BBG

Congratulations All 2022 Graduates! 

Join us in Charleston Saturday at Magic Island from 4-7 p.m. for a Celebration! Honoring Graduating Class of 2022

News to Know

RESPONDING TO LIVING CONDITIONS AT SRJ: Steve New of New, Taylor, & Associates is joining forces with attorneys Tim Lupardus and Zach Whitten to address a growing number of complaints regarding the inhumane treatment of inmates in Southern Regional Jail (SRJ).

From Annie Moore, WVVA

Events

HAPPENING TODAY! Listening Session at 1 p.m. on ZOOM: Join the Black Appalachian Coalition and Emerald Cities Collaborative for a listening session on Justice40 and what it means for Black communities.

About Justice40

TODAY’S KIDS ARE NOT YESTERDAY’S KIDS: Different measures must be taken to reach and engage them. At 6 p.m. on May 23 at West Side Middle School in Charleston, come find a common ground to support, listen and voice your concerns so the gap between the school administration and the community is closed.

Seeking West Virginia Black farmers for chestnut growing program

High quality Chinese chestnut tree seedlings are in high demand as demand has outstripped supply. Southern Ohio Chestnut Company seeks to partner with Black West Virginia farmers by providing up to four young chestnut seedlings with excellent genetics, to produce nuts which can be sold for growing seedlings in 4-6 years. West Virginia, including around Charleston and Huntington, has prime conditions for growing chestnut trees. This is a long term investment in a highly sought-after agricultural product, which will provide value to the growers for the coming decades. Southern Ohio Chestnut Company recognizes that Black farmers have been historically oppressed, and they seek to take action toward building a more inclusive agricultural community by providing seedlings and educational resources directly to Black farmers in West Virginia.

Contact: Badger Johnson at paradise.ecological.services@gmail.com or 859-801-3137 for more information. 

What we’re watching

The Color of Care documents how Americans of color are subjected to systemically substandard healthcare as suggested by Romelia Hodges, CEO of Dunbar Stop, a minority wellness organization with an immediate focus of COVID-19 testing and vaccinations within the black community of Fairmont, Morgantown, Clarksburg and surrounding areas.

Hodges hopes health initiatives in West Virginia will shift focus and include discussion and action in reducing WV’s racial health disparities by building trust, equity, and tolerance in our communities with more culturally competent community clinics to serve as facilitators between large health facilities and the community to provide better health care to African Americans in this state, a wide range of intervention services are needed. 

Publisher Notes:

I cast my vote in the historic Garnet High school. I felt a great purpose thinking of all the greats who have walked its halls. Garnet High School served as one of three black high schools in Kanawha County, WV and provided a vital cultural tie to members of the community.

I know that my ability to vote in the building was my first and possibly last. The building is set to close and will no longer be used as a career center.

Many are rallying to convert the building to a museum or anything that will continue its legacy. 

I was honored that so many asked, “Can Black by God help?”

I sure hope so. 

Throughout the era of segregation, Garnet High School provided an excellent education for its students despite the limitations which developed under the “separate but equal” system.

The school produced many notable alumni including the Reverend Leon Sullivan, medical pioneer John C. Norman, Jr., Ivin Lee, the first woman to head a police department in West Virginia, and the great journalist and TV personality Tony Brown.

This primary was full of Black candidates across the state who bravely put their names on the ballot. 

Congratulations to all !

In the words of Henry Highland Garnet the namesake of Garnet High,  “Resistance! Resistance! No oppressed people have ever secured their liberty without resistance!” 

Meet the resistance below.

~ Crystal