Commending Naomi Hodge-Muse.

Commending Naomi Hodge-Muse.
Agreed to by the Senate, March 13, 2026
WHEREAS, in 2025, Naomi Hodge-Muse received the Black Appalachian Storytellers Fellowship Award from the National Association of Black Storytellers for her contributions as a community leader and author; and
WHEREAS, Naomi Hodge-Muse is a child of Black Appalachia and grew up in Henry County, the easternmost county in the Commonwealth considered to be part of Appalachia, where she can trace her family ancestry back to the early 1700s; and

WHEREAS, Naomi Hodge-Muse has preserved the heritage of Appalachia as co-author of
Tales of Koehler Hollow: An African American Family in Rural Appalachia
, which won the Bill Fisher Award for Best First Book: Nonfiction in 2025; and
WHEREAS, Naomi Hodge-Muse, a proud graduate of Virginia Union University, earned a four-year full tuition scholarship and worked her way through college; and
WHEREAS, after graduating college, Naomi Hodge-Muse returned to Henry County and helped pull her family out of poverty by acquiring a job at a local DuPont facility; and
WHEREAS, for 23 years, Naomi Hodge-Muse has also served the Henry County community as president of both the Martinsville-Henry County NAACP and the Martinsville-Henry County Voters League; and
WHEREAS, Naomi Hodge-Muse worked with the Sierra Club to lead a grassroots effort advocating against uranium mining in the Commonwealth; and
WHEREAS, Naomi Hodge-Muse is an inspirational mentor for children in her community and has taken many young people into her home, providing housing and financial support to ensure their success; and
WHEREAS, many of the children in Naomi Hodge-Muse's care have grown to become well-adjusted adults and leaders in a variety of career fields, including the military, law, engineering, health care, and the culinary arts; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED by the Senate of Virginia, That Naomi Hodge-Muse hereby be commended for her achievements as an author and legacy of service to the members of the Henry County community; and, be it
RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the Senate prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to Naomi Hodge-Muse as an expression of the Senate of Virginia's admiration for her ongoing commitment to servant leadership.