Race Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Morgantown Project Promotes Listening To Heal Racial Divides

Two activists in Morgantown are organizing a listening project they hope leads to greater racial understanding in the community.

Chris Schulz spoke with Susan Eason and Eve Faulkes about listening with intent, and finding common ground.

Schulz: Susan and Eve, thank you so much for joining me today. I’d first like to start out by asking you if you could explain to us what exactly the Listening for Racial Understanding Project is. Susan, why don’t we start with you?

Eason: Okay, sure. We’re trying to bring together people of different races to have conversations, really to increase greater understanding and empathy towards each other. Because we believe that that’s what’s really going to help improve the racial climate within our community and our country.

Schulz: Eve, do you want to take a pass?

Faulkes: I’ll add to that. Maybe this is a time to talk about the process? A little bit?

Schulz: Yes, absolutely.

Faulkes: We’re using an approach called active listening, where you’re not sitting there imagining what you’re going to say next, when someone’s talking to you. Your job is to listen to them so intently that you can then repeat verbatim back to them, as much as possible, what you just heard. And then you ask them if that’s what it was that you heard correctly. And they can either say yes, or add to it or. And that tends to be, you would not believe we’re sitting there watching someone’s face who’s being heard, when that reflection is coming back to them. They’re laughing, they’re nodding. That’s the difference between a regular conversation and active listening. And then that other person responds to the same prompt. And eventually they go off track. But by that time, they’re very comfortable talking to one another.

Schulz: What was your inspiration for wanting to pursue this?

Eason: Well, I would say my inspiration really came out of the summer of 2020, after the death of George Floyd. Just kind of the straw that broke the camel’s back in racial issues and racial tensions in our country. And, like Eve, I just felt like we’ve got to do something to bring people together. And I really felt like I needed to be a part of a solution. And one of the things that I wanted to do was give people the opportunity to hear one another, learn from one another, understand each other.

Schulz: Yeah, Eve?

Faulkes: I probably came at it from having grown up in an all white town in the middle of West Virginia, like so many West Virginians have. I’ve taught, for the last 10 years, a design for social impact class at WVU. And so we’ve been exploring that. And I’ve long since been exposed to a lot of people of color and every other kind of way we divide each other up because of students at WVU. And we’ve worked on this, and this, it really did seem like we have to do all we can to make people hear one another. Designers are communicators. And we’ve learned a long time ago that you can put the message out there, but if you haven’t figured out the way for someone to receive it and hear it, it’s a lost chance, lost opportunity. And so, being able to look at the whole picture, the whole context, see what people’s barriers are to hearing, and try to find a way around those is part of the process.

Schulz: So, Susan, if you can tell me what do you hope for the people listening to get from what they hear?

Eason: Well, I think our hope is that people will hear things that they haven’t ever heard before. That by hearing two people talking to each other honestly and openly, and reflecting on experiences: One, they might hear something about another culture that they had never heard before. But the other really neat thing that they might hear is that they’re very similar. Because we see, when two people talk together of different races, that many times they have a lot of experiences that are profoundly the same, and generate the same type of experiences, and feelings and emotions. So I think people observing that can begin to connect with those people themselves and see, “Wow, I too have something in common with this conversation.”

Schulz: Eve, what do you hope listeners will get from this experience?

Faulkes: Courage to do the same. You do see the common ground more than anything. In fact, there’s no group, there’s no pairing we’ve had yet that did not find common ground, something that they felt just like and you could, you could feel that. And Susan and I are sitting there laughing with them and crying with them. Trying not to make any noise as we do it. But it really is, it’s a beautiful thing.

Schulz: When do you hope to start releasing these to the public?

Eason: I would say, kind of our timeline is to complete these recordings, within the next three weeks, develop the montage over another month, have artists respond in April, to these conversations as well. And then maybe in June, have an art opening, where we invite people to come and see the art pieces. We hope to have a QR code, where you can really zoom in on the conversations that were held that are depicting the art there. And then also invite some of the people who experienced these conversations to come and talk about what it was like to be a part of the experience.

Faulkes: And so far, 21 of the 22 people want to be sharing that on stage or wherever they can.

For those interested in participating in the project as listeners or as artists, you can contact Eve Faulkes at faulkeseve@gmail.com and Susan Eason at susanceason@gmail.com

'Say His Name': Protesters Remember History While Marching For Future In Bluefield

In 1998, two white police officers in Bluefield were accused of beating and dragging a young black man, paralyzing him from the neck down. He died in 2002.

His name was Robert Ellison. More than 20 years later, protesters chanted his name and those of other black men and women who have recently died at the hands of police, including George Floyd in Minnesota and Breonna Taylor in Kentucky.

Protesters, many wearing face masks, shouted “Say his name” among a sea of signs reading “Black Lives Matter” and “Justice for George Floyd.” Bluefield resident and protest organizer Charkera Ervin wrote “I Can’t Breathe” on her mask, evoking the last words of Floyd and those of Eric Garner, another black man killed by police in 2014.

“We’re not powerless people, even though events like this make us feel like it,” Ervin said. “We have it in our power right now to change policy. We have it in our power right now to hold people accountable.”

Ervin helped organize the rally over the weekend, not only to protest police violence against the black community, but to inform her friends and neighbors of a little-known Bluefield resource formed after Ellison’s death.

“We have something that activists have been fighting for all over the country,” she told protesters Saturday, “which is our citizen’s review board.”

Protesters brought several signs to a rally in Bluefield on Saturday, June 6, 2020.

For the last 20 years, a group of four appointed citizens, police representatives and city officials have met regularly to review police interactions with the public.

In 2013, an attorney for Ellison’s family fought to obtain then-confidential records from the group’s meetings to find out what the group had accomplished since it started, the Charleston Gazette reported. Today, the meetings happen once every three months. They are open to the public, and meeting minutes can be requested from the city clerk’s office.

“I think the major thing that any city, any area needs to do is to hold the police accountable for what they do. … Because they are the example that the public sees every day,” said Randolph Phillips, one of the review board’s citizen members. “They should live up to those standards of who they are.”

In some ways, Bluefield is ahead of other West Virginia cities that have experienced police brutality. Charleston and Wheeling have both received, but not acted on, requests from black leaders to establish a citizen’s review board for their local police departments.

But Ervin and other protest organizers said the city still has a long way to go. For one, members can review cases and provide feedback, but they don’t have enforcement powers.

Further, Ervin said not enough members of the public know about Bluefield’s citizen review board and how to use it.

“I don’t think they know how to make that mechanism work for them. So, we want to educate on that,” she said.

Protesters in Bluefield kneeled at an intersection on Saturday, June 6, 2020.

Ervin and April Burroughs, another organizer, also took the opportunity Saturday to educate participants on voting and the U.S. Census, saying the rally was a kick-off to their future events to discuss these and other topics.

“In the wake of all the things that’s going wrong in the world that’s racially motivated, we decided to come together to bring a sense of unity to the Bluefield area,” said Burroughs, who lives in Huntington now. “I realized that I needed to come home to do something, I realized that maybe some of the light needed to be brought to where I’m from, to bring a sense of unity to the community that I grew up in.”

Coming Home

Many of Saturday’s participants are residents of Bluefield and the surrounding towns, but the event also drew people who grew up there and had moved away.

Kashayla Collins, who grew up in Bluefield but now lives in Augusta, Georgia, brought her two young sons, Kaivon and Khalil to West Virginia for their first protest.

“I’m out here marching for the future,” Collins said. “I want to make sure that my kids don’t turn into George Floyd.”

“It’s important that they see us standing up for them,” Collins said. “Because at 5 and 8 years old they don’t have the voice or even the mental capacity to always understand the injustice that’s occurring. But I want them to know when they get older, and they’ll remember.”

Mother Dionna Dowell (center) stands with her daughters Krisalyn and Arionna at a protest in Bluefield, Mercer County on Saturday, June 6, 2020.

After gathering at a local church and marching a half-mile downtown, several speakers, including candidates for the West Virginia Legislature, sitting lawmakers, local faith leaders and vocalists took the stage.

A few blocks away, a black father stood outside, a few blocks away from the rally.

A detective for the Bluefield Police Department, Kevin Ross joined the force about four years ago.

“I mean, you sit around here and you listen to people talk about the ‘police did this,’ ‘the police did that,’ and ‘I wish this would change,’” said Ross. “But you don’t see anyone putting applications in anywhere. So that was my reasoning. … Sometimes, if you want stuff done right, you sometimes have to do it yourself.”

Although Ross didn’t participate in the rally, he said he was within earshot.

“And there were some good points,” he said. “I think, you know, hopefully, things will change. But at the same time … we have to come together for it to change.”

Reporter and Southern West Virginia Bureau Chief Jessica Lilly contributed to this report.

Emily Allen is a Report for America corps member.

West Virginians Rally From Panhandle To Coalfields For Justice After Police Violence, Black Deaths

West Virginians across the state came together in protest over the weekend, joining thousands across the country demanding action after the killings of George Floyd in Minneapolis and Breonna Taylor in Louisville, both at the hands of police.

People gathered in Huntington, Charleston, Morgantown, Parkersburg, Fairmont, Beckley and elsewhere, from the Eastern Panhandle to the southern coalfields. There was even a “virtual rally” Sunday on Facebook for those who wanted to participate but maintain social distancing.

In Charleston, hundreds of people, many wearing face masks, gathered outside City Hall and the police department Sunday afternoon, chanting, “I can’t breathe,” Floyd’s last words that also called up the 2014 death of Eric Garner, a black man who died in a police chokehold in New York City.

“[The police] have this mentality of ‘us against them,’” said Mike, one black protestor in Charleston, who declined to provide a last name. “They have to realize, we’re the taxpayers. We employ them. Their job is to protect and serve, not to intimidate and murder,” he said.

Protestors gathered outside Charleston City Hall, where the police department is located, Sunday afternoon.

“There should’ve been 10 times as many people out here today,” said Jennifer Moore, a white woman from Charleston. “Where are they at? White people can’t keep sitting at home, saying ‘Oh, that’s terrible. That’s awful,’ and then that be the end of it.”

The crowd continued to grow as a few hundred people stayed chanting outside City Hall for hours, leaving at one point to march around the block.

Floyd, a 46-year-old bouncer and security guard, died outside a Minneapolis community store on Monday, May 25, after a police officer pushed his knee into Floyd’s neck for more than eight minutes. Taylor was a 26-year-old medical worker in Louisville, Kentucky, who police shot in March in her own apartment.

Although the rallies were organized in response to police violence elsewhere, West Virginia has had its share of alleged discrimination and abuse from law enforcement. Last fall, the Charleston Police Department’s policy for use of force came under fire after a young black woman was hospitalized following her arrest by two police officers.

The woman, Freda Gilmore, sued the city in December. The case is still pending in federal court, with trial set for January 2021.

Charleston Police Chief James Hunt said Monday he understands “the community has a reason to be mad.”

“I along with the officers… know that that officer in Minneapolis was in the wrong. We support what our protestors are behind, and we let our protestors know that,” said Hunt, who was not chief at the time of the use-of-force incident. “If they have ideas or grievances directed toward the Charleston police department, I’ll gladly listen.”

Black Lives Matter West Virginia, which in 2017 led a protest outside the state Capitol following the deadly White Supremacy rally that year in Charlottesville, Va., has stated that the group is not coordinating its own events, but members are monitoring those throughout the state and sharing resources.

The organization said it’s collecting face masks and organizing funds for bond and mutual aid, in case the largely peaceful events result in arrests.

Protest organizers continue to receive threats of violence. Men armed with rifles and handguns were on the sidelines of a Parkersburg protest Sunday night, in an apparent counter protest. According to the Wood County Sheriff’s Office, there were no confrontations between the two groups. In Martinsburg, police say they’re investigating after shots were fired during a Sunday protest. One man with a gun showed up to the Charleston event on Sunday, but police escorted him away from the area.

Crowds at the Wheeling protest Sunday evening were compact despite guidance from medical experts for the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

These gatherings come as most medical experts continue to advocate against large, in-person activities due to the coronavirus, especially as data shows how it disproportionately affects minority populations.

According to data Monday from the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources, African Americans accounted for nearly 7 percent of the state’s positive cases, a community making up a little more than 4 percent of the state’s total population. Other minority groups made up 15 percent of the state’s positive cases.

Health officials also have reported black West Virginians are hospitalized more than whites for the coronavirus, and they experience symptoms more often.

In Wheeling, WVPB reporters noted little room for social distancing. A sidewalk protest swelled onto the street in front of the Wheeling police department and city building. Once the police closed the street where protests were occurring, some room was provided for social distancing for those that wanted it. But most of the crowd stayed compact, circling around various speakers who explained their experiences to the crowd.

One virtual rally between black leaders, elected officials, candidates for office and advocacy groups allowed more for social distancing.

Jerry Carr, Jr., of the Morgantown NAACP stated during that rally this was the first time he could recall not taking to the streets in protest.

“We cannot wait centuries to solve this problem,” Carr said. “What has to happen is immediate action. … Even the people who don’t think they’re impacted, they’re definitely feeling the effects of all this.”

Several more protests are set for this week, including an event in Morgantown on Tuesday.

Reporters Roxy Todd, Corey Knollinger and Glynis Board contributed to this report.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story included protests in Athens, Mercer County. There’s no evidence there were any rallies there over the weekend.

Need Free Coronavirus Testing? Here’s Where The W.Va. Guard Will Be This Weekend

Updated Thursday, May 21 at 10:30 a.m.

The West Virginia National Guard will begin its second round of free, drive-thru and walk-up testing, to reach minority and densely-populated communities on Friday, May 22.

The Guard will be at the Schoenbaum Family Enrichment Center in Charleston and the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Huntington on Friday and Saturday, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The Guard also will be at Windmill Park in Fairmont both Friday and Saturday.

In Morgantown, the Guard plans to provide testing at the Big Lots parking lot on Friday, and they’ll be at the WVU Coliseum and Mountainview Elementary School on Saturday.

Testing at these sites is free and no proof of insurance or symptoms is required. The Monongalia County Health Department requests those who have insurance to bring their information, just in case insurance companies can help recoup some of the local costs of testing.

Those seeking tests will need identification or proof of residence.

This testing is meant to help reach those in the state’s minority communities that are disproportionately impacted by the coronavirus.

Last weekend, the Guard tested more than 1,600 people in Berkeley and Jefferson counties, which for weeks were considered “hot spots” due to their high numbers of positive cases. The governor removed that status on Monday.

According to a presentation from Dr. Cathy Slemp with the Bureau for Public Health Tuesday morning, 22 percent of those tested in the Eastern Panhandle were African American and 68 percent were white.

Results were still being processed Tuesday morning, but at the time Slemp said only a little more than 1 percent of those tested in the Eastern Panhandle were positive.

As of Wednesday, Jefferson had 111 positive cases, and Berkeley had 233.

The Guard also tested 181 people in Mercer County and 194 in Raleigh County over the weekend. In both areas, roughly a third of those tested were black.

Slemp said Tuesday, during a virtual meeting with the COVID-19 Advisory Commission on African American Disparities, that she would like to see more free testing for southern West Virginia.

The Guard announced its plans for free testing in the first four counties last week on Thursday, which some members of the advisory commission said was too late to fully get the word out.

According to data from the Department of Health and Human Resources Wednesday morning, a little over 7 percent of the state’s positive cases fall in the African American population, which only made up a little more than 4 percent of the state’s population in the 2018 census estimates.

About a quarter of black West Virginians who have tested positive for the coronavirus have been hospitalized. For white people the figure is 14.3 percent.

The state Department of Health and Human Resources reports the Guard will be in Fayette, Kanawha and Mineral Counties the following weekend, on Monday 29 and May 30. Addresses have yet to be announced.

An earlier version of this article stated no proof of insurance is required. While that still remains true, the Mon County Health Department is requesting people who have insurance bring their information, in case the insurance company can help recoup some of the local costs. This still shouldn’t result in any charges to the individual seeking testing, and the insurance information is not mandatory.

Emily Allen is a Report for America corps member.

National Guard To Provide Free Testing To Cabell, Kanawha, Marion and Monongalia Counties

In its first round of free testing aimed at reaching the state’s minority populations, the West Virginia National Guard tested at least 2,388 people in four densely populated communities.

Members of a 12 member task force addressing racial disparities in COVID-19 cases say that with more notice they hope to generate an even larger turnout this weekend, when the guard again offers testing in another four counties.

The National Guard plans to provide more free testing to residents in Cabell, Kanawha, Marion and Monongalia counties on Friday, May 22, and Saturday, May 23. No proof of insurance is required.

Jill Upson directs the Herbert Henderson Office of Minority Affairs, a state agency focusing on minority issues, and she chairs the commission. She said Monday she plans to announce specific testing site addresses on Tuesday.

The West Virginia National Guard tested 1,620 people in Berkeley and Jefferson counties in the Eastern Panhandle from May 15 to May 16, according to preliminary remarks from Secretary Bill Crouch with the state Department of Health and Human Resources during a virtual press conference on Monday. The Guard also tested 768 people in Mercer and Raleigh counties in southern West Virginia.

Crouch reported 33.8 percent of the people tested in Raleigh County on Friday were black, as were 36.2 percent of those tested the same day in Mercer County. Later, DHHR spokesperson Allison Adler clarified this data is incomplete and preliminary, as the agency continues to receive more data from the weekend.

During the advisory commission’s first meeting on May 11, state epidemiologist Sarah Sanders said 7.3 percent of the state’s positive cases are from the African American community, a group that, according to 2018 Census data, only accounted for 4.2 percent of the state’s total population.

Several commissioners from the advisory group said Monday they felt the state National Guard announced the locations too late in the week to give people enough time to attend.

The Guard didn’t announce the counties until Thursday, and even then it didn’t have specific locations yet.

“Better communication is key,” said Del. Sean Hornbuckle, D-Cabell, one commissioner. “If you’re going to have something on a Saturday, I think it’s highly inappropriate to let them know on a Thursday.”

In the Eastern Panhandle, state Sen. Patricia Rucker, R-Jefferson, said locally elected officials, like mayors, later reached out to her about the lack of coordination.

“I’m not saying we need their permission, necessarily, but it makes sense to include them,” Rucker said. “Because they’ll know they’re communities in a way the national guard can’t.”

With more notice this time around, commission members serving the upcoming testing counties say they are eager to spread the word.

“And the best way to do that is to educate people,” said Romelia Hodges, a Marion County resident and another commissioner. “It’s to let them know this is free. And to be transparent with them: you are going to need an ID. You are going to need a proof of residency.”

Hodges spoke to the Charleston Gazette-Mail about an outbreak of coronavirus that affected her community, killing two people. According to DHHR data Monday afternoon, half of Marion County’s 48 cases were black residents, which only accounted for three percent of the county’s population in population estimates from the 2018 census.

“We were pretty much looked at as disposable at that point in time,” Hodges said. “We were losing lives, and no one on the state level was paying attention to us. There was a lot of heartache and a lot of pain that was happening in the African American community.”

Hodges said she is stressing testing as a “civic duty” to her neighbors and others in her community who might be asymptomatic, to mitigate further spread of the coronavirus.

In Charleston, Rev. James Patterson, also on the commission, said as the group continues to meet twice a week, and as more testing is made available to populations with a need, he expects the process will continue to evolve.

He said local health organizations are in the process of partnering with more churches in Charleston, to offer similarly free, accessible testing. After the pandemic, he said he hopes the state will continue tackling the issues that place African Americans and other minority groups at a disadvantage in public health crises.

“What we’re really dealing with is the social determinants of health,” Patterson said. “Those are the real factors that have produced this particular disparity, and they will continue to produce disparities even after this pandemic is over. We’re still going to have the disparities we have now.”

The COVID-19 Advisory Commission on African American Disparities meets virtually with state health officials on Tuesdays and Fridays at 7:30 a.m., according to Upson.

Emily Allen is a Report for America corps member.

New W.Va. Group Explores How COVID-19 Disproportionately Impacts African American Communities

State health officials report COVID-19 is disproportionately impacting West Virginia’s African American community. A statewide commission on African American disparities during the COVID-19 crisis met for the first time on Monday to review the data.

According to state epidemiologist Sarah Sanders, 7.3 percent of the state’s positive cases are from the African American community, a group that, according to 2018 Census data, only accounted for 4.2 percent of the state’s total population.

Roughly 3.5 percent of the state’s population has been tested, according to data from the state Department of Health and Human Resources Monday morning and the 2018 Census.

Nearly 80 percent of black West Virginians who have tested positive for COVID-19 are symptomatic, compared to only 68 percent of COVID-19 positive people who are white, Sanders said. Many more African American cases have resulted in hospitalization than white.

Reverend James Patterson, one of 12 members on the newly-developed task force featuring religious leaders, community leaders, state legislators and medical professionals, said these numbers merit a two-pronged approach.

“One is programmatic implementation,” Patterson said, involving immediate tools like testing and treatment. “But the other challenge is, what I think is a policy that has to be put in place to address the social determinants of health.”

He pointed out many black communities in West Virginia are dealing with limited access to health care. These longstanding hindrances not only put them at a disadvantage during the COVID-19 crisis, but for most public health problems that still will be around after the coronavirus.

“This is this pandemic, but we live in a constant pandemic,” Patterson said. “Whenever anything happens out of the ordinary, or the just ordinary living for a lot of people of color, is a pandemic situation.”

State officials have been criticized for a slow response to African American concerns in this pandemic. Earlier in May, the Charleston Gazette-Mail reported on a mostly black outbreak in Fairmont, Marion County, resulting from a lack of education about the coronavirus from state officials.

“We have a public health system in West Virginia that really wasn’t ready for this kind of situation,” Secretary Bill Crouch from the state Department of Health and Human Resources said of the coronavirus Monday morning.

Crouch said the DHHR is moving around staff and strategizing the best use of its resources to target areas with the most need for education and treatment.

The West Virginia National Guard shared plans for mobile testing in vulnerable, minority and high population density areas.

According to Lt. Col. Tanya McGonegal, the guard is still waiting on approval, but they hope to begin implementing their plan as early as this Friday in Raleigh or Mercer Counties.

So far, McGonegal said roughly 570 soldiers are already helping support the state DHHR with initial screening efforts and testing throughout the state. From mobile testing vehicles, McGonegal said the state National Guard has been able to test up to 150 people in an hour.

This testing will be free and voluntary, to help those without insurance have access to primary care.

Emily Allen is a Report for America corps member.