As part of the conclusion of its Black History Month celebrations, the Gloucester Institute welcomed two speakers to the R.R. Moton Conference Center on Feb. 24. The Hon. Jerrauld C. Jones, Chief Judge, Norfolk Circuit Court, and his son, Del. Jerrauld “Jay” Jones (D-Norfolk), addressed participants in the Emerging Leaders program.

The elder Jones spoke first, calling it a pleasure “to come back and see that this beautiful place is owned and operated by people who look like you and like me.”

Jones first came with his parents to the Moton Center as a child in the 1960s. At this time his family lived in a segregated school district in Norfolk. Jones’s father was a member of the school board for a district where his own children were not allowed to attend school.

After years of being forced to go outside of the district they lived in to get an education, the children finally saw integration in 1961.

This, however, would not come without resistance from wh...