Priceless Vol 11 Number 10


Personal and Professional Empowerment www.hamptonroadsmessenger.com


Serving Norfolk, Portsmouth, Chesapeake, Hampton, Newport News, Suffolk, and Virginia Beach since 2006


Remembering our friend Mr. Clarence Sessoms


Page 7


Senators demand commission rescind request for voter data


Photos from Bryant & Stratton College's graduation


Page 8-9


NSU professor uncovers background on civil rights advocate


Page 14


Portsmouth presents free 'July Jazz' concert


SPECIAL TO HRM Jazz lovers will not


U,S. Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine WASHINGTON, D.C.


– U.S. Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine joined 24 colleagues in demanding the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity rescind its request that state election officials provide sensitive voter roll data. Warner and Kaine oppose the unprecedented request that threatens the privacy of millions of Americans and risks improper


removal of eligible


voters from voter registration lists in violation of the National Voter Registration Act. In the letter, the Senators warn that voting rights are at risk. “Tis request is unprecedented in scope and raises serious privacy concerns. Te requested data is highly sensitive and aſter recent


data breaches and


cyber-attacks targeting our election infrastructure, we are deeply concerned about how the Commission will maintain the security and privacy of the data,” the Senators wrote. “We are also concerned about why the Commission is requesting


sensitive voting data and how it will be used. Leaders of the Commission said they intend to compare state voter information with federal databases in order to prevent voter fraud. Experts have raised significant concern that false-positive results from such a cross-check will lead to the improper


removal of eligible


voters from voter registration lists. Improperly removing Americans from registration lists


is a violation of the


National Voter Registration Act and will hamper Americans’ right to vote.” Election officials from more than forty states have


shared the Senators’


concerns, including Governor Terry McAuliffe in Virginia, who refused to comply with the


request, and Republican


officials from Mississippi, Tennessee, and Ohio. Te letter was led by U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Jack Reed (D-RI) and also signed by Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Dick Durbin (D-IL), VOTER DATA PAGE 4


This Edition’s Highlights


Health Editorial Education


Healthy Recipe: Crushed Broccoli Coleslaw This is why we want to hear from you USDA Summer Food Service sites


Hampton Roads Upcoming Events Scholarships Watch


Youth essay contest Friends & Family Day at Bethel AME Matrix Health Group Memorial Scholarship 5 4


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BY GARRETT RANSOM What can you learn from a convicted


felon that treads the halls of one of the most notorious prison facilities across the globe? A lot more than you’d imagine. Te fact of the matter is a disproportionate amount of the inmates lassoed into the penal system committed crimes related to money. Burglary, robbery, larceny, extortion, the list goes on.


want to miss "July Jazz” featuring Brian Simpson, RaJazz, Connie Parker and Sam Rucker. Te free concert will take place in Portsmouth at the Pavilion on Saturday, July 22. Te show starts at 6:30 p.m., and doors open at 5:30 p.m. A limited number of VIP reserved seating tickets will be sold for the Orchestra. Te remainder of the seats for “July Jazz” are free admission, up to capacity of the venue. “July Jazz” limited VIP reserved seating tickets are $20 at the Portsmouth Pavilion Box office, inclusive of fees are on sale at the Portsmouth Pavilion Box Office and all Ticketmaster locations, charge by phone at 800.745.3000 or purchase online at www.ticketmaster.com.


Sam Rucker Connie Parker Brian Simpson


Free July 2017


RaJazz


Brian Simpson is heralded as one of contemporary jazz’s foremost innovators and


JULY JAZZ PAGE 4


Four tips to save yourself from invisible financial shackles


America has a huge


problem with money. Te formidable “red, white, and blue” country constructed upon the infrastructure of “financial prosperity” (capitalism), yet 57 percent of the nation can be characterized as financially illiterate. Money controls our access to food, water, transportation, social status, justice, and living conditions. Poverty is perhaps “the biggest threat to public safety”. If you can’t earn money within our system, you’re tempted to steal it.


Over the past week, I had the opportunity


to watch one of the most remarkable TED Talks that I’ve ever personally witnessed. I gazed in amazement as I watched a convicted felon grace a full audience of people with intelligence, confidence, and exemplary diction. It was nothing short of outstanding. And he was talking about one of America’s biggest problems: money.


FOUR TIPS PAGE 6


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