Richmond Schools in Need of $43M in Urgent Repair; Hampton Links Raise for HBCUs for #GivingTuesday; Dec. 7 Event on Red Onion Prison

🚩 22 days until Dec. 25 🎅🏽 Christmas + Hanukkah and 24 days until Kwanzaa
🚩 36 days until the Virginia General Assembly convenes on Jan. 8, 2025
🚩 48 days until Inauguration Day, Jan. 20, 2025

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Richmond Schools in Need of $43 Million in Urgent and Immediate Repairs

“This is our cry for help to folks with the city and with the state and with the federal government to ensure that we are providing the resources needed.”

That’s what Richmond Public Schools Chief Operating Officer Dana Fox told reporters yesterday (Dec. 2, 2024). An assessment on the urgent needs of all of Richmond’s schools was commissioned by the School Board at a cost close to $500,000 and the results are sobering. The report details can be seen here.

Richmond Public Schools have a serious budget shortfall. The schools will need $43.7 million in 2025 for much talked about repairs to over a dozens of school buildings in Richmond. Chief Operating Officer Fox expressed to reporters that the situation for Richmond Schools in urgent.

A new Mayor, Dr. Danny Avula, will takeover in Richmond next month.

Giving Tuesday: Hampton Links Raising Funds for HBCUs

Today is #Giving Tuesday and Hampton Links will be raising funds for an important cause: HBCU Scholarships. The Hampton Chapter of The Links, Incorporated, has made a difference in this community for over 70 years. Donate here.

Your donation is tax deductible, and checks should be made payable to The Links Foundation, Inc. and mail to Post Office Box 143, Hampton, Virginia 23669 or you may donate online at this link (hit the “get tickets” button).

Congress Back in Session Before Christmas Break

Congress has returned to session this week and leadership elections are the focus. The Congressional Black Caucus is expected to select a new chair. Democrats are selecting leaders for committees as Republicans meet with Trump cabinet nominees as holiday parties and office transitions take place in the background.

Last week we reported on the book event with Rep. Hakeem Jeffries and Liz Cheney on his book, The ABC’s of Democracy. The children’s book features illustrations by Shaniya Carrington. President Biden is in Angola.

Giving Tuesday: Virginia Black Chamber of Commerce

Board of Education Plans to Advance Accountability Despite Delay Requests

By Nathaniel Cline for Virginia Mercury - The Virginia Board of Education has no plans to delay the implementation of the new accountability framework to determine if students and schools are meeting state expectations, after school board chairs from Northern Virginia, representing a third of school divisions in the commonwealth, signed a letter making that request last month.

“We have to do what we have to do to get our students prepared for life beyond the walls of our schools,” said board president Grace Creasey, who is, like most of the board’s members, an appointee of Gov. Glenn Youngkin. READ ENTIRE

Virginia Defenders for Freedom to Hold Dec. 7 Meeting on Red Onion Prison Issues

Virginia Defenders for Freedom: On Saturday, Dec. 7, the Virginia Defenders for Freedom, Justice & Equality will hold a public meeting titled “Crisis at Red Onion Supermax: How you can help!” The meeting will take place at Wesley Memorial United Methodist Church, 1720 Mechanicsville Turnpike, in Richmond’s East End.

2 p.m: A showing of the Appalshop documentary “Up the Ridge,” about conditions at Wallens Ridge, Red Onion’s sister prison.

RELATED: Inmates burn themselves in protest at ‘inhumane’ Virginia prison conditions. The Guardian, Nov. 30, 2024

3 p.m: SPEAKERS: REV. RODNEY HUNTER - Pastor, Wesley Memorial United Methodist Church, speaking on how prisons affect the community. NATASHA WHITE - Director of Community Engagement, Interfaith Action for Human Rights, who spent four years in solitary in New York State. HASSAN SHABAZZ - Co-founder, Prisoners Rights Clinic, who spent 23 ½ years in Virginia prisons, including a year in solitary at Red Onion.

PHIL WILAYTO - Editor, The Virginia Defender; Co-founder, Virginia Prison Justice Network, reporting on the crisis at Red Onion and statements by Red Onion prisoners on the conditions behind the present crisis. A video of the meeting will be posted the next day on the Facebook page of The Virginia Defender.

Over the past few months, men held at the Red Onion supermax prison in rural western Virginia have taken the desperate step of severely burning themselves in order to try and force their transfer out of that notorious hellhole.

Although the warden initially denied this had happened, the Defenders were able to prove that at least two men had indeed taken this extreme measure. (See the Autumn 2024 edition of The Virginia Defender.)

RELATED: Virginia Lawmakers Want to Know Why 6 Inmates Have Burned Themselves, New York Times, Dec. 2, 2024

The Virginia Department of Corrections then admitted to Radio IQ that five men had burned themselves. VADOC Director Chadwick Dotson later admitted to six. The prisoners themselves say it was as many as a dozen.

At the request of the prisoners, the Defenders are working to bring public attention to this crisis. We are calling on honest members of the Virginia General Assembly to go to Red Onion, talk with the prisoners, see for themselves the reality there and then issue a public report. The immediate goal is to ensure the safety of the prisoners, including prisoner-activist Kevin “Rashid” Johnson, who first reported the self-burnings, and expose the conditions that have led to the current crisis. The ultimate goal is to have Red Onion shut down. For more information, visit https://virginiadefender.org Facebook page for Crisis at Red Onion Supermax. Email the Defenders at DefendersFJE@hotmail.com or call or text 804-644-5834.

Dec. 7: Rep. Scott to Deliver Norfolk State University Commencement

Congressman Bobby Scott will deliver the keynote address at Norfolk State University’s commencement ceremony on Saturday, December 7, 2024 at 9a.m. The graduation will take place at Joseph G. Echols Memorial Hall on the NSU campus. Over 400 graduates are expected to receive their degrees.

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