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My Truth
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The very last! I’ve been in some uncomfortable situations during my lifetime, but I have survived. There are times when I thought I couldn’t go on, and still I was able to persevere. Over the years, I have overheard folks say they couldn’t bring themselves to watch a movie, especially those relating to slavery. I always wondered how they’d feel if they had to experience the savagery of that peculiar institution called “slavery.” Which brings me to my truth.
Photo credit: AP
Colin Kaepernick kneeling during the National Anthem
I was just Thinking
see MY TRUTH, page 2
Norma Adams-Wade Football great Colin Kaepernick’s take-a-knee gesture is now
A Big Step For Mankind By Ricky C. McNeal NAACP Garland Unit, President “We are supposed to fight for Willy.” This quote from the iconic movie, A Few Good Men, speaks volume to the ills that continue to plague and prevent our society from taking a giant step forward in race relations. What is even more telling and just as much an indictment on the ethics and morals of the majority community is the sentiment, “We did nothing wrong.” That quote from the private, aligns with some attitudes of individuals that sit on the sidelines idol, allowing systemic prejudicial behaviors, patterns, biases, indifferences and police brutality to puncture and permeate our society and especially Black people. America, you cannot just fight for Willy. You have to fight for Jerome, Cedric, Hakeem, Shawanda, Lakisha, Carlos, Roberto and Rosia. If not, who will advocate for them? Who will defend the people who can’t fight for themselves due to systemic racial issues, policies and practices? To our courageous Anglo community that fight for people that can’t fight for themselves
JUNE 17, 2020
Free Agent (UFA) by another? The talented, caring and socially-savvy star athlete has made it clear throughout his National FootballLeague career troubles that playing professional football is what he wants to do. Instead, politics and the League’s quest for sponsorship money and approval by conservative fans got in the way. But a recent Black man killed by a White cop has unwittingly catapulted Kaepernick’s fight against police brutality and the killing of unarmed Black men and women to the top of daily newscasts, and front and center inendless social media posts. Minneapolis white police officer Derek Chauvin, 44, was fired and arrested after a bystander’s cell phone video recorded him on May 25 committing a horrendous, fatal offense. Chauvin pressing his kneefor eight minutes, 46 seconds on the neck of George Floyd, 46, -an unarmed Minneapolis Black manwho died after pleading that he could not breathe. Floyd was suspected of paying for a pack of cigarettes with a counterfeit $20 billat a nearbyretail store. His death sparked daily protests and riots. The officer was arrested and his lesser, original charge ultimately was upgraded to 2nd-degree murder. Three other officers were fired and later charged as accessories.
If you don’t know Kaepernick’s back story by now you probably have been under a rock or asleep beside Rip Van Winkle.The player, fondly known as Kap, was the 49ers’ quarterback from 2011 to 2016 and led the team to several Super Bowls, although they ultimately lost.Later, Kap’s standing with the franchise plummeted after polarizing reactions to his kneeing began. He ultimately opted out of his contract, became a free agent, but no team has picked him up. He has made it clear that he still wants to play. Since the George Floyd killing, much has been made about the link between two kinds of kneelings – Kap’s kneeling to save lives, the cop’s kneeing to end one. Perhaps Kaepernick’s heroic kneeling might lead us to substitute the Black National Anthem to be sung at the opening of each NFL game instead of the traditional National Anthem. The BNA words and lyrics, written by two historic brothers – James Weldon and John Rosamond Johnson -- carry a significant, needed message: “Lift ev’ry voice and sing, till earth and heaven ring. Ring with the harmonies of liberty... Facing the rising sun of our new day begun, Let us march on till victory is won!”
SO NOW CAN WE HIRE KAEPERNICK BACK?
Publisher Cheryl Smith
Minneapolis police officer presses knee on George Floyd’s neck. Photo credit: Darnella Frazier’s video
VOL IX ISSUE 19
we salute you, please know that you are making a tremendous impact. Regarding the sentiment, “We did nothing wrong,” that is at best a controversial position. This generation of Anglos may not have done anything directly to impede the progress
Ricky C. McNeal
of Blacks or may have never uttered the ‘N’ word; however, that in no way totally absolves them. You probably never beat a Black person; however, you have benefitted from the prejudicial practices of your an-
see Mankind, page 8
famous as a rallying cry around the worldagainst police brutality, racial injustices, and the killing of citizen George Floyd. I was just thinking...does this mean that we now can get the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback rehired by his former team or as an Unrestricted
City of Garland Resident COVID-19 Testing Program The City of Garland has partnered with a lab to provide up to 100 COVID-19 tests per day for Garland residents during the months of June and July. COVID testing limitations have been due largely to lab testing capacity and funding availability. The City has obtained funding that can be applied toward community COVID-19 testing through the CARES Act. With funding availability, the City worked with Clinical Pathology Laboratories (CPL) to obtain testing capacity of up to 100 tests per day during the next two months. CPL worked with two long time Garland medical providers, Dr. Duane Hinshaw and Dr. David Carlson, to provide sample collection services for this program. Between the coordinated efforts of CPL, Dr. Hinshaw, Dr. Carlson and the City, a community COVID-19 testing program is set to kick off June 2 and run through July 2020. The community testing program provides COVID-19 (PCR) testing free of charge to Garland residents. This test determines if you have active COVID-19 virus at the time of the test. It is not the antibody test to determine if you have been exposed to the virus. To be eligible for the test, you must be a Garland resident and provide documentation of residency, such as a driver’s license or other ID with a Garland address, a Garland utility bill, or other form of identification with a Garland address when you go to the test site. Persons being tested must also be age 2 or older. You will also need to obtain and complete a Garland Resident COVID-19 Test Form, which is available on the City’s website or at the test locations. You will need to
make an appointment prior to arriving at one of the two test sites listed below: First Family Health Care, 2201 Forest Lane, Garland Hours: Monday through Friday 8 - 11:45 a.m. and 1 - 4:30 p.m., Saturday - 8 – 11:30 a.m. Please Call 972-276-6822 for appointment Best Care Family Medical Center, 4402 Broadway Blvd., Garland Hours: Monday through Friday 8 – 11:45 a.m. and 2 – 4:00 p.m., Saturday - 8 – 11:30 a.m. Please Call 972-240-1789 for appointment Test results will be mailed to the Garland address listed on Garland Resident COVID-19 Test Form.
A call for change, a call for justice By Royce West Texas State Senate Many Americans have been moved to stunned resignation that yes, police misconduct exists after viewing the final nine minutes of George Floyd’s life. But for too many African Americans, it’s another verse of a song that mainstream America has not wanted to hear. Just two weeks earlier, 26 yearold Breonna Taylor was shot to death by Louisville police while in her own bed, the result of questionable, no-knock warrant tactics. In Fort Worth last October, Atatiana Jefferson’s life was ended by an officer who fired rounds through her window, while on her property unan-
nounced. And in 2018, former Dallas officer Amber Guyger ended a promising future far too soon for Botham Jean. Too many of us were left thinking that ‘Black folks can’t feel safe anywhere; not even at home.’
Sen. Royce West
No, these stories are not new. We remember the deaths of Jordan Edwards in Balch Springs in 2017, Walter Scott in 2016, Philando Castile and Alton Sterling in 2016, Michael Brown in 2014 and Eric Garner in 2013. All whose lives ended unjustifiably, most with those responsible not facing the type of legal consequences that persons not wearing badges would if they took the life of another. But even rare guilty verdicts do not erase the pain felt by family members over lost loved ones. It’s time, past time for changes to laws on the use of deadly force by those sworn to uphold the law. It’s time to respect and value the lives of Black and minority Americans. It’s also time
for leaders who are not Black or minority to stop acting like these heinous acts, administered by the hands of law enforcement, do not happen or have not occurred. Sadly, the blind eye of denial, indifference and maybe even complicity, has been around for centuries and seems renewed in recent days. Those motivations are why I authored SB30, The Community Safety Education Act in 2017, which instructs officers and citizens on how they should respond during interactions with law enforcement – hopefully for reasons of self-preservation. The bill’s language has been incorporated into Texas’ drivers’ license exams, along with driver
see WEST, page 3
Inside
The Warrior Model Rally v. Protest page 3
LL Cool J is Mad as Hell page 6
HAPPY FATHER’S DAY