Treska WIlson-Smith: We are better than they indicate
In a most recent article, from Road Snacks titled ‘The 10 Virginia Cities with the Largest Black Population For 2023”, dated October 15, 2023, Chris Kolmar wrote that Petersburg has the largest population of African American, or Black, as he referred to us residents. He shows the results of his analysis:
• The city with the largest African American population in Virginia is Petersburg based on the most recent Census data. Petersburg is 75.85% Black.
• The least African American city in Virginia is Poquoson. Poquoson is 1.46% Black.
• Virginia is 18.7% Black. Virginia is the ninth blackest state in the United States
After reading the caption and the information, I wondered as an African American, what other African Americans within this great city felt about the topic. After all, it says so much about us. What did it say TO YOU as an African American and what did it say ABOUT YOU as one of the African Americans in Petersburg?
When you look at other topics about Petersburg, it does not depict a pretty picture of us at all or about our leadership in particular. Take a look at the corroborating articles about our predominantly African American city.
I read several articles about this city that I live in and love. I see an article written by Nick Johnson in September 22, 2023 where he lists Petersburg as the first of the 10 worst places to live in Virginia. He writes, “The area suffers from an anemic economy and a crime rate that runs about 60% above the national average. At the same time, housing and education in the area are substandard.”
A 2021 report by WRIC Channel 8 stated the following: “Petersburg is ranked the least healthy area in Virginia, according to a report released today from the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute.”
Nothing new, we have had this ranking since 2015.
Another article dated September 19, 2023, by Chris Kolmar, lists Petersburg as the sixth poorest place in the Old Dominion. It ranks as having the 18th highest incidence of poverty and the 3rd highest unemployment rate.
In an article, again by Chris Kolmar, dated November 23, 2023, he ranks Petersburg as seventh on the list of most dangerous place to live: “Located just south of the Appomattox River from Colonial Heights, Petersburg has a bigger problem with violent crime than its northern neighbor. Petersburg experienced 21 murders in 2022, which gave it the highest murder rate in Virginia. Overall, residents faced a 1 in 122 shot of being the victim of an attack over the year.”
Nothing breaks my heart more than to read the report on Petersburg being among the top 10 murder capitals in Virginia as number 4. This article was also written by Chris Kolmar, October 6, 2023.
So according to these reports, or articles, in our predominately African American community called Petersburg, Va. we have a high crime rate, high poverty rate, substandard housing and schools, we are the unhealthiest and named the worst place in Virginia to live. As an African American, that does not feel good and it certainly does not look good.
To be fair, I looked up more positive articles,
An article titled “13 Oldest Towns in Virginia & They’re Loaded with History” lists Petersburg as number 2 only to Jamestown. The article was written by someone named Beth who did not give a last name and dated April 18, 2016. It talks about the history as far back as 1611:
“Petersburg is an independent city today, although the town's beginnings date back to the 1611 founding of the City of Henricus. Petersburg witnessed battles of both the Revolutionary War and the Civil War. Because of the town's location at the confluence of the Appomattox and James rivers, it has played an important role in economic and commercial development as well.”
Although this article tends to be on the positive side as it talks about the beautiful history of our city, it says nothing about the African American history in Petersburg and we the African Americans do nothing to promote our history. I have read articles before about the beautiful homes in Petersburg and there are many. Stepping into some of them is like stepping into history, stepping into the days of the Civil War. The very large room with fireplaces, the high ceilings, the wrought iron fencing, the long windows, are simply beautiful.
Homes fit for magazines. The architecture is simply breathtaking. These homes alone make Petersburg a wonderful place to visit.
However, as beautiful as these homes are, there is still more to this great city and yet, something is still lacking. Are there historical buildings that pertain to the African American population? In addition to the homes in the city which occupy different races, are there specific buildings which lend credit to the African American history in the city? Yes, there are, but where do you find mention or promotion of such?
Petersburg is home to the oldest educational system for African Americans in the entire state of Virginia via Giles B. Cook Elementary School and Peabody High School and we sat while it decayed. This is actual history that no other city in Virginia can ever claim, and it makes Petersburg a jewel in the state. Yet, we treat it like it is a lump of coal instead of the diamond it is.
Petersburg was the forerunner in the education of the African American student, something to take pride in. The records show City Council putting money aside to build Giles B. Cooke School and now the roof peels back like a sardine can. This educational system started in the oldest African American church in the United States, the Frist Baptist Church on Harrison Street.
A building at 131 New St. served as a hospital for African Americans in the 1890’s, did you know that? It is still standing today.
Then there is the building on Byrne Street., the former USO Club turned into the Beaux Twenty Club, which once served as the headquarters for the second African American voted into Petersburg City Council after reconstruction, Hermanze Fauntleroy.
Our buildings are historical, too. But they get no attention in discussion about Petersburg. Are they shown in the magazines?
On November 3, 2023, Nick Johnson named Petersburg as the most liberal city in Virginia. He explains that, “In this article, we will explore some of the most liberal cities in Virginia where progressive ideas and inclusive attitudes flourish.”
I don’t see the progressive ideas. Hmmmmm!
I can’t say how others may feel, it makes me weep because it makes me feel that somehow, WE as a people have failed. I look at the report dated March 2021 from Channel 8 news indicating our health status, a health status that had been that way for years and still when the issue of people having water turned on in their homes during a pandemic was put before predominantly African American leaders, they sang out a resounding NO!
NO to children having water in their homes, water to flush the toilet or water to brush their teeth. NO, knowing that if there are homes with no water, that children cannot remain in the homes and that Social Services must be informed and those children must be removed. How do you do that to one another?
When the governor stated to wash your hands, how was that to take place? Yet, we wonder how we can be unhealthy. I wonder about us and our supposedly progressive ideas…oh well.
Moving on ...
I look at how much history belongs to us and yet, we don’t. We won’t exploit it, we won’t tell it, we won’t promote it. We still only talk about the Civil War as if African Americans did not exist. This city has so much rich African American history and I am ashamed that we don’t do anything with it or about it. We don’t teach about where we came from, we don’t talk about where we were and how far we have risen. We stopped singing “We Shall Overcome” as if we actually overcame. We have not!
There are so very many famous African American people from Petersburg Virginia and our young people know nothing about them. We aren’t telling them of their heritage. We are not instilling in them the pride that others have left behind.
Our homeless situation is not good, children live in hotels, the same hotels which house drug addicts and sex offenders. We wonder why our children are struggling, but we don’t see them catch the school bus in the hotel parking lot. Yet we hold no one accountable for the lack of funding for our schools, for the lack of caring for our children or for the lack of concern for families in general.
I am proud to be an African American, and proud to be a resident of Petersburg, but, sad to see what it appears that we are representing. WE ARE BETTER THAN THIS! Our race or people have more education than we have ever had and yet we are not sharing the knowledge. We learned that knowledge is power, but the power is not being disseminated among us. No one will ever know it if we don’t tell it.
Don’t let these reports be the last thing people read about us and how we are doing in Petersburg. It is up to us to tell about us. Tell our youth about Col. Howard Baugh, the Tuskegee Airman born and raised in Petersburg. Tell our children about Moses Malone, one of the best basketball players that ever graced the NBA, from Petersburg. Tell our youth about Judge Roger Lee Gregory, the first African American Judge to ever serve in the 4th circuit in the state of Virginia from Petersburg and also the only person in U.S. history to be appointed to the U.S. Court of Appeals by two presidents of different political parties. Tell our children about Marva Hicks, a singer and actress, Blair Underwood, an actor, both natives of Petersburg.
And lets not forget Afemo Omilami and Curtis Lyons. Every time we turn on the television, we are sure to see one or the other of these famous people, yet our children don’t know they walked the same streets as they do today.
Our children don’t know of the struggles of African Americans during the civil rights era and how Petersburg played a significant part in that era. They don’t know that it was because of the efforts of the African American leaders of Petersburg, Rev. Wyatt Tee Walker, Rev. R.G. Williams, Rev. Milton Reid and others that basically created and demonstrated the act of a peaceful protest that led Martin Luther King Jr.’s peaceful demonstrations. Tell them about Undine Smith Moore a renowned composer from Petersburg who was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize for her 16-part choral work “Scenes from the Life of a Martyr” in hono0r of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Tell them about Dr. Florence Farley who was the first African American female mayor of a Virginia city, and that city was Petersburg.
Tell them it was the efforts of one man, the youngest man ever elected to council at the age of 25, Roy “Omowale” Hines who was beneficial in championing a resolution to make Petersburg one of the first cities in the nation to make Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday an official holiday. And if you think that is interesting African American history that isn’t told, look at the famous African Americans from here, such as William Evans, a resident of Petersburg who served as a delegate from 1887 to 1888, Alfre Harris, who served as a delegate from 1881-1888, Joseph Evans, a delegate from 1871-1873; Peter G. Morgan, delegate from 1869-1871 and a member of the city School Board and City Council.
The reports about our city are not always good, and everything said about it reflects the people who reside within it. It is up to us, the citizens to change the narrative. In this case, since the report is about the African American, it rests with us to make ourselves shine. We must carry out our legacies. We must support each other, and we must provide for our younger generation the truth of where we came from.
We must do better. We must write the next article through our actions.
Treska Wilson-Smith is a former member of Petersburg City Council, representing Ward 1. The opinions expressed in this article are her own.
This article originally appeared on The Progress-Index: Treska WIlson-Smith: We are better than they indicate
