Rae Cousins – 79th District Representative, Virginia House of Delegates

Elected to represent the 79th District in 2023, Rae is committed to building a Virginia where working families can thrive. In the General Assembly, she serves on the House Courts of Justice, Public Safety, and Education committees and has passed legislation on education, food insecurity, housing, criminal justice reform, maternal health, and workforce development. 

Rae is a graduate of the College of William & Mary and Howard University School of Law. She is Senior Counsel at BrownGreer, where she manages the administration of multi-million- and billion-dollar settlement programs for people injured by harmful drugs and medical devices and environmental disasters. A 4th generation Richmonder, Rae grew up in Church Hill and currently resides in Northside with her 3-year-old daughter. 

Latorial Faison – Poet and Assistant Professor of English and Department Chair of Languages and Literature, Virginia State University

Dr. Latorial Faison is an African American poet, author, educator, veteran military spouse, and mother. Her writing continues the African American literary tradition and explores the intersections of the Black experience in terms of race, culture, and identity. Faison’s poetry and creative nonfiction have been published in Callaloo, Obsidian: Literature and Art in the African Diaspora, Aunt Chloe, Stonecoast Review, Artemis Journal, Prairie Schooner, West Trestle Review, The Southern Poetry Anthology, Southern Women’s Review, About Place Journal, Deep South Magazine, and others. She is the author of The Missed Education of the Negro An Examination of the Black Segregated Experience in Southampton County, Virginia 1950-1970; poetry collections Mother to Son, I Am Woman, Love Poems, Immaculate Perceptions, Secrets of My Soul; the trilogy collection 28 Days of Poetry Celebrating Black History; and children’s books Kendall’s Golf Lesson and 100 Poems You Can Write: A Poetry Journal for Kids of All Ages. A Tom Howard Poetry Prize winner and Pushcart nominee, Faison has also been awarded fellowships from Furious Flower Poetry Center, VA Humanities, and the Association of Writers & Writing Programs. She is a member of the Wintergreen Women Writers Collective. Faison currently serves on the faculty of Virginia State University as Assistant Professor of English and Department Chair of Languages and Literature. She is married to her high school sweetheart, a retired US Army Colonel; they have three sons. Faison’s new poetry book, Nursery Rhymes in Black, won the 2023 Permafrost Poetry Book Prize and was published by the University of Alaska Press in July 2025. Most recently, the book has been nominated for the 2026 Pulitzer Prize. She has a forthcoming book, Blood at the Root, to be published by Finishing Line Press in November 2025.

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