As the year comes to an end, I wanted to take a moment to reflect on what I saw as I was learning more and more about our Central Virginia community.
The year kicked off with a lot of emotion and history-making as Del. Don Scott Jr. (D–Portsmouth) was unanimously elected to be speaker of the House of Delegates — the first Black person in the role. The General Assembly chamber was filled with a lot of emotions.
For the first time in commonwealth history, both statehouse chambers have Black leadership, with Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears as the Senate president and state Sen. L. Louise Lucas (D–Portsmouth) operating as the Senate president pro tempore.
“Over 400 years ago, people who looked like Del. Scott gave their sweat, blood and tears to build this Capitol,” Del. Luke Torian (D–Prince William) said in his nomination. “And I would say that is probably only right and fitting and appropriate that 400 years later, a person of color, an African American whose ancestors helped to build this capitol now stands to help lead this House of Delegates.”…