near-universal coverage on preventive care.

“Preventive care is very important,” said Sabik, principal investigator of the study. “Studies have shown that with the right approaches a third of the most common cancers could be prevented. After seeing the impact of health reform on cancer screening in Massachusetts, we are interested in seeing if the insurance coverage expansions will have similar effects in other states.”

Sabik and her team are currently funded by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) to research how state Medicaid policies are impacting breast and cervical cancer screening among low-income women around the country. “The results,” she said, “will help us develop strategies to reach the under-screened populations, which is critical for health care providers

in reducing inequalities in cancer care and outcomes across socioeconomic and racial groups.”

Impact on the working cancer survivorCancer patients often experience fear of

losing their health insurance if they cannot continue to work after diagnosis. Cathy Bradley, Ph.D., co-leader of the Cancer Prevention and Control research program at Massey, has focused her studies on the implications of the ACA on Americans dependent on employer-sponsored health insurance after experiencing a health shock, such as cancer.

Bradley studied employed married women newly diagnosed with breast cancer and compared the hours worked between those who were dependent on their own employment for health insurance and those who had access to their spouse’s insurance.

“Our findings show that breast cancer survivors who are dependent on employer-sponsored health insurance had a greater incentive to uphold a higher labor supply in order to maintain access to coverage. But with the ACA, cancer patients will no longer have to worry about losing their health insurance if they can no longer work,” said Bradley, principal investigator of the NCI-funded study.

“The law will give patients access to private health insurance outside of the employer-based system, which will have a positive impact on the working cancer

survivor.”And although Bradley said that having

private health insurance outside of the workplace will not incentivize cancer patients to stop working, if they do choose to stop working or if they have to, it will allow them to devote their time to treatment and recovery.

Consumer ability to understand the ACA’s health insurance exchanges

Since the ACA health insurance exchanges opened, many Americans have reported experiencing difficulty selecting the best insurance plan for them. Massey researcher Andrew Barnes, Ph.D., is currently leading a study that investigates the ACA’s Health Insurance Marketplace.

Barnes said, “The exchanges rely heavily on consumers’ ability to process, comprehend and compare a vast amount of information on numerous insurance plans to make important choices.”

He has identified factors that may become a challenge for consumers in working with the exchanges, such as the consumer’s perceived risk, their comprehension of their insurance terms and plan features and their health literacy.

“Preliminary data from our experiments using mock exchanges suggests approximately 50 percent of uninsured participants are purchasing health insurance in the experiments that, given their health status and utilization history,

do not offer adequate coverage,” Barnes said.

Barnes has also found that not only patients but doctors are having trouble navigating the exchanges. In another study, he asked 70 medical students and residents to choose the cheapest Medicare plan for a hypothetical patient, “Bill,” from a list of three or nine plans. When given three options, two-thirds of the students and residents chose the right policy for Bill, but when given nine options, only one-third chose correctly.

“Our results reinforce the notion of ‘choice overload,' where the more options we have, the more difficulty we have processing and comparing the attributes of these options and making a decision,” Barnes said.

Impact on safety-net hospitalsThe impact the ACA will have on safety-

net providers is another important question being studied. Safety-net providers, such as Massey, deliver a significant level of health care and other health-related services to the uninsured that they cannot receive elsewhere. In fact, our researchers have found that uninsured and Medicaid patients in Virginia have lower surgical mortality in safety-net hospitals than non-safety-net hospitals.

Safety-net providers receive disproportionate share hospital (DSH) funding, which

14 • Jan. 29 - Feb. 4, 2014 The Richmond VoiceHEALTH NOTES

See “ACA & cancer” on pg. 20

The $125b question: How will the ACA affect cancer survivors?

L-R: Massey Cancer Center researchers Lindsay Sabik, Andrew Barnes and Cathy Bradley.


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Offices in

During his State of the University Address last week, Virginia Commonwealth University President Michael Rao, Ph.D., detailed the university’s plans to make new strides in the coming year in the key areas of fundraising, student success, physical learning environments and the VCU Health System.

Rao used the address to celebrate VCU’s achievements and to outline his chief priorities for the university. While extolling VCU’s continued emergence as a nationally recognized urban research university – highlighted in 2013 with its inclusion as an up-and-coming university by U.S. News & World Report – Rao stressed to an audience of students, faculty, staff and others at the W.E. Singleton Center for the Performing Arts that important work awaits for the university to maintain its momentum.

“In the new year, we have a familiar focus: continue to elevate Virginia Commonwealth University as a premier urban, public research university in our nation, not only compared to our peers but relative to our greatest potential,” Rao said.

Rao said VCU will face ongoing challenges related to the prevailing national climate for funding of public universities, noting that “we can no longer expect that the state will fund two-thirds of a student’s education, as it did a generation

ago. Now, it’s closer to one-third.”Rao said VCU set fundraising records in

2013 in numbers of gifts, donors and VCU Alumni members, but that the university

must continue to attract increasing private investment to provide the necessary resources for its students and to offer competitive compensation for faculty.

“I fear that we will soon hit a ceiling, in terms of what we can accomplish, if our resources do not match our talents and ambitions,” Rao said. “Nowhere is this more plainly true than in our ability to invest in the success of our people.”

Rao said he will persist in looking for creative ways to improve faculty compensation, which lags behind VCU’s peers. One new approach will be pairing donors with faculty members “whose innovation and expertise will continue to transform our university and our nation.”

Rao said he is proud of VCU’s students “whose academic accomplishments are raising VCU’s profile.” However, he said the university does not yet offer the competitive financial aid packages that its students deserve. VCU also needs to find the resources to improve graduate-student stipends, advising, scheduling, counseling, student support and access to courses, including online options.

A recent favorable development has been the positive student response to the university’s “Do the Math” campaign, which encourages undergradute students to take at least 15 credits each semester in an effort to graduate on time, thereby limiting their debt and launching their careers sooner.

“As we continue to emphasize excellence among our students – who are the future

Rao delivers inaugural ‘State of the University’ address

See “VCU state” on pg. 20

VCU President Michael Rao

16 • Jan. 29 - Feb. 4, 2014 The Richmond VoiceACTIVITIES & MEETINGS

Only submit the who, what, where and when. We reserve the right to edit all submissions for

space, clarity, style and grammar. Flyers will not be accepted.

E-mail events to [email protected].

Chesterfield African-American Schools exhibitThe African American History Committee of the Chesterfield Historical Society

of Virginia (CHSV) will mark Black History Month by recognizing the histories of segregated schools for African Americans in Chesterfield County in a new rotating exhibit at the County Museum.

Opening on Saturday, Feb. 1 and running through Saturday May 31, this exhibit will feature the story of segregated schoolhouses throughout Chesterfield built to accommodate children of African-American descent. The exhibit will include six Chesterfield schools built with the support of the Rosenwald Fund--the collaboration between Booker T. Washington and Julius Rosenwald that led to the building of 5,000 schoolhouses in 15 Southern states.

The exhibit will present video recordings of former students as well as photos and artifacts loaned by local families, which include former students and school staff.

The Chesterfield County Museum, a non profit at 6813 Mimms Loop in the county government complex, is open Tuesday through Friday from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. and Saturdays from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Suggested admission is $2. For information, call 804-768-7311.

Youth EduconcertsThe Richmond Peace Education Center is sponsoring Youth Educoncerts on Friday,

Feb. 7, 7 p.m. at the Richmond Public Library 101 E. Franklin St.; Sunday, Feb. 9, 3 p.m., at Maggie Walker Governor’s School, 1000 N. Lombardy St.; and Sunday, Feb. 16, 3 p.m., at Central Rappahannock Regional Library, in Fredericksburg.

The event is part of the Living the Dream, Inc. schedule of events for Richmond’s annual commemoration of the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. For more information, contact [email protected] or 804-232-1002.

“African Root” exhibitElegba Folklore Society’s exhibition “African Root, American Fruit: Paintings by

Ronald Jackson”, will open with a reception on Feb. 7 from 5 - 9 p. .during the First Fridays Artwalk.

Ronald Jackson paints portraits and figurative works to comment on the identity of African American people and their influence on the landscape of American society. He will give a gallery talk on the significance of art in African American culture and expound on the implication of his artwork and experience. The evening will also feature a remembrance of the Greensboro, North Carolina Woolworth lunch counter sit-ins which began on Feb. 1, 1960.

“African American Faces of the Civil War” Reynolds Community College will host an “Around the World Through Books”

discussion on Thursday, Feb. 6, from 7 to 8:30 p.m. in the Lipman Auditorium of the Massey Library Technology Center on the Parham Road Campus, located at 1651 E. Parham Rd. in Richmond.

The book discussion will feature “African American Faces of the Civil War” and the discussion will be led by the book’s Author, Ronald Coddington. The book combines compelling archival images with biographical stories that reveal the human side of the Civil War and tell the story of the war through the images of men of color who served in roles that ranged from servants and laborers to enlisted men and junior officers.

During the Civil War, 200,000 African American men enlisted in the Union army or navy. Some of them were free men and some escaped from slavery; others were released by sympathetic owners to serve the war effort. These stories tell of ordinary men who became fighters, of the prejudice they faced, and of the challenges they endured.

The program is a free community event sponsored by Reynolds’s Multicultural Enrichment Council for the purpose of encouraging cultural diversity throughout the Reynolds campuses and communities. For more information about this event contact Lisa Bishop ([email protected]), Bitsy Gilfoyle ([email protected]) or visit the website www.reynolds.edu.

Feb. 6

Feb. 1 - 2

Feb. 7Tweens, crazy hair, girl pop band in RVA

While push-up bras, sexy dolls, and hip hop dance lessons seem to be the normal currency for 10-year-old girls, best-selling author Dannah Gresh continues to sound an alarm for moms to avoid such sexualization.

An all-new event, the Secret Keeper Girl Crazy Hair Tour, refuels moms with conviction to train their daughters to embrace modesty, purity and true beauty and introduces their daughters to positive role models in 1 Girl Nation (1GN), a new pop group focused on lyrics that encourage tweens.

First Things First of Greater Richmond, a community nonprofit, will bring the event to West End Assembly of God on Thursday, Jan. 30 at 6 p.m. The show is sold out to 1,350 moms and daughters, both encouraged to come with crazy hairstyles.

Visit www.FirstThingsRichmond.org for more information.

Jan. 30

Biblical debateFor Colored Girlz Inc will host the debate between The New Black World Order vs

Brother Kendrick (Christian Church) on Sunday Feb. The topic: Is the Bible the absolute truth or is it man made? The event will be held at 501 East Franklin St., Richmond, Maggie L Walker Building from 3-6 p.m. Free admission and food. Attendees are asked to bring a can food item to donate to For Colored Girlz ongoing poverty programs. For more information or if you would be interested in debating contact 804-397-6767.

The Richmond Voice Jan. 29 - Feb. 4, 2014 • 17NATIONAL

See “Settlement” on pg. 20

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - Theodore Wafer, a Dearborn Heights, Mich., man has beeb ordered held over for trial on second-degree murder and manslaughter charges in the deadly shooting of an African-American motorist who knocked on his door seeking help, following an automobile accident.

Wafer, who has admitted to killing Renisha McBride, a 19-year-old Detroit woman, was arraigned before Wayne County, Mich., Court Judge Qiana Lillard. His jury trial is scheduled to begin June 2, 2014.

The 54-year-old Wafer shot his gun through a locked screen door, wounding Hunt in the head after she pounded on his door seeking help on Nov. 2. Police responding to a 911 call found her body on Wafer’s front porch.

Wafer said through his attorney he believed Hunt was attempting to break into the home, where he lived with his elderly mother, but Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said there were no signs of attempted forced entry. Wafer has pled not guilty to the charges.

He remains free on bond.McBride was the second black motorist

shot to death in 2013 while seeking help following an automobile accident.

In September, Randall Kerrick, a police officer with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg (NC) Police Department, shot to death Jonathan Ferrell, who was seeking help after he had been in a traffic accident.

Ferrell, 24, knocked on the door of a woman homeowner. She panicked, fearing he was a burglar. She called the police. When Kerrick and two other police officers arrived, Ferrell ran toward them his arms outstretched, apparently thinking they were there to help him.

They weren’t.Kerrick fired his pistol 12 times,

wounding Ferrell 10 times, killing him instantly.

Christopher Chestnutt, the attorney for Ferrell’s family, sued Kerrick, Police Chief Rodney Monroe, the county and city of Charlotte over Ferrell’s death. Police charged Kerrick with voluntary manslaughter.

Roy Cooper, North Carolina’s Attorney General, issued a statement in which he said he would seek an indictment of voluntary manslaughter against Kerrick before the Mecklenburg Grand Jury.

Man ordered to stand trial in killing of motorist seeking help

By George E. CurryWASHINGTON (NNPA) – The National

Association of Newspaper Publishers (NNPA) and the National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters (NABOB), two industry trade associations whose members reach more than 95 percent of African Americans, filed a friend-of-the-court brief objecting to the exclusion of all black media companies in a proposed settlement that requires the tobacco industry to run ads and TV commercials to correct their misleading assertions about the harmful effects of smoking.

The amicus brief was filed in federal court in Washington, D.C. U.S. District Court Judge Gladys Kessler held a hearinglast week and postponed making a decision on the merits of the case until Feb. 18 when additional briefs by the various parties would have been filed in connection with the case. After NNPA and NABOB filed an amicus brief, Fox

News filed a similar brief arguing the cable network should also be part of the advertising deal.

An agreement was reached Jan. 9 between

Black media seeks inclusion in tobacco settlement

the U.S. Justice Department, the Tobacco-Free Kids Action Fund and the four major tobacco manufacturers – Altria, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco, Lorillard and Philip Morris USA – on what “corrective statements” the tobacco industry should be forced to make in ads to address the falsehoods they have been telling about the harmful effects of smoking, the addictiveness of smoking, the dangers of second-hand smoke and claims that low-tar and light cigarettes are healthier than regular cigarettes.

The Justice Department sued the tobacco companies in 1999, charging that they violated the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO). Judge Kessler found them guilty in 2006. The judge ruled that the companies were not liable for monetary damages under RICO, but ordered them to make “corrective statements.”

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit has rejected two industry appeals. The Supreme Court has refused to accept an appeal from the tobacco giants, who are still suing over Kessler’s order to include the corrective statements in “point of sale” displays at retail outlets.

Under the proposed agreement, the tobacco companies must purchase full-page Sunday ads in 35 newspapers and commercials on either ABC, CBS or NBC network four days a week for a year. Target Market News, which broke the story of the settlement proposal, estimates the value of the ad buy at $30 million to $45 million.

In her initial ruling against the tobacco industry in 2006, Judge Kessler provided a list of publications where “corrective statements” should be made. Not a single black newspaper, magazine, or broadcast outlet was included on the list drawn up by the judge.

The black media trade associations say that was a mistake.

“…The Defendants targeted the African America community with advertising campaigns which were delivered in part by their paid advertisements in African American print and electronic media,” the amicus brief states. “The proposed remedy does not list any media which specifically targets the African American community. To insure that the Corrective Statements reach the population that the Defendants targeted, the Court should require the parties to jointly select alternative newspapers that specifically target the African American community.”

Targeting blacks with tobacco products has had a devastating effect on the African American community, the brief notes.

“Lung cancer is the second most common cancer in both African American men and women, and it kills more African Americans than any type of cancer,” it reads. “According to the Center for Disease Control, while adjusting for age, from 2006 through 2010, African Americans had the highest incidence rates of lung and bronchus cancer (64.8 per 100,000 people) of any ethnic group and the general population (61.7 per 100,000 people).

“In 2011, more than 23,000 new cases of lung and bronchus cancer are expected to occur among African Americans and more than 16,000 African Americans are expected to die from the disease. African American teen smokers also have a greater risk of developing long-term consequences from smoking than other ethnic groups, and are in danger of experiencing the negative effects of tobacco earlier in their lifetimes.”

Despite the disproportionate number of deaths, tobacco companies looked to blacks to replace those who died or quit using their products.

“The record clearly demonstrates that the Defendants specifically targeted African Americans to encourage them to smoke,” the brief observed. “The Defendants

NNPA chair, Cloves Campbell, said tobacco companies seek to exploit the community.


CBC to lead fight for college loans, jobs, judicial postsBy Zenitha Prince

NNPA - In a Congress likely to be steeped in the politics of this year’s midterm elections, the Congressional Black Caucus said it will continue to fight for issues important for communities of color.

“We all know that 2013 was one of the least productive years in the history of the Congress,” said CBC Chair Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-Ohio) in a recent press call. “Yet, the Congressional Black Caucus diligently worked on a number of issues and was successful in influencing policies that benefitted our communities and that would, but for us, be disregarded or completely ignored.”

Many of the priorities on the CBC’s 2014 agenda reflect ongoing concerns from 2013—reducing poverty and closing the income inequality gap, the challenges facing historically black colleges and universities and increasing diversity in judicial nominations.

Poverty continues to be a scourge in black communities—almost 10 million African Americans, including four in 10 black children, live in poverty; almost 12 percent of African Americans are unemployed, etc.—cited Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), who heads the CBC’s Poverty and the Economy Task Force.

Due to the CBC’s persistent efforts on reducing poverty, however, the issue has “gained momentum on Capitol Hill,” Lee said, and the CBC will continue to build on those gains.

The CBC will continue to advocate for an increased federal minimum wage, or living wage; it will continue to garner support for the Half in Ten Act, legislation – authored by Lee – which would create and implement a plan to cut poverty in half within 10 years, and it will continue to lobby for bills that create more high-earning jobs.

“We know the best pathway out of poverty is a job,” Lee said.

Deputy Minority Leader James Clyburn (D-S.C.) said the CBC will also continue to support the Affordable Care Act, and

Medicare and Medicaid. The latter were key contributors to the gains made by the War on Poverty launched by President Lyndon Johnson a half-century ago, he said.

Another key initiative on the CBC’s “War on Poverty” will be its advocacy for the “10-20-30” initiative, which would require that at least 10 percent of federally appropriated money be spent in those communities where 20 percent or more the population has been locked below the poverty level for at least 30 years.

The targeted spending approach was first introduced by Clyburn as an amendment to the rural spending section of the Reinvestment Act. It resulted in funding for 4,655 projects totaling nearly $1.7 billion in chronically impoverished counties.

“We believe we have come upon a formula that can be used in our budget to direct resources to communities irrespective of the color or ethnicity of the people that live there,” he told reporters. “We are asking for that ’10-20-30’ approach to be included in other parts of our budget so that we can tackle poverty at the community level.”

Attempts to create income equality must also address education, and, for the black community, HBCUs play an integral role. But the recent recession and changes in federal policy—such as changes in the credit eligibility criteria for Parent PLUS loans and a 5.1 percent cut

in HBCU budgets due to sequestration—are endangering those higher education institutions, CBC members said.

“There is clearly a crisis at HBCUs as a result of Parent Plus loans,” said Fudge.

In 2011, the U.S. Department of Education made the underwriting standards for these popular loans more stringent and implemented those changes without input from or explanation to HBCUs. Within one year, Parent Plus loan denials skyrocketed by 50 percent for parents with students at HBCUs, Fudge said.

According to the Association for Public and Land-Grant Universities, 14,616 students at HBCUs learned their parents had been denied Parent PLUS loans in fall 2012; and HBCUs lost about $168 million as a result of the large number of students who were not able to start or continue their college education.

Overall, according to Education Department statistics, 101,740 fewer African-American students enrolled in higher education institutions in fall 2012.

In September 2013, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan apologized for the debacle to a group of HBCU presidents, administrators and faculty gathered for the annual National HBCU Week Conference in Washington, D.C.

“I know it’s been hard, it’s been frustrating, and some of you are angry,” Duncan told the group, according to Diverse Issues in Higher Education. “I am

not satisfied with the way we handled the updating of PLUS Loans, and I apologize for that.”

Despite the apology—and despite the CBC’s appeals to the department—revisions have yet to be made, Fudge said.

The CBC will continue to agitate for those changes as it will for a less homogenous judiciary, members said.

“We feel that it is pretty important to have African-American judges, both at the trial and the appellate level in every circuit in our country,” said Rep. G.K. Butterfield (D-N.C.). “The problem is that we have Republican United States senators who have been blocking this progress.”

Out of the 55 African-Americans nominated to the bench by President Obama, only 42 have been confirmed, Butterfield said. Additionally, 43 seats at the district and appellate levels remain empty.

“The president needs to be more proactive in nominating African Americans to the bench [and] we would hope he would be less conciliatory with those Republican senators who have demonstrated that they are obstructionists,” said the North Carolina Democrat. “What we’ve got to do is continue to put pressure on the White House…and at the same time we need to encourage the Senate leadership to proceed with confirmation proceedings.”

Congressional Black Caucus faces tough battles in 113th

CBC Chair Rep. Marcia Fudge Rep. Barbara Lee


See “Diverse judges” on pg. 21

By Freddie AllenWASHINGTON (NNPA) – Despite

the unprecedented levels of obstruction from Republicans in the Senate, President Barack Obama has managed to get a higher rate of black judges confirmed than any other president in history, according to a court watchdog group.

Research compiled by the Alliance for Justice, a national organization dedicated to progressive values and the creation of a just and free society, shows that so far during the Obama administration, blacks have accounted for 18.7 percent of the federal judicial confirmations, a sharp increase over the George W. Bush administration, where 7.3 percent of the judicial confirmations were black. During the Clinton administration, 16.4 percent of the federal judicial confirmations were African American.

During the Obama administration, 41

percent of the federal judges that have been confirmed are women, compared to 22 percent under George W. Bush and 29 percent for Clinton.

President Obama has also managed to get more Asian Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans and gays confirmed to the federal bench than either Bush or Clinton.

“This is the best slate of judicial nominees I’ve seen from any president since I’ve been at the Lawyers’ Committee, since 1989,” said Barbara Arnwine, president and executive director of the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, a nonprofit group that works for equal justice under the law. “I’ve never seen a more diverse slate, I’ve never seen a more highly-rated slate, I’ve never seen a slate with this kind of deep diversity.”

Yet, the current slate of judicial nominees has faced unparalleled delays

in the Senate. President Obama’s judicial nominees have waited an average of 115 days between judiciary committee vote and confirmation, more than double the average wait time of President Bush’s nominees. Forty percent of President Obama’s district court picks have waited more than 100 days for a vote on the Senate floor, compared to 8 percent of President Bush’s nominations. Sixty-nine percent of President Obama’s circuit court judicial nominations have waited more than 100 days for a vote on the Senate floor. Only 15 percent of President Bush’s circuit court nominations waited that long.

Meanwhile, the problem of judicial vacancies is getting worse. During President George W. Bush’s sixth year, there were only 48 judicial vacancies. By 2013, however, there were 91 vacancies.

The slow churn in the Senate’s judicial confirmation process continues to strain resources. By 2010, civil litigants were waiting more than two years (25.3 months) for a jury trial. That same year, the federal government spent $1.4 billion to house prisoners before the start of their trial, due

in part to the lack of judges to hear cases, according to the Justice Department.

“It’s been a countdown process since the president took office. They were counting down his first [term] in hopes that he wouldn’t have a second [term]. Now they’re counting down his second [term] because they know he can’t run again,” said Arnwine. “And that’s the game they’ve been playing.”

Arnwine added: “This political gaming results in damage to the American public.”

Senate Republicans are gamming the judicial nomination process, utilizing a tradition that began nearly 60 years ago, when a segregationist led the Senate Judiciary Committee. The “blue slip” policy enabled a senator’s objection to a president’s judicial pick from his or her home state.

GOP Senators from Georgia have used the “blue slip” practice to delay some of President Obama’s nominees for Georgia’s northern district for years.

In an effort to fill those judicial

President Obama appointed the most diverse judges

CBC Calls for ‘National Day of Prayer to End Poverty’By Hazel Trice Edney

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - They are often called the “conscious of the Congress” and the Congressional Black Caucus will demonstrate that literally on Feb. 6. The 43-member caucus is planning a time of public prayer for the poor on U. S. Capital grounds Feb. 6, the CBC has announced.

“America is one of the richest countries on this planet; yet we have the largest gap between rich and poor in the developed world. Currently, 15 percent of the people in this nation live below the poverty line, and one in four children in this nation go to bed hungry each night.

“Even with these statistics, there are people who are doing everything they can to cut government programs that help these people keep food on the table,” said U. S. Rep. Marcia Fudge, explaining why the prayer time is necessary.

The announcement comes on the heels of the U. S. Senate’s refusal to extend emergency unemployment relief funds to more than 1.3 million Americans. Their last checks came Dec. 28.

“There are members of Congress who refuse to extend unemployment insurance to the long-term unemployed. There

are individuals in this country who call those with the least among us horrible, dehumanizing names as though they are choosing to be in the predicament they are in.

The CBC Day of Prayer is aiming to bring awareness to the issue of poverty that is affecting communities across this nation. Poverty has no race, it doesn’t only affect one type of person and it is not confined to a certain area. It is affecting all of us and it is past due time that we pay attention and get serious about putting partisan politics aside and do something to help the people who are hurting across this country," Fudge said.

The CBC will join with faith leaders from around the nation on Thursday, Feb. 6 at 1 p.m., for a “National Day of Prayer to End Poverty and Income Inequality”. The prayer will be held on the U. S. Capitol Hill East Lawn.

A press release further noted, “Since 1953, leaders from all religions backgrounds, sectors of society, and communities around the world have gathered in Washington, DC for the National Prayer Breakfast to unite in faith and to build new relationships that will

benefit goodwill for all. This year, when faith leaders gather in our nation’s Capital, members of the Congressional Black Caucus will also host the first National Day of Prayer to End Poverty and Income Inequality in our communities.

“As millions of American families continue to live below the poverty line,

and the gap between the wealthiest in our nation and all others continues to grow, faith leaders are invited to attend and stand in solidarity with the CBC as we pray for the consciousness of America to be awakened and united against this startling and harrowing trend.”

Congressional Black Caucus members

offsets the cost of care to uninsured patients and mitigates the underpayments by Medicaid. The ACA reduces DSH funding for safety-net providers because many uninsured people will now be insured through the ACA. But the increase in coverage among uninsured patients will be smaller than initially anticipated in states that don't expand Medicaid.

“Although the ACA will expand health insurance coverage to many who are currently uninsured, there will still be uninsured people remaining,” said Sabik, principal investigator on the study. “The ACA will take away subsidies that offer support to safety-net hospitals that provide medical care to those left uninsured. Financial support will be needed for these institutions following the implementation

of the ACA in order for them to continue to afford to provide care for those remaining uninsured.”

Future studies and continued effortsOverall, Massey’s research has found

that the ACA will have a positive impact on patients by allowing for increased lifesaving preventive care and the option to take time off work to focus on cancer treatment and recovery without fear of losing health insurance. But the research also concluded that the “choice overload” of health insurance exchange options can be confusing and hard to understand for both patients and doctors, and although the ACA will reduce the number of uninsured, it will also lessen the support of safety net providers and, therefore, the care they can afford to provide to those patients who remain uninsured.


Settlement from page 17

ACA & cancer from page 14

VCU state from page 15

leaders of their industries and our commonwealth, who will advance diversity in all its forms and who will invest in our university’s success for the next generation – we must ensure that they are fully supported and prepared to succeed at VCU,” Rao said.

Despite the recent opening of the McGlothlin Medical Education Center and the Academic Learning Commons – buildings that Rao called “two of the most remarkable spaces in VCU’s history” – the university has pressing facility needs for students and faculty. In fact, Rao said VCU has the fewest square feet per student among Virginia’s research universities.

Rao said key physical improvements are in the works. They include the Institute for Contemporary Art (Rao hopes the ICA will break ground later this year), the major renovation of the Cabell Library (the work begins this year) and the Children’s Pavilion (underway, with an expected completion next year). In addition, VCU continues to add residential options for students. Two more experiential-themed residence halls – one tailored to leadership, one focused on entrepreneurship – will be built on Grace Street next year, joining the two residences added to the street in recent years with themes of community engagement and global education.

The VCU Health System is facing a new set of challenges with changes related to the Affordable Care Act. Rao said the VCU Medical Center, the state’s largest safety-net hospital, will need Medicaid

expansion or an alternative funding source to continue to meet its mission, because the health system could lose up to $300 million in federal funds during a five-year period that starts in 2017. The university, he said, is working with the General Assembly to seek solutions.

The medical center is positioning itself as a leader in clinical trials and remains highly regarded “for treating complex illnesses and providing care for all people, with dignity, respect, professionalism and the highest-rated patient experience at all times,” according to Rao. The health system also provides more than $70 million each year to the School of Medicine to ensure the academic missions of teaching and research, and the medical school has undergone an important transformation in the way it trains physicians, using team-based, clinically driven problem solving.

“We are strengthening VCU as a national leader in educating future health care leaders, thanks to the most significant evolution of the School of Medicine’s curriculum in 30 years,” Rao said.

Overall, Rao said he is excited about VCU’s trajectory, and he is pleased that the university is increasingly being recognized for its strengths.

“The continued success and national recognition of our faculty have forever changed our culture and our expectations as an institution,” Rao said. “The engagement of alumni, partners and friends, not only as fans of VCU but investors in VCU, has helped us earn a truly national reputation for excellence.”

recognized that new smokers, who could replace smokers who died or quit, were essential to their continued profits. The Court noted, for example, an internal 1981 Lorillard document commenting that the company “must continually keep in mind that Newport is being heavily supported by blacks and the under 18 smokers. We are on somewhat thin ice should either of these two groups decide to shift their smoking habits.’

“To locate new black smokers, the Defendants used targeted marketing tactics. Tactics included sponsorship for youth sports teams, advertisements featuring black athletes, tie-ins with professional sports teams, tie-ins with record companies, and scholarships for underprivileged youth.

One memorandum recommended ‘tie-in with any company who help blacks – We help them, they help us.’ It suggested targeting groups that are 16 and older, and sponsoring Miss Black Teenager contests. It also specifically discussed ‘[h]ow to reach Younger Smokers: P.O.S. [point of sale] material, sampling, black inner-city newspapers, [and] Tee-shirt giveaways.”

The brief cited data showing tobacco companies “even designed brands with the express purpose of targeting the black community for their use.”

Special efforts to get blacks to become smokers notwithstanding, the black press is being ignored in plans to educate the public about the misdeeds of the tobacco industry.

Cloves C. Campbell, chairman of the NNPA said, “It is sad that an industry that sought to exploit our community with a product that is harmful to our health now seeks to further devalue African-Americans by ignoring the Black media when it is being forced to atone for what a federal judge determined was a deliberate effort to deceive the American public.”

A 2012 Nielsen report on African American consumers was cited in the brief to show that 91 percent of African Americans believe black media is more relevant to them. In addition, 81 percent of blacks believe that products advertised in black media are more relevant to them.

If parties to the agreement are serious about reaching black consumers, they can’t ignore the NNPA’s approximately 200 Black-owned newspapers and NABOB’s 200 black-owned radio stations, three commercial television stations, and one cable TV network, the brief stated.

It said, “Advertisements with NNPA and NABOB will disseminate the information more comprehensively and more directly to members of the African American community, which was a primary target of the Defendants’ extensive marketing practices to promote smoking. Because the Defendants directly and intentionally targeted the African American community, the publication of the text of the court-ordered corrective statement by NNPA and NABOB members will be a more effective and complete remedy for the Defendants’ harmful conduct.”

Former Dallas Cowboys player Josh Brent enters the courtroom in Dallas, Texas in this file photo taken Jan. 14, 2014. A jury found Brent guilty of intoxication manslaughter charges last Wednesday, after he crashed his car, killing his friend and teammate Jerry Brown in 2012. (PHOTO: REUTERS/Mike Stone)


Diverse judges from page 19

vacancies in Georgia’s northern district, President Obama worked with Republican senators, Johnny Isakson and Saxby Chambliss of Georgia, striking a deal that has drawn sharp criticism from some of President Obama’s long-time supporters and Democrats from the state.

According to Rep. David Scott (D-Ga.) and other Democrats who objected to President Obama’s judicial selections for Georgia district, a deal was struck without consulting with civic groups that normally vet judicial nominees in that state.

Scott expressed his concerns about the nominees in a recent letter to Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Scott wrote: “If confirmed, the federal bench in Georgia will not reflect the current demographics of the state for at least another generation. There will soon be only one active African-American district court judge in Georgia. In addition, the views of some of these nominees reflect the regressive politics of the past. I want to share some very important and critical background information with the Committee before these nominations are considered.”

Scott added: “It is an abomination that these nominees for lifetime appointment

were drafted in secret, not vetted by any legal groups among the president’s supporters, and announced on a holiday weekend. We must not allow lifetime appointed judges to be rammed through the hearing process without sufficient input from the people who will be affected by their future judicial actions.”

Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), former chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), a former Atlanta-based civil rights group, said he and other black leaders object to some of the Obama appointment of federal judges in Georgia.

“The group cites serious concerns that the proposed candidates do not adequately reflect the diversity of the northern district and that the selection process lacked meaningful community input,” Lewis said in a statement. “Additionally, the coalition finds it troubling that several nominees include persons who have advocated in favor of Georgia’s voter ID laws and for including the Confederate Battle Emblem as part of the Georgia State Flag.”

Mark Cohen defended Georgia’s restrictive voter ID laws that some civil rights leaders say discriminate against the poor and minorities. As a Georgia state legislator, Michael Boggs voted in favor of keeping the Georgia state flag that was based on the Confederate flag.

Georgia’s black population is 31 percent, twice the national average. In Alabama blacks account for nearly 27 percent of the state’s population and roughly 17 percent of Florida’s state population. Only one of the judges currently serving on the 11th circuit court responsible for those states is black and only one out of six of President Obama’s nominees for that circuit is black.

After years of blocked nominations and procedural delays employed by the Republicans, who are in the minority in the Senate, Democrats, headed by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) pushed the button on the “nuclear option” last November that that allowed them to cease debate on a particular issue with a simple majority. The historic move cleared the way for some of President Obama’s judicial nominations and executive-level positions to be confirmed.

“The [Obama] administration has really had a difficult row to hoe because of the difficulties in the Senate,” said Arnwine of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. “The Senate has accorded this president less respect, less deference, and less cooperation than any president I’ve seen.”

The Obama administration’s success in the federal judiciary has not come without sacrifice. President Obama has been forced to withdraw five black judicial

nominations, most recently, William Thomas, an openly gay black judge in Florida, because of a lack of support from Republican senators.

Members of the Congressional Black Caucus are calling on Leahy, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, to reform the “blue slip” process.

Rep. G.K. Butterfield (D-N.C.) said that the “blue slip” process is being abused and that is having a chilling effect on qualified Black judicial candidates.

“The reform that we pressed so hard for in the filibuster reform process itself will be still-born if the ‘blue slip’ process is not also reformed,” said Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-Washington, D.C.).

Rep. Butterfield said that no one is letting the president off the hook, because more diversity is still needed in the 11th circuit where Cohen and Boggs, two white male judges, were just nominated.

Butterfield said that the 11th circuit serves a large population of African Americans, that’s why the region needs more black judges on the bench.

”It’s the Deep South and we must have some movement,” said Butterfield. “If it means repealing the blue slip process that has been observed for years, then the blue slip needs to be discarded.”

Eight months after a Bronx couple welcomed a baby boy their nine-year-old daughter hung herself in the bathroom of their home, reportedly because she couldn’t accept having a new baby in the house.

On Jan. 19, Tamiqua Torres, 31, went to check on her daughter, believing the girl was taking an extremely long time in the shower. When she opened the bathroom door she found her daughter, Justice Williams, dangling from the frame of the shower with a white cloth tied around her neck.

“We were as happy as happy could be until one day [when] my then-8-year-old woke up and decided that she wasn’t exactly thrilled about being a Big Sister,” Torres wrote on her blog. “I mean who could blame her, she spent the last eight years all to herself, being spoiled by everyone, only having to share while in school.”

According to The New York Daily News, Williams reportedly told several family

members she “wanted to die” when her mother told her of her pregnancy. A source

close to the family said Torres sought professional help and placed her daughter in therapy last year after her daughter told her she was suicidal.

Torres married her current husband, Raymond Torres, in 2011 and gave birth to their son in August 2013. When the baby arrived, Torres posted on her blog that her daughter might have been warming up to the idea of being a big sister.

“Fast forward to August when he arrived and she was happy and reassured that although her world has forever changed, she loves him more than she thought she would,” she wrote. “The road my family and I traveled to get where we are now was not smooth we faced many road bumps but over came them as a stronger family unit than I imagined us to be.”

“It’s an unforeseen tragedy,” Wardel Fenderson, the girl’s grandfather, told the Daily News. “I’m feeling like a block of ice. I’m numb.”

NY girl, 9, commits suicide months after brother is born

Tamiqua Torres, daughter Justice Williams and her baby brother. (Facebook photo)

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