INNER-CITY NEWS

NEWS- July THE INNER-CITY INNER-CITY NEWS April27, 08,2016 2020- August - April02, 14, 2016 2020

While You Were Paying Attention To Covid-19, TrumpNAACP Slipped Something Past You Financial Justice a Key Focus at 2016 Convention

COMMENTARY:

New Haven, Bridgeport

INNER-CITYNEWS

Volume 27 . No. 2381 Volume 21 No. 2194

Dating During COVID-19: Experts Say ‘Go Old School’

“DMC”

Malloy Malloy To To Dems: Dems:

Ignore Ignore“Tough “ToughOn OnCrime” Crime”

Congressman

Color Struck?

John Lewis

Snow inJoeJuly?

Biden Endorses

Earl Graves, Sr, FOLLOW US ON Creator of Black Enterprise

1

for President

1

THE INNER-CITY NEWS -

April 08, 2020 - April 14, 2020

Sisters’ Journey April Survivor of the Month - Dinean Whitaker My name is Dinean Whitaker. At the age of 48, I was diagnosed with breast cancer.

On May 21, 2017 I was home showering and realized I had a huge lump on the left side of my breast that wasn’t there the night before. I got a little nervous. The next day I called my mom (a breast cancer survivor) and asked her if she found a lump on her breast prior to being diagnosed with breast cancer. She said no.

I told her I had a large lump on my left breast and she said it might just be a cyst and to not worry. Well, I was worried!

I called my primary physician, Dr. Leah Whelan. She told me to come in right away. When I got to her office, she checked me out and said she was sending me to Smilow for further testing, and not to worry. Dr. Whelan explained that Smilow had better equipment, but I knew something more was happening. At Smilow, I had a mammogram by Dr. Lannin and he told me to give them a couple of days for the results to be sent to my primary physician. On May 24, 2017, just three days from my finding the lump, I received a phone call from Dr. Whelan to come back to her office. Dr. Whelan informed me that the results came back positive for breast cancer. I just sat there and cried.

On May 31, 2017 I had a follow-up

with Dr. Lannin. He told me I had Triple Negative A cancer and it was aggressive and that is why the lump appeared out of nowhere. They even found some cancer in my lymph nodes. This diagnosis meant that I would have to do chemotherapy and radiation. I was Stage 3.

I had chemo for four and a half months, every Wednesday from June to October 2017. I had a central port in my right chest so that I could have my blood drawn weekly before my chemo infusion. My last two weeks of chemo treatment tired me out. My blood count was so low I had to get two units of blood. I worked throughout my entire treatment, right up until my surgery on November 21, 2017.

I chose to have the DIEP flap procedure that removes skin and fat from the lower abdomen while preserving the muscle.

This surgery, performed by Dr. Alporvich, took nine and a half hours! Dr. Lannin performed the surgery for my lymph nodes, which was a three and a half hour procedure. Both procedures were a success!

I had to do genetic testing because I was only 48 years old and my cancer was very aggressive; thus they wanted to rule out the BrCa gene. This test came back positive. As a result, my son will have to be

tested when he turns 35 years old. He’s now 32 and my daughter will also be tested when she turns 25 years old. She was 24 at the time.

I underwent radiation every day, five days a week, from January 8, 2018 to February 13, 2018. On March 3, 2018, I had a hysterectomy procedure because of the positive BrCa1 gene mutation result.

I went through all of this with an open mind and with God on my side. My faith and support was so great. I never had a worry. I had an amazing support team – my family, my church family at Bread of Life, and my sister and dear friend Tara Jones. I am truly blessed.

Sisters’ Journey is a faith-based founded to ensure that no women have to endure or experience the challenge of facing the obstacles that accompany the reality of being diagnosed with breast cancer alone.

The support group meets the 3rd Tuesday of each month at St.Lukes’ Parish Hall, 111 Whalley Ave, New Haven, CT 06511 Sisters’ Journey, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, seeks to aid and support women diagnosed with and who have survived breast cancer. Help us continue on our mission by making a charitable contribution.

Doc Crafts Face Shields For Coworkers

by EMILY HAYS

New Haven I ndependent

The tube goes over the ears and across the face like a glasses frame. Unlike a pair of glasses though, the tube is hollow and can push out oxygen into a hood to prevent medical professionals from catching Covid-19 while they work to save other people’s lives.

Yale anesthesiology professor Luiz Maracaja started working on this tube when he saw the Covid-19 public health crisis begin in New Haven. The shortage of face masks and other personal protective equipment (PPEs) in New York hospitals became a possible future for his own home.

Maracaja specializes in pain relief during heart surgeries at the Yale New Haven Hospital. He said on Tuesday that the hospital has not yet run out of the N95 masks recommended to prevent infection, but many of his coworkers are worried about PPEs. “Everyone is apprehensive. You’re in the hospital. It doesn’t matter which area, they’re getting potentially exposed,” Maracaja (pictured) said.

Healthcare workers were among the hardest hit during the SARS outbreak in 2002 and 2003. Several of those on the front lines of the Covid-19 pandemic, including healthcare workers, firefighters and police officers, have already tested

CoNTRIBUTEd PHoTo

Luiz Maracaja (left) and coworkers assembling shields.

positive for the disease in New Haven.

To prevent a repeat of 2003, Maracaja, Yale doctors Daina Blitz and Danielle L. V. Maracaja and University of Mississippi doctor Caroline Walker designed what they are calling an “Oxyframe PPE.” The tube works either as a frame for face shields or as a way to connect a hood to

oxygen for the highest level of protection when interacting with Covid-positive patients.

Maracaja worked with Massachusettsbased 3D printing company Formlabs to print a first batch.

When his coworkers saw that he had extra personal protective equipment, ev-

2

eryone wanted it, he said. He said that he has given out around 100 face shields to coworkers in the Department of Anesthesiology to use in operating rooms.

Maracaja said that he himself feels fine.

He said that the number of patients at the hospital who need ventilators to continue to breathe with the virus seems to be

stabilizing. The hospital has postponed many surgeries so it does not run out of blood and so it can focus on coronavirus patients.

“I think the system is actually working very nicely,” he said.

Maracaja has a background in 3D printing prototypes of medical equipment. He founded VIDA Medical Devices around five years ago for that purpose and is now transitioning away from the company.

The process of creating a new medical device is different under coronavirus, he said. Maracaja has not completed all of the tests that would be required for U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval.

He is focused on getting the Oxyframe PPE design out to others with stereolithography (SLA) 3D printers during the public health crisis.

Because the Oxyframe PPE is hollow, it prints more quickly than larger pieces of 3D printed material. Assembling shields manually is faster than printing the entire unit; Maracaja and his coworkers have been using double-stick tape to attach the tubes to sheets of plastic.

“I want to put this out there. I don’t want to sell it. I don’t want any profits out of this crisis. I just want mankind to go back to normal,” Maracaja said.

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - April 08, 2020 - April 14, 2020

Lamont Works To Ramp Up Testing

by Christine Stuart Ct. News Junkie

HARTFORD, CT – More than 6,900 Connecticut residents have tested positive for COVID-19 and 206 have died, according to the Department of Public Health.

Gov. Ned Lamont touted the progress the state has been making with testing Monday, including the rapid tests with Abbott ID NOW, as well as the testing done by Sema4, a Stamford-based company, focused on testing medical personnel and other high-risk populations.

Support authentic, locally owned and operated public service journalism!

The United States has been behind in testing since the pandemic began and Connecticut struggled to increase testing capacity too.

Connecticut has tested a total of 26,686 residents.

“Our testing is going to be going up dramatically,” Lamont said at his afternoon press briefing.

The Centers for Disease Control, which declined the World Health Organizations

gov. Ned Lamont

test at the very beginning of the pandemic and instead developed its own, is working on a new laboratory test to determine how much of the U.S. population has been exposed to COVID-19.

The serology test will look for the presence of antibodies, which are specific proteins made in response to infections,

according to the CDC website.

“Antibodies can be found in the blood and in other tissues of those who are tested after infection,” the CDC says.

Lamont said he believes Connecticut will be able to roll out antibody testing in the future.

He said that way they know who has an immunity to the virus and can safely head back to work.

“They’re the ones we can get back into our workforce sooner,” Lamont said. “This is something we’re going to do on a very thoughtful basis to make sure we don’t have a second wave.”

Lamont said he spokes with Dr. Anthony Fauci a few days ago about the antibody test and what the federal government can do to help speed up the process.

The antibody test would also help better estimate the scale of infection and the death rates.

But the test also assumes that people who have had COVID-19 are immune from new infections and the science on that is still undetermined.

Connecticut Gets Some Rapid Tests

by Christine Stuart Ct. News Junkie

The state of Rhode Island is offering its residents free, rapid COVID-19 tests, but Connecticut has been able to offer them only in Fairfield County, which has been the epicenter of the state’s outbreak.

Support authentic, locally owned and operated public service journalism!

Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont said he spoke with executives at Abbott ID Now last week and they are “rolling out the testing in Fairfield County.”

Lamont told WICC 660’s Lisa Wexler Monday that they’ve done thousands of

those 15-minute tests, mostly on healthcare workers and first responders.

“We’re rolling out the 15-minute tests fast,” Lamont said.

However, he was unable to say if the rapid tests would be available across the state.

Rhode Island and Georgia are partnering with CVS Health to administer the tests at the pharmacy’s MinuteClinics.

The Abbott ID NOW™ COVID-19 test is the fastest available molecular pointof-care test, according to its website. The test can deliver positive results in as little

as five minutes and negative results in as little as 13 minutes.

Abbott began distributing the tests on March 31. Between then and April 3, they shipped more than 190,000 rapid tests to customers in 21 states. Abbott is now producing 50,000 tests per day.

Abbott’s test runs on a device called the ID NOW, which doctor’s offices and urgent-care clinics use to run quick flu tests.

The company also is working on a testing device that can run 470 tests a day and give results in about 6.5 hours.

The 2020 Census is Here!

Completing the census is safe, easy, and important.

Don’t be counted out.

The census determines federal funding for health care and social services and shapes your political representation for the next decade.

Learn more and pledge to get counted at ppsne.org #CountMeIn

Nursing Home Lockdown Poses Communication Challenges

by Christine Stuart Ct. News Junkie

The state of Rhode Island is offering its residents free, rapid COVID-19 tests, but Connecticut has been able to offer them only in Fairfield County, which has been the epicenter of the state’s outbreak.

Support authentic, locally owned and operated public service journalism!

Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont said he spoke with executives at Abbott ID Now last week and they are “rolling out the testing in Fairfield County.”

Lamont told WICC 660’s Lisa Wexler Monday that they’ve done thousands of those 15-minute tests, mostly on healthcare workers and first responders.

“We’re rolling out the 15-minute tests fast,” Lamont said.

However, he was unable to say if the rapid tests would be available across the state.

CoNTRIBUTEd PHoTo

Kathleen Williams (left), her father Richard Wojciechowski who currently lives at Madison House Nursing Home and his other daughter Susan Feaster, out on a weekly family lunch date prior to the CoNvId-19 outbreak.

Rhode Island and Georgia are partnering with CVS Health to administer the tests at the pharmacy’s MinuteClinics.

The Abbott ID NOW™ COVID-19 test is the fastest available molecular pointof-care test, according to its website. The test can deliver positive results in as little as five minutes and negative results in as little as 13 minutes.

Abbott began distributing the tests on March 31. Between then and April 3, they shipped more than 190,000 rapid tests to customers in 21 states. Abbott is now producing 50,000 tests per day.

Abbott’s test runs on a device called the ID NOW, which doctor’s offices and urgent-care clinics use to run quick flu tests.

The company also is working on a testing device that can run 470 tests a day and give results in about 6.5 hours.

3

DONT LET THEM COUNT YOU OUT!

THE INNER-CITY NEWS -

April 08, 2020 - April 14, 2020

Downtown Evening Soup Kitchen Adapts, Meets Rising Demand

by MAYA MCFADDEN

New Haven I ndependent

As Linda Gutierrez soaked her hand in sanitizer and collected groceries Wednesday at the Downtown Evening Soup Kitchen (DESK) food pantry, she reflected on how she received sustenance beyond just food.

“They’re the only people who are out here and still helping. They haven’t stopped treating us like people,” said Gutierrez, who is also known as “Colombiana.”

It was grab-and-go at DESK’s home at Center Church Park House at 311 Temple St., where before the spread of Covid-19 the soup kitchen invited people inside to eat and socialize. On Wednesday the pantry served 144 households (representing over 360 individuals).

Gutierrez has been homeless for years and said she has grown comfortable with many staff and regular volunteers at the DESK. As Gutierrez approached the multi-agency food pantry on Wednesday she soaked her hands in the provided hand sanitizer and collected her groceries.

In each bag of groceries were beets, radish, grapefruit, avocados, tomatoes, chickpeas, peanut butter, orange juice, lettuce, lentils, and bread.

Before heading off to what she called “her spot” across from Marco Polo Pizzeria & Italian Restaurant where she usually sleeps, a DESK staffer gave Gutierrez a bag with a pack of yogurts. “You know we’re here for you, Colombiana,” the staff member said to Gutierrez.

Gutierrez said she has been visiting DESK for years. “I like them because if they got it they will share it,” she said. In the past, Gutierrez said she has been able to depend on DESK not only for meals but things like blankets, band-aids, and water.

This is the third-week DESK made the switch to handing out the groceries outside its center. Since starting the outdoor process, DESK Executive Director Steve Werlin said, they have seen an influx of

MAYA MCFAddEN PHoTo

new visitors collecting the free groceries.

In addition to the food pantry, three weeks ago DESK joined a collaborative effort with Loaves & Fishes, the United Way, and others to offer local grocery deliveries. On Wednesday the team made 42 deliveries to families around the city. Werlin said many of the deliveries were made to residents over 60 years of age and some who have tested positive for COVID-19 “The plan is to get as many people off the street as possible,” Werlin said.

As the visitors waited in the food pantry line, stenciled footprints on the sidewalk helped to keep each person six feet from each other. The volunteers stood two tables apart to pass the food out to each visitor.

Werlin pointed out this week’s bags being heavier with produce than usual due to a donation from Yale Hospitality and due to having to empty out the remaining products in storage.

In normal times, Werlin said, about 10

percent of the pantry’s food comes from food drive donations from schools, faithbased organizations, and businesses. Recent closures of these organizations due to Covid-19 have limited the pantry’s supply.

The grab-and-go style has also cut the pantry’s ability to provide choice to visitors, promote the use of reusable bags, and social gatherings.

Since the shift, Werlin said, he has increasingly encountered new faces to the pantry, including people who never before had to make use of a food pantry due to a recent lack of accessible food.

After one visitor checked in and got her groceries, she yelled from her car with excitement, “I’ve never had yellow beets before, God bless!”

Going into the third week of the Covid-19 pivot, Werlin said his team hopes to transition most if not all services to be deliverybased.

Prepped in a mask and gloves like all other staff and volunteers, Werlin recalled the last night the team hosted the food pantry inside.

The team reminded visitors to wash their hands and to keep some distance between each other all night.

“We got to get out of here,” Werlin recalled telling himself and staff. The next week the pantry decided to move outdoors.

Each visitor was provided with a paper bag full of groceries and a plastic bag with the remaining food. A total of about 280 bags were packaged to distribute Wednesday.

One visitor who wished to remain anonymous stopped by the pantry on Wednesday to thank the staff after getting her first delivery earlier in the day.

The visitor signed up for the delivery program on Monday while getting dinner from the DESK which serves evening meals Monday through Thursday and Sunday. “It was very convenient and easy,” she said.

A Sign of Support For Medical Support Crew

by MAYA MCFADDEN

New Haven I ndependent

K&J Tree Service showed its support for health workers at the Yale New Haven Hospital Emergency Room with a handmade thank-you sign recognizing their support for ailing residents amidst the Covid-19.

Kyle DeLucia, owner of K&J Tree Service based out of Hamden, got the idea to show support to the health workers and Yale staff after hearing compelling work stories from his sister, who is an Intensive care unit (ICU) nurse at Yale.

Five K&J workers kept the sign up outside of the hospital at 11 a.m Monday on the corner of Davenport and Howard Avenues until 2 p.m.

Hoisting the sign took 20 minutes, said DeLucia.

DeLucia and the team were shown ap-

preciation with waves from the windows from the staff and given thanks by staff members on break outside of the building.

DeLucia worked with his 8-year-old niece on Saturday and Sunday to come up with the sign’s message. With the goal of a short and sweet message, the sign read “Thank you.”

After deciding, DeLucia took a trip to Home Depot for the sign’s materials and put it together with his niece over the weekend.

The New Haven Police Department (NHPD) assisted the K&J workers by blocking off a section of the area on Davenport.

Since showing its support with the sign, DeLucia said, K&J has been tagged in more than 100 Facebook posts along with dozens of reshares on Instagram praising the team’s efforts.

4

Penfield Communications Inc

John P. Thomas Publisher / CEO

Babz Rawls Ivy

Editor-in-Chief Liaison, Corporate Affairs Babz@penfieldcomm.com

Advertising/Sales Team Keith Jackson 10 Delores Alleyne John Thomas, III

Editorial Team

Staff Writers Christian Lewis/Current Affairs Anthony Scott/Sports Arlene Davis-Rudd/Politics

Contributing Writers David Asbery / Tanisha Asbery Jerry Craft / Cartoons / Barbara Fair Dr. Tamiko Jackson-McArthur Michelle Turner / Smita Shrestha William Spivey / Kam Williams Rev. Samuel T. Ross-Lee

Contributors At-Large Christine Stuart www.CTNewsJunkie.com

Paul Bass www.newhavenindependent.org

Memberships National Association of Black Journalist National Newspapers Publishers Association Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce Greater New Haven Business & Professional Greater New England Minority Supplier Development Council, Inc. The Inner-City Newspaper is published weekly

by Penfield Communications, Inc. from offices located at 50 Fitch Street, 2nd Floor, New Haven, CT 06515. 203-387-0354 phone; 203-3872684 fax. Subscriptions:$260 per year (does not include sales tax for the in State subscriptions). Send name, address, zip code with payment. Postmaster, send address changes to 50 Fitch Street, New Haven, CT 06515. Display ad deadline Friday prior to insertion date at 5:00pm Advertisers are responsible for checking ads for error in publication. Penfield Communications, Inc d.b.a., “The Inner-City Newspaper” , shall not be liable for failure to publish an ad or for typographical errors or errors in publication, except to the extent of the cost of the space in which actual error appeared in the first insertion. The Publisher reserves the right to refuse advertising for any reason and to alter advertising copy or graphics deemed unacceptable for publication. The entire contents of The Inner-City Newspaper are copyright 2012, Penfield Communications, Inc. and no portion may be reproduced by any means without the written permission of the publisher.

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - April 08, 2020 - April 14, 2020

DJ Diamond D Coaxes Covid Into Open

by PAUL BASS

New Haven I ndependent

Diamond Powell Sr. was sick and tired of hearing that black people don’t have to worry about contracting Covid-19.

Because he is black and has been sick and tired with Covid-19. To the point that he thought he was dying.

Powell (pictured), a 52-year-old New Haven native and popular local DJ known as Diamond D, is coming out the other side after weeks in quarantine following a rough bout with the coronavirus.

“I’m still scared,” he said. “I’m happy to be here.”

He wasn’t happy to keep hearing: “Black people can’t get it.” “Do you know anybody black that has it?” “Do you know anybody that really has it?”

“Can you tell?” “Can you tell me the name of somebody who really has it?”

So he went on Facebook, then conducted an interview, to proclaim that name: Diamond Powell Sr. And to offer the details.

In doing so, he bucked a trend in New Haven. Covid-19 has started infecting hundreds of people in town, across all demographics, some of them fatally.

But many people, fearing stigma, have chosen to keep their condition secret, including some community leaders. In the process they have sought to keep secret details of public events attended by numerous people who subsequently got sick (and in some cases died). (The Independent has contacted some of the leaders, in various communities, and is honoring individuals’ desires not to speak publicly.)

Powell said the true story needs to get out so people will take Covid-19 seriously enough to try to prevent its spread.

Already he’s hearing from people grateful to talk about their own conditions without shame.

“People are making people feel ashamed that they have the disease.

You’d be shocked how many people have tested positive, but they’re in this battle by themselves.”

Powell’s battle began on March 17, when he woke up with aches and pains.

“My body was hurting. I had a headache.

I was hot. I was sweating. I was burning up.”

By evening he had a 101-degree temperature. He called his doctor, who told him to go into quarantine in case he had the virus. As a diabetic, he was in a risk group for serious consequences of contracting the disease. He had been at some crowded events where he might have contracted the disease.

If you have trouble breathing, the doctor advised, then go the hospital.

From the 17th to the 23rd, Powell remained at home. His condition gradually worsened. The fever persisted. So did a dry cough. He lost his sense of taste and

Diamond Powell Sr smell. His head kept aching.

Powell’s wife (she chose not to be named in this article) had been preparing for Covid. She stocked up on supplies, including cases of Poland Spring bottled water. Powell had made fun of that. “What are you buying water for?

Nobody in the house is gonna drink this water!” Powell teased her. He couldn’t imagine himself drinking the water. “I drink Diet Coke and Bud Lite!” he said.

Now he started drinking the water. Just the water.

“I was hallucinating because of the fever.

All I could think about is dying. I didn’t want to die. I had a feeling it was Covid.

The only way I could describe it — it’s like having a migraine. The flu. A cold. A sinus infection. You feel like somebody beat you down. Like you had a fight.

Like you a professional fighter and got your behind whupped.”

Taking ten steps from his bed to the bathroom proved exhausting.

His wife also had a headache and fever, but they lasted only 24 hours. She was good to go to help her husband. “She has been a godsend,” he said.

On the 23rd, Powell had a video confer ence with the doctor. It sounds like you have a viral infection, she said. I’m going to send you to be tested. But it might take a while: Yale might not get you in for five or six days.

“I was like: ‘Come on!’

“Then Yale called like four hours later.

‘Mr. Powell, can you be at our facility tomorrow morning at 7?’”

Anxious about the test, Powell couldn’t sleep all night.

“I was trying to talk myself to go to sleep.

I was in full conversation, just talking to myself, just sitting up. No medication would help me go to sleep. Every time I would close my eyes, the anxiety and the

stress, I would sit up in the bed … that’s how crazy it was.”

He headed out of the house at 6:30 to Yale New Haven’s drive-up testing facility in Milford. He kept the music off in his 2020 Ford F-150 along the way. “I was in complete silence. All I was concerned about was this test. This thing consumes you. I have a wife, and I have five [grown] kids.”

He arrived to encounter a man wearing a mask who asked him to show his driver’s license, then roll down his window.

“As you hold your head back, I want to stick this swab into your nose,” the tester said. “It’s gonna go all the way down to your throat.”

It took “maybe ten seconds.” The man put the swab in a medical bag, sealed it.

He bid Powell good-bye.

Powell went home. And slept.

Then the wait began for the results. Day followed day. No results. He got word that the results couldn’t be located. Or maybe they just got backed up along with thousands of other people’s results at overwhelmed labs.

Slowly, Powell healed. By Thursday, April 2, he still had a cough, but “my energy came back.” His doctor said he could return going outside but should avoid crowded rooms, wear a mask and gloves, and wash hands thoroughly.

Thus garbed, he accompanied his wife to a stop at a store. She went inside. He sat in the car.

On Saturday he made the trip to CVS to fill a prescription. His wife texted to him with news: “Yale got back your test results from California. Postive for COVID.” Powell returned home — and “all of a sudden, I felt sick again. I just started Con’t on page 07

5

Call for your telehealth appointment.

1-800-230-PLAN (7526)

DONT LET THEM COUNT YOU OUT!

THE INNER-CITY NEWS -

April 08, 2020 - April 14, 2020

Are Black People Dying More from COVID-19?

by Derrick Lane, BlackDoctor.org

Ever since the last day of February when the first recorded death in the United States of COVID-19, the number of deaths have continued to rise and the news media has been all over it–giving us updates as the number climbs. Within a month after that, we are over 3,700 deaths and numbers are expected to skyrocket further.

Dr. Tony Fauci, the nation’s number one infectious disease expert (you’ve seen him on the news and at the White House a lot), said on March 29 on CNN that it is possible to see between 100,000 and 200,000 COVID-19-related deaths by the end of the crisis. But that’s not the half of it.

In early March, we posed the question if Black people were immune to COVID-19.

But with the new numbers, that couldn’t be further from the truth.

As a matter of fact, the more and more research comes out, it seems that an alarming number of these deaths are dispropor-

tionately of Black people.

So is COVID-19 a virus that hits Black folks more seriously than it does people of other ethnic make up or is the virus afflicting those with health disparities, something Black Americans rank highest at? Hmmmm….

Wait…I hear the conspiracy theorists coming.

The deaths of Black Americans are being noted throughout the nation. In Wisconsin, as of March 27th, of the state’s 14 COVID-19 deaths, eight of the victims were Black. That’s 57 percent of all Wisconsin deaths in a state where the Black population is just 6.7 percent. The bulk of the deaths were in concentrated in Milwaukee which happens to be one of the cities with the highest African American populations in the state.

Now, take Detroit for example; another city with a high African American popu-

lation.

As of March 29th, 132 people in the state lost lives due to the virus. Of that, “Detroit and suburban Wayne County combined account for 49 percent of all confirmed cases of coronavirus in Michigan – and 42 percent of the 132 deaths. That’s disproportionately high to Wayne County’s share of Michigan’s population, which is about…

17.5 percent,” according to a Crain’s Detroit Business report. Detroit has the nation’s highest percentage of Black residents at nearly 80 percent.

Dr. Teena Chopra, professor of infectious disease at Wayne State University, said underlying health inequities are leading to more serious cases of COVID-19 among the state’s Black population.

“Detroit is uniquely disadvantaged,” said Chopra during a March 30 interview on CNN. “Obesity, diabetes, heart disease; these all are underlying conditions that make (COVID-19) so deadly. Also, by the

time we see (COVID patients) in hospitals they are already seriously ill. That’s because they are socially disadvantaged.”

That disadvantage of possible medical bias is highlighted by the case of Bassey Offiong.

Offiong, a 25-year-old senior at Western Michigan University, who was set to graduate with a degree in chemical engineering, died when, despite showing multiple symptoms of COVID-19, he was denied testing according to his sister.

Asari Offiong told the Detroit News that her brother was denied test multiple times by medical staff at a Kalamazoo, Mich. medical facility.

But Why? Whatever the reason, Georges C. Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association, says this strain of Coronavirus is… a threat that African Americans need to take particularly seri-

ously.

“I think the biggest challenge is the fact that people of color, African Americans, start out with health outcomes that are disproportionately poor when compared to white Americans,” says Benjamin to the Undefeated. The highest risk, if you get this disease, is to someone 60 or older with chronic disease. With African Americans, you start with a population that is disproportionately sicker, and if it gets exposed, it will have a higher death rate.”

“The reasons for the health inequities include access to health care,” continues Benjamin. “…and differences in the quality of care African Americans receive. A lot of what makes you healthy happens outside the doctor’s office, so all the social determinants – including racism and discrimination, housing, access to transportation and education – are a factor. And I’ll say differences in individual behaviors that we all have based on our life experiences.”

Families of Inmates Call For Their Release

by Lisa Backus and Christine Stuart Ct. News Junkie

HARTFORD, CT — Cars and trucks lined Prospect Avenue outside the governor’s residence Monday honking their horns and demanding the release of their loved ones behind bars.

“Prisons are an incubator for viruses,” Joshua Frazer said over a sound system in his truck bed.

Support authentic, locally owned and operated public service journalism!

Frazer’s brother Freddie Johansen, charged with three robberies and held on $298,000 bond, has chronic Lyme disease, making him more at risk for complications if he contracts COVID-19.

“COVID-19 is only going to be incubated in our prison system to come home to our communities,” Frazer said.

He said the failure to act is going to “cause more harm to our communities.

This isn’t just an issue for the people inside. This is an issue for us all.”

Rhonda Davis’ son is at Corrigan-Radgowski Correctional Center in Uncasville.

She said she worries because he always has bronchitis and he’s always getting put in segregated housing for his behavioral issues.

“I’m here to see what I can do to make things better not just for my son, but for all inmates,” Davis said.

She said her son only has a short time left on his sentence.

The protesters who lined the street said Gov. Ned Lamont refused to take the necessary preventive measures to help flatten the curve of COVID-19 within the Department of Corrections.

Lamont was not at the mansion at the time of the protest, according to his staff.

He was on the phone with Vice President Michael Pence.

Lamont and Correction Commissioner Rollin Cook are named defendants in a lawsuit filed last week that accuses them of leaving nearly 12,000 people, both sentenced and unsentenced, with no way to protect themselves in the state’s prisons.

As of Monday, 32 staff and 21 inmates throughout the state’s prisons have tested positive for COVID-19, according to the DOC. More than 720 people have been released since March 1.

At an afternoon briefing with Lamont, Cook said he doesn’t know how many of the 727 people released since March 1 were released early. The agency is also working with the Judicial Branch on how to reduce the pre-trial population which is held on bond and working with the Board of Pardons and Paroles to secure the release of those who are eligible. “I would not classify our efforts as a mass release,” Cook said.

Asked about the protest Lamont encouraged the protesters to give him a call next time instead of clogging up the street in front of the governor’s mansion.

“Give me a call, let’s talk about it,” Lamont said. “We don’t need people outside protesting right now.”

The lawsuit claims that the number released so far is woefully insignificant and that more people need to be released to allow those that remain to adequately “social distance” to stop the disease from blowing through the prisons.

Cook said they are quarantining in-

CHRISTINE STUART / CTNEWSJUNKIE

Joshua Frazer outside the governor’s residence

6

mates who have tested positive with other inmates who have tested positive and they are giving everyone two more phone calls per week. The agency is trying to determine the best place to quarantine all those who have tested positive on one facility, but which building has not been determined yet, Cook said.

Davis and Frazer both said their loved ones have been unable to get a hold of the proper cleaning products to keep themselves safe. Correction officers also expressed concern Friday that the agency wasn’t moving fast enough to separate the inmate population even though the DOC has buildings that are empty and could be used.

But the unions representing 4,500 DOC employees said they didn’t support a “mass release” of inmates at this time. “We have a process in the state of Connecticut that makes sure offenders are prepared to go back into the community,” said Collin Provost, President of AFSCME Local 391, one of several unions that pointed out problems with the agency’s plans to deal with the health crisis.

“We release hundreds of inmates safely every month,” Provost said. “We believe that if we are given the proper tools we will be able to maintain safety of the staff and the inmates. We want to make sure they are prepared and aren’t released homeless, jobless and with no money. That would create more criminal activity - that’s not what we want to do.”

The protest lasted for about 50 minutes before the police were able to get the line of cars to disperse.

“Where Is The Help?”

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - April 08, 2020 - April 14, 2020

Con’t from page 05

Diamond D

sweating again.” The headaches came back. He didn’t know if it was psychological or purely physical, but his doctor ordered him back in quarantine another seven or eight days, unless he were to go 72 hours without showing symptoms.

He’s on the mend, he reported Monday.

Hasn’t quite made it 72 hours without coughing or hot flashes. But he sees the end in sight.

Meanwhile, Powell is reaching out.

He started by posting messages and a video on Facebook proclaiming that he tested positive and urging people to take care.

“Yo let’s chop it up. Let’s talk,” he said, referring to friends “who have passed away.” “It’s a scary time. Let’s talk about it.”

His phone inbox lit up.

“Thank you for the inspiration,” one friend said.

“I’m scared to talk about it, because I don’t know how people are going to take it, how people are going to react to me,” confided another.

The conversations stretch on for 45 minutes to an hour in some cases. People testing positive, needing to “let it off their chest.”

His Facebook posts inviting discussion have elicited as many as 132 comments.

As New Haven approaches an expected sharp rise in cases in coming weeks, Powell is hoping more and more those conversations begin taking place.

by PAUL BASS

New Haven I ndependent

Trillions of dollars are flowing from Washington and through the state Capitol to help keep struggling families and businesses afloat amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Will they flow all the way down into urban neighborhoods like Dixwell and Newhallville?

Rodney Williams is watching closely — and is skeptical.

“We need help,” Williams said Friday.

“Where is the help?”

Williams runs Green Elm Construction, a sheetrocking business based on Dixwell Avenue. He publicly advocates for other minority-run small businesses. He serves on boards and commissions and speaks out at public meetings about issues ranging from policing to economic development.

He came on WNHH FM’s “Dateline New Haven” program Friday to sound the alarm bell about Covid-19 not just about the need for people to practice social distancing to avoid its deadly spread, but about the need for government officials as well as grassroots people to ensure the financial-assistance local tap turns on from the $2 trillion-plus-andcounting federal stimulus efforts.

“Every time they pass out money,” Williams observed, “it doesn’t hit the ground.”

PAUL BASS PHOTO Rodney Williams Friday on “Dateline New Haven.”

Williams noted that larger companies are best positioned to obtain payroll protection and other assistance meant to keep them in business. The state’s portal to sign up for emergency small-business assistance closed in one day, for instance.

Meanwhile, Williams said, he and other small-business owners struggle with bar-

Questions about your bill?

Yale New Haven Hospital is pleased to offer patients and their families financial counseling regarding their hospital bills or the availability of financial assistance, including free care funds.

By appointment, patients can speak one-on-one with a financial counselor during regular business hours. For your convenience, extended hours are available once a month.

Date: Monday, April 20 Time: 5 - 7 pm Location: Children’s Hospital, 1 Park St., 1st Floor, Admitting Parking available (handicapped accessible) An appointment is necessary. Please call 203-688-2046.

Spanish-speaking counselors available.

7

riers to meeting the guidelines set for the aid. For instance: When they win government subcontracts, they often wait longer than 90 days to get paid. But they have to pay their workers. They struggle to maintain the credit scores required under the new aid programs.

Right now the programs have a set of

rules for “small” businesses defined as having under 500 workers. A company with 400 workers has far more resources than a company like Williams’, which often has eight or nine people on the payroll, or up to two dozen given how many jobs it’s working.

He suggested that government set up “another bar” of qualifications and rules for truly small businesses like his. A “micro” bar. Along with staffers dedicated to reaching out better to the grassroots to help connect dollars with recipients.

“We need to figure out how we help people going forward” during the pandemic, not just with business aid, but rental and other assistance, Williams argued. “This country is not going to come back because big business is back in business.”

It also needs “small businesses like me.”

Williams spoke of other inequities bared by the pandemic. He pointed to how gatherings in wealthy Fairfield County towns that spread Covid-19 through Connecticut never earned the public rebuke or action from the governor. This New York Times article recounting how attendees of an upscale Westport “soiree” hid their family’s subsequent infections in order to avoid social stigma.

“If that happened in Newhallville,” he said, “they would be air-dropping us peanut butter sandwiches.”

THE INNER-CITY NEWS -

April 08, 2020 - April 14, 2020

Alder Survives Covid-19, Reaches Out

by PAUL BASS

New Haven I ndependent

Brian Wingate has blood in the game in the Covid-19 pandemic — and he wants to share it to help others survive.

He wants to donate blood so the plasma can help coronavirus patients survive the illness he just survived.

Wingate, a fifth-term Beaver Hills alder, has emerged from a 14-day quarantine after testing positive on March 22 for Covid-19.

The result didn’t surprise him. He was already quite sick.

Fortunately, he never had to go to the hospital. Instead, he suffered at home.

“I got it real bad,” Wingate said Wednesday in an interview. “I felt like I was underwater. I had the chills. I had a headache.

My eyes were hurting. I had the runs. I had it in my thighs. You feel like someone stabbing you.” His temperature hit 102.

He lost all sense of taste and smell.

Wingate doesn’t know how he contracted the disease.

“I’m always busy. I’m always around people,” he noted. He and other alders attended a National League of Cities meeting in Washington from March 8-11, for instance. “I was on the train. I rode down on the train. Came back off the train.”

The night he completed quarantine, he

headed to Walgreens to buy disinfectant spray and wipes. He drove around the neighborhood, with his mask on, rolling down the window to check up on people.

He’s communicating with seniors in his ward about the need to keep a safe distance from people.

He’s on a mission to keep people safe from the deadly virus, which is taking an

especially large toll on the black community.

“I was blessed to go through this process and come out the other side. If I can help some people get better, I want to do that,” Wingate said.

Along those lines, Wingate said he wants to donate blood to be used to help patients fight off the disease. He notified the state of his interest in making a donation. “I’m waiting for them to call me back.” Doctors are using plasma taken from the convalescent plasma from the blood of recovered Covid-19 patients to help newer patients.

Meanwhile, Wingate is urging people both to protect themselves through social distancing — and to reach out to friends and loved ones.

“This is the time to call people. This is the time to Face Time people. That’s why we made these smart phones. This is the time to drop food on the front porch and show you love them and keep moving them.”

Wingate, who serves as vice-president of the Yale’s blue-collar union Local 35, singled out the nurses, custodians, pharmacy workers, and other pepole who still need to show up for their jobs during the pandemic.

“It’s the front-line workers,” he said, “who will get us through

The Class Of 2020’s New “Normal”

by AISHA K. STAGGERS New Haven I ndependent

The class of 2020 will forever remember this year as the one where everything in their world was turned on its ear and they were forced to learn early in life that normalcy can often be mistaken for complacency. At least that is what I observe in watching how the coronavirus is affecting my daughter, who is a member of that class at Hamden High School.

What should have been the best years of their young lives is now shrouded in uncertainty. Days and nights that were to be spent making decisions about which college to attend, what to wear to prom and graduation festivities has now been replaced with keeping themselves and those around them healthy through social distancing and disinfecting. Their “normal,” now, in these abnormal times has many thinking what my own high schooler communicated to me: “[wearing masks] used to be a fashion trend.

Now it is just a way of life.”

Most of us can remember those years and the various rites of passage in transitioning from high school to adulthood.

Some of us remember them favorably, some may not, but we still have the memories of that time. The class of 2020 doesn’t have that opportunity and the lack of it speaks to a larger tale in which their existence as post-9/11 babies is now punctuated by a pandemic.

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

Mom Aisha K. Staggers and daughter Amaya Elle Kelly.

How do we as parents make this okay?

How do we tell our children who are so preoccupied these days with sickness and death that pain is not only how their story began, but could possibly be how it ends?

One of the things I have done to help my daughter to find comfort in an uncomfortable situation is to focus on what’s next. We have to communicate to our children that there will be a time when we move past this and that there is

something to hope for. In my home, we decided that one thing would be college.

My daughter made her decision as to accept admission to University of Connecticut during this shutdown. We paid the deposit during the first week of our stay at home order. Not only do they have an excellent academic program; she would also be close enough to home to where someone could get her in an emergency, but have her independence at the same time. We have spent this time together on Pinterest getting dorm room decorating ideas, exploring colors, patterns and textures she liked. Then, we discussed how often she will come home, whether or not she will audition for the university choir and plans for a minor course of study that fed her passions as well as her academic aspirations.

Throughout this process, I have learned that while I can’t force her to accept our abnormal is not a permanent “way of life” in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, I can help her plan for what normal can look like for her in the future. We have to keep them looking toward the future because that ultimately is what is being lost in missing the regular school activities they would otherwise be engaged in: the promise of a future beyond this year. In doing so, as parents, we can also find a bit of peace in the fact that there is a future beyond today. We have to. It’s all we have right now.

8

ASHES AND RUBBLE

by Oscar H. Blayton

Unless you have serious psychological issues, you recognize the grave danger the COVID-19 pandemic poses for our global community.

This is a time of great loss. The worst tragedies are the loss of our loved ones.

And in addition to these heartbreaks, we also must bear the simultaneous catastrophes of the loss of income, the destabilization of our families and the destruction of whatever marginal security we may have had.

Because COVID–19 is going to leave communities around the world in ashes and rubble – financially, socially and emotionally – it is extremely important that we, as people of color, stay strong and focused.

This murderous virus does not discriminate based on race or economic status, but the social structures under which we live leave some of us more exposed than others to its dangers.

And facts, borne out by data, show that people of color and the poor are dying of the virus at a rate disproportionate to our percentage of the general population.

In the midst of this pandemic, it is not easy to see clearly all the circumstances contributing to the misery we now suffer. Amid the scramble to survive, we are left with little time to reflect on why it is killing African Americans and other people of color faster than wealthy white people. As in the fog of war, the fog of crisis narrows our focus on the enemy directly in front of us from moment to moment. And it takes critical analysis to understand why this is happening to us.

The answer to this question also reveals why whites generally live longer than people of color: We live in different worlds.

This might be an extraordinary thing to say if it was not for the reality of environmental racism.

Environmental racism creates different worlds for different people. It created the toxic water crisis in Flint, Mich.

It is one reason Puerto Rico has not fully recovered more than two years after Hurricanes Irma and Maria left it devastated in 2017. And for years after New Orleans’ Lower Ninth Ward was flooded by Hurricane Katrina, its rehabilitation was neglected because of environmental racism. These tragedies, which never would have been tolerated in predominantly white and wealthy

communities, are only a few examples of environmental racism. Interstate highways and exchanges cut through predominantly Black urban areas.

Many urban areas populated by people of color are classified as food deserts by the federal government. And in a 1987 study titled “Toxic Waste and Race in the United States,” the United Church of Christ’s Commission for Racial Justice found that “indeed, race has been a factor in the location of commercial hazardous waste facilities in the United States.” Those facilities have been deliberately located in and near communities of color, resulting in a disproportionate number of individuals having their health compromised and being more susceptible to the COVID-19 virus.

For people of color, our fight for survival must be fought on multiple fronts, and now COVID-19 has opened yet another one.

We should not despair, however, over the dangerous road ahead. Instead, we should take a lesson from our ancestors, many of whom suffered slavery or oppressive colonialism in times past.

The generations that emerged from under these evils to educate themselves and their children while building lives, communities and institutions in the face of racism set an example for us to follow. We must support and rely on each other while demanding fair treatment from a reluctant government. Threats to our health and welfare have always been compounded by social injustice.

And so it is with this COVID-19 pandemic.

With one arm we must shield ourselves and our communities from encroachments and threats like pandemics and, with our other arm, we must wield the sword of justice to eliminate public policy inequities born of racism and notions of white superiority and then inflicted upon us.

Our greater vulnerability to COVID-19 is the result of conscious and deliberate decisions by policy makers under the influence of racial bigotry and belief in white superiority. It is not enough for us to beat back this deadly virus. We also must also strategize and work to eliminate those injustices that make us the most vulnerable in its path.

And we must work with those who recognize these injustices in order to tackle these problems collectively.

Out of the ashes and rubble of this worldwide tragedy we must build a new and more just world.

Oscar H. Blayton is a former Marine Corps combat pilot and human rights activist who practices law in Virginia.

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - April 08, 2020 - April 14, 2020

COMMENTARY:

Billions for Boeing, Pennies for the People

By Julianne Malveaux, NNPA Newswire Contributor The development of the $2.2 trillion stimulus package was extremely flawed.

The Republican bullies in the Senate, led

by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, wrote the bill with absolutely no Democratic input, then suggested that Democrats amend their legislation.

The first draft of the bill, unsurprisingly, was a goody grab for corporations with much less for individuals. Initially, the Republican Senate would have given Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin a slush fund of $500 billion to assist troubled industries with absolutely no oversight.

The last version of the bill does include both monitoring and an inspector gen-

eral to look for fraud and abuse. Republicans would have doled the money out to their cronies. But the Dems, led by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, stood their ground. The stimulus legislation is better than the 2008-2009 bailout legislation; it is gratifying to see that the Senate rose above partisanship to get this done.

Republicans even conceded that Mr. Trump, his grafter family, other cabinet heads and senior leaders, along with their families, cannot benefit from this stimulus legislation. It is unfathomable that this provision has to be put in writing, but 45, a hotel owner, pushed hard for hotels and cruise ships to get bailout benefits, but some in Congress have apparently peeped 45’s hole card.

It takes extreme hubris for our nation’s chief executive officer, who has used the United States Treasury as a piggy bank, to be as self-serving as 45 is. Good for Democrats for recognizing the pattern of double-dealings makes it clear that written prohibition of these shady practices is necessary.

Michigan Congressman Justin Amash, an independent who used to be Republi-

can, tweeted, “This bipartisan deal is a raw deal for the people. It does far too little for those who need the most help while providing hundreds of billions in corporate welfare, massively growing government, inhibiting economic adaptation, and widening the gap between the rich and the poor.” The legislation is likely to be hundreds, if not thousands, of pages long. And it’s got lots of fine print.

For example, $17 billion in loan funds are set aside for “businesses deemed critical to maintaining national security.

While Boeing isn’t mentioned by name, the Washington Post quoted a confidential source who says this money is partly set aside for Boeing.

This is the same Boeing that manufactured faulty, crashing planes. And they’ve imperiously said they will take assistance only on their terms. Some think the federal government should take an equity stake in companies that get bailout funds. Boeing’s CEO said he wasn’t interested in such a deal. If the feds wanted to play hardball, they’d

force Boeing into bankruptcy, since bankruptcy doesn’t mean the cessation of operations, it means the restructuring of debt.

Meanwhile, there’s no helpful fine print for ordinary people. Sure, people will get $1200 checks, plus $500 per child.

That’s better than nothing, but compared to Boeing’s billions, it’s pennies. The ability to get unemployment insurance for extra weeks will also be helpful for those who lose their jobs.

More food stamp funds will be available. But there is some confusion over whether gig workers will get the benefit.

Instead, it seems that those who have good jobs will get great benefits, while those who have part-time jobs, gig jobs, or are unemployed won’t get much. As Congressman Amash says, this stimulus package will widen the wealth gap.

Inequality is at the very foundation of our economic system, so it isn’t surprising that the coronavirus stimulus package reflects the biases that are hardwired into our system.

We need committed, vocal, progres-

sive members of Congress (Maxine Waters, Barbara Lee, Ayana Pressley, Bobby Scott, AOC, and others) to shine a bright light on this inequality, and to either modify the legislation or develop legislation to address some of these inequalities.

On March 23, Congresswoman Nita Lowey (D-NY) introduced HR 6379, the Take Responsibility for Workers and Families Act, that provides protections for workers and families mostly because the stimulus package does not. And there is a rush to pass the stimulus quickly as more and more people are out of work.

Stimulate the economy if you will, but don’t ignore the people on the bottom.

If we are injecting $2.2 trillion into our lagging economy, make sure that some of it trickles down the poor.

Dr. Julianne Malveaux is an economist, author, media contributor and educator.

Her latest project MALVEAUX! On UDCTV is available on youtube.com.

For booking, wholesale inquiries or for more info visit www.juliannemalveaux. com

Dating During COVID-19: Experts Say ‘Go Old School’

by Derrick Lane, BlackDoctor.org

During this age of “social distancing”, dates are eerily similar to the pod-style dating seen on the popular Netflix show “Love Is Blind” where you don’t get a chance to see the love of your life, just talk to them through the wall. Dating profiles have even changed. As you scroll through profiles, many are now full of short, little tag-lines about toilet paper or being cooped up alone.

Let’s face it, it’s kind of a hard time to be a single right now. It sucks to have no opportunity to meet other singles in person while much of the rest of the world is being boo’d up with their loved ones.

So even players who cheat aren’t even on their regular messy-ness right now, either.

And fresh relationships are being tested by self-distancing orders, not to mention old relationships too (especially those you seen.

Given all the changes, who’s to say love letters ― the kind your grandfather used to send to your grandma, or the ones we used to send in class when I was growing up, won’t come back in style?

People haven’t gone that old school yet–they are opting for more video messages. According to data supplied to HuffPost from the Bumble dating app, the app has seen a 21% increase in video call usage over the past week and a 21% increase in messages sent.

Even people’s perception of shows like

“The Bachelor” have changed since the pandemic.

Two men based in San Francisco started an online dating series “Quarantined Bachelor” based off the popular television series.

James Parenteau and Tyler Cohen created the Instagram online dating series.

They originally wanted to start a live dating show based out of San Francisco but had to quickly pivot and thought of doing a virtual dating series.

“We vet five contestants and then they go on a series of virtual dates and have a roll ceremony to choose who they’d like to go on a date with when quarantine is over,” Parenteau said in an interview on BBC.com.

Instead of a rose, like on the television reality serie, contestants are given a roll of toilet paper. Each series occurs over the span of a week and a half. The process consists of a group meet-and-greet and one-on-one virtual dates that are edited down to a couple of minutes.

“Modern problems, I guess, need modern solutions, and I felt like this is kind of an important way to let love grow still during shelter-in-place. Normal people asking – will you go out with me when this is over? So I think our audience really, really enjoys that. We’re not picky where you have to be pretty or too dramatic,” Parenteau said.

So what is a single person to do? In two words: Get creative.

Experts from the Black Love Dating facebook group says creativity is key.

“Try setting up an evite for a virtual date or go old school by sending flowers, asking her about her day, making a mixtape with songs inspired by your mate. Create a meal and send it over. The key is don’t think that just because one avenue [meeting up in person] is temporarily off limits, doesn’t mean you can’t still make a connection.”

Tori Cignarella, a 23-year-old hospitality professional was dancing on her building’s terrace when she noticed a guy from a building across the street

9

waving at her. He sent over a drone with his phone number and… … that’s how their love story began. Social distancing wasn’t allowing them to go real dates, so they were having virtual ones all these days.

Fast forward, Jeremy went out of his way to actually meet her in person , but not without precautions. He walked into a large clear bubble and went to meet her with flowers and hand sanitizer (romantic, right?). Even though he couldn’t really give her the flowers because he was inside the giant bubble it was still a good gesture and made her smile.

They walked around the streets and were stopped by a few cops but just for a selfie! I mean, even they must have not seen someone put so much effort into a date in today’s times. This is really so cute, and the updates make it even more interesting. It’s like watching a series.

We are invested and we want to know what happens next. In fact, several netizens are rooting for them; some even want them to get married! “You 2 better get marrried (sic),” wrote a user Can real love exist through the coronavirus?

Answer: real love has always stood the test of time.

THE INNER-CITY NEWS -

COMMENTARY:

April 08, 2020 - April 14, 2020

COVID-19, the View Across Black America

By Jon Jeter, The Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder

Similar to Hurricane Katrina 15 years ago, the global coronavirus pandemic is shining a light on America’s racial fault lines. By whatever trope you choose to deploy—“last hired, first fired,” “When White America catches a cold, Black America has the flu,” or “Your Blues ain’t like mine” — People of Color generally, and the 42 million descendants of chattel slaves, specifically, will experience this almost Biblical scourge in ways that are very different from Whites.

A nurse reports that White nurses began disappearing from her central New Jersey hospital around the first week of March, applying for vacation and leaves of absence just as the number of coronavirus cases in the U.S. was beginning to skyrocket.

As the hospital admitted more and more infected patients, they announced that all time-off requests would be denied, leaving mostly Black and Brown nurses to cope with the worst global health crisis in more than a century.

But that’s not all. Running short of surgical masks and hand sanitizer, a nurse at the hospital recently was exposed to a patient infected with the coronavirus; her coworkers are on pins and needles, nervously awaiting her test results.

“While most facilities like the one I work at have turned away any new admissions, we’re still taking admissions,” wrote one nurse, a Latina with 15 years of experience. She surmised that hospital executives hope to profit from the growing caseload.

While Washington, D.C.’s Metrorail has been largely emptied of its professional class of passengers, reductions in the

city’s bus service have made it difficult for its darker and poorer customers— many of whom work in government jobs considered “essential” or the service sector and either do not have sick pay or cannot afford to take the day off—to practice social distancing on buses teeming with riders. Near the end of March, a Metrobus driver tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

“It’s impossible to socially isolate in a sardine can,” said Rohan Edmonson, 40, who lives in the D.C. suburb of Silver Spring and works on Embassy Row. The buses in South Florida are considerably less crowded than usual, said one African American resident, Roger Williams. After revelers and spring breakers—mostly but not entirely White —posted photographs and videos last week of large gatherings on boats and beaches, Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez ordered the closure of all public beaches, parks, marinas, and recreational facilities.

The measures are beginning to take: Williams said he rode his bicycle on a typically bustling roadway near his suburban Miami home last week and only encountered one vehicle on the road, a scene that is redolent of post-hurricane Florida. The challenge, however, is that “a lot of very low-income Miamians live in motels, and many are now being asked to leave because of the shutdown,” said Williams. This is “creating another crisis, since they will now add to the already striking numbers of homeless people on Miami’s streets.”

A Haitian-born American woman who works for a major healthcare provider agreed, saying that she has found that the pandemic is exacerbating problems such as homelessness and unemployment and

health conditions such as diabetes. This is dramatically increasing anxiety levels for many in South Florida’s African American and Afro-Caribbean communities.

At ground zero of the U.S. pandemic, New York City, only essential services are allowed to remain open: groceries, drug stores, liquor stores, hardware stores, and restaurants that offer delivery. Grocery store shelves remain wellstocked, but cold and flu medicines are in short supply in drug stores.

In Harlem, Margaret Kimberley, an author and columnist for Black Agenda Report, wrote on Facebook: “People are riding the subway, but there are so few that you really can practice social distancing even on public transportation.

I’d say half of the people I see outside are wearing masks, myself included. Some are makeshift affairs, scarves tightly tied around the mouth for example. . .

“To prevent people crowding onto bus-

es,” Kimberley continued, “we are now allowed to enter through the back door.

This is something poor people always did. Now everyone can ride for free…

I got my hair braided yesterday, the last day before beauty shops had to close. I wasn’t alone, but there were a lot fewer people than you would see there on a normal Saturday. I went but wore my mask.”

Perhaps the most jarring description from Kimberley was the gallows humor that has descended on Harlem’s Black community as many discuss the Trump administration’s plans for emergency grants. “Lots of folks are out of work.

People are making jokes about getting checks from Trump but I think it is no joke. Folks were struggling before this, and the $1,000 they’re expecting will come in handy.”

It is by no means strictly doom and gloom, however. Across the country, communities are banding together to

help each other weather the storm.

Activists with the Community Ready Corps are distributing Corona Kits— hand sanitizer, N95 masks, and brochures—immune-boosting care packages of garlic, ginger, turmeric, lentils and oats, and even books to Oakland’s Black community focusing on the elderly, the sickly, and even stir-crazy kids.

Opened four years ago amid a food desert on Indianapolis’ east side, the Trap has pivoted sharply to a web-only eatery that is preparing to ship its shrinkwrapped healthy seafood nationwide.

A retired schoolteacher in New Jersey volunteered to knit surgical masks for mostly nurses of color treating coronavirus patients at a local hospital.

Jon Jeter is a freelance journalist writer and social critic He formerly worked for several major newspapers, including the Washington Post before becoming an independent journalist.

Earl Graves, Sr, Creator of Black Enterprise, Dies at 85

by Derrick Lane, BlackDoctor.org

Black Enterprise founder Earl G. Graves Sr. passed away late Monday evening at the age of 85.

An icon in the print magazine business, Graves created an outlet that has continually highlighted the progression of Black Americans since the 1970s by showcasing our unique issues and achievements in business, entrepreneurship and creativity.

Graves was an innovator and trendsetter to put Black business owners on the front page of a major magazine. This inspired so many businesses to launch. In fact, remember Robert Smith, the billionaire CEO of Vista Equity Partners, who paid off ALL Morehouse College seniors student loans? According to Black Enterprise, he admitted that he switched ca-

reers to high finance after reading Black Enterprise.

Graves’ son, the current President and CEO of Black Enterprise, Earl “Butch” Graves Jr. shared the news via social media.

In a tweet that read: “At 9:22 p.m. this evening, April 6, my Father and Hero Earl Graves Sr., the Founder of Black Enterprise, passed away quietly after a long battle with Alzheimer’s. I loved and admired this giant of a man, and am blessed to be his namesake. LOVE YOU DAD!” Graves’ passion, influence and reach in business extended into the mainstream of corporate America. One of the few African Americans to serve on the boards of major corporations such as American Airlines, Daimler Chrysler, Rohm & Hass and Federated Department Stores (Macy’s).

In his bestselling book, “How To Succeed In Business Without Being White,” Graves shared his purpose for founding Black Enterprise in words that all of Black America could and did agree with: “The time was ripe for a magazine devoted to economic development in the African American community. The publication was committed to the task of educating, inspiring and uplifting its readers.

My goal was to show them how to thrive professionally, economically and as proactive, empowered citizens.”

Born in 1935, Graves graduated from Morgan State University and served two years as an officer in the Army. He held jobs in law enforcement and real estate.

In 1965, he joined the staff of U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy as his… …administrative assistant. When Kennedy was assassinated in 1968, he decided

10

to start a publication that would provide blacks with the pathway to go into entrepreneurship.

Black Enterprise would go on to not only be a successful magazine but also host incredible long-running conferences, a successful TV show, business empowerment seminars and outings touting the incredible power of Black business.

Graves was also known for his dedication to family, and especially to his wife Barbara Kydd Graves, who passed away in 2012. Together, they raised three sons, Earl Jr., Johnny and Michael, and were blessed with eight grandchildren.

Graves leaves behind a rich legacy of teaching African Americans the importance of financial literacy and entrepreneurship.

Rest well, Mr. Graves. We thank you.

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - April 08, 2020 - April 14, 2020

Wilson Leads Letter to DHS Urging a Halt to Haiti Deportations

Miami, FL – In response to the Department of Homeland Security’s plan to deport Haitians on Tuesday, April 7, Congresswoman Wilson led a letter to Acting Secretary Chad F. Wolf urging him to reverse this decision.

“Like many of the countries to which migrants are being repatriated, Haiti lacks the public health infrastructure to prevent the spread of the virus or to treat a large number of infected people. Haiti has struggled to rebuild in the aftermath of the devastating 2010 earthquake and other disasters, including a cholera epidemic,” the letter reads. “Many citizens still lack access to the most basic medical care, po-

COMMENTARY:

table water, and soap for handwashing. It is unconscionable to repatriate migrants who may be unwitting carriers of the virus into such an environment.”

During an early press conference on the virus, President Trump said undocumented immigrants could get tested for coronavirus without fear of deportation.

Continuing to deport migrants to Haiti would have implications for the U.S., as well, because Haiti’s health-care system is so drastically compromised, and it does not have the infrastructure in place to care for even a dozen coronavirus patients. If an outbreak occurs in Haiti, the United States may be forced to financially inter-

cede and care for the people of Haiti because a pandemic will be too overwhelming for the island nation to conquer.

The Department of Homeland Security is reportedly deporting detainees without first testing them for COVID-19.

“ICE needs to allow these detainees to shelter in place. That’s what the president promised. It is creating a very dangerous situation for the airports, the Caribbean, and ICE itself. It’s another mechanism to spread the virus across the world,” said Congresswoman Wilson.

Congresswoman Frederica S. Wilson is a fifth-term lawmaker from Florida, representing parts of Northern Miami-Dade

and Southeast Broward counties. A former state legislator and school principal, she is the founder of the 5000 Role Models of Excellence Project, a mentoring and dropout prevention program for boys and young men of color. Congresswoman Wilson also is the founder and chair of the Florida Ports Caucus, a bipartisan taskforce that coordinates federal action to support Florida’s harbors and waterways.

The Florida lawmaker sits on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and chairs the Education and Labor Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor and Pensions.

While You Were Paying Attention To Covid-19, Trump Slipped Something Past You

By Bill Fletcher, Jr., NNPA Newswire Contributor That’s right, he did it again. Just like a magician, while you are looking at his left hand, he pulls a trick with his right.

In this case, while almost all of the news has been focused on Covid-19, the Trump administration dropped auto fuel efficiency standards. And to add

insult to injury, the Administration cannot defend the move with a straight face. They have no defense that makes sense.

The only argument for this maneuver that Trump’s spokespersons seem to be able to make is that they were overturning another Obama regulation and that deregulating is good because…it is deregulating.

So, let’s put this all together, because this column does not need to be very long. Approximately 99% of all credible scientists identify climate change as threatening humanity. Key to climate change is fossil fuel. Automobiles

use…fossil fuel. Fuel efficiency standards have been aimed at reducing air pollution and greenhouse gases. Thus, the actions of the Administration are, in effect, aimed at shortening the existence of human beings on planet Earth.

Let’s just be as direct as possible and stop beating around the bushes. The Administration made a move while the entire country has been focused on the Covid-19 plague. They know that such a move is/will be very unpopular. But, at the end of the day, they could not care less. This was another gold nugget thrown to the fossil fuel industry, a segment of corporate America that has

been very supportive of the Trump administration.

We should not blame ourselves for being focused on Covid-19. If Trump had been more focused on Covid-19 we might now be looking at a very different picture of the USA. Instead we have witnessed two acts in this performance.

First, regarding Covid-19, the Administration cynically disregarded scientific recommendations and warnings, and downplayed the danger until it has now emerged as a plague covering virtually the entire country.

Second, the Administration made use of our concerns about Covid-19 in or-

der to slip the fuel efficiency standards reduction right past us, thereby further ignoring solid scientific recommendations and warnings and, instead, servicing his supporters.

One cannot but wonder whether hanging over Trump’s bed are the immortal—and notorious—words of the French King Louis XV, offered shortly prior to the French Revolution: “After me, the flood.”

Bill Fletcher, Jr. is the executive editor of globalafricanworker.com and a former president of TransAfrica Forum.

Advice you need for the mortgage you want.

Be A Census Taker

Polly Curtin • Loan Officer 860-200-2292 pcurtin@liberty-bank.com NMLS #555684

 Extra income  Flexible hours  Weekly pay

Apply Online 2020CENSUS.GOV/JOBS

Chris Stokes • Loan Officer 203-720-6121 cstokes@liberty-bank.com NMLS #1182815

We’ll help you find the mortgage that’s right for you.

 Paid training

Contact us today.

For more information or help applying, please call 1-855-JOB-2020

Loans are subject to credit and underwriting approval. Certain fees, restrictions and other terms and conditions may apply.

Ask your loan officer for details.

Federal Relay Service: 1-800-877-8339 TTY/ASCII www.gsa.gov/fedrelay The U.S. Census Bureau is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

MEMBER FDIC

D-1534 | April 2019

11

EQUAL HOUSING LENDER NMLS #459028

THE INNER-CITY NEWS -

April 08, 2020 - April 14, 2020

Congressman John Lewis Endorses Joe Biden for President

By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior Correspondent

Legendary Congressman John Lewis (D-Ga.), one of America’s foremost moral leaders whose work since the civil rights movement of the 1950s made him a national treasure, has formally endorsed former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden as the 2020 Democratic nominee for President of the United States of America.

The 80-year-old congressman who on March 7, 1965, was badly beaten as he helped to lead over 600 peaceful protestors across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, said that Biden was the person to lead the country back on the right side of history.

“I am very pleased and very happy to take the time to endorse a friend, a man of courage, and a man of conscience, as the Democratic nominee for president of the United States,” Lewis said on a media call where major news outlets from around the country participated, including the Black Press of America.

“We need Joe Biden more than ever before,” Lewis added.

The widely respected congressman said America needs Biden at the helm.

“He’s a man of courage, great intelligence, and a man of faith,” Lewis stated.

“He will be a great president, and he will lead our country to a better place, and he will inspire another generation to stand up, to speak up, to speak out, to be brave and bold, and that’s why I’m committed to supporting him.”

When asked by NNPA President and CEO Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr., what is his vision of a Biden presidency, Lewis said the former U.S. Vice President would “be able to redeem the soul of America.”

“It doesn’t matter if you’re white, Asian American, Latino, male, female, straight, or gay. We all live in the same house, the same boat,” he continued.

“We must be able to live together as brother and sister, and Joe Biden will not be afraid to stand up and preach the way of love and preach the fact that we must respect the dignity and the worth of every human being. He can, and he will help us regain our was as a nation and as a people,” Lewis exclaimed.

Born the son of sharecroppers on February 21, 1940, outside of Troy, Alabama,

Lewis grew up on his family’s farm and attended segregated public schools in Pike County, Alabama, according to his biography.

As a young boy, he was inspired by the activism surrounding the Montgomery Bus Boycott and the words of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., which he heard on radio broadcasts. In those pivotal moments, he decided to become a part of the Civil Rights Movement. Ever since then, he has remained at the vanguard of progressive social movements and the human rights struggle in the United States.

“I grew up in rural Alabama, just miles from Montgomery in a town called Troy.

Growing up there, I saw signs that said white men, colored men, white women, colored women, white waiting, colored waiting,” Lewis reminisced.

“My grandparents said ‘don’t get in trouble, don’t get in the way.’ Then I heard a Rosa Parks. I listened to the voice and the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The actions of Rosa Parks and Dr. King inspired me to get in what we called good trouble, necessary trouble.”

Lewis pledged to rally younger African Americans to the polls.

“My message is simple. If you look around, you have a choice,” Lewis stated. “You must decide to get out there and vote like we’ve never voted before.

Young people, college students, and high school students old enough to vote, you must vote.”

He concluded: “I saw people arrested and beaten and jailed when attempting to register to vote.

When we marched in Selma, more than 600 of us were beaten and jailed when we attempted to register. I gave a little blood on that bridge. I almost died. So, young people, just go out and vote and help elect a man of conscious, a man who will look out for each and every one of us and help build a society where no one will be left behind because of race color of skin and gender.”

COVID-19: Renowned Doctor Says, ‘Be Vigilant. Don’t Be a Vector’

By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior Correspondent

As COVID-19 continues to spread amid a growing number of fatalities, Dr. James Hildreth said it’s critical that everyone follows stay-at-home orders, social distancing guidelines, and anything else that could help keep Americans safe during the pandemic.

Dr. Hildreth, the president of Meharry Medical College, is not just your everyday physician, or media talking head.

He’s a renowned infectious disease expert who has repeatedly been called upon

by Nashville Mayor John Cooper and others to inform the public about coronavirus.

Dr. Hildreth began undergraduate studies at Harvard University and was selected as the first African American Rhodes Scholar from Arkansas in 1978.

He graduated from Harvard magna cum laude in chemistry in 1979, according to his biography.

That fall, Dr. Hildreth enrolled at Oxford University in England, graduating with a Ph.D. in immunology in 1982. At Oxford, he studied the biology of cytotoxic T cells with Professor Andrew McMichael and became an expert in monoclonal antibody technology and cell adhesion molecules. He returned to the United States to attend Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, taking a one-year leave of absence from medical school for a postdoctoral fellowship in pharmacology from 1983 to 1984.

In 1987 he obtained his M.D. from

Johns Hopkins and joined the Hopkins faculty as an assistant professor. In 2002, Dr. Hildreth became the first African American in the 125-year history of Johns Hopkins School of Medicine to earn full professorship with tenure in the basic sciences.

In July 2005, Dr. Hildreth became director of the NIH-funded Center for AIDS Health Disparities Research at Meharry Medical College.

In an interview with NNPA Newswire, Dr. Hildreth stressed that “there has to be a new normal,” and he implored all to understand that they don’t “want to be a vector.”

“I think that vigilance has to be raised to a new level. The response to this situation by the [Trump] administration was late,” Dr. Hildreth stated.

“There needed to have been a coordinated response to this. A lot of what’s happening now could have been avoided had we had strong leadership from the beginning. We would be having a different conversation,” Dr. Hildreth added.

As America and most of the world hunker down, Dr. Hildreth said there must embrace a new normal.

“It’s possible that we identify people that are affected and treat them and go back to a somewhat normal life. But if you don’t have that, then it means that the social distancing aspects and the hygienic practices to avoid spreading the virus will have to continue,” Dr. Hildreth noted.

“On any given day, as many as 46,000 flights are carrying over 3 million people, and you have people from Florida,

New York, and Miami and other places on there. If one person has the disease, then it starts all over again,” he said.

Dr. Hildreth also warned of a more cataclysmic situation arising if there’s no vigilance.

“And as human beings continue to push into habitats we have not been in before, and come into contact with pathogens we have not come into contact with before, I’m just saying that this may not be the last time we as a world have to respond to a pandemic like this,” he stated.

“We could have a situation where billions die.”

Dr. Hildreth noted that that already this century, there’s been three pandemics – SARS, MERS, and COVID-19. He said

12

that SARS and MERS occurred in 2002, and 2019, respectively, while COVID-19 entered the scene late in 2019.

“It’s almost at a frequency that every nine to 10 years we have to deal with this. And then, as the population grows and we have to encroach on more and more habitat that we have not been a part of before, there is an expectation that we will have to deal with emerging infections that we have not had to deal with before,” Dr. Hildreth said.

“Not all of them are necessarily going to become a global contagion, but some of them probably will.”

Viruses are incomplete life forms with no ability to replicate on their own, so they must find a way to gain entry into

the cells in our bodies, explained Dr. Hildreth.

Many viruses need hosts before they can get into humans, and those hosts are called vectors, he said.

“In 2002, the hosts were cats. Then for MERS, the host was camels,” Dr. Hildreth stated. “So, efforts were made to eradicate the vectors. But what happens when the host is human? The difference with COVID-19 is that we are the vectors. It’s able to jump from human to human. So, our challenge is to eradicate the vector. That’s why we’re asking you to don’t become a vector of COVID-19.

You don’t become a vector by staying at home, practicing social distancing, and sanitizing surfaces often,” he said.

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - April 08, 2020 - April 14, 2020 INNER-CITY NEWS July 27, 2016 - August 02, 2016

Garrity Asphalt Reclaiming, Inc seeks:

DELIVERY PERSON

Construction Equipment Mechanic preferably experienced in Reclaiming and Road Milling Equipment. We offer factory training on equipment we operate. Location: Bloomfield CT We offer excellent hourly rate & excellent benefits VALENTINA MACRI RENTAL HOUSING PRE- APPLICATIONS AVAILABLE Contact: Tom Dunay

NOTICE

NEEDED

Phone: 243-2300 HOME INC, on behalf of860Columbus House and the New Haven Housing Authority, Email: tom.dunay@garrityasphalt.com is accepting pre-applications for studio and one-bedroom apartments at this develWomen Minority Applicants are New encouraged to apply income limitations apopment & located at 108 Frank Street, Haven. Maximum Action/ Opportunity Employer ply.Affirmative Pre-applications willEqual be available from 9AM TO 5PM beginning Monday Ju;y 25, 2016 and ending when sufficient pre-applications (approximately 100) have been received at the offices of HOME INC. Applications will be mailied upon request by calling HOME Reclaiming, INC at 203-562-4663 during those hours. Completed preGarrity Asphalt Inc seeks: applications must be returned to HOME INC’s offices at 171 Orange Street, Third Reclaimer Operators and Milling Operators with current licensing Haven, CTbe06510. andFloor, cleanNew driving record, willing to travel throughout the North-

Part Time Delivery Needed

One/Two Day a Week,

east & NY. We offer excellent hourly rate & excellent benefits

NOTICIA

Contact: Rick Tousignant Phone: 860- 243-2300

Email: rick.tousignant@garrityasphalt.com VALENTINA MACRI VIVIENDAS DE ALQUILER PRE-SOLICITUDES DISPONIBLES Women & Minority Applicants are encouraged to apply Affirmative Action/deEqual Opportunity Employer HOME INC, en nombre la Columbus House y de la New Haven Housing Authority, está

Must Have your Own Vehicle

If Interested call

aceptando pre-solicitudes para estudios y apartamentos de un dormitorio en este desarrollo ubicado en la calle 109 Frank Street, New Haven. Se aplican limitaciones de ingresos máximos. Las pre-solicitudes estarán disponibles 09 a.m.-5 p.m. comenzando Martes 25 Tractor Trailer Driver for Heavy & Highway Construction Equipjulio,Must 2016have hastaacuando se han recibido suficientes pre-solicitudes ment.

CDL License, clean driving record, capable of(aproximadamente 100) en las oficinas HOME INC. Las pre-solicitudes serán enviadas operating heavydeequipment; be willing to travel throughout the por correo a petición llamando&a NY. HOME 203-562-4663 horas.Pre-solicitudes deberán remitirse Northeast We INC offeralexcellent hourlydurante rate &esas excellent benefits a las oficinas de HOME INC en 171 Orange Street, tercer piso, New Haven , CT 06510 .

Union Company seeks:

Contact Dana at 860-243-2300

Email: dana.briere@garrityasphalt.com Women & Minority Applicants are encouraged to apply Affirmative Action/ Equal Opportunity Employer

HELP WANTED:

NEW HAVEN

(203) 387-0354

Town of Bloomfield

Vehicle Mechanic Technician/Fleet Services (Non-CDL)

LEGAL ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT FOR BIDS The Housing Authority of the City of Middletown (MHA) is seeking sealed bids for:

Sbona Tower Elevator Renovations, Middletown, CT

Bid Opening date and time at the MHA, 40 Broad Street, Middletown, CT 06457 Thursday, April 30, 2020 at 4:00 p.m. All bids will be publicly opened and read aloud.

The work of the contract includes but is not limited to the modernization of two (2) 12-story elevators (#1 & #2) and one (1) 2-story elevator (#3), and mechanical improvements to existing machine rooms.

Site review by all bidders will be on Thursday, April 16, 2020 at 10:00 am. Meet at Sbona Tower. *In the event there are numerous attendees, we will limit the amount of people to view the building in accordance with Covid-19 precautions. If multiple tours are needed, return to your car and you will see when the group is dismissed and the next can assemble. We will allow enough time for all attendees to tour applicable areas for the project.* Contract Documents, Plans and Specifications will be available for review at MHA, on Tuesday, April 14, 2020, can be viewed on-line at www.advancedrepro.net, or purchased at Advanced Reprographics.

5% Bid Security and 100% Performance/Payment Bonds required.

Bidders will note requirements of minimum wage rates, nondiscrimination/equal opportunity rules (Executive Order 11246), Section 3, and related provisions in the General Conditions.

Complete bidding requirements are noted in the Contract Documents.

The Housing Authority reserves the right to reject any or all bids or to waive any informality in the bidding. No bid shall be withdrawn for a period of 90 days subsequent to the opening of bids without the consent of the Housing Authority.

The Housing Authority of the City of Middletown is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer and conducts its business in accordance with all Federal, State and Local laws, regulations and guidelines. Section 3, Small, Minority, Women Business Enterprises and Disabled are encouraged to participate in this process.

HOUSING AUTHORITY of the CITY OF MIDDLETOWN William A. Vasiliou Executive Director

$29.59/hourly (non-CDL) Waste Treatment $30.49/hourly (CDL) SAYEBROOKE VILLAGE

Invitation to Bid: Large CT guardrail company 242-258 Fairmont Ave 2nd Notice looking for Laborer/Driver with valid CT CDL Class A license2BR and able to get a medical card.

Must be Townhouse, 1.5 BA, 3BR, 1 level , 1BA Wastewater Treatment Plant Operator (Attendant I): Operates and maintains equipment able to pass a drug test and physical. Compensaand processes in a municipal sewage treatment plant. Requires a H.S. diploma or GED All new apartments, new appliances, new carpet, close to I-91 Pre-employment & I-95 drug testing.

AA/EOE. Old Saybrook, CT tion based on experience. Email resume to dmasplus a State of CT Dept. of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) Class I Operahighways, near bus stop & shopping center For Details go to www.bloomfieldct.gov (4 Buildings,tors 17 License Units) or higher certification, or a Class I Operator-in-Training certification. Must tracchio@atlasoutdoor.com AA/EOE M-F Pet under 40lb allowed. Interested parties contact Maria @ 860-985-8258 Tax Exempt & Not Prevailing Wage Projecta valid driver’s license. $ 21.79 to $ 25.76 (hourly) / $ 20.70 to possess andRate maintain

NOTICE OF REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS HOUSING AUTHORITY OF THE CITY OF DANBURY

CT. Unified Deacon’s Association is pleased to offer a Deacon’s Certificate Program. This is a 10 month program designed to assist in the intellectual formation of Candidates in response to the Church’s Ministry needs. The cost is $125. Classes start Saturday, August 20, 2016 1:303:30 Contact: Chairman, Deacon Joe J. Davis, M.S.,Services B.S. Legal (203) 996-4517 Host, General Bishop Elijah Davis, D.D. Pastor of Pitts Chapel U.F.W.B. Church 64 Brewster St. New Haven, CT

RFP No. P20002

SCOPE:

The Housing Authority of the City of Danbury and its affiliates hereby issue this Request for

SEYMOUR HOUSING AUTHORITY

Proposal from qualified firms for General Legal Services.

Sealed bids are invited by the Housing Authority of the Town of Seymour PROPOSAL SUBMITTAL RETURN: until 3:00 pm on Tuesday, August 2, 2016 at its office at 28 Smith Street, Seymour, CT 06483 forCity Concrete Sidewalk Repairs andDanbury, Replacement at the Housing Authority of the of Danbury, 2 Mill Ridge Rd, CT 06811 Envelope be Marked: No. P20002 Legal Services Smithfield GardensMust Assisted LivingRFP Facility, 26 Smith Street Seymour.

QUESTION DEADLINE SUBMITTAL DEADLINE A pre-bid conference will be held at the Housing Authority Office 28 Smith April 17, 2020 at 10:00am (EST) April 22, 2020 at 2:00pm (EST)

Street Seymour, CT at 10:00 am, on Wednesday, July 20, 2016.

CONTACT PERSON FOR DOCUMENT: Bidding documents are available from theRFP Seymour Housing Authority OfMs. Devin Marra, Director of Procurement,Telephone: 203-744-2500 x141 fice, 28 Smith Street, Seymour, CT 06483 (203) 888-4579.

E-Mail: dmarra@hacdct.org

The[MinorityHousing Authority reserves thebusinesses right to accept or reject any or all bids, to and/or women-owned are encouraged to respond] reduce the scope of the project to reflect available funding, and to waive any informalities in the bidding, if such actions are in the best interest of the Housing Authority.

CITY OF MILFORD

$ 25.76 (hourly) based on certifications & experience plus an excellent fringe benefit

package. Apply: Department of Human Resources, Town of Wallingford, 45 South Main New Construction, Wood Framed, Housing, Selective Demolition, Site-work, CastSeeking qualified condidates Street, Wallingford, CT 06492. The closing date will be that date the 50th application in-place Concrete, Asphalt Shingles, Siding, or May 11, 2020 whichever occurs first. EOE form/resumeVinyl is received, to fill numerous vacancies to Flooring, Painting, Division 10 Specialties, Appliances, Residential Casework, include, Director of OperaMechanical, Electrical, Plumbing and Fire Protection. tions Milford Landing Marina, Water Treatment This contract is subject to state set-aside and contract compliance requirements.

Recreation Director, and more. Water Treatment Pumping Operator II. The Town of Wallingford Water Division is seeking qualified candidates to maintain and operate facilities related to the Town’s water supply.

For information and detailed Bid Extended, Due Date: 2016school diploma or G.E.D. In addition candidates must possess one of MustAugust possess5,High application instructions, visit following experience and certification requirements: (A) Water Treatment Plant Class Anticipated Start: the August 15, 2016 WWW.ci.milford.ct.us IV Operator (WTP IV) certification with two (2) years of actual experience in a Class IV Project documents available via ftp link below: water treatment plant, or (B) Water Treatment Plant Class IV Operating-in-Training (WTP Click on SERVICES, JOBS and JOB TITLE. http://ftp.cbtghosting.com/loginok.html?username=sayebrookevillage IV OIT) certification with three (3) years of actual experience in a Class IV water treatment plant, with the ability to obtain the WTP IV certification within twelve (12) months from Fax or Email Questions & Bids to: Dawn Lang @ 203-881-8372 the date ofdawnlang@haynesconstruction.com hire, or (C) Water Treatment Plant Class III Operator (WTP III) certification HCC encourages the participation of all Veteran,with S/W/MBE & Sectionof3 Certified a minimum four (4)Businesses years of qualifying experience. $27.47 - $33.34 hourly plus Haynes Construction Company, 32 Progress Ave, Seymour, CT 06483package. Application forms will be mailed upon request from an excellent fringe benefit the Human Resources Department. Phone: (203)-294-2080. Fax (203)-294-2084 Email AA/EEO EMPLOYER wlfdhr@wallingfordct.gov . The closing date will be the date the 50th application or reSteel Fabricators, Erectors & Welders

QSR STEEL CORPORATION

APPLY NOW! Top pay for top performers.

Health Benefits, 401K, Vacation Pay. Email Resume: Rose@qsrsteel.com Hartford, CT

AFFIRMATIVE ACTION/EQUAL OPPORTU-

13

CITY OF MILFORDSeeking qualified condidates to fill numerous vacancies to include,Public Works Office & Administator Operations Manager, Information Technology Manager, and more. For information and detailed application instructions, visit WWW.ci.milford.ct.us Click on SERVICES, JOBS and JOB TITLE.

THE INNER-CITY NEWS -

April 08, 2020 - April 14, 2020

Minority-Owned Media Not Forgotten in Stimulus Legislation

By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior Correspondent

African American-owned media companies and small businesses are included in the massive $2 trillion coronavirus stimulus bill passed by the U.S. Senate.

“Yes, this does include minority-owned media. They are included as small businesses,” a top-ranking Senate source told NNPA Newswire.

A closer read of the 888-page legislation reveals that $10 million has been allocated for minority business centers for technical assistance.

Another $10 million has been designated for the Minority Business Development Agency within the Department of Commerce to provide grants to Minority Business Centers and Minority Cham-

bers of Commerce to provide counseling, training, and education on federal resources and business response to the COVID-19 for small businesses.

In response to COVID-19, the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA), a trade organization of the nation’s African American-owned newspapers and media companies, established a Coronavirus Task Force and Resource Center to assist the Black community through the pandemic.

The task force and resource center “appears to meet the criteria for federal assistance through the stimulus bill,” the Senate source added.

The legislation also eliminates the Minority Business Center program’s nonfederal match requirement for three

months.

It allows for centers to waive fee-forservice requirements through September 2021.

“All of us had to come together to agree on bipartisan legislation to send an infusion of desperately needed resources to our public health systems, state, local, and tribal governments, small businesses, and American workers,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) stated.

“Our nation is no stranger to adversity.

But during difficult times, our nation comes together to help and support each other,” Schumer added.

“Democrats are ready to give our unanimous consent to speed up the consideration of the bill and get the job done.

Let’s get it done for America’s workers.”

MC Hammer Celebrates 35 Years Married!

by Derrick Lane, BlackDoctor.org

Born Stanley Kirk Burrell in Oakland, California, on March 30, 1962, MC Hammer has been around the block more than once and has seen a thing a two. He’s had over 30 million dollars, sold over 50 million albums, he’s been on top and he’s been at the bottom. He’s now a businessman, tech entrepreneur and start up investor and pitch man. But through it all, there has been one constant, his wife Stephanie.

The couple have been married since 1985, before he came out with his groundbreaking first album, “Please

Hammer Don’t Hurt ‘Em.” She’s seen it all right there with him, but their marriage almost didn’t happen. As a matter of fact, Hammer was being set up to marry the legendary Whitney Houston (yes, THAT Whitney Houston).

Hammer says that while at Super Bowl XXV, where Houston gave her memorable rendition of The Star-Spangled Banner, the late singer’s father, John, attempted to play match maker for the two stars.

“Whitney’s dad pulled me and Whitney in a room and said you know Hammer, you should really consider marrying Whitney. And, I said, I’d love to but I’m

already married.” Hammer continued, saying, “I love my wife dearly but, I always laughed about that. Always a big fan of Whitney. I loved Whitney and miss her dearly.”

At the time, Hammer had just celebrated his five-year wedding anniversary. Now, the couple will be celebrating 35 years married! Wow! So what’s the key? One simple answer is, no matter what you see in the videos or on screen, Hammer puts family first.

Hammer simply says, “You have wealth when you have a family. Family is all that I need.” Praying for them, listening to them and taking his wife and family

with him on his travels is apart of Hammer’s routine of building a close, tightknit family.

And don’t let the flashy-ness fool you.

“When he’s home, he’s a little more reserved,” Stephanie says.

The couple has five children together, and Stephanie says he’s a hands-on dad.

“There’s nothing that comes across in the family that he’s not involved in,” she says.

“People have to understand that I started working when I was 8 years old for the Oakland Raiders until I was 18. So way

before I became MC Hammer, I was generating revenue and had four houses and two Porsches. Therefore, making money has never been a challenge for me because…

Hammer says he’s in a good place now.

“Some people ask me sometimes, would I go back and change things?” he says.

“They are flabbergasted by my answer.

My real, true answer is I wouldn’t change one thing. I really believe in the butterfly effect. Meaning that if I change one thing, everything else changes. I lose the kids I have now. I lose the relationships I have now. I lose the peace I have now. So I’m very happy with my decision.”

Unsolved Murders of Black Family Re-Examined in New Film Streaming on Amazon Prime

Nationwide — American Wisper (now streaming on Amazon Prime) is the true story of the unsolved murders of an upper-class African American family. In the summer of 2016, three children and their mother were found shot to death in their large New Jersey home close to NYC. They were discovered by father and husband Josiah Wisper – a brash businessman who owned bars, restaurants, stores and real estate in Harlem, New York. Wisper immediately became the prime suspect in the case, or what is more commonly known as “A Person of Interest”. He was eventually ruled out as a suspect by police and law enforcement officials, but never in the eyes of those in the Harlem community – his relatives, friends, and people he had known for nearly half his life.

Wisper quickly embarks on a search to find out who murdered his family – his personal (and original) video recordings, journals and diaries take

us to family, friends, police precincts, newspapers drug dens, gun stores and street-gang hangouts – all in the hope of piecing together the clues needed to solve this shocking and tragic crime.

His “on-camera” journey takes us on a roller coaster ride of emotions, leading us to a horrifying conclusion – and Josiah’s final discovery of what it takes to be a man. Based on true events, and based on withheld police reports issued at the time of the murders. Directed by Russ Emanuel and produced by Howard Nash. Screenplay by Howard Nash and Rodney Cavin.

The producers of American Wisper want it known that they are seeking to have the original case re-opened, and feel that a movie about the injustice suffered by the real Josiah is the only way to make that happen. But, a clarion “Call to Action” isn’t as easy as it sounds: According to writer/producer Howard Nash, “I’ve noticed a fair amount of racism when it comes to smaller, inde-

pendent films with African American leads. The smaller movie sites and platforms are not even selecting them. So it becomes even more important to get the word out, so that people can see things

14

for themselves.”

“Wisper… a very tight thriller without clear heroes or victims—thanks to a tight directorial effort, a tense script and strong performances by all involved…

it’s a genre movie that shouldn’t be missed.” — Mike Haberfelner SMT News & Reviews The film is the winner of two international film festival awards.

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - April 08, 2020 - April 14, 2020

SOCIAL DISTANCING As a public facility, this establishment is actively encouraging Social Distancing 6 Feet

To support public health, please maintain a minimum distance of 6 feet from others during your visit.

For more information and the latest updates about COVID-19 in Connecticut, please visit: Portal.CT.Gov/Coronavirus If you have any questions regarding the Novel Coronavirus, you can call: 833-ASK-YNHH (833-275-9644) 15

THE INNER-CITY NEWS -

April 08, 2020 - April 14, 2020

It’s not just Black entertainment, it’s Black excellence.

Your search is over. Just say “Black Film & TV” into your X1 Voice Remote to find the best in Black entertainment. Enjoy hit and classic TV shows, blockbuster movies, past and present, even catch up-and-coming talent from Black Film festivals and more. Best of all, with the X1 Voice Remote, you can search for your favorite entertainment with your voice — including Netflix, YouTube and Pandora. With Xfinity, Black entertainment is simple, easy, awesome.

Visit xfinity.com/discovermore to learn more.

Restrictions apply. Not available in all areas. Xfinity TV with X1 and On Demand required. © 2020 Comcast. All Rights Reserved. NPA229995-0003

136854_NPA229995-0003 Black Excellence ad_V6_NewHaven_9.25x10.5.indd 1

16

NED AA Q2 NO V6

3/23/20 7:15 PM