Absolon Kent

LORTON, Va. — The center of a major Fairfax County tobacco plantation, Mount Air was worked by several generations of enslaved families under the McCarty family and their Chichester descendants. An 1811 inventory documented 76 enslaved people spanning three generations of the same families—one of the most thoroughly documented enslaved communities in the county.

Slavery on the property appears to have ended in 1860 with the sale of the estate outside the family. Remnants of outbuildings and archaeological evidence document the property's transition from tobacco monoculture to diversified and dairy agriculture during the 19th century.

Oral histories relate the existence of a cemetery for enslaved people on the grounds, along with cabins that housed the enslaved community.

Today, Mount Air is part of the Fairfax County Park Authority's historic sites system, with ongoing efforts to recover and share the stories of the people who lived and worked there.

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ANNANDALE, Va. — Ilda, a racially integrated community took root in 1868 when Horace Gibson, a formerly enslaved blacksmith from Culpeper, purchased five acres at the intersection of Little River Turnpike and Guinea Road from the Gooding family and opened a blacksmith and wheelwright shop with his business partner, Moses Parker — also formerly enslaved. Among the rarest examples in the post-Civil War South of a Black-owned business anchoring a mixed-race settlement, their shop's prime location on the well-traveled turnpike made it the cornerstone of a community that grew to include roughly 40 to 50 families at its height in the 1890s.

The settlement's name was a contraction of "Matilda Gibson Parker," Horace Gibson's daughter, who later took over the blacksmith shop with her husband, Moses Parker's son, and ran it until 1910. By the late 1800s, Gibson and Parker together owned more than 400 acres, and Ilda became one of the rare post-Civil War communities anchored by a Black-owned business that also drew white residents and patrons.

A cemetery near the crossroads held the remains of Gibson and Parker descendants, as well as people enslaved by the Gooding family; the graves were rediscovered during road-widening plans and relocated to Pleasant Valley Memorial Park in 2006 after a decades-long campaign by descendant Dennis Howard.

Ilda disappeared from the map by 1950, when the whites-only Lee Forest subdivision was built over much of the original settlement. Today, a Virginia historical marker and a small cross at the old cemetery site are the only physical traces remaining.

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WOODBRIDGE, Va. — Had great afternoon with family and making new friends and community connections at the 2026 Juneteenth & Me Festival. It was a vibrant celebration designed to bring together employees, residents, families, businesses, and community partners for a day of connection, reflection, and community at Pfitzner Stadium.

Hosted by the Prince William County HUES Employee Resource Group, coordinated by the Office of Equity & Inclusion, and supported by Parks & Recreation, this year’s theme, "Black Renaissance: Leading the Path Forward," highlighted a continued commitment to progress, creativity, and community engagement. Attendees enjoyed live performances, local vendors, art, youth activities, and opportunities to connect with organizations across the county.

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NORFOLK, Va. — It’s always great to reconnect with friends, shipmates, co-workers, mentors, and mentees. Yesterday, Thurraya and I attended the Change of Command ceremony for the Navy Public Affairs Command Element, as well as the retirement ceremony for Captain Sarah Self-Kyler. It was a wonderful opportunity to catch up with many of the past, current, and future professionals and leaders within the Navy Public Affairs community who are responsible for telling the Navy’s story.

Congratulations to Captain Richlyn Ivey, who relieved Captain Self-Kyler as commanding officer of NPAC, and congratulations to Sarah and her family on her distinguished 34-year Navy career.

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