VA SJR241

King Salim Khalfani, civil rights activist and longtime executive director of the Virginia State Conference of the NAACP, died on February 9, 2026

Graduated from John F. Kennedy High School in Cleveland, Ohio, and Virginia Union University before beginning activism with the Richmond Peace Education Center and Virginians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty

Joined the Virginia State Conference of the NAACP in 1990 as director of branch and field activities, becoming executive director in 1998 and serving until 2014

Continued advocacy after the NAACP as director of the Virginia Education Association's UniServ program, criminal justice lead for the Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy, and founder of Americans Resisting Minority and Ethnic Discrimination

The General Assembly expresses sadness at his passing and directs the Clerk of the Senate to present a copy of this resolution to his family