Rouse, Convirs-Fowler, Askew, Feggans on Virginia Beach Charter, Riverfront Amphitheater, Gloria Witt Running for Congress
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Virginia Beach Officials, NAACP to Hold Press Conference on City Charter
Elected officials representing Virginia Beach and members of the NAACP will gather in the House Briefing Room on the second floor of the General Assembly Building at 10am on Monday, January 29th to discuss the Virginia Beach City Charter legislation. The legislators expected to attend are Senator Aaron Rouse, Delegate Kelly Convirs-Fowler, Delegate Alex Askew, and Delegate Michael Feggans.
Del. Convirs-Fowler has a bill (HB416) that “amends the charter for the City of Virginia Beach to reflect the City's transition to a city council consisting solely of single-member districts and the mayor.”
Today’s presser will take place in House Briefing Room on the second floor of the General Assembly Building at 10 a.m.
VA-05: Gloria Witt Announces Run for Congress
In Virginia’s 5th congressional district Democrat Gloria Witt is competing to take on Republican Congressman Bob Good. Rep. Good is being challenged by fellow Republican State Senator John McGuire in a primary. The primary is on June 18 (the presidential primary is on March 5).
Witt has served as President of the Amherst County NAACP. She was recently interviewed on The Morningline to WLNI 106.9 FM.
As reported by the Lynchburg News and Advance, “Witt had a 32-year career with a global energy company, Framatome, and after retiring in 2013 became founder and CEO of Define Success Coaching, a company that develops executives and leaders.”
Groundbreaking for 7,500 Seat Riverfront Amphitheater
Photos by Paulette Shipman Singleton
RICHMOND, VA — Live Nation, Red Light Events, and City of Richmond officials broke ground Wednesday on Riverfront Amphitheater, a new music venue that will be built along the James River in downtown Richmond. The 7,500-capacity venue is expected to open in time for the 2025 summer concert season.
Virginia-based Red Light Events and Live Nation are the driving forces behind Riverfront Amphitheater. Red Light manages dozens of musical acts including Dave Matthews Band, Chris Stapleton, Lionel Richie, and Phish. Live Nation officials also mentioned Sarah McLachlan, Tyler Childers, and Lainey Wilson as examples of acts that could be booked at the venue.
Photos by Paulette Shipman Singleton
A Thursday, Jan. 25, 2024 release by the Virginia NAACP outlined their concerns about a rise in racist incidents in Virginia and calls on Attorney General Jason Miyares to investigate.
Virginia NAACP Denounces the Rise of Racial Intimidation in Virginia
RICHMOND, VA – The Virginia State Conference NAACP (Virginia NAACP denounces the rise of racial intimidation in Virginia. Virginia NAACP President Rev. Cozy Bailey issued the following statement:
“We call attention to the continuous acts of hate and racism not to extend the message of the perpetrator but to bring attention to the need to find solutions to enduring racism in our communities. The hateful messages found recently in Lynchburg, Mathews, Gloucester, and Loudoun bring crystal clarity to the fact that racism endures in the Commonwealth.
Those who do not want to accept or address the fact attempt to change the narrative to a debate as to whether this country is a racist nation or not.
The clear and present issue is that racism exists, and it must be stamped out everywhere. This administration has chosen to back away from the challenge of mitigating racism and inequity by refusing to maintain a viable Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and nullifying the effectiveness of several Advisory Boards through lack of engagement.
These passive acts and failure to address racism head-on are an encouragement to hate-mongers
to express their dangerous ideology freely and sometimes openly.
The VSC, in the tradition of Dr. Martin Luther King, will continue to fight against justice and racism anywhere in recognition of its threat to justice everywhere. We call upon the administration to take direct action as well.”
In the 2022 Hate Crime Statistics for Virginia, as reported by the FBI, 63.5% of hate crimes were against individuals, and 64.8% were motivated by race/ethnicity/ancestry. The Virginia NAACP, therefore, calls upon Attorney General Jason Miyares to vigorously investigate acts of racial violence consistent with the intentionality he has investigated other matters in our Commonwealth.
The Virginia NAACP stands firm in our commitment to a world without racism where Black people enjoy equitable opportunities in thriving communities.
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