The
Courier www.couriernews.org
S ERVING C OLUMBUS , F T. B ENNING , P HENIX C ITY & S URROUNDING A REAS
Inspirational-Informative-Empowering...Your Source For The Truth Vol. 15 Edition 11 Free Thursday April 16, 2020
A View From A Pew
Dear Graduates, I Realize It May Be Disapointing, But Still, Congratulations
Page 3 MCSD Graduation Plans
DON’T LET COVID -19 SUPPRESS YOUR VOTE
VOTE ABSENTEE!
Mercedes Parham, MCSD Dir. of Communications Explains Page 2
Our Endorsements
PAGE 5
The Courier Offers Our Endorsements For The June 9th Election Page 7
APRIL 16, 2020
District Outlines Final Course Grading And Tentative Graduation Plans By Mercedes Parham Dir. Of Communications Muscogee County School District
The District has implemented guidelines to address the posting of final grades, awarding of credit, promotion/retention decisions, and graduation for the 2019-2020 school year. Grading procedures will be applied to student work from March 12 through May 8, 2020. Graduating seniors will have an opportunity to participate in virtual commencement ceremonies scheduled for each high school, May 22, 2020. Live ceremonies have been tentatively re-scheduled for July 22-25, 2020. Final course grading The following grading parameters were developed with guidance provided by the Georgia Department of Education, in consideration of the unique and disparate learning opportunities available to students after March 12, 2020. - Each student’s final grades will be calculated as the average of the 1st, 2nd, & 3rd nine weeks’ final grades as of March 12, 2020. - Each student’s final grades should not be lower than those received up until March 12, 2020. - Students will continue to complete assignments through May 8, 2020; grades entered will only be used to improve each student’s final grade(s). - Teachers will continue to instruct students and collect assignments through May 8, 2020. - Schools will follow the normal grade reporting processes for finalizing the 4th nine weeks. - All student grades will be entered by May 13, 2020. - Final report cards will be mailed to
home addresses prior to the completion of post-planning. - Schools will provide additional instructional support opportunities, based upon each student’s overall academic progress, during the High School Summer Credit Recovery Program or K-8 Summer Learning Program for ELA/Reading and Mathematics. - The schedule for additional instructional support opportunities is contingent upon further COVID-19 guidance issued by Governor Kemp’s Office, the Georgia Department of Public Health, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Graduation - Virtual graduation ceremonies for each high school have been scheduled for May 22, 2020 and will be available for public viewing through broadcast and digital platforms. - The live ceremony schedule is tentative, contingent upon further COVID19 guidance issued by Governor Kemp’s Office, the Georgia Department of Public Health, and the CDC. - Please do not secure travel arrangements or non-refundable plans related to the tentative live ceremony schedule until the event receives final approval from our state and national agencies. - Details related to senior dues and other school-based purchases will be addressed by each high school. For more information and updates related to the District's COVID-19 plan, visit our website. For more information, please contact Mercedes Parham at 706.748.2034 or communications@muscogee.k12.ga.us.
The Courier Eco Latino Newspaper *Any editorial content are the views of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views of this newspaper, publisher or staff” The Courier Eco Latino Newspaper 1300 Wynnton Rd Suite 104 Columbus, Georgia 3190 Phone: 706.225.0106 Mailing Address: P.O. Box 5747 Columbus, Ga 31906
Email: couriereconews@gmail.com Visit Us Online At: www.couriernews.org
Actual Voting Date June 9, 2020 Early Voting Will begin May 18, 2020 Monday - Friday 7:00am to 7:00pm Saturdays and Sundays 9:00am to 4:00pm
All Early Voting In Person Will Be At The Citizens Service Center In The Community Room
COURIER THURSDAY APRIL 16, 2020
A VIEW FROM A PEW
3
Dear Graduates...I Know You May be Disappointed, But Still, Congratulations THING in real life. In real life there are winners and losers. Sometimes you’ll win and sometimes you’ll lose. Which leads to advice #3. Advice #3: Life is not fair — get used to it! Advice #4: Life is not divided into semesters. You don’t get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you FIND YOURSELF. Do that on your own time. Advice #5: If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss. Advice #6: You will NOT make $60,000 a year right out of high school. You won’t be a vice president with an expense account until you earn it. Advice #7: A degree does NOT automatically get you a job — get some real life experience.
I realize COVID-19 has put a real damper on your senior year. But in spite of not being able to have a prom or celebrating your accomplishments with your friends, I still say congratulations! In a few weeks you will be able to say you made it. As one who has been in your shoes I understand exactly how you will feel. Regardless whether you walk across the stage in front of family and friends or not once you get that diploma in your hand, you will feel like your “S&*t don’t stink”. Nobody will be able to tell you anything. Yes that was me. Armed with my “official record of graduation” I was off to “rule the world” believing that “the world was my oyster” and all I had
to do was show people my diploma and it would open right up.
just graduating. You can take my advice or leave it; it’s entirely up to you.
At the time I understood the saying to mean that an oyster may contain a pearl, which has great value. The oyster represents the world, meaning that the world is at your disposal with your fortune somewhere out there waiting to be explored. In my naiveté, however, I had no idea how hard that “oyster” would be to open.
Advice #1: Life Ain’t No Dress Rehearsal. You can’t push a button and think you can do it over. You will make mistakes so don’t whine about them, learn from them.
For the record I’m the type of person, if you tell me, “the stove is hot”, I’m going to take your word for it and not touch it. With that being said please allow me to share with you some things about life I learned the hard way but I wish someone had told me when I was
Advice #2: Your school or the youth sports programs you participated in may have done away with winners and losers, but life HAS NOT. In some schools, they have abolished failing grades and they’ll give you as MANY TIMES as you want to get the right answer. In some youth sports programs there are no winners and losers and everyone gets a trophy. This doesn’t bear the slightest resemblance to ANY-
Advice #8: Flipping burgers should not be beneath your dignity. Your grandparents had a different word for burger flipping: they called it opportunity. Advice #9: The world doesn’t care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself. Advice #10: You will have a greater appreciation and respect for your parents when you are responsible for paying for your own clothes, groceries, insurance, car note, rent, and furniture. Advice #11: You will wish you were nicer to the nerds in your school. Chances are you will end up working for one. Advice #12: Don’t make a permanent decision based on a temporary situation. Times are going to be tough, you will face
adversity. There will be times when you will wonder how you will be able to make ends meet. That guy or that girl you thought was the love of your life might disappoint or even leave you. Please believe me when I tell you, it won’t be the end of the world. Never give up or give in. Your life is too important to just end it. Advice #13: It’s not always about racism. As graduates entering the world you need to be aware of the minefields that await you and the stereotypes and perceptions you can’t feed into if you want to move forward in life. There is a level of racism that we all have to overcome but that doesn’t mean that every single issue is race related. Sometimes it is about how you represent yourself. It is about how you present yourself. Not being hired may have nothing to do with the color of your skin but rather the way you came to the interview inappropriately dressed. Not being hired may have more to do with you not having command of the English language instead answering the interviewers questions with street slang. Advice #14: Find your passion and you will find your paycheck. If you can find something you would wake up every day and do it for free that should be your career choice. Advice #15: Pray daily, the most important rule of all. Give it to Him and He will give it back to you like you will never believe. Whether you take my advice or not is on you. I still offer my congratulations and wish you a great and wonderful life! after all “the world is your oyster”
Wane A. Hailes
April 2, 2020
PAGE 4
F RIENDSHIP B APTIST C HURCH
831 6 TH AVE C OLUMBUS , G A
Early Worship 8am Breakfast 9am Sunday School 9:30 am Morning Worship 11am Wednesday Prayer Meeting/Bible Study 7pm Thursday Noon Bible Study 12 noon Sunday Child Day Care Services Available For Those Attending Our Worship WEBSITE : friendshipbchurch.org (O FFICE )706.323-6996 (FAX ) 706.322.7596 (PASTOR ’ S HOME )706.561.6733 friendshipbaptistcolumbus@gmail.com or friendshipbc@juno.com Transportation available, must contact church office by Friday at 12:00 noon.
R EV. D R . E MMETT S. A NITON , J R PASTOR
P ROGRESSIVE F UNERAL H OME Evergreen Covington, CEO
4236 St. Mary’s Road Columbus, Georgia
706.685.8023 evergreenfc@mediacombb.net
Metropolitan Baptist Church 1635 5th Avenue . Columbus, Georgia
706.322.1488 Service Sunday School 9:30 A.M Monday Night Tuesday Bible Study Pastor Curtis Crocker, Jr.
Schedule Sunday Worship 11:00 A.M Prayer 6:00 P.M 12:00 P.M & 5:30 P.M
Mission Statement A growing church for growing Christians attempting to grow the Kingdom, one soul at a time.
Fourth Street Missionary Baptist Church Corner of 3rd Avenue and 5th Street Rev. Dr. J.H. Flakes Jr. Way Columbus, Georgia 31901 706.324.2055 Rev. J.H. Flakes, III -Pastor Rev. Dr. J.H. Flakes, Jr. - Pastor Emeritus
COVER STORY
PAGE 5
Courier Thursday April 16, 2020
Don’t Let COVID-19 Suppress Your Vote. Vote Absentee By Wane A. Hailes The Courier
tee ballots in person, rather than by mail.
It has become quite apparent that no one knows when this city, state or country will be back to normal. So, as it pertains to the election process and COVID-19, my recommendation is as follows; “Don’t let COVID-19 Suppress Your Vote…Vote Absentee.
The new option for voters to send in their ballots comes as coronavirus continues spurring concerns over the safety of voters and poll workers at precincts on Election Day.
That’s right. If you have received your absentee application in the mail send it in and send it in today. Please understand that what you received is just the application. You must fill it out and mail it back in and they will send you the actual ballot. Why am I recommending this? Because regardless what happens with COVID-19 or how often they change the election date they have to send you the absentee ballot and if you send it in, your vote will count. So, do it now and be counted. And it just got easier. This week, the State Election Board approved emergency rules allowing country registrars to set up drop-off boxes for voters to submit their absen-
Actual Voting Date June 9, 2020 Early Voting Will begin May 18, 2020
Counties will have the option of installing one or two secure metal boxes at either the registrar’s office or other county property for the June 9 primary, said Ryan Germany, the secretary of state’s general counsel.
All Early Voting In Person Will Be At The Citizens Service Center In The Community Room
Although they are not mandatory we expect them to be available here in Muscogee County. The state board also approved rules for securing the drop-off boxes, including how they are installed and overseen by certified elections officials to guard against tampering.
Is the Secretary of State sending ballots to everyone in Georgia? No. The Secretary of State is not sending ballots to everyone in Georgia. The Secretary of State is sending ballot request forms to active voters in Georgia for the upcoming May election only. Anyone who chooses to vote this way still has to fill out the form, send it in by mail, and then cast a ballot for the May election after first receiving the ballot in the mail as well. They will then have to send their ballots in by mail on time to have their ballots counted.
A huge surge in absentee ballot voting is expected with concerns over coronavirus unlikely to abate in the coming months. The option for all Georgia voters to request a mail-in ballot is only being offered for the June 9 primary so far.
Monday - Friday
7:00am - 7:00pm
Saturday - Sunday 9:00am - 4:00pm
Again, the Secretary of State is sending request forms, not ballots, which can also be downloaded online, in an effort to make it easier for those who are particularly vulnerable to COVID-19 to vote in a way that has been available to them since 2005, if they choose not to vote in person. Is Georgia implementing mail in voting? No. The Secretary of State is not implementing statewide mail-in voting. Anyone who does not send in the form to request an absentee ballot, and have their application approved by their county election office after matching their signature, must vote in-person on election day. Is mailing voters absentee ballot request forms a precursor to all mail-in voting in Georgia? No. In past elections, only around 5 percent of Georgians have voted by mail. There are a number of reasons the vast majority of Georgians prefer to vote in person and, though coronavirus has changed a lot, we are confident the same 95% of Georgians will return to their polling locations once the crisis passes. Georgia law requires in-person voting, the best way to uphold the one person one vote standard, and the Secretary of State has zero intention of changing that. Georgia voters will still be able to vote in person during the June elections and all elections this year. We are taking every precaution to allow Georgians to vote in person safely and confidently. We have stocked up on sanitary supplies and are training poll workers on effective social distancing measures. What has the Secretary of State done to provide safe, secure, and reliable elections while also keeping the people of Georgia safe from coronavirus? The Secretary of State will provide absentee ballot request forms to all active Georgia voters for the May election, so those who are worried about coronavirus at the polling place can vote absentee. Voting absentee by mail is an option that has been available to Georgia voters with no excuse necessary for 15 years. Polling places, mandated by law, will be provided with extra sanitation supplies, and poll workers will be trained to ensure social distancing is observed.
C OMING
THURSDAY APRIL 23, 2020
Congressman 2nd Congressonal District
Sanford D. Bishop
Georgia Senate District 15
Sheriff Muscogee County
Ed Harbison
Greg Countryman
District Attorney Chattachoochee
City Council District 4
School Board District 3
School Board District 7
Mark Jones
Elaine Gillespie
Sherrie Aaron
Cathy Williams
PAGE 8
A Ticket to Philanthropy with Don Vaccaro In 2016 Vaccaro and Kimber decided to start Grace Church Websites where churches can build their own websites for free as well. Kimber said they have given over 1,000 churches websites. Vaccaro decided to help churches build websites after meeting a man who was being charged $1500 to build a website that wasn’t being worked on. But also because, “I actually grew up as a Southern Baptist,” Vaccaro said.
Ameera Steward Special to the Courier Don Vaccarro, CEO of Ticket Network one of the leading online ticket exchanges in the country, is a 57year-old man from Hartford, Connecticut whose mission is to make a difference in the black communities across the nation. “What I try to do is inspire folks to be entrepreneurs…once you get folks of color up to a different economic level, they raise other people up there. So…I love to see them as entrepreneurs and I hate with a passion any laws or any systems and policies that disenfranchise, not only black people and minorities…anyone that’s at a low level of income from succeeding,” said Vaccaro. “I love it when entrepreneurs are able to start and build their own businesses.” He’s made it his mission since he can remember, but in 2012 his image was tainted after being wrongfully accused and arrested for using a racial slur. “You find out who your real are, you find out what other really think of you, and some tried to use it for their economic tage…competitors in the market Vaccaro said.
friends people people advanplace,”
Overall, “I think it was a good experience, I’ve made lifelong friendships with some of the folks in the NAACP and the National Action Network [which supported him]. So, I’m a big supporter of both organizations.” Many people from the black commu-
nity, especially those who were there to see the incident, came rushing to Vaccaro’s defense. In addition, during that time Vaccaro met Dr. Boise Kimber, pastor of the First Calvary Baptist Church in New Haven, Connecticut. After proving to Kimber that he did not use the racial slur, a friendship and partnership was born. “With my working with him, the guy has been totally honest with me and he has been a man of his word,” Kimber said. “He has exemplified great character and business…I have no problem with his integrity, if he says he’s going to do something then he does it.” Working for the Community Kimber’s and Vaccaro’s first order of business was to begin hiring black people from the largest cities in Connecticut – Bridgeport, Hartford, New Haven and Waterbury. Kimber said in 2016 Vaccaro implemented a plan to use a van that would assist people in traveling to Ticket Network for work. Vaccaro hired some people as engineers, some people worked in the call center, some worked in the cafeteria, some worked in maintenance there, and some were hired as drivers. In addition, because contractors had to wait three and four months before receiving pay, in 2017 he started advancing contractors their money and waited on the city, and other companies, to repay him.
“I think the church is a fundamental part of the community, it holds people together…you get a lot of good parishioners who don’t have the opportunity that comes along because of their lack of funds…folks that are smart and work hard,” he added. Something else he’s done was start a tour bringing gospel singers to different churches around the country to perform gospel concerts. What this did was give the local community exposure to the business side of the entertainment industry – production was done by African Americans and the business side was done by African Americans, helping people realize other careers they can pursue. Additionally, Vaccaro has a loan company called RCN Capital which was started in 2010. Through the company he and Kimber work with churches that are about to lose their churches and those that are in a building process. “The economy had hit in ’09 and ’10, and just went down and we were able to help a lot of churches…maintain and keep their churches,” said Kimber. “All of my experiences have been very good with him, he has helped my church tremendously,” Kimber added. “We were in a building process and he’s been very supportive of that, we named our fellowship hall the ‘Don Vaccaro Fellowship Hall’ because of his…great support of us and the community in which we live in. Kimber said he and his church started building their church in 2010 when the economy crashed and had to figure out how they were going to get the building done, “just not my church, he’s helped a lot churches in this state and outside of this state at my rec-
Courier April 16, 2020
ommendation.” A Birmingham Connection Recently in February of this year, Vaccaro donated $20,000 to Bethel Missionary Baptist Church in Pratt City after Kimber spoke with Dr. Tommie L. Lewis, the senior pastor of Bethel Missionary Baptist Church, about what the church was implementing. “That donation will help us to do what it is we do by helping us do mission and then of course…education,” said Lewis. “And we were so grateful for this because we’ve [America] had so much devastation in these days in which we live, so we were able to do some existential work and missions, and then of course it provided for us a vehicle to continue to educate our people.” Lewis added that because of the gift, his church has decided to name their resource center ‘The Don Vaccaro Center.’ “When you find a gentleman like Mr. Vaccaro, you welcome him with open arms because there is a dire need [for help],” said Lewis. “We are grateful, we are so thankful…The more we [Lewis and Vaccaro] talked the more I discovered that he didn’t just start this with me, he’s been doing this for quite a while and helping organizations that serve the black community. So, I guess when people get to a place in life where they have money, they want to do some good and what better place to do good then the African American church,” he added. Kimber said Vaccaro’s work has had a tremendous effect on people because in this economic time, “people are shifting and trying to maintain membership, trying to maintain their budgets, trying to maintain their finances, and so he’s been a blessing to people.” Vaccaro said he wants to do more for the African American community and continue fighting the forces against minorities across the country. “If there’s a way to help, I want to be out there to help,” said Vaccaro.
Courier April 16, 2020
PAGE 9
A Thought-Provoking Opinion By Brother Love...Part 3
By Brother Love Special to the Courier Let's talk Black to Black in this last part. You will learn what I mean if you do not know what I mean. Just how do you publicly promote voting rights, but at the same time make sure that black voters along with all other qualified voters in Muscogee County are robbed in broad daylight of the right to vote and decide the future of the Marshal's Office? Just how is any of that treachery easy to carry out with a clear conscience when black people trust, respect, support you? We only expect you to do right by the people. Fairness is all the Black community ever asks for from anybody. Does any of that mean to you what it should mean to you as a Black person? We didn't come over on the Mayflower. We didn't land on Plymouth Rock. They hit us across the head with a rock, chained us up, and brought us to the shores of North America in the filthy holes of ships. We have come as far as we have as a people by our faith in the God of the Bible. Some things are not good to turn your back on and forget. Some things we should always remember. Too many black people today are so caught up into their six-figure incomes, expensive cars and homes, professional titles and successful lifestyles that they forget who we are and from whence we came. We came this far together by faith, not by fear, not by hatefulness, not by plotting to do each other in. You are where you are and have what you have in life by the Grace of God Almighty and the undeniable fact that
black people throughout American history fought and died at home and abroad for our civil rights and our voting rights, of which both are precious. So how do you in the 21st Century knowingly help to cheat Black people out of a fair opportunity to vote, Black candidates out a fair opportunity to qualify and run for public office all during Black History Month? How? How do you lie down and rise up from last night's sleep with a clear conscience? It is something that just seems twisted about being able to do that. Political power and control of the Columbus Black community is being maintained by constant lying, manipulation, confusion, and division. It is not the White power structure with a direct stranglehold on the local black community of Columbus, it is the power elitist in the black community strangling the very life out of the black community so they can remain in positions of power to do the bidding of the White power structure. Greater power for the one results in more power in the Black community for the other. As long as these people are on top in the Black community, the rest of the Black community, whether they recognize their predicament or not, will always be on the bottom being used and abused. Future generations will suffer long and hard if there is no change in this day and time. Do we fight and live, or do we lie down and die? That is the question before you. It is question of life or death. The accomplices who have helped shut down the Marshal's Office are peddling Donna L. Tompkins in and around the Black community like crack cocaine, even being so desperate to bamboozle the black community as to use their positions and influence to arrange for respectable Black sororities to present Tompkins with awards and recognitions to help her defeat Greg Countryman and win the May 2020 Democratic Primary. So when they come and talk to you against Countryman like you are some nonothing fool, be sure to in no uncertain terms to set them straight on the spot. Let them know that you are not the one to buy into the lies and deceit. Tell them go peddle their poison to
somebody weak enough to buy it. Make them ashamed of themselves as Black people for what they are trying to do. The dirty politics crowd is pulling every dirty trick they can think of to keep you from voting Greg Countryman Sheriff of Muscogee County. They really do think that you are so stupid that you will be easily persuaded through whisper campaigns to blame Marshal Countryman for the closing of the Marshal's Office. One of the lame brained arguments they are going to try on you is that it is Countryman's fault because he announced his candidacy for sheriff too soon. Just what does that have to do with how mayor and council went about what Donna Tompkins proposed doing with the Marshal's Office? Each person involved in abolishing the Marshal's office made a conscious decision to speak up or shut-up, to act or not to act. None of them were under duress. Double barrel shotguns were not pointed to any of their heads.
Greg Countryman. He is a man with a love for the people of Columbus. His political enemies have thrown everything at him including the kitchen sink, but he will not be bullied or broken. They fear a man that tells them he will get out rather than sell out the people. He has never betrayed the trust the citizens have in him. He is a great county marshal who will be an even greater county sheriff. His leadership, dedication to duty, and solid professionalism are unassailable. Our votes must be our voices raised high speaking loud and clear against corrupt politics and deceitful practices perpetrated by Black people against Black people who actually do function as public servants, and not as public enemies of the Black community thinking they will never see the day come when they will be removed and replaced by another Black person. These people whom you have trusted have succumbed to the influence of corrupt politics mixed with the mindaltering drug of too much praise, privilege and power for too long.
Another dumb as dirt argument Blacks for Tompkins are floating in the Black community is that we should not be so concerned this time with electing Greg Countryman as county sheriff because all Black people's time, attention and energy should be focused on electing the first black mayor rather that a first Black sheriff. I will give you one guess at the name of the Black man they want to be that first Black mayor. It is supposed to make good sense to you for Black voters to focus on something two (2) years down the road but not something that is less than two (2) months away. You can see from that just how stupid they think we all are? My dearest brothers and sisters, they are not looking for any first Black mayor because they love the White one too much. We will not be voting for a black, white, brown or any other mayor in May or November of 2020, but we will be electing a new sheriff. Do not allow these people to insult your intelligence.
They are only human beings subject to doing wrong or right, or being wrong or right. So stop propping these people up as gods in the Black community of Columbus. That harmful practice must be purged from our culture for us to truly grow, prosper, and progress. If you really love them, hold them accountable and always tell them the truth. If they do love and respect us as brothers and sisters, they want us to tell them the truth and help to keep them straight as public servants. Has any one of them ever genuinely urged you to hold them accountable? Do not hold your breath. All they want you to do is whatever they tell you to do. If the Black community made it a habit of refusing whatever these people try to manipulate us into doing, then the White power structure would have absolutely no use for them at all. The fat lady will be a singing and the curtain fast a closing. It will be bye bye black guy.
The truth is that they just want a dowhatever-we-want-done puppet sheriff complete with strings, and that Greg Countryman is nobody's do-boy puppet on a string. Greg Countryman is a threat to them just because he is
I understand the mindset and the deeper meaning behind it. If you ain't Tomming you won't be humming. That is what it amounts to in the final results. The Old Guard even today See Love Page 10
Courier April 16, 2020
PAGE 10 LOVE FROM PAGE 9 would never conceive the idea of changing the rules of the game, or of getting rid of the old worn-out system. That would not be advantageous because the current arrangement and system keeps them in power, and I an sure the arrangement is a profitable one for them. Whatever it is they get, it is enough for them. They are caught in a trap they helped to make with their own hands. The more dirt they do, the deeper the hole gets. They are addicted to position, power, politics, praise, and privilege. They will never be free simply because they do not want to be free. They are living the lives of their dreams, and their dreams are going to be nightmares for the next generation of young Black people entering into politics if we don't do some serious housekeeping. For many years in this column I have warned you about the sinister plantation politics strangling, crippling, and poised to destroy the local Black community, that old Head-Negro-In-Charge foolishness that ends up with the Black community being sold out time after time after time. Black people do not need some Black leader White people are comfortable enough with to give him a good job so they can control him, and he in return he can control us for them. The system on the plantation was developed and instituted by the enemy to control Black people. The rules were set by the plantation master or the plantation boss, depending on what period in American history you are talking about. Black people had to follow the rules of the system that was designed to keep them oppressed, suppressed, and depressed. Open up your eyes of understanding to this wisdom being freely shared with you the transformation of your mind and improvement of your thinking. Please seriously reflect on what you are reading in this column. Do your own objective research, as I always advise you to do. You tell me if any argument or talking point or excuse that you have heard from any person or group justifies the people being robbed of the right and cheated out of the opportunity to vote and decide an issue that has always been decided at the polls by the people. They took away your right to vote, elimi-
nated an elected position, and shut down an elected office without even so much as a town hall meeting to find out the people felt about the Marshal's Office. They were afraid the people would smell a big old nasty 3-day old dead rat if they went to the public, so the people were completely left out of the process by design. The facts support the conclusion. If they did not trust the people with something as simple as deciding an issue which had been decided by vote before, then why should the people ever trust any of them? Based on the known facts alone, that is the one question neither those directly involved or their lackeys in the Black community can get around. They cannot and will not give you a straight answer with no holes in it if you hit them right between the eyes with that question. Even with them reading this, the answer will still be full of holes and leaky. Whatever nonsensical, halfbaked answer they do eventually give you will only serve to expose them further for who they really are and how they without the slightest hesitation deceived and cheated the people. With the upcoming 2020 race for county sheriff, all the chips are in the pot and all the cards are on the table. These people as Black public officials with Donna Tompkins are showing you to your faces that they will team up and go all in to destroy any Black person they cannot control and that will not bow down at their feet and worship them. So we certainly need to do a few things to help ourselves. We need to be enlighten. We must awake from our blissful sleep of ignorance. We need to be deprogrammed and reeducated before we can change any of this for the better. Armed with proper knowledge, understanding, and truth, we need to boldly call some people out without ceasing. The minute they work in any way or ways counterproductive to our progress and forward march, call them out and start up a movement to vote them out. I do not often knock the old ways, the old wisdom ways we seniors learned from grand mama and big mama. Some of the old ways passed down by the wise old elders are still
the best ways for Black people to follow. God gave it to them and they gave it to us. Some of our young people today lead lives of trouble because the parents or parent or grandparents who raised them fell away from the old ways. they forgot the old teachings. However, there are some of the old ways in our culture that have been misused, others abused, and some just no longer useful in the times in which we live. The children of today are not the children of yesterday. If salt has lost its flavor, then it is no longer useful as salt. When a system is no longer useful for the workload and the time in which you live, then you hurry and upgrade your system so you will be more effective, efficient, better prepared and more completive. That is the way we must take a good long look at the current situation in which we find ourselves, and be honest with ourselves. If an upgrade is needed, get the upgrade. We need to draft some keen replacements who are alert, aware, and in their right minds. More and more seniors and almost seniors must wake up, join in, and help out if they are not prepared to in fact lead. More and more younger Black people must get up, stand up, and speak out in person and on social media against the current corrupt system controlling the politics of the Black community. We are suffering now, but the up and coming generation will suffer more if we continue down the same road we have been traveling on now for way too long. We must shift gears and change direction. We need to lift every voice and sing out for freedom, justice, and equality. Our silence keeps our enemies strong. Our continued silence is the last nail in the coffin for the future of the Black community of Columbus. We must go all the way live with this fight. Do not buy the lie that we lack power. We have power, but we have been convinced that we have no power to effect change within or without the black community. We need to organize ourselves, consolidate our power and resources, and go to work.. The walls of oppression and the oppressor must come tumbling down together. We must fight the oppressor and the current system opposed to the advancement of Black people. We must fight every
system of exploitation geared toward the oppression of Black people, of all people. The oppressor is an evildoer and a true enemy. The oppressor has no shame and no regrets. Do not give the oppressor a pass because the color of his or her skin is black or brown. They do what they do because it pays for them to do it. There is both profit and immense pleasure for them in what they do and take part in doing to their own community, their own people. When you emulate the oppressor, you are no better than the oppressor, regardless of the color of your skin. In fact, when you emulate the oppressor you are the oppressor of the people. No matter who the oppressors are or what they look like, they all have the same motivations, the same goals, tell the same lies, use the same tricks, and have the same wickedness in their hearts as a driving force. The only good thing about the oppressor is when his or her time has finally come, they cease from troubling. Envy thou not the oppressor, and choose none of his ways. --- Proverbs 3:31 (KJV) The LORD is not on the side of the oppressor. The Word of God has always made that plain. Nevertheless, mankind chooses to ignore God's Word and Wisdom whenever it suits his purpose. It is a bad choice with a bad ending.
16 de abril 2020
Pagina 2
Durante COVID-19, tome sencillas medidas para instalar una nueva normalidad
(StatePoint) Siempre es el momento adecuado para comprometerse con hábitos, comportamientos y pasos saludables destinados a mejorar su salud física y mental. Cuando la pandemia del COVID19 está creando tanta incertidumbre y poniendo de cabeza tantas rutinas, los expertos dicen que centrarse en las cosas que están bajo su control es particularmente importante. “En este momento en particular, por desafiante que pueda ser, es muy importante que todos nosotros, como individuos, reconozcamos que nuestras acciones pueden tener, y tienen, un impacto colectivo”, dice la Dra. Patrice A. Harris, presidenta de la
Aquí tiene algunos pasos sencillos de la AMA para conservar su salud física y mental durante los tiempos inusuales del COVID-19:
pueden marcar una gran diferencia los pequeños gestos, tales como ofrecer recoger alimentos para un vecino mayor de edad o en riesgo que puede estar preocupado por salir de casa. 2. Cuide de usted mismo en lo físico. Duerma tanto como pueda, intente incluir frutas y verduras en su dieta y asegúrese de moverse. Con muchos gimnasios y parques cerrados y el distanciamiento físico en vigor, puede parecer más difícil hacer ejercicio, así que plantéese opciones en casa, lo que puede incluir el baile, para mantenerse activo.
1. Canalice sus sentimientos de ansiedad o impotencia convirtiéndolos en acción. Practicar el distanciamiento físico y asegurarse de lavarse las manos con agua jabonosa tibia durante al menos 20 segundos son dos pasos que protegen su salud y la de los demás. Cree un plan de acción de seguridad para usted y su familia. También plantéese cómo
3. Cree nuevas rutinas. Ahora que hay más personas trabajando desde casa o cuidando a niños en edad escolar, las vidas diarias que teníamos antes del COVID-19 son un recuerdo lejano. Pero desarrollar rutinas –tiempo para el trabajo, tiempo para las comidas, tiempo para soltar vapor– es algo fundamental para crear una nueva normalidad. En el mundo de
Asociación Médica Estadounidense (AMA). “Hay mucha gente de luto en este momento. De modo trágico, algunos están de luto por la pérdida de seres queridos, pero la gente también puede lamentar la pérdida del empleo, las rutinas o la capacidad de estar con la familia y los amigos. Todo el mundo debe saber que estos sentimientos son normales y que deben permitirse experimentarlos”.
hoy, hay muchas cosas que no podemos controlar, pero sí podemos hacerlo con nuestros horarios. 4. Tómese el tiempo necesario para desconectar las redes sociales y las noticias. Es fundamental en este momento saber lo que está sucediendo en el mundo y mantenerse conectado con la familia y los amigos, pero si las redes sociales y las noticias durante 24 horas lo están poniendo ansioso, consúmalas en menores dosis. 5. Perciba sus sentimientos. Es natural preocuparse y sentir miedo en un momento como éste. También es importante recordar que hay médicos, funcionarios de salud pública en todos los niveles de gobierno y expertos del sector privado que están trabajando incansablemente para limitar la propagación y el impacto del COVID-19.
6. Manténgase conectado. Las redes sociales nos dan un punto de conexión común en los momentos de aislamiento, pero hay una oportunidad real en este momento para mantenerse conectados a través de llamadas telefónicas y chats de video con amigos, familiares e incluso personas de las que no hayamos sabido en mucho tiempo. El distanciamiento físico es importante, pero sigue estando bien socializar. 7. Si tiene hijos, hable con ellos de una manera apropiada a su edad y evite atribuirles sentimientos. No diga “Sé que tienen miedo”. Los niños son observadores y sabios. Pueden saber que las cosas son diferentes, pero pueden no tener miedo. Hágales saber que hay personas inteligentes trabajando para conocer la forma de mantenernos a todos a salvo. Modele una forma saludable de afrontar la situación.
couriernews.org
Eco Latino
S ERVING C OLUMBUS , F T. B ENNING , P HENIX C ITY & S URROUNDING A REAS
La voz de la comunidad hispana Vol. 15
Ediciรณn 11 Gratis
Jueves 16 de abril 2020
DURANTE COVID-19,
TOME
SENCILLAS MEDIDAS PARA INSTALAR UNA NUEVA NORMALIDAD
Pagina 2