14 The Hampton Roads Messenger


Church Directory Hampton Roads


To list your church here, call 757.575.1863 Norfolk


First Baptist Church, Logan Park 7493 Diven Street Norfolk, Virginia 23505 www.fbcloganpark.com 757-423-0407


Mount Gilead Missionary


Baptist Church 1057 Kennedy St. Norfolk, VA 23513 (757) 853-3721


Second Calvary Baptist Church


2940 Corprew Avenue Norfolk, Virginia 23504 www.secondcalvary.org 757.627.SCBC (7222)


Queen Street Baptist


Church Glenn E. Porter, Sr., Pastor 413 E Brambleton Ave Norfolk, VA 23510 www.qsbcva.org (757) 622-4458


Faith Christian Center


Church 1066 Norview Ave, Norfolk, VA 23513 www.fccnorfolk.com


(757) 857-1336


Portsmouth Grove Baptist Church 5910 W Norfolk Rd Portsmouth www.grovebaptistchurch.com (757) 484-4149


Hampton Sixth Mount Zion


Baptist Temple 3100 Butternut Dr, Hampton, VA 23666 (757) 896-6050


Newport News


Ivy Baptist Church 50 Maple Ave Newport News, VA 23607 www.ivybaptistchurch.org (757) 245-1781


Virginia Beach


New Light Full Gospel Baptist Church 5549 Indian River Road Virginia Beach, VA 23464 757.420.2397


Pleasant Grove Baptist Church


2153 Kempsville Rd Virginia Beach, VA 23464 (757) 479-1239


Chesapeake


Bethany Baptist Church 2587 Campostella Rd, Chesapeake, VA 23324 (757) 543-5887


Suffolk


Oak Grove Baptist Church 2635 E Washington St Suffolk, VA 23434 www.oakgrovebaptist.net (757) 539-8012


Our Faith


Turning Problems Into Blessings By Rev. Dr. Gregory Headen


It is doubtful that


any of us will live out our lives without ex- periencing something problematic. Things happen that we have no control over. Our lives can change in a moment. We can be driving along on a nice


evening on a clear highway enjoying the ride, and a deer can cross the road in front of us and cause a serious accident. This creates a problem to be solved. We can be sitting at the table eating dinner with fam- ily one minute, and the phone rings with bad news on the other end about a sister, brother, or someone else close. A few days ago in Newtown, some little children went to school excited about learning per- haps, thinking they were in one of the saf- est environments available, but they never came back home to their families because they were shot and killed. Our society has a problem with guns that needs solutions, and this problem runs much deeper than the guns themselves. It goes all the way inward to the disposition of the minds and spirits of those of us who crave the guns, guns that are capable of so much more than what we need for hunting and protec- tion. You and I do not live in a problem-


less world. Our world is very capable of hurting us, but this is nothing new. The world of the Jesus, the first disciples, and the apostolic church that followed had its share of problems. Problems only mean that we have a situation that requires some wise action. While the word deacon does not appear in the Acts 6 passage, it is very clear that the seven chosen by the peo- ple bore Greek names. The church had grown to several thousands by the time we get to Acts 6. Some three thousand were added on the Day of Pentecost when Peter stood up and preached. The great congregation included not only Hebraic Jews but also Greek speaking or Helenis- tic Jews as well. The widows of the later were being neglected in daily distribution of food. The work load can become too heavy for the same people to carry when there is abundant growth. Upon hearing their complaining, the apostles decided to do something. They could have done several things. They could have given up preaching the Gospel to become better distributors of food, but that would have been wrong. They asked the people to choose seven fill with the Holy Ghost and wisdom to put over this business. They were chosen by the people and set apart by the apostles. Problems are direction signs, not stop signs.


Volume 7 Number 9


May 2013


Central Park Five’s Korey Wise Opens Up About Wrongful Conviction


BY MEA ASHLEY


sits smirking through


Korey Wise a


one-man play, saying “hmph!” and “ummm” now and then. Youth groups, activists, and college students have packed the auditorium at the National Black Theatre in Harlem, where Wise will join a panel after the play on wrongful imprisonment -- a subject he knows all too well.


Editor’s Note: “The Central Park Five” a new film by Ken Burns, tells the true story of the five black and Latino teenagers from Harlem who were wrongly convicted of raping a white woman in New York City's Central Park in 1989. Korey Wise, who at age 16 was the only member of the group to be tried as an adult, later met the real rapist on Rikers Island. Matias Reyes finally confessed to the crime and his DNA testing led to the Five's exoneration in 2002.


In 1989, Wise and four other


young black and Latino teenagers were convicted of raping and beating a white investment banker in Central Park, leaving her for dead. The media called her the Central Park Jogger and the accused the Central Park Five. No evidence linked them to the crime except for their confessions, which came after relentless hours of police interrogation. They recanted shortly afterwards, but those statements were still enough to send them all to jail. Wise was 16 but sentenced as an adult to five to 15 years.


Last year, a decade after an


inmate named Matias Reyes confessed to the crime, resulting in all five of the boys’ exoneration, Sarah Burns, Ken Burns, and David McMahon released a documentary about their story, “The Central Park Five.” Wise, who went free after 13 years, is now suing the city for wrongful imprisonment.


During the panel, a young man


in the audience talks about being imprisoned at Rikers Island at 16. Wise can relate. He sits straightforward, hands clasped, no emotion on his face, almost dazed.


“Wow,” is Wise’s unspoken


reaction. Later, in his Bronx apartment,


he compared Rikers Island to another local landmark.


“The Bronx Zoo is dealing with all types of elements,” he said.


Yet he sees Rikers Island as a


place where rebirth happens, because inmates’ natural instinct and appetite for survival kick in. “There’s no mommy, no daddy,” he said. “Just you.”


Wise’s instincts did kick in


one day on Riker’s Island after an altercation with a fellow inmate, Matias Reyes. “Destiny made it his business to come see me,” Wise tells the audience, explaining how the true rapist of the Central Park Jogger confronted him over control of a television.


Thirteen years later, almost five


hours away at Auburn Correctional Facility, Wise and Reyes met again on the yard where about 10,000 inmates congregated. Reyes approached Wise and established that he too had transferred from Rikers Island. When inmates travel from prison to prison, it’s hard to meet new people, so they tend to stick with familiar faces. Reyes


broke the ice by apologizing for the fight; Wise accepted.


“I see you’re still maintaining your innocence,” Reyes said.


“I guess so, yeah,” Wise said. “Are you religious?” “Nah, I’m not religious. Why,


what’s up?” “Well, you know, I just became


religious.”


“Well, all praises be to the most high for you then.” The next day in the chapel, Wise


got a call from his mom. Inmates summoned to the chapel usually expect to hear about a death in the family, but not Wise.


“I don’t know who you talked to,


but whoever you talked to, he freed you,” his mother said.


Living with scars The white walls and concrete


floors in Wise’s Bronx apartment living room are as bare as a prison cell’s. The wind from the open window competes with an accordion heater right beneath the sill. He stands up from the wood framed chair, takes off his green long-sleeved shirt, and points to the scar on his wrist.


“I’m not a five.”


He lifts his undershirt to show a cut on his abdomen. “I’m not a five.” He pulls his pants down halfway


exposing a permanent purple bruise on his upper thigh.


“I’m not a five,” Wise said, referring to the Central Park 5.


Wise insists that he’s an individual


– more than a part of the group. Out of the five convicted, he was the only one tried and sentenced as an adult because he was 16.


“He spent twice as much time in


prison and was in an adult maximum- security facility,” said his lawyer, Jane Byrialsen, with whom he has developed a familial relationship.


“The damage that he sustained


from that experience is incomparable,” said Byrialsen, who added that Wise can be a loner sometimes.


Documentarian Sarah Burns


echoed Byrialsen’s sentiments. “The juvenile facilities were no walk in the park but they were not the same


CENTRAL PARK FIVE PAGE 15


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