4 The Hampton Roads Messenger Editorial


Women and Men Can Learn to Build Legacies from Madame C.J. Walker


years old, Sarah’s husband died. After her husband’s death, she moved to St Louis, Missouri where three of her brother’s, who were all barbers at a local barbershop, lived. In 1906, Sarah married Charles Joseph Walker, a newspaper advertising salesman and became known as Madame C.J. Walker.


Although we may not all have BY ANGELA JONES March has been designated as


the month we celebrate Women’s History Month in the United States. During this month we reflect on the lives and accomplishments of strong women such as Cleopatra, Joan of Arc, Sojourner Truth, Ida B. Wells and Winnie Mandela. Men and woman alike can look at the lives of any of these brilliant women to create a road map for the type of legacy they want to leave for future generations. Although a plethora of women role models exists, Madame C.J. Walker inspires me the most.


We know her as Madame C.J.


Walker; however, the first female self-made millionaire was born Sarah Breedlove on December 23, 1867 in Delta, Louisiana. She made her fortune by developing and marketing a successful line of beauty and hair products for black women when she founded, Madam C.J. Walker Manufacturing Company. She was the first of Owen and Minerva Breedlove’s six children that was born into freedom after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation.


Sarah’s mother died when she was


5 years old and her father died shortly afterwards. She went to live with her older sister and brother-in-law; Sarah married at the age of 14 to escape her brother-in-law’s mistreatment; three years later she had a daughter.


When Sarah was only 20 years old and her daughter was just two


the good fortune of having supportive family members, if Madame C.J. Walker could overcome the adversities of her day and of losing her parents as a child, surely we can succeed with the tools and support we have today. In the post-civil war south, it must have been very difficult for an orphaned teenaged girl to survive.


Both men and women can learn a


lot from Walker’s business acumen and from her support of her community through philanthropy and activism. Not only did she survive her childhood adversities, she thrived. She trained other women on how to build their own businesses; she gave lectures on political, social and economic issues; and she donated to worthy causes such as the NAACP and to African American schools, individuals, organizations, retirement homes and orphanages. Walker also found the time and the conviction to support legislation to make lynching a federal crime.


Another admirable quality of


Walker’s was her support for other African American businesses. Her home on the Hudson River was designed by the first African American licensed architect in New York, Vertner Tandy, one of the founding members of Alpha Phi Alph fraternity.


Walker died at the age of 51


from complications of hypertension. Although her daughter took over the reins at her company, imagine how much more good she could have done if she had lived longer. As women, with our families and communities depending on us, we have to take better care of ourselves. We want to leave a legacy like Madame C.J. Walker and build wealth and security for our families and communities but in order to do that we have to first ensure our own health.


Volume 7 Number 7 Basketball Team FROM PAGE 1


program from top to bottom,” says Taveras who plays shooting guard and small forward.


Anthony Peoples (#15), a first


year center for the Bobcats, attributes the success of the team to the fact that it is “Like a family.” The family atmosphere is evident at every game, as the bleachers fill with cheering friends and fans waving blue and white pom-poms.


Most of the Bobcats are Hampton


Roads natives. “I like playing with people I grew up with,” shares Marquise Barfield (#5), a business major and guard from Norfolk. “It is a good organization.”


“The chemistry is good,” said


Marquise’s brother, Cedric Barfield, who also plays for the Bobcats; both graduated from Norview High School. While Cedric was playing for the Norview, the basketball team won the eastern district title.


At the center of every great team


is a great coach, and in this case, that coach is Jermaine Woods. Woods is also a Norfolk native, graduating from


March 2013


Granby High School and Norfolk State University. All of the Bobcats players agree that they enjoy having Woods as their coach.


Bryant & Stratton College Men’s


Basketball Team was the brainchild Erik Blackwell, the college's marketing business office director. He originally entered the school into a staff vs. students basketball game in the YMCA league and won first place. Next season, the team’s goal is to play in the NJCAA (National Junior College Athletic Association).


"Basketball at Bryant & Stratton


College has taken on a life of its own” says Chris Sawyer, Campus Director of Bryant & Stratton College-Hamp- ton, “The students are very excited about supporting the team and with Coach Woods’ leadership, I can see big things happening as we move into the NJCAA."


For more information about the


upcoming Spring semester starting May 8th at Bryant & Stratton College Virginia Beach or Hampton campus, or have questions about joining the BSC Bobcats Men’s Basketball team for the Fall 2013-14 season, please contact Erik Blackwell or Eric Harrell at (757) 499-7900.


Your Opinion Matters


Broken System: A Virginia Vietnam Veteran’s Story


BY ED BULL After eight generations of Bulls


in Virginia I feel that Virginia runs through my blood. The first was Tobias Bull an indentured servant, carpenter, and mason, who in 1648 built the first structure on Chincoteague Island, Virginia on the Eastern shore. My roots are grounded in this “Sic semper tyrannis” state.


I grew up a naïve farm boy on a


Established 2006 Angela Jones, Publisher Chris Parks, Editor


Rae Willis, Graphic Designer Ida Davis, Contributing Writer


PO Box 10414 ● Norfolk, VA 23513


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dairy farm in Manassas, Virginia, where I connected deeply to the battlefields of Virginia and the northern invasion that burned the Shenandoah Valley. With this deep-rooted sense of family, and hard work from the soil in Virginia it is hard to identify with someone born in Indianapolis, Illinois, and raised in Connecticut. Before Senator Warner was out of high school I had already been drafted and served my tour of duty for my country with the 25th Infantry Division, 65th Combat Engineering Brigade at Cu Chi and Tay Ninh. I cannot find anything in response of Senator Warner's military career/service. It appears he has not “been there, done that.”


I contacted Senator Warner's


office to ask for help with a Veterans Administration claim. I thought such a man who had reach Senator’s status would have the compassion, experience, and dynamics to help an old combat Vietnam vet. After, almost 9 months with three major engagements with Senator Warner's office and the Veterans Administration nothing has been achieved. It is my thought that the Veterans Administration has just ignored this US Senator or Senator Mark Warner has little influence or interest in helping a Virginia Vietnam veteran. I asked Senator Mark Warner’s office for help for a fair rating based


on doctor’s reports on the claim that started in 2009.


After approximately 9 months of


interfacing with the Senator’s office, I asked the senator’s representative on a telephone call “instead of stringing me along, will you really help me?” Her response was shocking. She indicated, the Senator office can only “ask for status of the claim” and (I was shocked to hear) if a veteran was about to die the Senator office “could place an extra request that would expedite the veterans benefit.” This seems to be a Senator out of touch with the combat veterans of Virginia or a Senator who has not “been there, done that.”


I have requested several times for


the Senator’s representative to confirm her telephone remarks in writing. She now refuses to contact me.


Something is wrong with the


system. I know several Vietnam veterans in Virginia dealing with the Veterans Administration regional office in Roanoke that continues the policy of “denying until they die.” And, the veteran does not have a chance of winning back some of his dignity. Vietnam veterans were recruited by our government to serve their country in a time of unparalleled social unrest. The Veterans Administration is a combatant system that most veterans find unhealthy. This process is for all the veterans being denied or withheld adjudication of claim by the Veterans Administration. Vietnam veterans have serve their country honorably, and for almost 40 years still find the culture and the government, including Senators and Representatives and the Veterans Administration, is still unable to respond or even want to sincerely help, that is except Senator Warner's office will be happy to help a veteran who is about to die.


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