From heartbreak and injury to healing and empowerment, Sean and Rylan’s gym is more than a fitness center–it’s a space for rebuilding lives and restoring community in Newport News.

https://www.bgr8fitness.com/

When a bridge symbolizing division and connection was set for demolition, Dr. Price and People for People came together to repair it–literally and metaphorically–showing what’s possible when a community unites. 

http://www.nnp2p.org/

Raised by his Grandmother, Father, and his father’s football team, Tommy Reamon, Jr. walks in his father’s footsteps as a NFL player. Filled with pride for his city, he started the brand City on My Chest to encourage pride in his hometown, and its track record for birthing legends. 

http://www.buybacktheblockvip.org/

Angela Reason’s photo is the only one of its kind on a wall of history—she’s a mom and the first Black, female Clerk of Court in Newport News. With compassion and conviction, she uses her role to witness and uplift the community, even in its toughest moments.

https://www.sustainequity.org/

What happens when a sidelined athlete takes a stand? In 2019, Kelo traded his football gear for activism, rallying his university to recognize MLK Day. Hear how he tackled systemic indifference and scored a win for justice at Christopher Newport University.

• Kelo’s Petition: https://www.change.org/p/paul-trible-in-respect-of-martin-luther-king-jr-classes-should-be-canceled-mlk-day-january-21-2019
• Uprooted: https://www.propublica.org/article/uprooted-documentary-christopher-newport-university-black-neighborhoods
• Restorative Justice follow up: https://www.propublica.org/article/christopher-newport-university-black-community-uprooted-task-force
• https://www.whro.org/virginia-center-for-investigative-journalism/2024-04-23/the-university-uprooted-a-black-neighborhood-then-its-policies-reduced-the-black-presence-on-campus
• 8% Article: https://issuu.com/thecaptainslog9/docs/issue_17
• https://issuu.com/thecaptainslog9/docs/clogvol50iss14real
• https://willardmaxwell.org/

Imagine a high school education so transformative that it fuels a lifelong mission for change. Joni Ivey reflects on the final days of her historic Black high school, the fight for integration, and how she helped create a new legacy for education in Southern Newport News.

https://www.dailypress.com/2017/02/06/resistance-and-repercussions-newport-news-residents-look-back-at-schools-desegregation/

https://heritage.nn.k12.va.us/

Toney owns Hard Times Skate Shop, one of a handful of Black owned skate shops in the country. When the city moves to take away the skate park in the city, he fights for both his community and his business.

https://hardtimesskateshop.com/

From chickens to cheerleading, Tamara finds her way out of the country and into Churchland. Her love of I.C. Norcom continues in her work on the Portsmouth School Board.

Mrs. Sharlene experienced a poverty of wealth and of love in her early years.  Despite it all, she found a way to raise her daughter differently, without ever forgetting where she came from. 

Despite being STRONGLY encouraged to find a home elsewhere, Speaker Don Scott finds a community that embraces all of him.