Denver Urban Spectrum May 2020 - COVID-19 and African Americans

Volume 34 Number 2 May 2020

COVID-19 AND AFRICAN AMERICANS

Disparities...3 African-Americans...4 Crisis...5 Education...7 CARES Act...8 Struggle...10 Love...11 Economy...12 Last Responder...14 Mrs. Edream Moore...15 Freddy Rodriguez Sr....16 Immune System...18 Anxiety and Depression...19 Survivor...20 Lockdown...23 Scams...25 Real Estate...27 Faith...28

MESSAGE FROM THE PUBLISHER “This month…”

Volume 34 Number 2

May 2020

PUBLISHER Rosalind J. Harris GENERAL MANAGER Lawrence A. James EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Alfonzo Porter PUBLISHER ASSISTANT Melovy Melvin COLUMNISTS Dr. Erynn M. Burks Kim Farmer Barry Overton FILM CRITIC BlackFlix.Com CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Charles Emmons Zilingo Nwuke Alfonzo Porter Thomas Holt Russell Jamil Shabazz ART DIRECTOR Bee Harris GRAPHIC DESIGNER Jody Gilbert - Kolor Graphix PHOTOGRAPHER Lens of Ansar MSU INTERN Ashton Brown DISTRIBUTION Ed Lynch Lawrence A. James - Manager

The Denver Urban Spectrum is a monthly publication dedicated to spreading the news about people of color. Contents of the Denver Urban Spectrum are copyright 2020 by Bizzy Bee Enterprise. No portion may be reproduced without written permission of the publisher.

The Denver Urban Spectrum circulates 25,000 copies throughout Colorado. The Denver Urban Spectrum welcomes all letters, but reserves the right to edit for space, libelous material, grammar, and length. All letters must include name, address, and phone number. We will withhold author’s name on request. Unsolicited articles are accepted without guarantee of publication or payment.

Write to the Denver Urban Spectrum at P.O. Box 31001, Aurora, CO 80041.

For advertising, subscriptions, or other information, call 303-292-6446 or fax 303292-6543 or visit the Web site at www.denverurbanspectrum.com.

Each month we talk about “this month” and what’s happening in the communities of color. Well this month, like the last two, has been challenging due to the many lives that have been lost, and will be lost, because of COVID-19. A day does not pass without thinking about what is happening in the world. Feelings of worry, concern, fear, disappointment, panic, anxiety, depression, pain, sorrow, anger and sadness are all expected and normal under these circumstances.

But this is our time. Many people are gone and missed this very troubling time in history while others will come later and learn about it in their time. But there are those who will be memorialized for their life and live - affected during this time and becoming a part of history.

Although the aforementioned words coincide with the feelings of lost ones, words to help us get through are joy, laughter, patience, peace, grace, forgiveness, beauty, friend, gratitude, happiness, blessing, faith, prayer and most of all, love. In this issue which is dedicated to COVID-19, all the words previously mentioned can be found throughout all the very informative articles.

DUS editor Alfonzo Porter, who recently lost his mother to COVID-19, looks at the impact it has had on African Americans locally and nationally. Jamil Shabazz provides an update on the CARES Act and who supposedly will benefit and also talks to two of Denver’s last responders. Theo Wilson asks, what’s more important – lives or the economy? Thomas Holt Russell talks about the impact that Coronavirus is having on students who are faced with the challenge of learning from home. Zilingo Nwuke talks with the Struggle of Love Foundation founders on how and why they are supporting communities during these trying times. Health issues include strengthening your immune system, dealing with anxiety and how this virus is a crisis within a crisis. In addition to the good that the Hodges are doing, a glimmer of hope comes from COVID-19 survivor Ravi Turman and her belief of why she survived. And Alison Kugel talked with Joel Osteen on keeping the faith as we move through these unprecedented times.

Unfortunately, the numbers of deaths are rising and by the time this publication is printed, there undoubtedly will be more people associated with DUS, and there are many, who will die. And sadly is the passing of Alfonzo Porter’s mother, Edream Moore and our good friend Freddy Rodriguez Sr., of whom we dedicate this issue to. May they both rest in peace.

Months will come and months will pass, but “this month”…have faith, be joyful, count your blessings, be patient, pray and spread love; and we’ll all get through this together – because this too shall pass.

Rosalind “Bee” Harris DUS Publisher

LETTER TO THE EDITOR others, that Canadian Blacks have much better health overall than Blacks in the United States.

In fact, Blacks in Canada are, in general, even healthier than Canadian white people. Blacks in Canada smoke less than white Canadians, and their rate of heart disease if significantly less. Blacks in Canada do not have the long history of slavery, Jim Crow and deep racial prejudice that American Blacks have. Black Canadians have access to the universal healthcare system of Canada. Blacks in Canada also have higher education and income levels than American Blacks. These facts are documented in a JAMA article (September 2011).

African American rates of poverty, percentages living in food deserts and percentages without health insurance may partially explain the vulnerability of this population to the COVID-19 virus danger. The fact that many Blacks work in more menial jobs that expose them to rick of the virus may explain the disparity why Blacks are presently suffering in the consequences of this terrible

Root Causes of Racial Disparity Needed NOW! Editor: The news of the disproportionate number of deaths of African Americans from the COVID-19 virus raging through the United States is pitiful and outrageous. For some, this news is shocking. For others it is received as routine news. Public health records from the American Public Health Association show that Blacks have a significantly higher rate of death from infectious disease.

Likewise, reports show that Blacks have a much higher rate of coronary artery disease. Since the 1970s the rates of heart disease deaths among whites began to decline, but the rate in the Black population did not.

African Americans have a higher death rate for all types of cancer. There is question that for most metrics, African Americans are sicker, and die sooner than white Americans.

It is all well documented and a Google search will reveal how deep and sad the difference is.

It may surprise some, but may be perfectly obvious to

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new virus. Whatever the cause, the disparities are real and shocking. Seventy percent of the deaths in Chicago have been African American. In Milwaukee county 81 percent of the deaths are African American while they make up only 27 percent of its population. The higher rates among American Blacks are holding around the country.

The COVID-19 Virus is a wake-up call on a lot of issues.

How prepared were we? Not very. How responsive were Continued on page 28

Anemic, Incompetent, Confusing Leadership from Washington Devastates the Nation in Wake of Covid-19 Pandemic Local, State Leaders win Praise

By Alfonzo Porter

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n 2015, in response to the global Ebola outbreak of 2014, President Barack Obama established the Global Health Security and Biodefense unit.

It was ostensibly designed to serve as an early warning system to address future viral outbreaks that could potentially threaten the nation.

Supervised by then National Security Advisor, Susan Rice it was officially coordinated by the National Security Council.The group’s primary mission was to be responsible for pandemic preparedness.

In 2018, the team was dissolved with the top White House official charged with leading the nation’s response to a prospective global pandemic leaving the Trump administration. Subsequently, with the appointment of John Bolton as National Security Advisor, the lead NSC official,Tom Bossert, who called for a comprehensive biodefense strategy against pandemics and biological attacks also departed the administration.

It is arguable that by disbanding the global pandemics team established under Obama, the country was left vulnerable to this current viral plague. Covid-19 has spread throughout the country having claimed over 54,000 deaths with nearly 1,000,000 people infected (as of DUS press time for May 2020 edition). Globally, there are almost 3

further went on to downplay the seriousness of the condition comparing it to the common flu.

On January 22, 2020 Trump told the nation, “we have it totally under control…it’s going to be just fine.” And on January 30, 2020 the president said, “We think we have it very well under control. We have very little problem in this country at this moment—only like five cases. And all those people are recuperating successfully. But we are working very closely with China and other countries, and we think it’s going to have a very good ending to it. So that I can assure you.”

On February 24, 2020 Trump told us that, “the Coronavirus is very much under control in the USA…The next day the president said, “we have very few people with it and the people that do have it are getting better. They are all getting better. As far as what we are doing with the new virus, I think we are doing a great job.”

On February 26, Trump told the public, “and again, we have 15 people, and the 15 within a couple of days is going to be down to close to zero, and that’s a pretty good job we’ve job.”

Then, on February 28, Trump told the American people that “it’s going to disappear. One day, it’s like a miracle, it will disappear.”

Lulled into a sense of false security by the president, most Americans continued to conduct

million cases reported with just over 203,000 deaths.

In December 2019, China reported an outbreak of, what was then called, novel coronavirus (2019nCoV) and that it was spreading rapidly throughout Wuhan Province.The cluster of cases reportedly involved people who were associated with the Hunan Seafood Wholesale Market in the Wuhan, Hubei region.

They suffered from intense symptoms of pneumonia and that personto-person transmission had been evidenced.

It was in mid-January, 2020 when the first case of the virus appeared in the U.S. On January 19, a 35-year-old man arrived at an urgent care facility in Snohomish County,Washington expressing concern over a days’ long cough and high fever. He disclosed to hospital staff that he had recently returned from Wuhan, China. He also expressed concern that he recently learned of a health alert regarding a viral outbreak from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC); and decided to seek medical treatment.

U.S. Response: Purposeful Mis-Information or Just Plain Ignorance?

From the first indications of Covid-19 in December through late February the U.S. did not have any appreciable response to the impending outbreak. Initially, it was dismissed by president Trump as a “Democrat hoax” at a February 28 political rally in South Carolina. He

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business as usual, seemingly unconcerned about the severity of the silent killer lurking within the very air we breathed.

For three weeks, as medical and scientific officials continued to warn of the potential of a global pandemic, the president, during a March 17 White House press briefing asserted that he never underestimated or underrepresented the seriousness of the Coronavirus to the American Public.

Well after the World Health Organization declared a world health emergency, Trump’s misrepresentations continued.

Since then we’ve been told that anyone who wanted a test could get a test. To date the U.S. has only tested approximately 1.5% of the population. We’ve been told that we should take an unproven drug called Hydroxychoriquine as a treatment. Most recently, Americans have been encouraged to use ultraviolet rays coupled with the ingestion of disinfectants—a remedy that is lethal to humans

Our Local and State-Wide Response: Allowing Common Sense to Prevail Here in Colorado, officials acted swiftly and the state ordered and received testing kits in early February but much to the dismay and disappointment of the state’s department of public health and environment, they did not function properly Continued on page 6

A Crisis Within a Crisis for African Americans Op-ed by Dr. Johnnie Johnson

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ccording to the CDC, about 1 in 3 people who become sick enough to be hospitalized today from the coronavirus are African Americans.

Hospitalizations are highest in the 65 year and older population and 54% of the patients are men. The patients who are hospitalized and have complications with the virus have a wide range of underlying health conditions; including high blood pressure, obesity, lung/respiratory problems, diabetes and heart disease.

The White House denies that there is a health care disparity or a racial divide with the coronavirus pandemic (hoax).

However, the White House Task Force thinks that the underlying medical problems or conditions like diabetes, hypertension, obesity and asthma make it more likely that people of color are admitted to the ICU and can die from the complications of the virus. This type of information to the people of color in this country is confusing because we have two different opinions from our government. We need to seriously, as a country and a society, address the fundamental question on health care disparities that exist in this country.

This country and the health care systems have been exposed for the injustices and racism that exist for our minority populations have underscored the importance for better preventive and social measures to pro-

tect the people at risk. This is a conversion that can’t be saved for another day. The Band-Aid has been ripped off! We must continue to push special interest groups in medicine, insurance companies, politics and government out of their comfort zone.

They must recognize the need to make changes to the current healthcare system.

So for now, continue social distancing, practice respiratory hygiene (cover your mouth

when you cough), wear facial mask and gloves, especially when you are outside your home. Don’t make unnecessary trips and definitely stay away from people who don’t take this virus seriously. Be your own best patient advocate.

The coronavirus is basically a symptom and the real disease in the healthcare system are all the structural determinants and bias’s we have in our society that we had not addressed.

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Let us face reality with the COVID-19. This virus is for real and yes it is disproportionally impacting Black communities.

And we need to heighten our awareness of all the healthcare challenges that have come about during this pandemic. Let us now use our collective voices as we continue to fight for our families and our communities, especially those of color.

Stay home, stay save, and wear your masks..

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Continued from page 4 By the time the state received new kits on February 27, the virus had already taking its toll and begun wreaking havoc across the region.

Thus far, residents and law makers alike are giving Governor Jared Polis and Denver Mayor Michael Hancock a good deal of praise for their handling of the crisis in the city and state.

The March 16 decision by Polis to shutter businesses, bars/restaurants, close schools, cancel high profile events and order the population to shelter at home have indefinitely come with enormous, devastating consequences for the state and local economy--not to mention throwing hundreds of thousands of residents out of work with no end in sight.

The decision came hours after Denver Mayor Michael B. Hancock made a similar decision in response to Covid-19.

Hancock’s order of wide sweeping stay at home measures on March 24 meant that all nonessential businesses would be closed through April 10—that order has since been extended to April 30.

With the state slated to open the week of April 27, according to Polis in a recent CNN interview, all eyes will be trained on how officials handle the much anticipated economic re-opening.

The number of infections statewide appears to be moving in the right direction according to information provided by the department of health and environment. As of April 24, there have been 13,441 reported cases of Covid-19 including 680 deaths.There have been zero reported deaths throughout the state since April 23, 2020.

Communities of Color: Disproportionately Impacted For communities of color the statistics reflect a disturbing pattern. African Americans, Hispanics and Native Americans are impacted in greater numbers than their respective populations both nationwide and around the state of Colorado.

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Nationally, African Americans comprise approximately 13% of the population yet represent 28% of all Covid-19 deaths. For Asian Americans the numbers are 4.7% and 5.7% respectively. Hispanic Americans make up about 16% of the U.S. population and make up 19% of the deaths caused by the Coronavirus.

Here is Colorado, a similar trend has been observed. Hispanics make up 21.7% of Colorado’s population but comprise 28.1% of Covid-19 cases and 17.7% of reported deaths. African Americans in Colorado represent 4% of the state’s population, 7% of Covid-19 cases and 6.8% of the deaths statewide. Asian Americans make up roughly 3.1% of the population of Colorado, 2.2% of Corona virus cases and 2.8% of the deaths reported from Covid-19. Native Americans account for 0.6% of the state’s residents, 0.5% of Covid-19 cases and make up 0.8% of the deaths reported thus far.

These communities are not only being devastated by the health toll of Covid-19. The impact extends well beyond medical considerations. The already struggling economies of communities of color will likely not survive this pandemic. In a recent DUS virtual meeting with community leaders, many explained in detail the impact of the virus on their specific areas of endeavor.

Concerns expressed from the leader of the Black Chamber of Commerce painted a dire picture of impending permanent business closures. Spiritual leaders foretold of the potential closure of many houses of worship throughout the community. Mental health professionals explained the long-term psychological ravages of Covid-19 with horrifying clarity and educational professionals voiced real apprehensions about minority students falling critically behind academically.

What has become clear is that no facet of our community will be spared the terrible after-effects of this awful disease that, in many instances, might have been avoided with effective national leadership..

Education in the Time of Corona

By Thomas Holt Russell

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ong before COVID-19 blanketed our entire country, African American students were on the losing end of the list for almost every matrix measurement for technology literacy. For example, Black and Hispanic adults are less likely than whites to own a computer or have high-speed internet service. Families earning under $30,000 a year are “smartphone-dependent.” This means that lower-income users have to do a task on their cell phones that typically would be done on computers, such as applying for jobs and seeking medical advice. According to Pew Research, the disparity in broadband access is called the “homework gap.”

That is the gap between students that have high-speed Internet at home and those who do not. Five years ago, 35% of all lowerincome households (of which Blacks represent a disproportionate percentage) did not have a broadband Internet connection.

The problem has just gotten worse with the pandemic that has put the entire world in turmoil.

Nearly one in five teens cannot finish their homework because of the digital divide. Many minorities depend on the library to access the Internet. With the COVID-19 epidemic, libraries are now closed, effectively blocking yet another road to the Internet. The majority of 8th graders depend on the Internet to get their homework done. Black students were already more likely not ‘to be’ able to do homework because of a lack of resources.

Teachers and students are now faced with teaching and learning from their homes. Many of the classes were not designed for online instruction. Some teachers have never used technological tools for teaching online and have to be trained. From the (minimal) survey I conducted with some of my teacher colleagues, I find that this on the fly adaptation from classroom to online is a significant shitshow. Teachers are working very hard to make this work, but we would be fooling ourselves to think that this overnight transi-

tion from the classroom to online would be smooth. I spoke with one teacher from one of the wealthiest school districts in Colorado. She told me many of the students are not motivated to complete the work, because teachers are not allowed to fail them due to the suddenness of the pandemic and the not so ideal learning environment the students are in. Depending on how long school is out, the consequences of this school year may last a long time.

Black parent involvement in their own child’s education has always been one of the most critical determinants for the success of the Black student. Studies have shown that parent involvement in education gives a better chance for the student to achieve academic success. Yet, as a whole, most academic measurements have Black students lagging behind in almost every major category. The challenges facing Black families during the pandemic are great.

Education is only one of those challenges as African Americans are dying at a disproportionately higher rate, losing jobs or out of work indefinitely. Even though their child’s education remains an important aspect, there is a possibility that education will be put on the back burner. Mere survival in all aspects, physically, financially, Denver Urban Spectrum — www.denverurbanspectrum.com – May 2020

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and emotionally, will become the primary goal of many African American families, especially this summer, when school is officially out.

This is not a great picture that I am painting. However, historically, African Americans have already been through worse, and I do not need to talk about slavery. Only a generation ago, poll taxes, literacy tests, grandfather clauses, and lynching were still being used. And it was not until the Voting Rights of 1965, almost 100 years after the civil war, that African Americans were allowed to vote without the institutionalized mechanisms that were used to suppress their vote. The past is still with us in some ways. Right now, various methods of voting suppression, such as redlining, is still being used.

As a parent and educator, I urge Black parents not to panic. Be patient. Try to spend as much time as possible as your child works on their lessons. If that is not possible at least monitor what they are supposed to be doing. Keep open communication with school officials. Many schools have given their students computers and iPads to use. If a family has no internet connection, that may be a problem. But several Internet Service Providers (ISPs) are offering free Internet access for low-income families. Parents may have to research and check around for services that will help for food, and soon money will be available for relief to pay rent. There will be innovation for education that will come up during the crises and will last long after the pandemic is over. Things such as new interactive educational apps, live television broadcasts, and new public and private partnerships will stay with us.

Most of all, we need resiliency. The pandemic will not last forever. Like everything else, it has a shelf life. We must hang in there and help each other whenever possible. The present education delivery is far from perfect. However, we have enough resources in our community and online to help students achieve a measurement of learning success before school is out for the summer. Every problem will not be solved, but a little will-power will go a long way to mitigate the effects of trying to teach and learn during a global pandemic.

God is with you. .

Editor’s note: Thomas Holt Russell is the Cyber Education Program Manager for the National Cybersecurity Center. His awards include Cyber Education Administrator of the Year in 2020.

His most recent book is Binary Society, a book of essays on the effects of technology on society.

“Not wanting to rely on PPP alone, we’ve also been applying for small business grants that cater to women of color. In addition we’ve been working closely with the Mile High United Way in their small business advisory program, and that program has been such a blessing at a time like this.”

The state of Colorado has been resilient and unyielding in their efforts to assist members of the community during this crisis. The Mile High United Way has been instrumental in helping businesses during these

Bailing Out Of Confusion: A Closer Look At the CARES Act

By Jamil Shabazz

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all of confusion, that’s the world we live in today. The Coronavirus has infected our day-to-day routines. Everything that was familiar has been upended, replaced with muddling uncertainty. Essential to our routine are the products and services that we consume.

From restaurants and gyms, to beauty salons and magazines, all businesses are struggling in the current economic climate.

However, small businesses are being hit the hardest. To combat record unemployment and economic devastation congress deployed The CARES Act – Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act. The act was engineered to simulate the economy by allocating funds for large and small businesses, airlines, and individuals. The CARES Act provides economic relief to businesses under three main programs: Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) Loans, Small Business Debt Relief Program and Economic Injury Disaster Loans.

The Paycheck Protection Program, the centerpiece of the CARES Act was supposed to provide small businesses assistance through 100 percent federally guaranteed loans and loan forgiveness. The reality of the PPP has been the epitome of a good idea executed poorly. A complex web of red tape and vaguely written legislation caused the PPP to run out of funds a month after being passed. It has come to light that the PPP has distributed $300500 million in loans to large, publicly traded companies, diverting funds from legitimate small businesses. Additionally Republicans slipped a tax change into the CARES Act, for

ifying small businesses.

•CEDS Finance has refocused an existing microloan program to support small businesses’ stabilization efforts.

•IMAGINE 2020 Artist Assistance Fund; Denver Arts & Venues (DAV) is awarding grants up to $1,000 to individual artists who live in Denver.

•El Pomar Foundation announced the establishment of the Colorado Assistance Fund (CAF). CAF is a $1 million fund offering immediate aid to nonprofit organizations supporting Colorado communities.

•The COVID-19 CO Creatives Relief Grant is a onetime payment to non-profit arts organizations in Colorado with an annual operating budget of less than $1 million.

CARES Act Phase 3.5 – More Economic Relief On The Horizon

Sisters Joslyn & Brittney Rae are owners of FIT & NU

which 82 percent of the benefits will go to people making more than $1 million annually. That change will cost taxpayers $90 billion in 2020.

unprecedented times assisting with oversight for the Colorado COVID Relief Fund and collaborating with the city of Denver and the Downtown Denver Partnership to distribute the cash grants and microloans. While Denver native and Vista Equity Partners Chairman Robert F. Smith developed COVID-19 Small Business Loan Accelerator, leveraging his company’s Quick Base software to help small and minority businesses accurately prepare PPP loan application documents The City and County of Denver is helping to support Denver business owners when it rolled out a $4 million COVID-19 relief fund in March to provide support to the following areas: •Denver Economic Development and Opportunity (DEDO) is setting up an emergency relief program to provide cash grants up to $7,500 to qual-

Colorado Coronavirus Economic Efforts “In doing our research we discovered that 75% of the (PPP) applications that are submitted are done incorrectly.

When it comes to applying for the program we took that process seriously and we want to do it right, the first time,” said small business owners Joslyn & Brittney Rae Reese shortly after livestreaming a midday dance break on Facebook.

Sisters Joslyn & Brittney Rae own FIT & NU a habit-based fitness and nutrition company for women of color in Aurora, Colorado. The duo holds a unique niche in the fitness and nutrition market, in the regard that their company was founded by and serves women of color.

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On April 21, 2020, a $484 billion coronavirus relief bill was passed by the Senate. If approved by the House of Representatives and signed into law, the bill would amend the CARES Act and replenish Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).

A few key points of the bill: •Expand the authorization level for the Paycheck Protection Program from $349 billion to $659 billion.

•Increase the appropriation level for the Paycheck Protection Program from $349 billion to $670.335 billion.

•Increase the authorization level for the Emergency Economic Injury Disaster (EIDL) Grants from $10 billion to $20 billion.

•Create a set-aside for Insured Depository Institutions, Credit Unions, and Community Financial Institutions for the PPP. Community Financial Institutions are defined as minority depository institutions, certified development companies, microloan intermediaries, and state or federal /credit unions. .

The Struggle of Love Foundation:

Showing Our Love to Save Our Lives

By Zilingo Nwuke

LaKeshia and Joel Hodge

It’s no surprise after 15

years of serving and supporting Denver communities, LaKeshia and Joel Hodge are providing “Sacks Of Love” through a drive-thru food pantry helping residents in need during this COVID-19 crisis.

Located in the Montbello community, the pantry operates Monday through Friday providing delivery service to Denver’s most vulnerable residents – the elderly and disabled – and anyone else in need.

Since March 14 the Struggle of Love (S.O.L.) founders have been organizing and operating this much needed service while hoping to decrease the spread of the virus. “I’d say we have seen more 20,000 people come through the food pantry,” said Executive Director LaKeshia Hodge.

Determined to make it happen, S.O.L. partnered with Food Bank of the Rockies, Families Forward Resource Center, Academy 360, Denver Rescue Mission, Montbello Organizing Committee and the City and County of Denver.

Collectively, they have kept the pantry stocked, and with committed volunteers, maintained a delivery service.

LaKeshiaIt wasn’t easy at first. Lakeisha and husband Joel took on the task of operating and funding this undertaking by themselves – initially buying all the food.

The Hodges created Struggle of Love out of personal experiences with homelessness. They use that experience to help identify and offer services they feel would have been valuable to them during that extremely difficult time.

“Our goal is, and will always be, to give back to the community in areas of struggle,” said Founder Joel Hodge. “And what better way and time than now, to show love as this virus is ravaging through our communities and killing our people?”

As the food pantry started picking up and help was needed, they reached out to their sponsors who assisted in getting it where it is now.

“Things picked up pretty quickly. The need grew really fast, but with the volunteer base and everybody just helping out, it has really been a smooth operation,” said LaKeshia. “I’m really appreciative of all the volunteers. They come every day; we can count on them!”

Out of concern and safety for everyone involved of contracting the virus, extensive safety measures are in place in the 3,000 square foot facility; allowing for adequate social distancing. All volunteers are provided with the proper PPE and the space is disinfected each night.

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Individuals picking up food are not allowed in the building.

Sacks of Love are prepared with fresh produce (fruits and veggies), a variety of meats, bread, cakes, can goods, rice, and beans. And when available, water, milk and eggs are distributed. “It’s a simple process to receive a Sack of Love,” said LaKeshia. “Just drive up with a mask on, sign a simple questionnaire and a volunteer will load the food in the vehicle,” she said who is prepared to continue this “special pandemic” drive-thru food services as long as it’s needed.

The Hodge’s are not strangers to helping communities and giving back. The dynamic duo has been recognized locally and nationally as being a strong organization for community outreach.

In 2005, the nonprofit Struggle of Love was created to provide community awareness, involvement and social activities, for disadvantaged youth and families. Since then, S.O.L. has been a tower of strength in the Park Hill, Montbello and Green Valley Ranch communities.

“We spread love. That’s what we do,” said LaKeshia Hodge, also the CEO, “So, whatever that looks like, meeting the needs of the people, whatever that may be, we try to be there to bridge the gaps and spread the love in our community.”

S.O.L. was built from the ground up. The Hodges’ made the right connections and made something out of nothing. It began as a fundraiser for the funeral for a family friend’s daughter and S.O.L. skyrocketed and turned nothing into noble. What started out as a blessing for someone else also became a blessing for the Hodges.

LaKeshia and Joel met under difficult circumstances in 1999.

Having already experienced a hard life and finding a way out of it, they knew what people in

these situations were going through and what was needed to help them.

S.O.L. started with their annual Reach for Peace picnic 15 years ago and since then has added events annually. “We started with a community picnic that is now duplicated in other communities,” said Joel.

“We basically provide a “wraparound” service. Any service that we cannot provide through our organization we lean on our partners to fill in those gaps,” said LaKeshia. “Whatever we can’t do, we make sure that we can find a resource that will be able to assist the need that someone is experiencing.”

In addition to their most successful program, the Reach For Peace Picnic which draws 800 people every year, SOL provides a multitude of annual events or programs that are all either free or very affordable.

LaKeshia and Joel Hodge hopes to one day expand. “That goal is past, present and future.

We want to hire a team but have been challenged with access to funding. So, the same goal that existed in the past, exist today and is going to exist in the future,” said LaKeshia.

“Our ultimate goal is to create a Love Center,” said Joel, “for youth who don’t integrate into rec centers well, don’t integrate at the Boy’s and Girl’s Club, in other words, the forgotten youth. It would be a safe haven for them.”

There are always disadvantaged youth who are in need of some type of assistance and sadly, there will always be youth in this position.

Fortunately, the Hodges are working to do something about it..

Editor’s note: If you or someone you know could use a “Sack of Love” stop by the food pantry 12000 E. 47th Ave. in Denver. To volunteer, donate or for more information about S.O.L., visit www.struggleoflovefoundation.org call 720- 3533399.

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Denver Urban Spectrum — www.denverurbanspectrum.com – May 2020

11

Lives vs the Economy: The Toxic and Unnecessary Choice of Coronavirus

By Theo E.J.Wilson

The Roman philosopher Seneca stated, “More things will scare us than crush us; we suffer more often in the imagination than reality.”

Were we cowed and terrorized into a false choice? The narratives around the decision to either save lives or save the economy to stop the

Coronavirus, feel kind of Orwellian when you look at the consequences.

Fear mongering and catastrophism, not seen since the days of the Y2K scare, blanket the major networks’ coverage of the war to stop the Coronavirus. I got to admit that the whole Y2K fiasco made me a skeptic, and I think healthily. The same insti-

tutions that told us the world’s computers would melt down once the clock struck midnight on January 1, 2000 are now telling us something even scarier 20 years later; that to stop the spread of a flu-like pandemic, we must send the world into economic freefall.

I’m thinking, no! Of course, I don’t want a single person to die because of our lack of care, but lack of context can be deadly as well. The problem is that to defend the economic angle is to be seen as an ignorant, Trump-supporting troglodyte who thinks money means more than human life. That scared me for a while, until I realized that the two are interconnected. It’s not an either-or, it’s a both-and. Lives uprooted will be lives lost in due time.

To prove that the modern world can survive a similar pandemic, I don’t have to go back that far: just one president ago. Under the Obama administration, from April 2009 to April 2010, the H1N1 virus ravaged the planet without nearly the same shock and awe.

According to the CDC, the “Swine Flu” infected between 43.3 and 89.3 million Americans and caused an average of 274,304 hospitalizations and 12,469 deaths in this country. Some counts put it as high as 18,000.

The global death tally could have been as high as 575,400 people, 151k on the low estimate. I don’t remember the world stopping, stay-at-home orders, and massive unemployment.

Denver Urban Spectrum — www.denverurbanspectrum.com – May 2020

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People would rebut with, “The mortality percentage for COVID-19 is exponentially higher than the Swine Flu.” That is until you realize that they’re not counting the cases the same way. COVID-19 relies on a hard count of positive cases, whereas H1N1 was extrapolated through the surveillance of positive lab confirmed cases, and multiplied via this method.

If COVID-19 were extrapolated the same way, you’d have a much larger sample size to compare against the mortality rate, making this Coronavirus far less lethal. Perhaps the death rates would increase a little, but not the way people are rushing to the E.R. for the slightest cough.

And then, you have the fact that the federal government is counting everyone who dies while infected with COVID-19 as a Coronavirus death. This makes the U.S. unique in this respect. For example, if your dad is hospitalized and dies because of a heart attack, but tested positive for asymptomatic COVID-19, it’s a Coronavirus death, not death by heart attack.

Knowing this doesn’t change the fact that the TV scares the pants off of me every time I turn it on. I get the fear, especially when the virus strikes close to home.

I knocked on my parents’ door, and found my father bedridden with body aches, a mild fever, and a mild dry cough. A chill ran through my body as

the stark possibility of my dad actually having COVID-19 stared me right in the face.

“Could this be it for ol’ dad?” I wondered.

What shocked me was how good his spirits were. All the signs pointed to every reason to panic, but dad was calm and light hearted about the whole thing. Perhaps he was trying to stop me from worrying, but we talked about death and fear. I was reminded of something he told me when I was kid.

“Son, there’s a million ways to die … afraid ain’t one of ‘em.”

But, when my mother came home, she turned on the television, and the body count began.

The shadow of death had literally squeezed the life out of our economy and the people who make it run. Every channel apocalyptic catastrophism made me ask “Where are the survivors? Why aren’t they posting the tally of the 330,000 plus people who’ve already beaten this bug?”

Well, the answer seems to be fear. Fear of overwhelming first responders with new cases of COVID-19 when restless humans violate social distancing guidelines. With my only sister a hospital nurse, this particular issue is dear to me. I think of her safety all the time.

Perhaps fear of infecting more elderly and vulnerable people – more death in general.

Though these outcomes are horrific, I understand them.

Death by illness makes historical sense to me. It’s familiar ground.

The new dangerous territory for me is the cascading effects of a record 6.6 million people filing for unemployment due to no fault of their own. Why did we have to go this route?

What’s new is the possible 20week delay on the arrival of stimulus checks when rent and phone bills are due, now!

What happens when the suicidal worker who only felt useful at his job suddenly doesn’t have it anymore, just the mortgage? What is unfamiliar is an even more touch-starved culture where human connection was already on shaky ground.

What happens to the dream of that young Black business owner being mandated to shutter a barely profitable business, and only the streets remain a place to make a profit?

Just because we can turn off the economy like a light switch doesn’t mean we can just turn it back on; especially not for entrepreneurs. Twenty years of hardearned momentum could be permanently in the wind. Like an old car, the economy sputters down the street just fine as long as you drive it every day. Let it sit for a while, and you may never drive it again!

When the initial shock of the pandemic wears off and when our sobriety returns, I don’t think we’ll like how comfortable our government has gotten with constricting our constitutional rights. When the survival centers in our brain begin to quiet, we’ll ask could there have been a middle ground that

did not involve ending the world as we knew it?

Perhaps a disciplined, finetoothed, calculated scale-back of the labor force could have accomplished more than this.

No one had the guts to say what the CDC said: that we were beyond containment, and had to shift focus to surviving this thing, and not avoiding it.

I guess that would have taken real leadership and a strong will that didn’t cave to that of the panicked masses. Why are we flattering the curve while counting deaths in a way that uniquely bolsters American numbers? Was flattening civil liberties in the process truly wisdom?

This is not to discount the first responders and hospital workers like my sister, Cydnie.

This is not to discount those who passed away from this, like my own uncle, Michael Grissom. He wouldn’t want millions to go unable to feed their families on account of him.

I’ll calmly assert that even in

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Denver Urban Spectrum — www.denverurbanspectrum.com – May 2020

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World War II, with bombs raining from the sky, the Brits and the French could still go to a bar; and that’s the closest we’ve ever been to legit Armageddon!

You could still listen to live music. People got married and children graduated. Even societies that live under the threat of our drone strikes and air raids have the one thing that keeps them sane; contact with other human beings.

What if our hospital workers are getting overwhelmed by the force that took all the toilet paper and hand sanitizer; a culture of catastrophism, not the disease itself? What if living in constant terror isn’t the way to show we care? The mental health of our reaction to this disease is already showing as suicides.

What if this is just the beginning of a much larger crisis?

Time will tell. If we have nothing to fear but fear itself, then in this climate, what we’re making of COVID-19 will be far deadlier than the disease itself. .

In my bedroom, there is an

old chifferobe in which I keep artifacts from my past. In the very back of the chifferobe there is a small cardboard box containing a stack of paper memorials—pamphlets from every funeral I have ever attended. I received my first funeral pamphlet on an overcast day in February of 2002. My grandfather Wali Shabazz had passed unexpectedly and I was engulfed in sorrow.

The entire funeral is still largely a haze to me, but 18 years later two things stand out vividly in my mind, 1) Nathaniel Black singing with such conviction that my flesh trembled and 2) when it came time to read the obituary I remember hearing a voice filled with poise, authority and compassion. That was my first encounter with Mrs. Lequita J. Taylor. If there was ever anyone who could offer a sea of calm in this COVID-19 crisis it is Lequita and her husband Michael C. Taylor, Sr. who together they own and operate Taylor Funeral and Cremation Services, one of the preeminent African American mortuaries in Colorado. The pair started their business in 2003 with $150 and a prayer, today they are America’s dream, providing continuity and closure to families across the Denver metro area.

Being on the front line of this global pandemic, the Taylors sat down with Denver Urban Spectrum to discuss the unique experience of being a Last Responder(s).

Denver Urban Spectrum: Can you guide us through your first Coronavirus call?

Michael Taylor: When we got the first COVID case, I was kind

In Their Own Words: Reflections from the Last Responders

By Jamil Shabazz

of skeptical of it, because COVID-19 hadn’t really hit yet.

It was still flu season and the governor hadn’t started locking things down.

Lequita Taylor: We got a call from this young man whose mother was visiting from New York when she passed away [from COVID]; he was trying to get her shipped back to New York. In our process as of one of the first things we have to ask, ‘Is this a COVID case?’

Once he said yes we had to start the process of trying to get the body shipped back to New York and deal with the COVID stuff at the same time. It was hectic, but we were able to get everything worked out for him and his mom.

DUS: What have been some of the adjustments COVID-19 has had on the way funeral services are conducted?

LT: I really need people to understand the seriousness of

what is going on with COVID. We have funerals now where only a few people can come, and they are socially distanced in the sanctuary. We also livestream the service, but that’s not the same as being there.

Families aren’t getting to love and physically be there in support of each other, like they used to. It’s hard to grieve that way.

DUS: As a family owned and operated business, what steps are you taking to keep your family and employees safe?

MT: Lequita and I had to make some difficult decisions.

We’ve had to separate the embalmers and the workers that prep the body, from the people that are on the front line making the arrangements. As the president, it would be reckless to put my wife, my son, my mother, my brother and my goddaughter in the path of avoidable harm.

Denver Urban Spectrum — www.denverurbanspectrum.com – May 2020

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DUS:As funeral directors, how has COVID-19 impacted you?

LT: We’ve handled 10 COVID deaths so far and we have 30 bodies right now. We usually average about 17 to 18 a month.

People are dying all over the country, and it’s tough, because it’s tough on the families. When this COVID really started to spread, Michael and I could see the fear in people. It seemed like almost every day we were getting a death call, and we prayed to God for him to give us direction.

MT: It has affected us because we care about these families and not only have these people suffered a major economic blow most of them now have a catastrophic emotional event to deal with as well. I thank God we’re a family owned funeral home so we can work with them without taking advantage of the situation.

I am grateful for what God has allowed us to do for these families. He provided us with the ability to livestream funerals almost five years ago, and we don’t charge a penny for streaming. You can see God had put that in place for this day.

DUS: Knowing what we know about COVID-19 and its impact on the Black community are there any final thoughts you’d like to share?

LT: Please keep social distancing, keep doing what you need to do to stay safe and keep your loved ones safe as well. We love you and we’re here to support you.

MT: Pray for us, not just me and Lequita, but all of the last responders all over the country.

We ask that everyone continue to lift us up because we’re out here on the battlefield every day.

As we endure this time of uncertainty, we must love, pray and lift everyone up. And meeting the Taylors will be a memory added to my chifferobe collection..

Editor’s note: For more information, visit www.taylormortuary. com or call 303-996-9991.

Through The Eyes of Our Angel

Denver Journalist Shares Relationship with COVID 19 Victim, His Mother

By Rosalind “Bee” Harris Surprisingly, the weather was pleasant during this January Martin Luther King holiday weekend as Alfonzo Porter wheeled his mother into the Soiled Dove to see blues singer Sammy Mayfield, unbeknownst to both of them, this would be her last public outing. It still didn’t prevent him from making sure she was covered up and warm as he wrapped her scarf around her neck and made sure her gloves were on. That was less than 12 weeks ago.

“Oh, she had a great time. She really enjoyed the music and was actually singing and clapping along with the band,” he said re­ flecting on her memory, and thinking about the principles she had instilled in him during his formative years growing up. “She was the heart of our family; just a beautiful soul.”

He was talking about his mother, Edream Moore, 85, who died from the Coronavirus virus on April 4. She and her husband fell ill and were taken to the hospital where they were diagnosed and both tested positive. No one knows how she contracted the virus but within days, she was on a ventilator and a week later she died.

“She was strong and selfless. Mom was a great grandmother who rarely left home except for going to the store or church,” journalism professor Porter, one of six children Moore had raised on her own, said. It’s been a very difficult time and he says he’s overwhelmed. He is concerned, and somewhat worried, but still functioning as best he can.

“I just love doing this work. I have to stay up. My mom died from COVID­19 on Saturday,” said Porter’s sister Edmonia Jackson who was pic­ tured as a volunteer in the St. Louis Dispatch handing out hot dog buns during a food and household supplies distribution event hosted by the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis on Friday, April 10.

That picture undoubtedly worried her brother that she may also contract the virus. And with so many families losing multiple members, that would be difficult to bear after not being able to be with his mother during her passing. “I’m worried about my sister but these are the values mom instilled in all of us – to help others in need. Mom would be proud that Edmonia is doing this to support her honor but needless to say, I am concerned about her well­being and health.”

Porter is also concerned about his students and the academic slide that will be presented to those who lack adequate resources to continue their education in their home environment such as home computers, lack of internet access and closed libraries.

“Many of the students are not focused. They are confused about the future and becoming doubtful of the education system,” Porter said after navigating his on­line classes with Zoom and other educational platforms since the mandatory schools closings.

“This came from out of nowhere. And it’s devastating because your loved ones perish alone,” he said.

But the pain and grief does not stop there.

“Preparing to see out of town relatives will also be agonizing with the social distancing we have to adhere to.”

Since April 4, Porter has been planning his mother’s memorial, preparing for out of town guests and finalizing legal matters – in addition to teaching online classes at MSU, DU and CCD; and working as the editor of the Denver Urban Spectrum.

Porter is steadfast in his values and in spite of it all, he is still is able to smile in front of eyes of grief.

He says his mother was strong and selfless. But from the looks of him and his sister, and as the saying goes, apples don’t fall far from the tree.

Well Done Thy Good and Faithful Servant (Matthew 25:23)

Denver Urban Spectrum — www.denverurbanspectrum.com – May 2020

15

The Angels Herald a New Bandleader…

In Memory of Freddy Rodriguez

By Charles Emmons

Freddy Rodriguez, Sr. (Provided by Evan Sémon Photography)

These times are challenging without question. When we feel down and want some sort of escape, we often turn to music for solace or to pick up our spirits. Many of us perhaps go to the local haunts to see our favorites. We can’t do that now, but in March we lost one of our great fathers of the Denver jazz and music scene, Freddy Rodriguez, Sr. Freddy Rodriguez had been an enduring fixture at Denver’s oldest jazz club, El Chapultepec, for 40 years. Rodriguez came to the ‘Pec’ and its owners in 1980 after a long sojourn immersed in the jazz scene in Los Angeles in the 1960’s. While in California he rubbed elbows with the greats as jazz developed competing west coast and east coast sounds. Rodriguez used the time as a sideman to learn everything he could.

Born in Del Norte, CO the family moved to Denver when young Freddy was six or seven according to Rodriguez’s son.

With roots in west Denver, Rodriguez attended Baker Jr. High and Denver West High School where he cultivated his interest in music first with the clarinet and then the saxophone for which he became known.

By the time he reached Los Angeles in the 1960’s he had mastered several instruments, with so many musicians gravitating to California, Rodriguez perhaps was somewhat unsung. In 1966 he recorded an album with Roland T. Kirk (later Rahsan) under the direction of New Orleans horn player Tommy Peltier who brought together Kirk, drummer Maurice Miller, bassist Bill Plummer, as well as Rodriguez in the group the Jazz Corps. On numerous cuts, Rodriguez plays tenor sax, alto sax and flute. Notables like Woody Herman, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Chet Baker, Dizzy Gillespie, Cannon Ball Adderley, and Stan Getz played. Freddy Rodriguez says that his father loved to hang out there.

Hermosa was an epicenter of west coast jazz, so it was like going to jazz school, and it served him well when Rodriguez returned to Colorado and started his long stint at the Pec in 1979 with a facility for playing a multitude of tunes and standards. He entertained audiences for decades at not only the Pec, but also Dazzle, Cinco de Mayo festivals, the Five Points Jazz Festival, KUVO parties and fundraisers, and the little known Donkey Creek Music Festival in Gillette, Wyoming.

Rodriguez was well known regionally and locally for his musica talent. But generally when you look back at a life well lived, wha do you look for? Did you impact others? Did you make a difference? Were you a good person in the various roles of your life?

The answer in Rodriguez’s life is a resounding yes. “He was a good solid man,” said his son. “He loved everybody. Everybody loved my dad. He was a great guy.

Music was his vehicle. He brought Freddy Jr. into the Pec when he was just 13 years old. The bassist who played with Rodriguez for 20 years, Andrew Hudson first snuck into the Pec when he was 15 and Rodriguez subsequently let him sit in.

Rodriguez and Pec owner Jerry Krantz would invite the horns sec tion from the Gibson Jazz Concerts at the Paramount to the Pec to play for $100 according to Dick Gibson’s son, Robey.

Rodriguez rarely missed an opportunity to expose audiences and other musicians to the music that he so loved. In 1980 a young musician interested in jazz had just moved to Denver from Kansas City, and he made his way down to the Pec where he met Rodriguez, who after hearing him said he reminded him of the drummer in the Roland Kirk band he had played with.

Tony Black says he didn’t know a lot about jazz at the time let alone any musicians, but he met locals as well as national artists at the Pec including Billy Tolles, Bruno Carr, Gene Bass and Joe Keel. Rodriguez took him under his wing and Black says that he was both like a father figure and his best friend. He appreciated that often, older musicians are more comfortable playing with musicians their own age, but this is not Freddy.

Saxophonist Freddy Rodriguez Sr. (second from right) and hi band outside El Chapultepec (Provided by Andrew Hudson

Black had the opportunity to tour the world with other bands with stops in Europe, Canada and Russia. “Freddy always had a spot when I came back,” said Black. “He wanted me in his group and pushed me to go out and be the best I could.” Black says that Freddy always had time to talk with you, and if you wanted to sit in weren’t good enough, he encouraged you to listen to and keep going in a positive direction. “We’d always talk…discuss music…discuss life.”

Black met Freddy at a time when he most needed him. He says he was 23 when he first came to Denver, but had just lost h

Denver Urban Spectrum — www.denverurbanspectrum.com – May 2020

16

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father at 21. As his musical talents, pursuits and career grew Rodriguez helped him navigate it all and taught him the essentials needed to be in the business. Black was impressed by Rodriguez’s openness both musically and personally, and the cross-generational dynamic that was so apparent when playing with him.

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Freddy Rodriguez, Sr. (second from right) on stage with his band at Dazzle Jazz.

(Provided by Andrew Hudson)

This was in large part due to the influence of Freddy Rodriguez Jr. who continued to play with his father after first dropping into the Pec at 13. “He could play ‘Round Midnight and then next Brickhouse,” said Black. “He was just that diverse. His son brought that to the table, but he had no qualms about it. He loved hearing the next era of music, and had nothing bad to say about it.

He wanted to change with the times.” What was most important was knowing the song and the melody. “He was open to you putting out what you know,” said Black. “You had to know the song, and he was open to learning from you as you were from him.”

Rodriguez was passionate about the business, and was a great teacher and mentor for Black and countless others. He showed Black how to treat family, music and people. It seems with Rodriguez there was considerable crossover. “Being with him showed me how he was, and I will carry it for the rest of my life,” said Black. “I miss him greatly. Things he put in my heart and soul will never leave me.” Black has played the Pec six or seven nights per week and says he never had to hustle any gigs because of his relationship with Rodriguez and the Pec family.

Music has always been about family for Rodriguez. Freddy Jr. will carry on the legacy with nephews who play music and his 14year-old daughter performed two or three songs with Freddy Rodriguez and the Jazz Connection at the 2019 City Park Jazz Festival. When Freddy Rodriguez Sr. passed in March the far reaching KUVO family posted condolences, prayers and blessings to the family on the website.

Freddy Rodriguez Sr. touched so many lives with his music, and because of his passionate discipline he was known for never missing a gig until the end. He logged 40 years at El Chapultepec despite severe health issues, which weakened him but didn’t diminish his spirit and passion for the music. He was hospitalized and then infected with the coronavirus and passed on March 25.

He was 89. Just passing April and Jazz Appreciation Month, it is appropriate that we recognize this stellar, beloved musician, father, mentor and friend. Rest in Peace Freddy Rodriguez. .

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Denver Urban Spectrum — www.denverurbanspectrum.com – May 2020

17

Strengthen Your Immune System with a Healthy Diet and Exercise

By Kim Farmer

The time is now to boost your immune system!

Naturally protecting yourself from COVID-19 or other illnesses must be a priority. The immune system is responsible for protecting your body against outside factors, such as bacteria, viruses and diseases. Your immune system is a type of circulatory system, but it doesn’t have a pumping action like your blood to help it move through your body.

The immune system relies on muscle action to remove waste and toxins from your body and the movement of the lymphatic system to help keep white blood cells moving in order for them to effectively kill off the viruses and bacteria. The strength of your immune sys-

tem depends on several factors including your diet and nutrition and physical exercise.

The following tips will help you maintain a healthy immune system with a healthy diet and exercise.

A Healthy Diet is Necessary for a Healthy Immune System Eating a healthy diet is crucial for maintaining an optimal immune system. Your diet should include fresh vegetables and fruits as well as plenty of whole grains and the healthy omega-3 fats that are found in fish and flaxseeds. Natural resources such as onion and garlic are great for flavoring foods and they contain natural anti-inflammatory properties, which are beneficial for fighting infections. When you have excess sugar in your bloodstream it binds to the proteins in your body, which prevents normal function, which can suppress your immune system and encourage inflammation that leads to certain diseases

and early aging. It is also best to avoid simple sugars that are often found in candy, cake and white bread; instead snack on complex carbohydrates, such as nuts that prevent uneven spikes in the blood sugar. Including probiotics in your diet are beneficial for helping your immune system fight infections, allergies and asthma. It is also important to stay hydrated. Your body depends on the water you consume to flush out the toxins as well as to carry essential nutrients throughout the cells in your body.

How Does Exercise Benefit the Immune System?

The immune system is dependent on the movement of your lymphatic system and muscles to function correctly.

Walking or jogging are effective exercises for building a healthy immune system. These types of exercise help your calf muscles contract, which then pumps the lymph fluid and enables it to move through your body. The lymph fluid is what carries the protective white blood cells



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

 Dr. Tracey Jones, D.C. Denver Urban Spectrum — www.denverurbanspectrum.com – May 2020

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through your body and carries out the waste. Walking is one of the easiest exercise routines to do, because you can do it indoors or outdoors. If the weather is bad and you are unable to go outdoors, simply walking around your house for about 20 minutes will get your blood moving, stretch your muscles and keep both your immune system and your body in shape. If you are new to walking or jogging, it is recommended that you start off slow with about five minutes and gradually increase the time until you are walking/jogging for 30 minutes each day. Exercising consistently will significantly improve your circulatory system, your lymphatic system, tone your muscles and increase the oxygen in blood flow.

During this time of widerange illness, it is important to take control of your health to avoid sickness and dependence on medication which typically comes along with side effects.

Try to commit to making one small change per day to help your body heal naturally when or if the time comes. Remember to stretch before and after exercising, take your time and get familiar with a routine that is comfortable for you and check with your physician before starting any exercise regimen..

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May is Mental Health Awareness Month, a yearly movement that has become even more important in the age of coronavirus. Around the world, people are being asked to maintain physical distance while keeping social connection, a task which is proving particularly challenging for many of us. In fact, this time of uncertainty and social distance has made it more difficult for us to maintain our mental health, and in the US, mental health professionals are beginning to see an alarming new trend – a rise in anxiety and depression in the face of the pandemic.

Anxiety and depression are both serious mental health disorders, and are extremely common in the general population.

Approximately one in five people have an anxiety disorder, and depression is the number one cause of disability among US adults ages 15 to 44.

Together, anxiety and depression affect more than 50 million American adults every year.

Despite recent increases in the rates of both conditions, we are not without recourse; we might not be able to get to the therapist’s office, but armed with the knowledge of what each disorder is and how it manifests, we can all adopt appropriate behavioral strategies to help lift the fog.

More Than Nerves, Bigger Than Sadness Anxiety is a mental health disorder characterized by excessive worry, agitation, or fear that interferes with daily activities. There are many types of anxiety disorders, but generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, and obsessive-compulsive disorder are particularly common. Anxiety disorders have a variety of symptoms, but may show up as hypervigilance, restlessness, racing

Behavioral Remedies for

Anxiety and Depression in the Age of Coronavirus

By Dr. Erynn M. Burks

thoughts, sweating, racing heart or chest discomfort, nausea, and a sense of impending doom.

Conversely, depression is a mood disorder characterized by a low mood that lasts for at least two weeks and remains consistent across most situations. Depression has many symptoms, but may show up as persistent sadness, general discontent, or hopelessness and loss of interest in activities you once enjoyed. Other symptoms include anger, mood swings, restlessness, weight changes, sleep disturbances, difficulty concentration, memory loss, and preoccupation with death, dying, or suicidal thoughts.

The causes of these disorders are unknown, although research suggests that a combination of biological, psychological, social, and environmental factors play a significant role.

Despite the scientific debate on their underlying causes, one this is clear: the emotional, behavioral, physical, and cognitive symptoms of anxiety and depression are debilitating and prevent individuals from fully engaging in their daily lives.

Behavioral Strategies To Help You Cope First line therapies for anxiety and depression include anti-anxiety and antidepressant drugs as well as talk or cognitive behavioral therapies.

Although these methods have proven highly effective, they can take weeks before you start to see results. For individuals waiting for traditional therapies to take action or for those who would rather pursue alternative methods, there are behavioral strategies you can use to ease your anxiety and depression symptoms on your own.

Practice Gratitude – Gratitude is being appreciative of what we have, both tangible and intangible. The spin cycle of anxiety and darkness of depression can make the idea of gratitude seem impossible, but positive psychology suggests this practice of thanksgiving can actually make us happier overall and refocus our minds on the present. Practice this discipline by creating a daily “gratitude journal,” listing 3 to 4 things that you are grateful to have in your life, no matter how small.

Practice Movement – It is no secret that exercise is great for your body, but did you know it can change your brain?

Just a few minutes of aerobic exercise can induce anti-stress effects and improve feelings of anxiety. Research also suggests

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that low-intensity aerobic exercise (e.g., walking, riding a bike) can improve function in the hippocampus (a brain region that helps regulate mood) and relieve symptoms of depression. Try setting some time aside for exercise even in the midst of nationwide stay-athome orders by taking a brisk walk around your block. Just a few minutes a day can start to ease your symptoms.

Practice Mindfulness – In recent years, mindfulness meditation has exploded in its popularity, but the practice reaches far beyond social media posts and internet blogs – its effects are backed up by hard science.

Research shows that mindfulness modifies brain function in areas that control stress and mood. Because of this, even short meditation sessions can reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression, making it an easy and viable treatment option for many. Unlike other forms of meditation, the goal of mindfulness is not relaxation, but simply to be present – present in mind, present in body. By practicing this, we learn to observe our minds with objectivity rather than judgement, to know how emotions feel inside of our bodies, to observe thoughts as they are and let them go, and to rewrite the stories we tell ourselves about our emotions. Smartphone apps like Headspace and Calm are easy ways to try mindfulness meditation while waiting out the pandemic.

Behavior modification can be useful for coping with mild symptoms of anxiety and depression, but if you experience serious symptoms like shortness of breath, chest pain or thoughts of suicide, contact your healthcare provider immediately..

Editor’s note: For more information about nutrigenomic testing – Dr. Erynn M. Burks, her services, location and hours of operation, visit MyCherryPointe.com.

Rays of sunshine warmed Ravi Turman’s skin and a spring breeze rippled over her body as she left the hospital, proving to Ravi that she was indeed alive.

Ravi’s survival had been very much in doubt at times over the 15 days she spent at UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital.

She had arrived in grave condition on the night of March 22, struggling to breathe as her lips turned blue. Then within hours, both of her lungs collapsed and a ventilator had to breathe for her. A test confirmed what her team already suspected: she had COVID-19.

Ravi’s doctors gave her a 50% chance — at best — of ever getting off the ventilator and surviving.

She faced especially bleak odds because Ravi, 51, has some underlying health issues including diabetes and high blood pressure. Ten years ago, she had uterine cancer and had had to have dozens of lymph nodes removed. Plus, she’s African American. COVID-19 has been sickening and killing African Americans at an alarming rate across the U.S. Doctors don’t know exactly why African Americans are faring so poorly during the pandemic.

One contributing factor may be that a greater percentage of African Americans have conditions like diabetes, heart problems and hypertension.

Bringing sunshine to others Ravi’s name means sun in Sanskrit and she believes she survived her ordeal with COVID-19 to bring a little sun to others.

“There’s not a lot of hope out there for anyone getting the virus, but if I survived, anyone can survive,” Ravi said. “Don’t be dismayed by what you hear, just because we are getting it.

There is hope.”

In addition to bringing comfort to African Americans and

COVID-19 Survivor

etä| gâÜÅtÇ Thinks She Lived to Give Others Hope

By Katie Kerwin McCrimmon, UCHealth Photo by Cyrus McCrimmon for UCHealth

people with underlying health conditions, who are justifiably frightened about COVID-19, Ravi’s sunny attitude cheered her nurses and doctors.

Against the odds, she was the first person in her COVID19 Intensive Care Unit (ICU) to make it off the ventilator and to once again breathe on her own.

“She surprised us,” said Dr. Josh Douin, the anesthesiologist who made the call to “extubate” Ravi, removing her breathing tube and detaching her from the ventilator.

“She’s spunky. She had a strong will to live and to leave the hospital,” Douin said.

“She was our first victory. It was really a morale boost for the team to see that we could get people through to recovery.

We’ve had some losses too, so it’s been great to have victories.”

Dr. Julie Winkle cared for Ravi the day after she was extubated. Ravi was weak still and her throat was too sore to talk, but when Winkle let Ravi know she was the first person in the ICU to get her breathing tube out, Ravi flashed a beautiful smile and celebrated.

“She raised her hands over her head. She was pumping her fists in the air,” Winkle said.

“Her personality came through.

She just has this innate feistiness and she used it to get better.”

A newcomer to Colorado and a bout with a new virus Ravi is a minister and loves to sing, dance and revel in life.

Before moving to Colorado a couple of months ago from Indiana to be with her 29-yearold daughter, Ana Caldwell, Ravi served a small congregation at Impact Christian Church.

“My focus is just being a positive light for anyone. It doesn’t have to be about shoving the Bible down someone’s throat. It’s just being a positive light. I was in the hospital a long time. I got to see the nurses and the doctors and you could see that they were tired, but they were trying to be upbeat. I would hold their hand and look them in the eye and tell them, ‘Thank you for helping me.’”

She came to Colorado for Christmas to be with Ana and ultimately decided to stay.

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Ravi started working at the Colorado Department of Local Affairs. She doesn’t drive, so she took two buses and a train to get to her job. Ana believes that’s how her mom became exposed to the new coronavirus, which by early March was circulating throughout Colorado and the U.S. A cold that never got better At first, Ravi thought she just had a bad cold. But the cough grew worse and she had a fever that wouldn’t break. Ravi’s boss encouraged her to see a doctor, but it was the weekend and Ravi hesitated to go to the hospital.

“I had some shortness of breath, but I brushed it off because I’m still new to Colorado. I thought, ‘It’s just me.’ Indiana is below sea level and moving here was a big change,” she said.

On Sunday evening, March 22, she was Face Timing with her 81-year-old mother, Doris Davis, a former jazz singer and retired paralegal and project director for Indiana Legal Services, Inc. Davis lives in Indiana.

Davis noticed that her daughter’s face had a purplishblue tint to it.

“You’ve got to go to the hospital. You get in the car and go to the hospital now,” she told her daughter.

Ana took her mom to the ER at University of Colorado Hospital and sat with her as long as she could. Then, hospital workers took Ravi up to the ICU, where she soon became nonresponsive as her lungs collapsed.

Ravi remembers almost nothing from the first 10 days of her hospital stay.

Her team kept Ravi’s family up to date and the outlook was pretty grim.

“They told us she had a 5050 chance. They didn’t really know, but they were going to try some things and see if they could help her breathe better,” Doris said.

‘I heard their hearts breaking’ Ravi has few memories from her time on the ventilator, but she distinctly remembers once feeling like she was slipping away.

“I was getting ready to leave,” Ravi said.

There was no dread about dying at first. Then, Ravi felt a powerful sensation.

“I could feel my mother’s heart breaking and I could hear my daughter’s heart breaking and that brought me back,” Ravi said. “There was a dark day when they told my daughter that it could go either way. And I guess it was that same day.”

Ravi has two sisters and one brother. Decades ago, her mom lost a baby boy, who was three years older than Ravi. He was born with a hole in his heart and died at three days old.

Today, babies with those types of heart problems survive. But there was no cure then.

Even in the haze of her coma, Ravi didn’t want her mom to suffer the tragedy of losing a child a second time.

“It brought me back,” Ravi said.

A critical turning point Dr. Douin didn’t expect Ravi to be his standout patient.

“She had very severe lung injury. It was remarkable that we were able to extubate her,” he said.

But, he and his team were able to take her off the ventilator and allow her to use a CPAP or Continuous Positive Airway Pressure machine to force oxygen into her lungs.

Ravi has sleep apnea and was used to using the C-PAP. “She did very well,” Douin said.

He credits Ravi’s attitude as much as the medical care she received.

“She had a strong will to leave the hospital and that helped her quite a bit,” he said.

Douin said he and his colleagues are seeing a number of patients of color — both African Americans and Latinos — who are becoming critically ill from COVID-19.

He doesn’t think they are more susceptible to getting the virus, but rather that patients with many underlying illnesses may have weaker immune systems than healthier patients.

“It happens that African Americans have higher rates of hypertension (high blood pressure) and diabetes. Long-standing socioeconomic discrepancies likely also are playing a role,” Douin said. “Those are our best guesses as to why we are seeing so many non-white patients.”

Resurrection It is not lost on Ravi that she essentially came back to life just before Easter, the holy season when Christians celebrate resurrection and rebirth.

Someday, perhaps Ravi will have a new congregation and she will preach about the time when she came face to face with a historic plague, and for some reason that she still doesn’t fully understand, she survived.

“I really do think I’m here for a purpose. And part of it is to tell my story,” she said. “I have things yet to do. I’m a daughter.

I’m a sister. I’m a mother. It just wasn’t my time.”.

The image is familiar, even mundane, to most of us now: a

Local News Collaboration in the Time of COVID

dozen or more faces peer out against various backgrounds – some real, some green-screened – talking and planning across many miles. Together, apart.

But it was an unprecedented group that first gathered on April 1 – in more ways than one. First, Op-Ed by Melissa Milios Davis the faces were of journalists from newsrooms from across Colorado, who in previous years have been more accustomed to competition than collaboration. Second, the group was finding unity in a common purpose – how working together could help each of them reach more Coloradans with accurate, timely, potentially life-saving updates and rigorous reporting in the unprecedented time of COVID. Since that first Zoom call less than a month ago, nearly 100 journalists representing over 40 newsrooms across the state have joined the Colorado News Collaborative – which now includes the state’s largest and smallest newspapers, radio and television stations, digital news outlets, and professional journalism associations. A major factor prompting each to join the COLab, as it’s called, is a common need to figure out how to do more with less.

Why? While online news traffic is surging due to reader demand for trustworthy local news and information, Colorado’s newsrooms themselves are running on fumes.

Some of this isn’t new: With Google and Facebook gobbling up more than 60 percent of local digital ad revenue annually, the number of journalists in Colorado has declined by 44% between 2010 and 2018, and nearly one in five Colorado newspapers has closed its doors since 2004.

Last fall, the Colorado Media Project reported that at least 30 Colorado counties — most of them rural — have been left with only a single source of original local journalism.

Now, with local advertising plummeting to historic lows, the COVID crisis is already further expanding Colorado’s news deserts, reshaping the local news landscape in ways it may never recover.

The formation of the Colorado News Collaborative is a bright spot in these dark days. Participating newsrooms are joining forces to coordinate coverage to avoid duplication and maximize resources; cover more stories about people and communities statewide that are currently going untold; collaborate across newsrooms on data-driven accountability journalism; and facilitate wider distribution of stories, in both English and other languages, in order to better serve the public.

Today and throughout the coming week, in front-page newspaper stories and broadcast features across Colorado, COLab partners are releasing their first major collaborative storytelling project: COVID Diaries Colorado.

On April 16, the deadliest day to date in the U.S. coronavirus pandemic, scores of reporters from across Colorado set out to find how people were coping.

They found stories of grit, ingenuity and hope. You can find some of their stories in this publication, and all of them are online at http://colabnews.co.

So now if you’re sufficiently inspired, and wondering: How can we support these dedicated local journalists — among the short list acknowledged as essential workers by Governor Jared Polis — in this challenging time?

Most subscription-based newsrooms have already taken down their paywalls to allow free, full access to their COVID-19 coverage.

So for readers who have room in their budgets, now is the time to sign up for a subscription to your local newspaper, to show that you value the hard work that your local journalists — your neighbors — are putting in each day. Nonprofit and public-benefit newsrooms are also hoping that local readers and philanthropists will donate generously, to demonstrate they agree that independent reporting on local news is an essential service.

As Coloradans, many of us are rallying to support our local restaurants, retail outlets, and service workers — let’s add local newsrooms to our list of worthy causes..

Editor’s note: Melissa Milios Davis is acting director of the Colorado Media Project and vice president for informed communities, Gates Family Foundation.

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Zoom Bombing Basic Cyber hygiene can effectively help combat this problem

By Thomas Holt Russell In the last two months, the use of video conferencing software such as Zoom, Skype, Cisco Webex Meetings, and Microsoft Teams have skyrocketed due to concerns of the coronavirus. The coronavirus has caused government lockdowns and social distancing.

Companies were forced to dustoff their work-from-home policies and send employees home with little or no security train-

ing. Millions of Americans now have to work, learn, and collaborate from home. In an article on the techcrunch.com website, it was stated that during the week of March 14 to 21, downloads for business conference apps topped 62 million.

This increased amount of video conferencing activity has also attracted the attention of a group of people that are coming uninvited into those meetings and creating havoc for organizations. Some of these individuals and organizations are struggling with the applications for the first time while trying to communicate during the pandemic outbreak.

In just a short amount of time, this phenomenon has gained a name, Zoom Bombing.

According to securityboulevard.com, “Zoom Bombing is when an unauthorized person or stranger joins a Zoom meeting/chat session and cause disorder by saying offensive things

COMING IN MAY 2020

and even photobombing your meeting by sharing pornographic and hate images.

Imagine if your young kids are participating in an online school meeting, and suddenly it is interrupted in that manner.

Well, unfortunately, is has happened numerous times.”

The FBI is busy taking reports of hackers intruding on Zoom video conferences and making xenophobic statements, racial slurs, as well as showing pornographic photos, and hate images. Some of the incidents that have occurred include: •Trolls have broken into several AA meetings, disrupting several times and mocking participants.

•An Orange County School district sent a letter out to all of its teachers, imploring them to use the “waiting room” option on Zoom. This was after an individual gained access to the video conference and exposed himself to students participating in the video conference.

•At the University of Texas, a Zoom meeting that included Black students had to be cut short after an intruder entered the meeting and started using racial slurs.

The good news is that standard cyber hygiene can solve most of those problems that have occurred. The bad news is that many of the people using Zoom do not practice or have not been trained on standard cyber hygiene. Hackers are having a field day because of this lack of experience and cyber training.

If you are going to use Zoom, here are some minor practices that can make your video conference safer: •Don’t make meeting public; Two options to use; 1. Require a meeting password 2. Use the waiting room feature •Do not share a link to the meeting on an unrestricted publicly available social media post.

Only provide attendees with the link.

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•Manage screen sharing options – in Zoom change screen sharing to host only.

•Use the updated version of Zoom. The latest version is Jan 2020.

•Inspect the list of participants •Disable Join Before the Meeting setting – host should control it from the very beginning •Lock the meeting, so once your session has started, no one else should join.

Some employees have not received proper cybersecurity training from their organizations. There are thousands of documents on the Web that outline best practices when it comes to securing your digital presence for yourself and your organizations. Following these rules will help you remain safe while on a network. Nothing is 100% hack-proof, but these practices are essential to help prevent intrusion. Here is a list of organizations and their list of the best cybersecurity practices: 1. FBI Cyber Awareness PDF, file:///Users/trussell/Movies/Cyber %20Awareness%20508.pdf 2. Norton Best Cybersecurity Practices for Employees, https://us.norton.com/internetsecurity-how-to-cyber-security-bestpractices-for-employees.html 3. Center For Internet Security (CIS), https://www.cisecurity.org /cybersecurity-best-practices/ In the coming weeks video teleconferencing use will only increase. Since Zoom Bombing can be effectively curtailed by following simple rules and making the proper settings, you will have the ultimate control over the safety of your video conference. .

Editor’s note: Thomas Holt Russell is the Cyber Education Program Manager for the National Cybersecurity Center. He received the 2020 Cyber Education Administrator of the Year award and wrote the book Binary Society.

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Ten movies To Watch During The Coronavirus Lockdown

By Laurence Washington and Jon Rutlege

L

ooking for a two-hour escape from the Coronavirus drama that has most of us sheltering in place practicing social distancing? Film critics Laurence Washington and Jon Rutlege have cobble together an eclectic list of movies that are available on DVD, On Demand, Streaming or sitting on your dusty shelves of your home collection. Hopefully these suggestions will distract you until theaters open up and start screening movies-in-waiting that have been postponed.

Casablanca: Everybody comes to Rick’s, and so should you. Casablanca (’42) has been screened more times than any movie in history. Its romantic moments have become part of our vocabulary. People who

have never seen the movie constantly quote the lines. Released as a political movie, Casablanca became a cultural icon. Dooley Wilson sang the iconic song As Time Goes By which became a continuing emotional motif throughout the film.

Goldfinger: If you’re going spend an afternoon quarantined, Goldfinger (’64) is the blue print and gold standard of the Bond films. Its running time is perfect: 1 hr. 50 min. Dame Shirley Bassey belts out the haunting title song.

Shaft: Directed by Gordon Parks, the first black director to direct a major Hollywood film, Shaft (’71) opened the door for action movies with a black hero.

Private detective John Shaft is hired by a black mobster to get back his kidnapped daughter from white mobsters trying to take over Harlem. The film’s score composed by the Black Moses, Isaac Hayes stayed on the billboard charts forever.

offers a great storyline, as T’Challa Chadwick Boseman returns home to rule the fictional country of Wakanda, after his father’s assassination, only to be challenged by his estranged cousin Eric Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan) for the throne.

Straight Outta Compton: Here’s a first, O’Shea Jackson Jr. plays dad Ice Cube in the N.W.A. biopic. Even if you’re not into hip-hop, Straight Outta Compton (’15) offers a convincing cast who tell a story how N.W.A. revolutionized music and pop culture forever.

Chef: Chef (’14) is an incredible story of father and son, and an excellent analogy for Jon Favreau’s film career that expanded into the Marvel Universe with Ironman and Avengers films.

Black Panther: If you’re not suffering from a “Marvel hanger over,” Black Panther (’18) is worth revisiting. It’s refreshing to see superheroes of color, live and rule a technological society. Black Panther’s also Denver Urban Spectrum — www.denverurbanspectrum.com – May 2020

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Bajrangi Bhaijaan: An Indian film that has length, a great story and a bit of everything for everyone. Trust me, a great introduction to Indian Films.

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel: This story teaches us that everything will be all right in the end. If things are not all right, then it is not yet the end. We could that lesson about now.

Yesterday: Imagine a world without the Beatles, now what if you were the only one who knew they existed. Yesterday (’19) is an excellent “What If” story. If ever we need some of the Beatles magic, it’s now.

Arsenic and Old Lace: It’s old school (’44), but an excellent slapstick comedy a perfect escape to take your mind off things right while sheltering in place.

Denver Awards $1.1 Million to Organizations Providing Workforce and Business Development Support Grants will foster upward economic mobility, stability, and recovery in low- and moderate-income communities Denver Economic Development & Opportunity (DEDO) has issued award letters to 15 organizations scheduled to receive federal grants totaling $1.1 million in 2020. Grants will fund public benefits projects including workforce development, entrepreneurship, education, and capacity building, all key to the ability of communities not only to move upward on the income scale but to find stability and address economic recovery, especially as they move through the current crisis.

“With the current challenges the COVID-19 crisis has brought to our community, we’re glad to bring this grant

funding at such a critical moment, and in doing so support the organizations that help so many,” Mayor Michael B. Hancock said. “With this funding support, we know these organizations will continue to do great work with compassion and professionalism, and we thank them for their partnership.”

DEDO’s Neighborhood Equity & Stabilization Team, led by Dr. Irene Aguilar, issued a Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) in July 2019 for proposals to be funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Community Development Block Grant

(CDBG) program. Forty-five organizations submitted proposals that were evaluated and scored by a cross division team of city and external subject matter experts.

“Partnerships across all sectors are more important than ever, and we are proud to collaborate with these strong nonprofit organizations,” said DEDO Executive Director Eric Hiraga. “As communities face the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, the grantee organizations will assist some of city’s most vulnerable residents and businesses in facing and overcoming these challenges and helping them and our economy get back on their feet. We look forward to a year of meaningful and intense work to uplift all in our Denver community.”

The 15 awardees will utilize their funding to serve individuals and businesses across Denver’s 10 most vulnerable neighborhoods as identified by the Neighborhood Equity & Stabilization Team, known as NEST. Programs focus on serving individuals/ businesses that are predominantly low- and moderate-income, womenowned, and/or serving immigrant and refugees.

“Sistahbiz wouldn’t exist without support and investment from DEDO, nor would we be able to provide the resources and technical support that we provide to minority businesses,” says Makisha Boothe, executive director of the Foundation for Black Entrepreneurship, a 2020 grantee. “As a Black woman in business whose primary work is social impact and racial equity work, it’s difficult to find investors who prioritize and take action on this work. I wanted to serve my people in unique and culturally responsive ways, and DEDO has been not just passionate about seeing us succeed at serving our community, but also accessible and supportive.”

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Organizations awarded funding includes the following: Center for African American Health (Adult and youth job training and placement) $95,000; East Denver Colfax Partnership (Business support, education, and counseling services) $75,000; Environmental Learning for Kids (Outdoor Recreation for Career Exploration at Urban Schools Program) $50,000; Florence Crittenton Services (Education and job training for teen families) $90,000; Foundation for Black Entrepreneurship (Business Support Services for Startup and Existing Women-owned Businesses) $150,000; Girls Inc. of Metro Denver (Eureka STEM Program) $60,000; Groundwork Denver (Green Team Youth Employment Program) $60,000; La Raza Services, Inc. (Servicios Employment Growth Project) $60,000; Lutheran Social Services of Colorado (Pamoja Women’s Pathways to Growth (P2G) Program) $50,000; Mi Casa Resource Center (Bilingual Business Support Services for Start-up and Existing Businesses) $100,000; NEWSED Community Development Corp. (Business Support Office – The ZONE Marketplace) $30,000; Rocky Mountain Employee Ownership Center (Business Conversions to Employee Ownership Program) $50,000; The Joshua Station – Mile High Ministries (Family Futures Program) $80,000; West Community Economic Development Corp. (Business Support Office Program) $100,000; and the Women’s Bean Project (Transitional Employment Program), $50,000 “Maintaining Physical, Mental and Emotional Well-being During Uncertain Times”

Tele-Conference Saturday, May 16 from 11 AM to Noon

Urban League Guild of Denver presents a discussion on surviving and rebounding from life experiences with Rev. Marjorie B. Lewis, PH.D on insights into a lifestyle of resilience and help to daily maintenance. Call in: (701) 802-5441 with access code 1456480. For more information, call 303-358-4540.

COVID-19 Malware and Phishing Scams I

By Thomas Holt Russell

t may come as no surprise that hackers and scammers are taking advantage of the increasing numbers of people suddenly working from home due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Overnight, millions of people who never worked from home before are now sitting ducks for the skilled hacker that is hunting them. The rising of the number of people working from home is a bonanza for hackers.

Working from home may not be the best experience for many people. Besides the regular distractions such as kids, balancing home life and work life in the same place, and Netflix, it is also uncomfortable being a prime target for hackers.

Let’s take a look at a couple of scams.

One of the main methods used to coax people out of their private information is a phishing scam. Phishing is fraud attempts perpetrated by random attackers against a large number of users. This cybercrime is mostly conducted through email by someone posing as a legitimate institution to lure people into providing sensitive data such as personally identifiable information (PII).

There is one particular coronavirus hoax that targets Android users. It promises to provide real-time access to

virus tracking. They promise statistics as well as a visual map that tracks the hot areas for the virus. The application prompts users to download this Android App. This application is full of ransomware. It denies users access to their phones. The application accomplishes this by forcing a change in the password used to unlock the phone.

The hackers will then request a $100 ransom in bitcoin. The victim has only 48 hours to comply. The hackers threaten to erase all contacts, photos, videos, and documents. This malware is called the CovidLock ransomware. A more in-depth look into CovidLock can be found here: https://www.domaintools.com/resources/blog/covi dlock-update-coronavirusransomware There is another phishing scam that seems to come from the World Health Organization.

Emails are sent out promising information on safety measures to avoid virus infections. The user will click on an embedded link and then are directed to a site that asks for personal information. The scam looks very legitimate, so it can be difficult to tell whether it is real or not.

There are also similar scams that promise face masks and other PII equipment.

People are attacked during their most vulnerable times, so this is a very critical time to practice cyber safety. Think as if the entire world is involved in taking advantage of our vulnerability because they are.

Individuals perpetrate some of these scams, but there are also state-run resources directed in this effort. The usual suspects, China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea, are actively using virusrelated information to conduct spying operations.

SophosLabs has a list of newly registered malicious domains that have sprouted up since the pandemic. The list can be found here: https://twitter.com/Soph

osLabs/status/12395982898901 11488 Even an established organization, such a NASA, is not immune to attacks by hackers.

This past week NASA has reported an exponential increase in malware attacks.

Many of these attacks are directed at people working from home. According to a NASA memo, some of the signs of increased hacking include a doubling of phishing attempts, a massive increase in malware attacks on NASA systems, and double the number of mitigation blocking of NASA systems trying to access malicious sites.

This increase in activity is due to users accessing the internet.

This proves that NSA employees and contractors are clicking malicious sites that arrive in their email. In part, the NASA memo to employees stated; “NASA employees and contractors should be aware that nation-states and cybercriminals are actively using the COVID-19 pandemic to exploit and target NASA electronic devices, networks, and personal devices.”

What can we do?

People are the weakest link in cybersecurity. If employees were trained to identify fishing emails, that could save companies a lot of misery. Besides training, VPNs are a good start.

However, people working from home, away from VPN enterprise networks, are still in danger when they access any cloud-based applications. And again, VPNs do not protect companies when the employee clicks a malicious link in a phishing email.

Some of the things that need to be done for cyber protections are under our control. These measures will help. Keep operating systems, browsers, router firmware, phones, and all devices up to date. Another idea is to receive email messages on computers and phones that are not connected to work.

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Be on the lookout for suspicious emails and websites that promises to give information or any help on the pandemic. This is just an easy way for hackers to build a road to your data. If you want reliable information, the best site is the Centers for Disease and Control located at https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nCoV/index.html Some of the changes being made during the pandemic will be here to stay once the virus runs its course. We may experience a vast increase in people working from home. Now is a great time for additional training and awareness for cybersecurity. The threat will never leave, so we have to be serious about protecting our data now, and well into the future. .

Editor’s note: Thomas Holt Russell is the Cyber Education Program Manager for the National Cybersecurity Center. He received the 2020 Cyber Education Administrator of the Year award and wrote the book Binary Society.

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An Open Letter: To Council President Clark, Members of Denver City Council and CO State Legislators

By John Bailey The Black Cannabis Equity Initiative (BCEI), the only true Black community equity group engaging the Denver and Colorado cannabis industry on the issue of equity, diversity and inclusion is reaching out to the Denver City Council and CO state legislators for purposes of providing Black community input on the social equity question in Denver and our state.

BCEI is encouraging all CO elected officials to take informed, positive and progressive steps in your role as state and city leaders to assist in bringing action, positive change and healing to this cannabis social equity dialogue in CO and Denver.

BCEI won’t rehash the case or the need for social equity guidance, direction and a plan for not just for Denver, but the state of Colorado (at this point it is rather obvious).

Nor will we rehash the impact of a lack of social equity in the initial state law, after 7 years and $8 billion in revenue.

We won’t discuss expungement, record sealing or the impact of COVID-19 in the industry. We won’t discuss the fact that everyone on Council and in the legislature is not at the same place on Cannabis legalization and there is a need for Council and Legislators to get best practice information and education on this issue. With that said, BCEI would like to engage Council and our Legislators in a proactive discussion around the following concerns.

BCEI will continue to engage the cannabis industry leaders and local/state decision-makers in a cannabis social dialogue. This constructive and instructive social dialogue around cannabis social equity will enable and assist social partners trying to influence the arrangement, development and enactment of equitable economic,

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public and social policies as well as to manage positive change and achieve economic and social goals.

Further, there are some specific action items that BCEI supports and want to encourage the cannabis industry, city, state and the community to engage in that social dialogue now, allowing all of us to immediately demonstrate our commitment to social equity in the cannabis space.

The specific BCEI recommended action items are as follows: •Demonstrated and continued support for State Government’s and City of Denver’s social equity efforts and leadership in this space as well as engage the cannabis industry around their social equity commitment thus far and social equity plans going forward.

•Initiate and support cannabis Emergency Delivery option with a time frame and written social equity accountability resolutions attached such as: 1. Demonstrated cannabis industry social equity commitment to a Local Community Equity Ordinance 2. Demonstrated Cannabis industry support for Community Ownership, Partnership and Sponsorship Agreements 3. Demonstrated cannabis industry support for Cannabis Industry Community Invest Fund 4. Demonstrated support for expungement, record sealing, or release of low-level cannabis offenders 5. Demonstrated support and a review of the Cannabis Minority Business Association recommendations to municipalities of “10 Local Social Equity Ordinances” for consideration 6. Demonstrated support for a Denver Cannabis Social Equity Commission with commissioners & staff 7. Demonstrated support for the BCEI Social Equity Accountability Report Card In addition, please visit our bceicolorado.net website to get a better sense of who we are, our vision, mission and programs..

Don’t Let COVID-19 Steal Your Dream Of Homeownership

By Barry Overton

Layoffs, Terminations, Lost Income, Reduced Work Hours.

Many people have felt the effects of the coronavirus that hit the U.S. in February. There have been many reports stating, “This virus will kill more people financially than physically.� In most cases, it would be very difficult to look at this pandemic as an opportunity for homeownership or real estate investing As I write this article during our quarantine period, I am still extremely busy with real estate, helping clients to buy and sell properties. While I would much prefer to be at home with my family, I do have a duty to represent my clients. And these are clients who have decided to act in the midst of our quarantine because of the opportunity that was before them. For instance, sellers realize that less people will be putting their house on the market during the quarantine, so it presents an opportunity to sell with less competition when trying to sell your property. The first week of our quarantine, I listed a property on Friday, and in two days, we

were under contract, at a full price offer – all these transactions being done with health and safety measures being performed.

There are also chances now for buyers regarding purchasing and while there is less inventory, it does continue to make it a competitive seller’s market. But there are also fewer buyers out there as well. So it’s not as competitive as it would normally be during this time of year. The first week in April, I was able to take a client out to look at properties and we located a property that she wanted to write an offer on.

Amid us writing the offer, the Colorado Attorney General’s office decided that in-person showings would no longer be allowed. This presented an opportunity for my buyer because the seller was now in a position where they would likely not get any other showings. They were in a desperate situation. This allowed my buyer to make an offer under the asking price, and request a considerable amount of seller paid closing costs, both of which the seller agreed to, and we went under contract. These two examples show there will be opportunities on both sides

of the fence, as a buyer and a seller.

Here’s the best part. It’s not one of those opportunities that you must act on right now. As we come out of quarantine and we go back to a sense of normalcy in our communities, we are going to have to jumpstart our economy. One of the key components to a thriving economy is the real estate market. In order to restart the real estate market, will require many months of lower interest rates.

Home builders will be offering several different types of incentive programs to get you to purchase their home, and there will be sellers on the market that are in desperate situations and need to sell their property fast, which means typically, a good deal for the right buyer.

On the seller side of the house, you can still expect to see a competitive market on properties that show well and are priced right. Bidding wars will still be a part of the Denver Real Estate Market. The raw truth is, over the next year to 18 months this pandemic will have affected many different people, some in a positive way, some in a very negative ways financially. What that will amount to is opportunity for those that are able to jump on new ventures as they present themselves. The key in the African American community is to be prepared for those occasions when a deal is presented.

If you’ve ever thought about owning a home or investing in real estate, the next 18 months will prove to be the best time for you to jump in with both feet. My best advice to you is to get with a real estate professional and learn how to take advantage of the upcoming surge in real estate..

Editor’s note: Barry Overton is a licensed Real Estate Agent since 2001. He started investing in real estate in 1996. For more information, email barrysellsdenver@ msn.com.

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Lost Your Joy?

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United Church of Montbello!

Come as you are and get connected to your best self through great fellowship and the love of Jesus Christ!

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Rev. Dr. James E. Fouther, Jr., Pastor 4879 Crown Blvd., Denver, CO 80239 303-373-0070 http://ucm.ctsmemberconnect.net

Joel Osteen:

On Coronavirus and Keeping the Faith

By Allison Kugel Photos courtesy of Lakewood Church

I

n these uncertain times,

we can all do our part to raise the vibration of this planet and initiate collective healing on a mass scale, and that goes beyond our first responders in the medical and safety fields to who we owe a debt of gratitude that can never be repaid.

Something as simple as a smile, a wave or asking someone how their day is going has healing ripple effects that are much needed. We all matter, and we must all do our part.

One man, Pastor Joel Osteen, of Lakewood Church in Houston Texas, has been doing his part, and then some since taking over his late father, John Osteen’s, Lakewood congregation in 1999 as head pastor.

Osteen’s eternal optimism, interpretation of bible scripture and his practice of radical acceptance has skyrocketed his church and his message into the stratosphere. Osteen’s parishioners who attend his church and follow him on television, through his podcasts, many New York Times bestselling books, tours and radio broadcasts have responded in massive numbers to Osteen’s message of “come as you are.”

During our conversation, we discuss his deep-rooted belief that human beings do not have to be perfect to embrace Christianity, or any faith for that matter. You simply must have the desire in your heart to be better today than you were yesterday; an all-inclusive qualification, that Osteen insists,

allows us all to measure up in the eyes of God. It’s not a surprise that millions around the globe draw inspiration and spiritual education from Joel Osteen, both, civilians and public figures, alike.

The contagion of the COVID-19 pandemic we currently face is daunting, but the contagion of hope and faith is a powerful force that can indeed help to heal our planet, boost our immune systems and encourage us to reflect on how we can be better; how we can each be a miracle to the world around us.

Allison Kugel: How has your ministry changed in the wake of this COVID-19 pandemic in terms of how you’re interacting with your congregation, and with the world at large? Are you approaching your messages differently?

Joel Osteen: You know, I wouldn’t say that I am. I guess I am approaching it differently in one sense. I’m speaking more to the subject at hand, and talking about choosing faith and not fear, and things like that. Other

than that, it’s just a shift away from the people being here [in Houston’s Compaq Center] and being able to pray with people in person. Fortunately, we had our online platform, and this network of television stations already lined up. Other than not seeing everyone in person, it hasn’t changed that much.

Allison Kugel: Apart from 9/11, which was of course devastating, the last several decades we’ve just kind of had good times. We didn’t live through things like the Spanish Flu, The Great Depression, World War I or World War II, like previous generations did.

Now we are faced with the enormity of this pandemic. Do you think the word “faith” has taken on new meaning now?

Joel Osteen: I think it has. I think our faith is tested and tried in the difficult times, and you make a good point in that we haven’t lived like previous generations did. We haven’t had to endure that. This is such a time of uncertainty, but I do believe this is when we turn to

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our faith. This is when you can feel that peace and that hope to get through it. That is what I feel faith is all about. It’s not just for the good times. Even though we hadn’t previously experienced those kinds of things in our generation, we all experience difficulties in relationships, finances, the loss of loved ones and with health issues. I think our faith can be seen there.

Allison Kugel: What’s your take on destiny versus free will as it applies to us humans?

Joel Osteen: I do think that God’s planned out things for each one of us. Like you said, he gives us a free will. We can make choices that can keep us from becoming who we were created to be, but I believe that when you’re honoring God, when you’re being your best, I believe that God will get you to where you’re supposed to be.

So, a sickness, or a virus, or another person can’t stop your destiny. I believe that. I know that sometimes it’s hard to reconcile that God gives us free will, and he knew all that we were going to do wrong, but I think he gives us the free will, and I believe when you’re doing your best, God will get you to where you’re supposed to be.

Allison Kugel: People often comment about the enormity of your church. My feeling is that it took courage for you to preach a message that it doesn’t matter what you did yesterday, you’re welcome here today. It doesn’t matter what mistakes you’ve made, if you want to do better and be better, you can. It certainly goes against traditional concepts of sin and guilt.

Joel Osteen: I do believe

everything you said, Allison. It probably does go against the old school, or the generations that had hellfire and brimstone, where you go to church to feel guilty. People are already feeling guilty enough. I do believe that is what the scripture teaches, that, you know what, you move forward, and your past doesn’t have to stop you.

You go through the scripture and you see it again and again, with different examples. When Jesus was here, he lifted the fallen, he restored those who were broken, and so I do believe that.

Of course, I believe in sin and repentance from sin, but we’ve all made mistakes. Life beats us up, and I feel like my message is to tell people to get back up and go again, because God gives us another chance and He can still get you to where you’re supposed to be.

Allison Kugel: Do you think you would be where you are now if your wife Victoria wasn’t in your life?

Joel Osteen: No. I tell people all the time I wouldn’t be half of who I am. Before my dad passed and I stepped up to pastor, she used to tell me I was going to pastor the church. That was like telling me I was going to go be an astronaut. I said, “Victoria, I would never be a pastor. I don’t know what to say.” She saw this in me before I saw it myself, so I think having her believe in me early on, way before my dad died, that really helped me to step up.

Allison Kugel: I ask everyone this question, and I think it’s really fitting considering who you are. What do you think you came into this life as Joel Osteen to learn? And what do you think you came here to teach?

Joel Osteen: Hmm, what did I come here to learn? Maybe I came here to learn about the goodness of God; how good God is. I feel like that is what I’ve seen in my life, and that’s why it’s easy for me to tell people that God is for you and that he can restore you, and

he’s got a great plan. I’ve just seen that my whole life. I had a great mom and dad. My mom’s still alive, but a lot of people get the image of God from their earthly father. My dad was just for everybody, and for me. I feel that maybe I came here to see the goodness of God. I think I came here to teach people about the goodness of God, and to make God good again. We touched on the fact that a lot of people were raised to believe that God is mad at them, and they were taught guilt and that you can’t measure up. But I just have a different view of God, so maybe it’s to spread a different message.

Allison Kugel: What is Lakewood Church doing in terms of donations of medical supplies, food, or whatever kind of support you’re working on for your local hospitals and other service providers in the Houston area?

Joel Osteen: We’re doing something called Boxes of Hope. These are for the elderly, and for people that have special needs children. These are boxes filled with groceries, water, soaps, and things that they need if they can’t get to the

grocery store. My brother Paul is a medical doctor and he’s working with some of his contacts, and we’re donating masks and medical supplies down to the large medical center we have here in Houston. Another thing we are doing is taking food trucks down to the medical center for the first responders, nurses and doctors, so they can step outside and have some free food.

We also did a blood drive last week at the Gulf Coast Blood Center. We’re always their biggest blood drive in North America. We’ll have another couple of thousand people that will come through and give blood. People here at Lakewood [Church], they love to help, they love to give, and they love to share.

Allison Kugel: In times like this I know that you preach positivity, which is so important, but in these times do you think it’s okay for people to have moments of anxiety, depression, or even moments where they feel a lack of faith?

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Joel Osteen: Yes, I definitely do, Allison, because we are human. Even Jesus in scriptures, one time he was so depressed he sweat great drops of blood. I think that’s normal, and I don’t think we need to beat ourselves up for that. But I would encourage people to not stay there.

Don’t live there. Don’t live out of the anxiety and fear and lack of faith. But I wouldn’t beat myself up for that, or for even people saying I’ve doubted, and I’ve gotten away from God. Well, come back. You don’t have to stay there.

Allison Kugel: Thank you for a great interview, and for inspiring me on a daily basis for so many years.

Joel Osteen: Awe, thank you so much. I’m very honored..

Editor’s note: Allison Kugel is a syndicated entertainment columnist, author of memoir, Journaling Fame: A memoir of a life unhinged and on the record, and owner of Full Scale Media. Follow her on Instagram @theallisonkugel and at AllisonKugel.com.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Continued from page 3 we? Not adequately. Did our CDC plan carefully enough?

Probably not. Have adequate resources been dedicated before and presently to prepare us for this sort of catastrophe?

Evidently not. Do we have a health care system ready to handle all this mess? Certainly not! Do we have a health care system in this country that addresses issues of health, not sickness? Certainly not! Are many folks financially incapable of accessing our healthcare system? Certainly not! Do we need universal healthcare so that everyone, Black, white, Latino, Asian, or other, can get access to healthcare? Yes, it is long overdue!

It should be a matter of the highest concern for African Americans and all those who identify with their causes to immediately start demanding an inquiry in the bases for the

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disparity of illness generally, and the deaths from COVID-19 specifically. It cannot and should not be swept under the rug as so many other issues of inequality of African Americans have been. It needs to be demanded of our representatives, our health care system, our school districts, our social welfare departments, and any other public groups that deal with health and welfare issues, that all the issues of sickness and mortality of African Americans be thoroughly investigated and something done about it! The days of demonizing “welfare queens” should be declared over. The days of looking deeply into the root causes of racial disparity needs to start now!

Mike Sawaya Denver, CO