April 7, 2020

Was April 7, 2020 the day that sealed the fate of America?

By Thom Hartmann

On April 18, Bob Woodward recorded Jared Kushner saying that Trump had taken control away from the doctors and was going to open the country back up. So what might have provoked that? What was happening right around that time?

Trump’s official national emergency declaration came on March 11, and most of the country shut down or at least went partway toward that outcome. The economy crashed and millions of Americans were laid off, but saving lives was, after all, the number one consideration.

Trump put medical doctors on TV daily, the media was freaking out about refrigerated trucks carrying bodies away from New York hospitals, and doctors and nurses were our new national heroes.

And then came April 7, 2020, when the New York Times ran a front-page story with the headline: “Black Americans Face Alarming Rates of Coronavirus Infection in Some States.”

Across the American media landscape, similar headlines appeared at other outlets, and the story was heavily reported on cable news and the network news that night. White American conservatives responded with a collective, “What the hell?!?”

Rush Limbaugh declared soon after that “with the coronavirus, I have been waiting for the racial component. … The coronavirus now hits African Americans harder—harder than illegal aliens, harder than women. It hits African Americans harder than anybody, disproportionate representation.”

It didn’t take a medical savant, of course, to figure out that would be the case. African Americans die at disproportionately higher rates from everything, from heart disease to strokes to cancer to childbirth.

~~~~~

Tucker Carlson, the only primetime Fox News host who’d previously expressed serious concerns about the death toll, changed his tune the same day, as documented by Media Matters for America.

Now, he said, “we can begin to consider how to improve the lives of the rest, the countless Americans who have been grievously hurt by this, by our response to this. How do we get 17 million of our most vulnerable citizens back to work? That’s our task.”

White people were out of work, and Black people were most of the casualties, outside of the extremely elderly. And those white people need their jobs back!

https://www.rawstory.com/2020/10/was-april-7-2020-the-day-that-sealed-the-fate-of-america/

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At 102 years old, my great aunt, born the year of our last great #pandemic, made her way to the ballot box to cast her #vote. If she can do it, you can too! #Vote #VoteEarly #Election2020 pic.twitter.com/3nFCB3c4Ei

— Quentin Youmans (@QuentinYoumans) October 21, 2020

 

Then and Now

 https://www.boredpanda.com/young-celebrities-kids-then-and-now-digital-art-ard-gelinck/

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Blacks Pay More

An excerpt from Complex -

Study Shows Black Americans Are Paying More to Own Homes

BYJOE PRICE

In a new study from MIT, it has been reported that Black Americans are often forced to pay more than any other group of individuals to own a home.

CNN reports that Black homeowners on average pay more in mortgage interest, mortgage insurance, and property taxes than other homeowners. Written by Edward Golding, MIT's executive director of the Golub Center for Finance and Policy, the paper concludes that the vast difference between what Black homeowners and white homeowners pay indicates that it's considerably more difficult for Black homeowners to accumulate wealth through ownership at the same rate as white homeowners. 

The differences between mortgage payments is $743 per year, mortgage insurance premiums $550 per year, and property taxes at $390 per year. Totaling $13,464 "over the life of the line," the gap could result in up to $67,320 in lost retirement savings. 

"The small differences compounding over the life of the mortgage and during home ownership can add up," writes Golding. "Even if it is a few hundred dollars a year here and there, it can amount to another year's salary families would otherwise have." 

https://www.complex.com/life/2020/10/black-americans-pay-more-to-own-homes-study-shows

A Hotel Where Women Reign

 An excerpt from Insider - 

A new hotel in DC features a Ruth Bader Ginsburg portrait made from 20,000 hand-painted tampons — and that's not even the wildest design

By Melissa Wiley

Called Hotel Zena, it features over 60 bold and provocative artworks dedicated to female empowerment and those who have fought for women's rights.

View of the exterior of Hotel Zena,
seen from Thomas Circle in northwest Washington, DC. Hotel Zena

https://www.insider.com/dc-women-rights-hotel-features-ruth-bader-ginsburg-portraity-2020-10#called-hotel-zena-it-features-over-60-bold-and-provocative-artworks-dedicated-to-female-empowerment-and-those-who-have-fought-for-womens-rights-2

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HBCU Virtual College Fair

 An excerpt from the Sacramento Bee - 

Black students in California offered CSU, UC alternatives at HBCU virtual college fair

BY MARCUS D. SMITH

President and CEO Dr. Alan Rowe and his wife, Donna, founded the U-CAN foundation in 1988 when looking to enroll their son in a four-year college or university. They realized the limited resources and programs for Black students and started a foundation that would shape scholars in Sacramento – and California – for the next 40 years.

The HBCU college fair has now expanded throughout the entire state of California.

The United College Action Network (U-CAN) is hosting its 21st Annual Historically Black College and University (HBCU) College Fair online, in accordance with public health regulations.

U-CAN’s goal is to give California’s Black student population the opportunity to attend a four-year university. What started with just five students admitted in 1989 has grown to thousands of students accepted to various HBCUs across the country with their on-the-spot admission annual college fair.

The fair began on Wednesday and will end on Saturday. Registration is free and available every day of the virtual fair online at ucangotocollege.org.

https://www.sacbee.com/news/equity-lab/article246425780.html

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Expelled From 10 Schools - Now Ph.D.

An excerpt from Black Enterprise - 

THIS BLACK MAN GRADUATED WITH HIS PH.D. AFTER BEING EXPELLED FROM 10 SCHOOLS

by Dana Givens

Image via Tommie Mabry

The pursuit of higher education looks different for each person—with so many barriers standing in the way of obtaining a college degree for many marginalized groups. One man was able to beat all of the odds from his upbringing and is now celebrating earning his Ph.D.

As a child, Dr. Tommie Mabry was expelled from 10 different schools all before entering high school. Fast forward to December 2019, he was able to celebrate a huge milestone, finally obtaining his Ph.D. after a difficult journey of pursuing his education.

“My mom and dad [have] all my books in their house, they’re proud and they’ve come to all my graduations. Hopefully, if God says the same, they will be there at my Ph.D. graduation in December,” Mabry told Because Of Them We Can. “My mom said she didn’t think I would make it and now [I’m] the only doctor she knows.”

https://www.blackenterprise.com/this-black-man-graduated-with-his-ph-d-after-being-expelled-from-10-schools/

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The Million Man March - 25 Years Ago

 From Esquire - 

The Million Man March Inspired a Generation. Here Are Photos From the Historic Event.

On Oct. 16, 1995, Black men from across the country marched on Washington, D.C. 

By The Esquire Editors

Attendees at the Million Man March carried signs and raised their fists in the symbol for Black power.

Oct. 16, 2020 marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Million Man March, an event in which Black men from across the country poured into Washington, D.C. as a sign of unity. The event was massive. More than 11,000 buses delivered passengers in the days ahead of the event, according to the New York Times, with planes and trains ferrying even more. Celebrities like Will Smith, Stevie Wonder, and Diddy (then Puff Daddy) attended, along with civil rights icons like Jesse Jackson Jr. and Al Sharpton.

“I lost my mind,” Virgil Killebrew, who attended the march, told USA Today. “It wasn’t the speeches. It was the excitement. ... You felt the truth of all these people saying, ‘Black Power.’”

A wide shot of the National Mall on the day of the March.

https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/g34385811/million-man-march-1995-photos/

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The Nation's Most Pressing Problem

 An excerpt from the NY Times - 

END OUR NATIONAL CRISIS The Case Against Donald Trump

BY THE EDITORIAL BOARD

Mr. Trump stands without any real rivals as the worst American president in modern history. In 2016, his bitter account of the nation’s ailments struck a chord with many voters. But the lesson of the last four years is that he cannot solve the nation’s pressing problems because he is the nation’s most pressing problem.

He is a racist demagogue presiding over an increasingly diverse country; an isolationist in an interconnected world; a showman forever boasting about things he has never done, and promising to do things he never will.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/10/16/opinion/donald-trump-worst-president.html

TOBE NWIGWE | TRY JESUS

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This NEW Biden-Harris ad featuring 14 Black mayors from across the country is straight fire!! 🔥🔥🔥 #BlackLivesMatter #BidenHarris2020 pic.twitter.com/qMlWUUoCVo

— ✊🏾 ALL BLACK LIVES MATTER ✊🏾 (@flywithkamala) October 10, 2020

 

Architecture in Black

An excerpt from Black Enterprise - 

MEET THE BLACK WOMAN BEHIND ONE OF THE COUNTRY’S FEW BLACK-OWNED ARCHITECTURE FIRMS

by Dana Givens

Image via Purpose Brands

Architecture is an extremely difficult field to enter, especially for people of color. In a 2018 report from the National Council of Architectural Registration Board, nonwhite architecture professionals are 25% more likely to stop pursuing licensure with a nonwhite professional representing 45% of participants in the Architectural Experience Program. Black women are an even smaller margin when it comes to diversity within the sector. One woman decided to take her savings to start her career in architecture and is now celebrating 30 years in the business.

Deryl McKissack is the owner of McKissack & McKissack, a firm responsible for overseeing construction projects including the Obama Presidential Center, the National Museum of African American History and Culture, the Lincoln, and several Martin Luther King, Jr. memorials. In an interview with BLACK ENTERPRISE, McKissack shares her story about getting into the architecture field and the importance of diversity in the sector.

BE: What inspired you to get into architecture?

McKissack: Architecture was in my blood. I’m the fifth generation in our family to go into the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) business. My great-great-grandfather, a freed slave, was a builder, as was his son, my great-grandfather. His son, my grandfather, was the first Black registered architect in Tennessee. And my father, also a registered architect, would take me and my twin sister to work with him when we were 6, prop us up on his drawing boards and teach us how to draw details, do schedules, use Leroy lettering, make legends, and everything else. By the time we were 13, he was using our drawings.

My sister and I both went to Howard University on academic scholarships as double-majors in architecture and engineering. But I was more drawn to the practical side of things—how buildings work—and eventually made engineering my major. After I graduated, I went to work at an engineering firm.

https://www.blackenterprise.com/meet-the-black-woman-behind-the-countrys-few-black-owned-architecture-firm/

To Be Young, Gifted & Black 2

 An excerpt from the Root - 

Thanks to This 16-Year-Old Author, Black Girls at Predominantly White Schools Are Telling Their Stories

By Janelle Harris Dixon

Image: LifeSlice Media, Photo: Courtesy of Olivia V.G. Clarke

If you’ve never been Black surrounded by a constant overwhelm of White—at school, your place of work, in your neighborhood—just know there can never be enough memoirs, screenplays, or comedies to exhaust the complex experience. You are ever a racial ambassador, an explainer of non-white culturisms, a human Google for thoughtless questions, a pioneering barrier-breaker of beliefs about what Black people do and don’t do. (Once when I was pseudo-swimming in a friend’s backyard pool, a white woman gasped as I adjusted my bathing suit straps and exclaimed, “I didn’t know Black people got tanned!”)

Sixteen-year-old Olivia V.G. Clarke has lived the experience. A graduating senior at Columbus School for Girls, a predominantly white institution in Columbus, Ohio, she’s spent seven of her formative years navigating racial politics. The idea to write about it hit her when she was walking home with her mom.

“I said, ‘how cool would it be to have a book to help other [Black] girls in predominantly white institutions, who either go to one or graduated or are preparing to go? And just have stories, anecdotes and poems to help them feel supported?”

Black Girl, White School: Thriving, Surviving and No, You Can’t Touch My Hair, a 123-page anthology of poems, essays and reflections from contributors ranging from middle-school age to college students, is the creative dividend of that conversation. To represent a range of experiences, Clarke posted a call for writers on social media, reached out to friends and her parents’ friends, and girls she’d met in school, camps and other activities.

https://theglowup.theroot.com/thanks-to-this-16-year-old-author-black-girls-at-predo-1845323110

From Janitor to Nurse Practitioner

 An excerpt from Goalcast - 

Woman Becomes Nurse Practitioner At The Same Hospital She Used To Clean

By Kawter

Achieving your dreams has no age limit, but sometimes, life gets in the way and we forget just how possible it is. That’s why stories of real life people who overcame all odds to achieve their goals are a strong reminders that we can do it, no matter what.

Such is the story of Jaines Andrades, who in 10 years, went from custodian to nurse practitioner in the very same hospital she used to clean at.

https://www.goalcast.com/2020/10/08/woman-becomes-nurse-practitioner-at-the-same-hospital-she-used-to-clean/

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Young, Gifted & Black

 An excerpt from Black Enterprise - 

THIS 12-YEAR OLD JUST STARTED HIS 2ND YEAR IN COLLEGE, MAJORING IN AEROSPACE ENGINEERING

by BLACK ENTERPRISE Editors

image: BlackBusiness.com

Caleb Anderson, a 12-year old gifted boy from Georgia, has already finished his first year in college and has just started his second year. He is majoring in Aerospace Engineering at Chattahoochee Technical College.

Caleb was just 9-months old when he learned to sign more than 250 words. He eventually learned to speak and read when he turned 11-months old. Aside from the English language, he also learned Spanish, French, and Mandarin.

Caleb’s parents, Claire and Kobi, knew he was special and has been very supportive of him ever since.

https://www.blackenterprise.com/this-12-year-old-just-started-his-2nd-year-in-college-majoring-in-aerospace-engineering/

A Generous Class Act

 An excerpt from ESPN - 

Houston Rockets' Russell Westbrook leaves $8,000 tip for bubble hotel staff, per report

On his way out of the NBA bubble, Rockets star Russell Westbrook left the housekeepers at the Grand Floridian hotel an $8,000 tip, the Dallas Morning News reported.

By Royce Young

On his way out of the NBA bubble in Orlando, Florida, Houston Rockets star Russell Westbrook wanted to show his appreciation for the housekeepers of the Grand Floridian hotel, and he did it with an $8,000 tip, according to the Dallas Morning News.

"They took great care of us," Westbrook told Bleacher Report, confirming the tip. "Took the time and energy to do their job at a high level. That was the right thing. I like to do the right thing."

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/30056301/houston-rockets-russell-westbrook-leaves-8000-tip-bubble-hotel-staff-per-report

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A post shared by Hedger Humor (@adriennehedger) on Sep 21, 2020 at 8:02am PDT

 

Nuggets of Truth

 From Buzzfeed - 

https://www.buzzfeed.com/kristatorres/industry-secrets-reddit

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A Family Photo at the Door

 An excerpt from the Washington Post - 

I keep a family photo at my front door. It’ll stay there until toxic attitudes toward Black lives go away.

Opinion by Michele L. Norris

I keep a framed family photo next to my front door, positioned on a table, so you see it as soon as you enter. It captures a moment of joy while on vacation. We’re leaning on each other, smiling wide. Family Strong.

I keep that picture by the entry in case police ever enter my home, they know that the people in that photo belong in the house where they live.

That paragraph you just read is a litmus test. Some of you will read these words and wonder, “Why would she ever do that?”

But some of you will read this and nod your head in recognition. Or perhaps conclude, “Maybe I should do that, too.”

Those of us in that second category are not worried about police entering our home because we’re engaged in criminal behavior. We worry — actually, we know, that we could be seen as criminals or intruders in our own homes even if we consistently and even obsessively live by the rules. A steady stream of raids-gone-wrong buttresses those fears and yet it goes far beyond all that.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/i-keep-a-family-photo-at-my-front-door-itll-stay-there-until-toxic-attitudes-toward-black-lives-go-away/2020/09/28/0e9027fe-01bb-11eb-a2db-417cddf4816a_story.html

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Swearing Birds

An excerpt from CNN - 

Parrots in wildlife park moved after swearing at visitors

By Rob Picheta

London (CNN) — Five parrots have been removed from public view at a British wildlife park after they started swearing at customers.

The foul-mouthed birds were split up after they launched a number of different expletives at visitors and staff just days after being donated to Lincolnshire Wildlife Park in eastern England.

"It just went ballistic, they were all swearing," the venue's chief executive Steve Nichols told CNN Travel on Tuesday. "We were a little concerned about the children."

"I get called a fat t**t every time I walk past," Nichols complained.

The African grey parrots -- named Eric, Jade, Elsie, Tyson and Billy -- were given to the park from five different owners within the same week, and shared a quarantining facility together before being placed on display.

But staff immediately noticed that the birds shared a propensity to fly off the handle.

https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/swearing-parrots-moved-park-scli-gbr-intl/index.html