Editor, Gazette-Journal:

Who do you say that I am?

There have been quite a lot of mistruths, misinformation and mistrust spewed lately. People who have not bothered to check the facts have said more than enough. Folks have stood in public forums, written falsehoods, and posted all manner of straight-out lies when saying who they believe me to be and what they think I believe without taking the time to find out who I really am.

Unlike most of the folk who are maligning my character, I was born and reared in Mathews County, Mobjack, to be exact, born to loving parents, who through no fault of their own, have deep roots in Mathews and a heritage to rival anyone who claims Mathews as their home; whether born here or come here.

You want to talk about “Skin In The Game,” my family has literal “skin” in the game, having come through a lineage of hope, survival and purpose. My ancestors suffered being enslaved, Jim Crow, segregation and many more atrocities that folks want us to f...