This is a historic year in the history of the Commonwealth.  2019 marks the 400th anniversary of events in Virginia, which continue to define America.  The founding of the House of Burgesses at Jamestown in 1619 shaped the democratic process we continue to enjoy today.  However, 2019 also marks the 400^th anniversary of the arrival of the first Africans to be sold into bondage in North America.  While Hampton Roads is blessed to be filled with so much history and to be at the heart of our nation’s birth, we must recognize how the actions of our founders have left a tarnished legacy and created systemic challenges in our society that 400 years later we are still working to overcome.  In the midst of Black History Month, in the midst of a Virginia cast in horrid tumult and portrayed on a national stage for its errors and its often ugly history, the Hampton Roads Chamber sees this as a strategic turning point and a catalyst for our future.  We cannot change our history but we can and must learn from it and focus on a better future, one of equality and inclusivity.