Dr. Cassandra L. Newby-Alexander will talk about the importance of rivers in the lives of African Americans in 19th century Virginia at a talk Friday in the Watermen’s Museum, Yorktown. The talk, “A Mighty River: Black Watermen, Soldiers, and Freedom Seekers in 19th Century Virginia,” starts at 6:30 p.m., and is free and open to the public. Newby-Alexander will talk on how black Americans used the waterways “to find freedom, independence and agency,” a release said. Newby-Alexander is a professor of history at Norfolk State University, and is author or co-author of a number of books on African American history in Hampton Roads. She is a board member of the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities, the Historical Commission of the Supreme Court of Virginia, the Norfolk Sister City Association, and the Norfolk Historical Society....