Cooperative Living February 2016 - 4

Viewpoint | by Richard G. Johnstone Jr., Executive Editor
Vol. 70, No. 3
ISSN 1529-4579
RICHARD G. JOHNSTONE JR.
Executive Editor
BILL SHERROD
Editor
LAURA EMERY
Field Editor
JANET BAILEY
Production Manager
LAURIE MILLS,
Apple Eye Studio, LLC
Graphic Designer
AMANDA S. CUNNINGHAM
Advertising Sales
SUSAN C. GLISSON
Advertising Assistant
To contact magazine:
9 a.m.-5 p.m. M-F
Phone: (804) 346-3344
Or at any time:
Fax: (804) 346-3448
Email: bsherrod@odec.com
Web: www.co-opliving.com
Published by the VA, MD & DE Association
of Electric Cooperatives
LARRY C. HOWDYSHELL
Chairman
JAMES E. HUFFMAN
Vice Chairman
HERBERT R. PATRICK
Secretary
FLETCHER B. JONES
Treasurer
JACKSON E. REASOR
President
RICHARD G. JOHNSTONE JR.
Executive Vice President
Board of Directors: R. Wayne Browning, A&N; C. Michael
Sandridge, Michael J. Keyser, BARC; George N. Goin, Gary E.
Wood, Central Virginia; Robert E. Arnold, Michael I. Wheatley,
Choptank; Jeannette S. Everett, Steven A. Harmon, Community;
James E. Huffman, Shawn C. Hildebrand, Craig-Botetourt;
Patricia S. Dorey, J. William Andrew, Delaware; Fletcher B. Jones,
John C. Lee, Jr., Mecklenburg; J. Steve Thomas, Sr., Greg W.
White, Northern Neck; J. Manley Garber, Stan C. Feuerberg,
Northern Virginia; Dale McNiel, Randell W. Meyers, Powell Valley;
Herbert R. Patrick, Micheal E. Malandro, Prince George; Richard
C. Oliver, Kent D. Farmer, Rappahannock; Larry C. Howdyshell,
Myron D. Rummel, Shenandoah Valley; Frank W. Bacon, Jeffrey
S. Edwards, Southside.
To advertise in Cooperative Living, contact:
Amanda Cunningham (804) 346-3344
National Advertising Representative: NCM,
611 South Congress Ave., Suite 504,
Austin, Texas 78704 * 800-626-1181
Member of the NCM network of
publications, reaching more than
8 million homes and businesses.
PRESSRUN . . . . . . . . . 513,290
COOPERATIVE LIVING (USPS 473-300) is
published 10 times a year, monthly except for
combined March/April and November/ December
issues, by the Va., Md. & Del. Association of Electric
Cooperatives. POSTMASTER, address changes
should be sent to: Cooperative Living, 4201
Dominion Boulevard, Suite 101, Glen Allen, VA
23060, (804) 346-3344. Periodicals Postage paid at
Glen Allen, VA, and additional mailing offices.
Subscription: $4.90 per year for members of
subscribing co-ops; $10 per year for all others.
ADVERTISING published is accepted on the
premise that the merchandise and services offered
are accurately described and willingly sold to
customers at the advertised price. Neither this
magazine nor the electric cooperatives in Virginia,
Maryland, and Delaware endorses any products or
services advertised herein. If any readers encounter
non-compliance with these standards, they are
asked to inform the Editor.
Great Virginians
Black History Month serves as a prompt to study in greater breadth and
depth the myriad contributions of African-Americans to the fascinating
narrative of our Commonwealth.
V
irginia has contributed more than its fair
share to the history of this great republic of
ours. From the first president, George
Washington, to the nation's first-elected AfricanAmerican
governor, Doug Wilder, Virginia's sons
and daughters have woven outsize stitches of gold
thread into the rich tapestry of America, perhaps
especially in the fields of statesmanship, politics,
athletics, the arts and education.
These contributions have come from Virginians
in all walks of life, from the four corners of the
Commonwealth, from the 17th century to the
present day. And they've come from Virginians of
all ethnic backgrounds, from black to white to the
Native Americans whose ancestors lived in this
bountiful, blessed land for countless generations
before the first Europeans touched its shores.
The history of Virginia is writ large - very large
- with the contributions of African-Americans,
from the very earliest days following the English
settlement at Jamestown. Over the four-plus
centuries since, Virginia's story is inseparable from
the story of her black citizens, who endured
enslavement, earned freedom, and have worked
hard to ensure equality under the law.
Virginia's notable black citizens constitute a
Who's Who of Outstanding African-Americans.
There's Booker T. Washington, born into slavery
near Roanoke, who through grit and hard work
would become a world-class educator, orator,
author and the founder of Tuskegee Institute.
Then there's Dr. Carter G. Woodson, born in
1875 in Buckingham County, who would become
known as the " Father of Black History " for his
passionate advocacy of this history, as he
chronicled the many contributions of AfricanAmericans
in every realm of American life. In
1926, he almost single-handedly promoted the
celebration and study of black history by
designating the second week of February as a time
to study the lives and contributions of two icons
of the black community, President Abraham
Lincoln and abolitionist leader Frederick Douglass.
This week in February would later become
Black History Month.
2
Virginia's long list of black luminaries also
includes Richmond's Maggie Walker, who would
become the first female bank president in the
nation; Clifton Forge's Roger Arliner Young, the
first African-American woman to be awarded a
doctorate in zoology; and Newport News' Ella
Fitzgerald, the " First Lady of Song " whose
exhilarating vocal runs would thrill audiences
worldwide for decades, both as soaring solo act
and as in-synch singing partner for greats from
Louis Armstrong to Frank Sinatra.
Any list should also include Halifax County's
Willie Lanier, whose stellar career with the Kansas
City Chiefs would lead him to be elected to the Pro
Football Hall of Fame, and who has since
contributed to the philanthropic and business
life of his adopted home of Richmond; Norfolk's
Tim Reid, an outstanding TV actor and director;
and Richmond's late Arthur Ashe, whose greatness
as a tennis player would ultimately be exceeded
only by his greatness as an author, humanitarian
and recipient of the Medal of Freedom.
To learn even more about the contributions of
black Virginians, go to the state's " Virginia Is for
Lovers " website, at www.virginia.org, and under
" Historic Sites " click on " African American. " In this
section you'll find a wealth of fascinating historical
and cultural information, including sites across the
Commonwealth that have shaped, or been shaped
by, many renowned black Virginians.
The list of these Virginians, of course, goes on
and on ... and continues to expand. We hope these
capsule bios will serve as a prompt to study in
greater breadth and depth the riveting narrative of
our Commonwealth.
To be sure, this narrative is at times messy, often
complicated, always fascinating. It's a pageant rich
in valor and villainy, sacrifice and honor, great
dreams and grievous disappointments, played
across a sweeping stage by a cast from many
cultures and creeds, ultimately coming together
- honestly but imperfectly - to make real the
original American motto, the Latin phrase E
pluribus unum... out of many, one.
One Commonwealth. One Virginia. One people. 
www.co-opliving.com
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Cooperative Living February 2016

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