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THE INNER-CITY NEWS -

The Bitsie Clark Fund for Artists Invites Greater

New Haven Artists to Apply for Grants

Throughout this pandemic, artists in Greater New Haven have found innovative ways to show their creativity and humanity. The Bitsie Clark Fund for Artists (The Bitsie Fund) was created in 2018 to support that spirit of creativity. The Fund is now inviting artists in Greater New Haven to apply for its 2020 grant. The deadline for the initial expression of interest (the first step in the process) is May 1st.

The Bitsie Fund honors the legacy of Frances (Bitsie) Clark, Executive Director of the Arts Council of Greater New Haven for 20 years. Many of Bitsie’s most meaningful actions at the Arts Council stemmed from her everyday interactions with artists who sought her advice. She counseled them, nurtured their talents, and helped them realize their dreams.

The Bitsie Fund aims to do the same.

It will enrich the Greater New Haven community by investing in artists from all art disciplines (including visual, performing, literary and film), who will work with a non-profit organization that will serve as a fiscal sponsor. The Fund encourages applications from artists who are seeking to either tackle a major goal in their artistic development, take a risk on a new direction in their work, or advance their career as an artist.

The Bitsie Fund has awarded three grants. Its first, in 2018, was a $2,500 grant to the artist/printmaker and teacher, Barbara Harder, enabling her to travel to Japan to study the unique Japanese handmade paper, Washi.

One 2019 grant for $5,000 was awarded to photographer/musician/teacher Harold Shapiro, who exquisitely merged his two lifelong passions of photography and music in “Luminous Instruments” where he produces images of instruments that evoke movement and music. A second $5,000 grant supports musician/composer/teacher Adam Matlock in his herculean plan to create an opera commemorating the 1921 white mob massacre of African-Americans in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where hundreds died and thousands were displaced.

The Bitsie Fund was established by five women, called the Bitsie Chicks, who were Clark’s proteges at various times (names below). The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven manages the Fund.

For information about the 2020 application and the submission of a pre-application, which will be due on May 1st, please visit: TheBitsieClarkFund.org.

For more information Contact: Mimsie Coleman mimsiecoleman@gmail.com (646) 716-1105

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April 15, 2020 - April 21, 2020

New Haven Heroes

By Shay McGrory,

Marketing & Communications Coordinator

www.artidea.org

“When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers.

You will always find people who are helping.’ “ In these times of social isolation, we appreciate the “helpers” in society more than ever. New Haven is home to the passionate and the compassionate, and as we look for ways to get through the days and the weeks ahead of us, let’s look toward each other. Our city came together to create Together New Haven (#togethernewhaven) as a way to highlight our community’s ability to stay strong and help one another. Inspired by #togethernewhaven, the staff of the International Festival of Arts & Ideas highlights four local heroes in this first of many posts. Thank you for all you do!

Babz Rawls-Ivy, editor-in-chief of The Inner-City News, nominated by Tom Griggs, the Festival’s co-director and director of development.

“Babz’s bouyant optimism has the power to bring people together in times of joy and difficulty, whether in person, through The Inner-City News or—important now—her social media platforms of Facebook or WNHH 103.5 radio.”

Meagan Howard, the Kitchen Manager at DESK, nominated by Allison Hadley, the Festival’s volunteer coordinator “Meagan, the Kitchen Manager at DESK, shows up six days a week to prepare and oversee food production for the food insecure of New Haven, coordinating logistics for dinner service, togo lunches, and the weekly food pantry in addition to other programs. She’s also just the best—supportive, warm, and hilarious to work with.”

Lucy McClure, multi-visual artist, photographer, and educator, nominated

by Allison Hadley, the Festival’s volunteer coordinator “Lucy McClure is going gangbusters in creating art online and engaging viewership in New Haven. She was one of the first to pivot to Facebook Live, walking folks through the Nasty Women CT exhibit, and generally being a constant source of inspiration on how to make community and art in isolation.”

The New Haven Pride Center and its executive director, Patrick Dunn, nominated by Eddie Chase, the Festival’s patrons services coordinator “I want to highlight the work of Patrick Dunn and the New Haven Pride Center.

Since the shutdown has begun, they’ve

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been constantly keeping tabs on the community, reaching out with everything from COVID resources to cat videos to keep their constituents informed and entertained throughout this situation. They’ve also been doing “Fireside Chats” in place of their open office hours on Facebook and Instagram lives, and have already curated weekly Drag Artist Digital Story Hours through May to keep the artists working and LGBTQIA+ Youth Engaged.” Community Resources (For the links go to https:// www.artidea.org/blog/2020/03/4089) Together New Haven has compiled the following list of resources in support of artists and the New Haven community.

New Haven COVID-19 Impact Study CT Department of Economic & Community Development COVID-19 Business Survey

Freelance Artists/Independent Artist Communit Greater New Haven COVID-19 Community Fund Event Planning Guide CDC – Event Guidelines City of New Haven Events that Require City Permits (Parks, Fire, Police, Health, Traffic, Building, etc.)

Americans for the Arts Economic Impact of COVID-19

City of New Haven Covid-19 Resources

Arts and Culture Organizations https://www.americansforthearts.org/ by-topic/disaster-preparedness/coronavirus-covid-19-resource-and-responsecenter https://www.nefa.org/covid-19 Ways of Gathering in the Age of COVID-19 - A Guide to Livestreaming on HowlRound TV http://culturesect.org/covid-information-for-arts-cultural-organizationsbusinesses/https://ready.haatx.com/ covid-19 Artist Emergency Funds https://www.womenarts.org/fundingresources/emergencyfunds/ https://creative-capital.org/2020/03/13/ list-of-arts-resources-during-the-covid19-outbreak/ https://www.artsready.org/ https://e.givesmart.com/events/h1W/ Arts and Culture Leaders of Color Emergency Fund Female Artists Emergency Relief Fund

Please note, any City permitted event over 100 people now through September 2020 is subject to postponement/ cancellation due to the changing nature of COVID-19. The City will hope to notify the event organizer 2 weeks in advance of their event if it needs to be postponed or cancelled. If you plan to cancel/postpone your event please contact RBombero@newhavenct.gov and KWallace@newhavenct.gov

Community Resource Small Business State of Connecticut Covid-19 Resource State of Connecticut Covid-19 Emergency Order State of Connecticut Covid-19 Bridge Loans, State of CT (DECD has stopped accepting applications for Phase I of the Connecticut Recovery Bridge Loan program. Phase II application dates to be determined.)

State of Connecticut Covid-19 Paid Leave for Freelancers See Page 44 State of Connecticut Covid-19 Unemployment Insurance See Page 35 Keep an eye out for more New Haven Hero nominations from staff, or email your suggestions to me at smcgrory@ artidea.org.

--Shay McGrory, Marketing & Communications Coordinator smcgrory@artidea.org

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - April 15, 2020 - April 21, 2020

Arts & Ideas Goes Virtual

Lucy Gellman, Editor, The Arts Paper www.newhavenarts.org

The 25th annual International Festival of Arts & Ideas was always going to be different. Directors Tom Griggs and Liz Fisher just didn’t expect that a global pandemic would push them onto a virtual stage.

The two, who serve as co-directors of the festival, toasted that strange new reality Tuesday afternoon, in an email and video uploaded to the festival’s Vimeo page and website. In the midst of COVID-19, the organization has made the decision to move its signature June festival online, and roll out a series of virtual events starting this month.

In the face of an arts landscape besieged by layoffs and furloughs, it has managed to retain all of its current staff in the process.

“While it won’t be possible for us to continue with the live programming that we had planned, we’re excited by the new virtual and physically distanced program that we are reimagining to virtually embrace our audience, artists, and community, and to deliver, in a new way, all the things you know and love about the Festival,” Griggs said.

“This isn’t the 25th Anniversary we imagined,” Fisher added, raising a glass of Scotch to meet Grigg’s glass across digital space. “But it’s a Festival we can all take part in—and love!”

The festival was originally scheduled to take place June 13–27, with public and ticketed performances across downtown New Haven. But last month, as COVID-19 forced months of cancellations in New Haven and across the country, that format proved, suddenly, impossible.

International performances were cancelled en masse. Large gatherings, including the festival’s signature concerts on the New Haven Green, were no longer tenable. In fact, gathering as the world knew it had been turned on its head. In the midst of everything, arts festivals, dance ensembles, and theater companies issued waves of layoffs.

The festival pivoted. Instead of canceling or postponing its 25th anniversary season, Griggs and Fisher refocused their attention on digital space and the local artists, thinkers, and doers who could operate in it. They talked about how they could use an arts festival, which is often billed as an economic driver for the city, to support small businesses and local restaurants even if their doors spaces weren’t open. They envisioned how a body can move on a walking tour through the city, even if it’s all alone.

Tuesday, they unveiled just a few of those plans, with the promise of more on the horizon. In the absence of the festival’s food experiences, Griggs said there will be new opportunities to support the

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culinary landscape and “especially the restaurant and bar industries who have always served the Festival so well.” In addition, the festival has hopped on to partner with the Together New Haven campaign and website and will be offering free audio walking tours that users can download and take by themselves.

The festival still plans to hold events around The Big Read, an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts through which the city forms a big, nowvirtual book club. This year, the festival has chosen Advice from the Lights—its first-ever collection of poetry—by author and poet Stephanie Burt.

In addition to discussions around the book, Burt will also be speaking as part of the festival’s “Democracy: We The People” series of ideas events. While much of that programming remains under wraps, the festival said Tuesday that

will include poet Richard Blanco, professor and political scientist Dr. Khalilah L. Brown-Dean, and Winner Take All author and journalist Anand Giridharadas among others.

There are also resources already online.

In late March, the festival announced a series of interactive coloring pages and interviews on “New Haven Arts Heroes,” including Nasty Women Connecticut co-founder Lucy McClure, DESK Kitchen Manager Meagan Howard, Inner-City News Editor and WNHH Host Babz Rawls-Ivy and New Haven Pride Center Director Patrick Dunn.

It has also included a list of COVID-19 community resources, adding itself to a growing list of regional organizations offering information on how to find and apply for relief funding.

A full schedule of events is forthcoming on the organization’s website.

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS -

April 15, 2020 - April 21, 2020

Lamont Extends Rental Assistance And Social Distancing

by Christine Stuart Ct. News Junkie

HARTFORD, CT – Days after announcing mortgage relief for homeowners, Gov. Ned Lamont signed an executive order to protect residential renters from eviction if they can’t pay their rent.

The executive order requires landlords to grant tenants an automatic, 60-day grace period for payment for April and May, instead of the existing 90-day grace period. Tenants must notify the landlord that they have lost a job, lost hours, or lost revenue as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Asked if there was any relief available for landlords, Lamont’s Chief of Staff Paul Mounds Jr. said there was mortgage relief for landlords and various property owners in previous executive orders.

The executive order also requires restaurants, bars, retail stores, gyms, and amusement parks to remain closed until May 20.

Lamont acknowledged the pushback he’s getting now for continuing to keep the state closed to socialization.

“This silent enemy doesn’t just surrender,” Lamont said.

He said the virus has something to do “with how we end this war and what timing we have.”

He said strict social distancing, expanded testing, and the developments of a vaccine will all play a factor in when Connecticut’s economy reopens for business.

“This is a war that’s never won. It’s a war we have to figure out how to wind it down in the safest way possible,”

CTNEWSJUNKIE FILE PHOTO

Gov. Ned Lamont

Lamont said. “Now is no time to take your foot off the accelerator. Now is no time to relax the social distancing.”

He said he thinks it’s ironic that the restaurants would be asking to reopen at the same time as the Centers for Disease Control is asking everyone to wear a

mask in public.

Lamont said his decisions are based on public health and he will continue to make them based on that.

“We’re never going to get this economy going again if we don’t do it on a safe basis,” Lamont said.

Senate Republican Leader Len Fasano, R-North Haven, said Lamont seems to be done with his collaborative approach to governing during this time.

“Over time, your authority has become more broad and your strategy less collaborative,” Fasano said in a letter. “Your latest executive order does not reflect any collaboration with legislative leaders. This shift in the process cannot go unaddressed.”

Fasano added that he’s also concerned that some of Lamont’s recent executive orders exceed his emergency powers.

Earlier in the day, Lamont said he felt like he was still being collaborative.

“This has been a nonpartisan pandemic,” Lamont said. “I’ve really been proud that the legislative leaders in this building have been working arm in arm.”

He said they’ve had strong communication on a regular basis and believe they are on the right track to get the economy going “with a first priority on public safety.”

“Gov. Lamont will continue to collaborate with members of the General Assembly, especially legislative leadership, as he has since the outset, and our state will get through this unprecedented emergency by working together,” Lamont’s spokesman Max Reiss said Friday night.

The General Assembly needs a twothirds majority vote to change the rules of the legislative session to operate virtually. There’s been no indication they are looking to make this happen.

As of Friday afternoon, more than 10,500 residents have tested positive and 448 have died.

Lamont Names Three To Regional Reopening Group

by Christine Stuart Ct. News Junkie

HARTFORD, CT — Gov. Ned Lamont joined the governors of New York, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and Delaware Monday in creating a working group to see if they can synchronize the reopening of the economy in the Northeast.

Each state will appoint a public health expert, an economic development expert and the governor’s chief of staff to a working group to start planning on how the states should reopen as the coronavirus pandemic begins to plateau in New York City.

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“Working together makes the most sense,” Lamont said.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said during a conference call with six of the

seven governors that they are aware “This is not a light switch that we can just flick on and everything goes back to normal – we have to come up with a smart, consistent strategy to restart the systems we shut down and get people back to work, and to the extent possible we want to do that through a regional approach because we are a regional economy.”

Lamont said he planned to name former Pepsi Co. CEO Indra Nooyi as his economic development liaison to group.

Paul Mounds Jr., Lamont’s chief of staff, and Dr. Albert Ko, the epidemiologist from Yale University will also be part of the group.

“There’s nothing worse than a false start,” Lamont said. “What that would do to confidence and what that would do to a sense of hope.”

However, not every state is in the same place when it comes to the COVID-19 outbreak. Furthermore, within each state there are counties with more cases and

more rural counties with fewer.

Senate Republican Leader Len Fasano, R-North Haven, asked Lamont to consult with legislative leaders before reaching any decision that would impact the state of Connecticut.

“While conversations with neighboring governors are important, it is equally important to have similar robust conversations with Connecticut lawmakers,” Fasano said in a letter. “It also important to make sure there is communication with the governors of states that border our eastern and northern counties.”

He asked Lamont not to commit Connecticut to follow the actions of other states with no room for modification.

“While a multi-state approach is appropriate for some measures, we also need flexibility and should not be limited in what actions we can take based on decisions made by other governors,” Fasano wrote.

Lamont maintained that he would con-

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tinue to be “collaborative” in his approach.

“I talk to the legislative leaders with some frequency,” Lamont said. “I know some of them feel a great urgency to hurry up and get this economy going.”

The small-business community has been sounding the alarm over the need to quickly reopen their business. “ This health crisis can cause sickness and death, and it must be addressed, but the risks from the economic crisis are extremely serious too,” Andrew Markowski, state director of NFIB in Connecticut.

“If we don’t save these small businesses that employ around half of the workers in the state, and contribute about half of the state’s GDP, we will have financial and emotional devastation among workers and their families.”

Lamont has said repeatedly that he’s going to leave the decision to re-open to the public health experts because he doesn’t want a second wave of infections.

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - April 15, 2020 - April 21, 2020

Dixwell Churches Preach #FaithOverCorona

by EMILY HAYS

New Haven I ndependent

The growing toll of Covid-19 was at the forefront of the minds, and prayers, of Dixwell Avenue congregants this Easter Sunday.

Trinity Temple congregants listed the names of the sick — mothers, grandmothers, children who had caught Covid-19 — in the comments of Bishop Charles H. Brewer III’s virtual service.

The spread of Covid-19 in New Haven and government efforts to prevent more deaths meant that the Dixwell Avenue church had to gather to celebrate and pray on Easter Sunday over Facebook Live, just as congregations of all faiths have moved their services online during the pandemic.

“God, I ask now that you would bring peace to every troubled mind,” Brewer said. “Feed us. Clothe us. Go to Yale New Haven Hospital and touch every sick body.”

The public health emergency caused

by Covid-19 has hit Dixwell particularly hard. New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker released preliminary data on Wednesday that showed that the virus has disproportionately affected the city’s AfricanAmerican and Hispanic neighborhoods.

Dixwell was one of the hot spots for Covid-positive cases, hospitalizations and deaths.

Dixwell’s congregations know the faces behind these facts. Brewer said that several members of Trinity Temple of God in Christ have tested positive and one, Mary Walters, has passed away.

Brewer plans to read the eulogy at Walters’ funeral on Friday.

One block south of Trinity Temple is the historic Dixwell Avenue Congregational United Church of Christ. Senior Pastor Frederick Streets said that no congregant has come down with the illness to his knowledge. He does know members of the broader community who are suffering with Covid-19.

The pandemic was at the forefront of both pastors’ sermons. Each prayed for New Haven’s sick, and each found comfort in the Christian story of Jesus’ death on the cross and resurrection on Easter.

“He Had To Die” Brewer leads Trinity Temple as well as another church his grandfather founded in Stamford, the Wilson Memorial Church of God in Christ.

Brewer’s theme on Sunday was that Jesus had to die to save people from their sins. Sinning began with Adam and Eve. To be a just God, God had to punish them when they disobeyed his rules, Brewer said.

“Even in his anger, he didn’t leave them without the hope of heaven,” Brewer said. “Even in your mess, when he should have washed his hands of you, he looked beyond your sins.”

Brewer said that God sent Jesus, his per-

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Bishop Charles H. Brewer III invites congregations to address Covid-19 during livestreamed sermon.

Dixwell UCC Pastor Frederick Streets takes communion.

fect son, to provide that hope of heaven by sacrificing himself.

“Our sins died on the cross. When they nailed him, our shortcomings died on the cross. When they nailed him, Covid-19 died on the cross,” Brewer told his congregation.

Brewer asked those watching the Facebook Live to write #FaithOverCorona in the comments.

Then he caught his breath and waited for the comments to roll in.

“Thou shall live and not die. I don’t claim to be an extraterrestrial preacher.

I’m a Hood Negro that God saved and gave another chance,” Brewer said as he waited.

Brewer explained that he speaks with a rasp because he was shot in the chest and throat in 1996. He said that he could only whisper at first. He got his voice back when driving by his father’s church one day. Today, speaking is like a workout, he said.

Brewer finished his sermon with ways for viewers to give to the church electronically, a prayer for all those listed in the comment section and a request to like and share the sermon to get his message out.

The online sermon for 200-year-old church Dixwell UCC began its Easter Sunday service with singing.

Quinnipiac professor Aleta Staton drew out each word, “Calvary. Surely, he died on Calvary.” Then she turned to the Gospel of Matthew and the story mentioned in the song.

The passage she read focused on Mary Magdalene and another Mary going to the place where Jesus was buried. They found the stone to the tomb rolled back,

the tomb empty and an angel sitting on the stone, she read. The angel told the women that Jesus had arisen. When they hurried away, they ran into Jesus himself, Staton said.

Staton then turned the sermon over to the church’s senior pastor.

Streets, who teaches at Yale’s Divinity School, said the message in the story is especially relevant now with the fear, uncertainty and grief New Haveners are experiencing during the Covid-19 outbreak.

Streets said that those close to Jesus felt the same way after his death.

“Their constant companions had now become futility, fatalism and a shattered faith. They wondered, as we do now, how they would get through the darkness that was in them and surrounded them like a fog,” he said.

Were Mary Magdalene and the other women who went to grieve Jesus afraid?

Yes, but they still decided to go, Streets said. That faithfulness led to the vision of the angel and the revelation that would eventually found Christianity.

“We get to this other side by facing our fears and like the women who went to tomb of Jesus, grieve the way we know how,” Streets said.

The other side in the Easter story was Peter running to the tomb to confirm Mary Magdalene’s story and founding a religion. There will be a better future out of this pandemic too, Streets said afterwards.

“We get there by being very attentive to the moment and trusting that we will learn from and grow out of this experience. The other side is a better life for all of humanity.”

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS -

April 15, 2020 - April 21, 2020

Firefighters Rally For Nurses, Docs

related hospitalization peak coming later this month, Williams said YNHH has a sufficient supply of personal protective equipment (PPE), such as gloves, masks, and gowns.

“We’re in really good shape,” she said, thanks to both donations to the hospital and the work of the regional health care system’s supply chain leaders.

“We have what we need, but we always want to be good stewards. We want to be as responsible as we can in regards to how we use PPE.” She said that the hospital has bolstered a variety of new and existing employee wellness programs to ensure that nurses and other healthcare providers who routinely work 12 hour shifts during this crisis are able to maintain their own mental health.

She said the hospital offers “mindfulness sessions,” a new quiet location where staff can go and decompress, access to telephone hotlines staff can call seven days a week from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. if they need to talk about anything Covid-related, and even new places for healthcare workers to quarantine themselves and sleep if they feel like they cannot go home without putting their own families at risk of contracting the disease.

Williams said that YNHH nurses and doctors have had to adapt how they deliver care and how best to connect patients with their family members at a time when hospital visitations are all but banned in order to mitigate the spread of the disease.

She said she rounded with the hospital’s chief medical officer on Wednesday. They visited a patient who “was about to transition into another life.” That patient’s husband was in another unit of the hospital, also suffering from Covid.

“Our staff was able to FaceTime with the husband, who was still alert,” she said, by using iPads that the hospital has stationed in some patients’ rooms. She said staff were also able to video-conference in a chaplain so that the husband and wife could pray together before the wife passed away.

In another unit, she said, hospital staff were able to use video monitors to connect a teenager suffering from Covid-19 with his mom.

“We’re doing care in a way that we probably have not done it before,” she said.

When asked how New Haveners stuck at home can best help and show support for local healthcare workers, Williams mentioned all of the food donations that local restaurants have made. She said that many people have donated handmade cloth masks, which patients can use or which hospital staff sometimes wear over their own n95 respirators in order to better preserve that PPE. “I think that wherever you can find the opportunity to create a sense of hope,” she said, “we’ll take whatever you can give us.”

by THOMAS BREEN

New Haven I ndependent

With lights flashing and sirens blaring, fire engines from throughout the region lined up along Howard Avenue for a celebratory procession in honor of Yale New Haven Hospital healthcare workers at the front lines of the city’s Covid-19 crisis.

That rally and expression of first responder solidarity and gratitude took place Thursday morning at the intersection of Howard Avenue, York Street, and Davenport Avenue, right outside of YNHH’s main hospital campus at 20 York St. Dozens of firefighters from New Haven, West Haven, North Haven, and other surrounding towns leaned out of the front seats of their engines or stood along the edges of Howard Avenue applauding and cheering for roughly 10 minutes straight.

Across the street, looking out of upperstory windows and spilling out onto the hospital’s driveway and adjacent sidewalks, dozens more YNHH nurses and doctors and other healthcare workers clad in sky blue-scrubs waved and cheered back, holding their phones high as they video recorded the thanks coming their way.

“Six feet! Six feet! Spread it out! Six feet!” city Fire Chief John Alston (pictured) cautioned through a handheld megaphone as more and more YNHH staff came outside to check out all of the congratulatory commotion.

“We came here to thank you, but we want you to be safe. Six feet! Six feet!”

“It makes me feel just amazed,” said pediatric nurse Traci Heard (pictured). “I love it. We appreciate it that people appreciate us. We appreciate them, and we wouldn’t change this for the world.”

“It means everything,” said another YNHH staffer (pictured) who said she works in pre-admission screening but has moved over to helping out at the hospital’s daycare during this public health. “These guys are our comrades in arms.”

Ena Williams (pictured), Yale New Haven Health’s chief nursing officer and a senior vice president, said she was “blown away” by the firefighter turnout and willingness to “raise the noise” for healthcare workers treating patients sick with the novel coronavirus.

“My heart is so filled with pride and gratitude for what just happened here,” she said. “To have others really recognize what we’ve been doing our whole lives as something special, I can’t explain what that means.”

Williams said that the local hospital has around 350 Covid-19 patients in beds getting treatment in New Haven right now.“That has been growing steadily,” she said. She added that she is cautiously optimistic that the rate of coronavirus inpatient increase is slowing down thanks to people following the local and state social distancing mandates. “But this stuff can change at a moment’s notice,” she said.

At this moment in Connecticut’s public health crisis, with the anticipated Covid-

THOMAS BREEN PHOTOS

Firefighters cheer on YNHH healthcare providers Thursday morning.

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - April 15, 2020 - April 21, 2020

Kimber, Elicker Square Off On Appointment

by PAUL BASS

New Haven I ndependent

Mayor Justin Elicker appointed someone to replace the Rev. Boise Kimber to co-chair a city early-education council.

At least he thought he had. Kimber is still running the group.

That standoff is taking place over the co-chairmanship of the New Haven Early Childhood Council. The council, appointed by the mayor and schools superintendent, is New Haven’s version of a state-sanctioned “school readiness council.” It was established to offer advice to government on preschool policy, allocate state-funded School Readiness slots to local education providers, and spend grant money.

The Elicker-Kimber tussle remains at a standstill while a more immediate concern preoccupies the city — keeping people alive during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Eventually, Kimber’s lawyer said, the matter could end up in court. Meanwhile, the matter hints at a potential realignment of power in city governmental and political affairs.

The disagreement began on March 6, when Kimber, a politically influential Newhallville minister, received a letter from city Corporation Counsel Patricia King.

King informed Kimber that his appointment as co-chair of the Early Childhood Council is invalid. She cited Section 1016r of the state General Statutes concern-

ing school readiness councils. The section states the the “chief elected official of the town .. and the superintendent of schools ... shall jointly appoint and convene the council.”

Former Mayor Toni Harp appointed Kimber to serve on the council. Kimber was an influential backer of Harp, and one of her most visible supporters when she ran against Elicker in last fall’s mayoral election. Elicker won that election. Kimber was a confidante and key political supporter of the previous two mayors, making him a powerbroker in city government agencies ranging from the police department to the Board of Education. He does not enjoy the same relationship with Elicker.

The state statute also gives the mayor the right to designate the chair(s) of the school readiness council. Harp designated Kimber as co-chair. Elicker’s and King’s position is that Kimber’s appointments to the council were invalid because the mayor made it alone rather than with the superintendent; and that since the mayor gets to designate a cochair, Elicker can now choose someone else — even if Kimber were still a valid member of the council, which City Hall argues he is not.

Elicker and Superintendent of Schools Iline Tracey offered renewed appointments to council members, minus Kimber. Kimber’s co-chair, Sherri Killins Stewart, was again designated a co-chair.

But instead of Kimber, United Way Pres-

ident Jennifer Heath was designated the other co-chair.

The council subsequently held its March meeting by Zoom, because of the Covid-19 shutdown. Kimber and Killins ran the meeting.

Heath attended and participated. She said she didn’t see a need to press the issue of co-chairmanship at the meeting. She said her reason for participating on the council is to work together with other people and agencies to boost early childhood education, a goal on which she already devotes much of her energy at United Way. “It’s something I care deeply about. It’s such important work.

It takes so many organizations coming together to make it work better,” she said Tuesday.

Kimber told the Independent he intends to continue serving as chair of the council until his term expires in December 2021. He chaired the monthly meeting that took place after receipt of the letter.

“I’m still on it,” Kimber told the Independent. “He couldn’t put me off a board.”

Kimber hired attorney John Williams to represent him in the matter. In a March 11 letter to King, Williams argued that the mayor lacks the authority to remove Kimber from the council. He acknowledged King’s citation of the Section 1016r. He added that the provision further provides that the mayor and superintendent each selects a representative to the council, and Kimber was Harp’s choice.

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THOMAS BREEN PHOTOS Elicker (at left): “Rev. Kimber is not on the council.” Kimber (at right):

“I’m still on it.”

He also acknowledged that the provision allows the mayor to appoint the chairperson of the council — which Harp did before she left office. Elicker “does not have the power to remove the chairperson,” Williams wrote. “If Mayor Elicker intends to challenge Dr. Kimber’s right to occupy his positions, this matter will be resolved in court.”

Williams reiterated that intention in a conversation Monday.

“I’m hoping they regain common sense here. They have larger fish to fry. But if they want to fight I am very comfortable fighting,” Williams said.

Asked about the situation Tuesday,

Elicker said, “Rev. Kimber is not on the council and is not a co-chair.”

Kimber was “not unappointed as chair,” Elicker stated. “Mayor Harp appointed Rev. Kimber as her designee. I am not appointing Rev. Kimber as my designee.

The superintendent and I have properly appointed members. I have properly appointed two co-chairs.”

According to data collected by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, the percentage of New Haven’s kindergarteners who went to pre-kindergarten has been plummeting. It dropped from a high of 71.5 percent in 2010 to a low of 54.0 percent in 2015.

THE INNER-CITY NEWS -

April 15, 2020 - April 21, 2020

Huck’s Defenses Were Ready For Covid

by LISA GRAY

New Haven I ndependent

Popular radio deejay Darryl Huckaby didn’t miss a beat on the air when Covid-19 came to his door — thanks to years of healthy living.

He’s hoping his story can persuade other people to develop the healthy habits, too.

If you listen to New Haven radio, you’ve come to know Darryl Huckaby. The local native, who’s in his 50s, moved back to New Haven a few years ago to assist his mom after his dad died from Alzheimer’s. Since then, he’s been the voice of WYBC FM’s early morning show. Before that he was the host of “The Workforce,” the station’s midmorning show. He transitioned to the early morning slot in February, something he’d done for years at other stations in the D.C. Metro area earlier in his broadcast career.

The change in time slot at WYBC took a little getting used to. Most days he went home after work to grab a nap before hanging out with his mom, who lives with him near the beach in West Haven.

The Long Wait Four weeks ago, Huck, as his family, friends, and fans know him, went home, talked to his mom for awhile and then went to take his daily nap. This time the nap turned into a full on snoozefest. He slept for six hours. The same thing happened the next day.

As one of the 40 million Americans living with an older parent, he started taking his temperature every day when COVID-19 reports showed that seniors were at higher risk for the virus. He wanted to do what he could to ensure that he and his mom did not catch the virus because she also has underlying conditions. He took his temp on the second day of prolonged napping and it had skyrocketed to 101.8, “I never get sick and can’t remember the last time I had a fever. I called the doctor to see if I should get tested,” he said.

His doctor said yes and gave him information for the testing site in New London. That was on March 18, 2020.

He drove to the testing site and took the test.

Over the next day he was feeling better.

The fever broke. The chills and body aches were gone. “The test was uncomfortable but not bad. It was fast. Not even five minutes.”

At the testing site he was told he should have results in seven days. That turned out to be, “the longest week ever” for him. “I did a lot of praying and hoping the symptoms I had did not come back and that I did not develop any more.” He did not have a cough or

“Huck on air” at WYBC. any other of the symptoms COVID-19 patients report. Then, as now, he said, “We weren’t really hearing about people who didn’t get sick if they tested positive. We only heard about people going to the hospital. It was scary. I was concerned about my mom.”

That week he and his mother started isolating in the house. They came up with a routine. He wore a mask all the time. He stopped cooking meals and she started. They never spent time in the same room at the same time. They cleaned, and cleaned, and cleaned some more — sanitizing every place he went in the house every day. Washing his clothes became a daily activity. Video chatting became their primary form of communication. He stayed in the basement and his office while his mom kept to the other parts of the house.

If you know him, you know that he and his mom are close. They do a lot together. So “that was difficult, separating inside. We usually cook and eat dinner together and we couldn’t do that. Yes, that was difficult.”

He also had to alert the radio station about his status. Even before he got his results back, he let the station’s general manager know that he was presumptive positive and that they should up the precautions in the studio. They’d already been practicing isolation in the studio with each on-air personality and other staff sanitizing the shared areas after each use.

Huck felt responsible to and for his co-workers, “Juan Castillo, the station

manager, was great. We talked about it.

I told him I did not have symptoms but wanted to make sure everyone could all they could to stay safe and healthy.”

The station made a decision to move all operations off site. “They set us all up with the equipment to broadcast from home. So far, no one else is showing symptoms. I’m thankful for that.”

As he was navigating life at home and making the transition to at-home broadcasting, Huck was still waiting on his results, “That was the longest seven days ever.”

The results finally came back on March 26.

He said he’s been relatively healthy especially after making some lifestyle changes a few years ago. The results came via his heath providers Electronic Medical Records System. When he read them, his heart dropped. “I still did not have symptoms, so now my mind is reeling.” A conversation with his doctor a few minutes later helped calm his nerves. He learned that while he was not having symptoms, his positive test results meant that he could potentially still pass the virus to others, so he had to continue to self-isolate.

He was seven days in; he had another seven to go. He needed to continue to not have a cough, run a fever, or have other symptoms. His mom kept cooking his meals and would leave a plate for him in the kitchen. He kept doing his morning show from his office with the set-up the station sent him. He took his temperature everyday. He continued

8

talking to his mom on video chats to make sure she was not developing any symptoms.

A week later his doctor called again to check in. “We talked about how I was doing, how my mom was feeling and what I should do now. I wanted to know if they would retest me to see if it was really gone.” His doctor told him that no retesting would happen and let him know that he should continue to do the things he was doing but that it appeared the virus had run its course.

“I wake up every day just glad to be here,” Huckaby said. “I take my temperature and check for symptoms, and so far, so good.” When asked about contacting people he encountered before he knew he had COVID-19, he responded, “I did reach out to people I had come in contact with, but it was a short list and none of them had or have any symptoms. I can’t figure out how or where I picked it up.”

During all of this, Huckaby was grappling with going public.

“I struggled with that, telling others.

While I am public on social media and at the station, I don’t share about my private life. I am a private person,” he said. “My cousins and I do a Zoom call every Sunday, and I thought about telling them on a call but held it.”

He had concerns about the stigmatizing impacts of telling even his family, whom he trusted.

Could he really tell everyone?

It’s like he had cognitive dissonance: “I was giving stats every morning. Tell-

ing people about the numbers, how many people had it, how many people had been hospitalized, or died. Now I was one of those numbers.

“I was giving this information and at first had a hard time seeing myself in them. Then I realized that all we hear about are the numbers. We don’t hear about the people behind them, especially not who made it through, the ones who got the virus and survived. I wanted to tell that story. I wanted to give people some inspiration, show them that they can survive.”

If you follow Huck on Facebook or Instagram, you’ve seen his video posts.

He posts about events for the station, his business as a 5 Linx leader and distributor, or life with his mom, who is a prolific line dancer. He shares video of her dancing with her crew. But seldom if ever do you see him talking about his personal life.

“I told one cousin before going public. He’s like my brother. Everyone else found out when I hit record on my iPad that afternoon.”

On April 2, he posted a 14-minute video from his home office-turned-broadcast studio telling his Facebook friends and the followers on his Huck on Air page for the radio station, “I tested positive for COVID-19.” He shared his story with dignity and strength.

He felt it was necessary to share his journey.

“We needed to hear a story of survival.

We all know or soon will know someone with COVID. We will all feel, if are not already feeling, the impacts all around us. Too many of those are about people not making it.

“Honestly, it was a relief. Telling what happened, talking about it to give others hope. That was my goal.”

During that 14 minutes, Huckaby talked about why he thinks his case was less severe. “I was already living a relatively healthy lifestyle. I was already exercising and eating right. I was on a path to being healthy. That helped me get through this. I wanted to tell people about that. Share with them some things they could do to boost their immune systems.”

He said the response has been overwhelmingly positive. Thousands of people have reached out to share their stories with Covid-19. Lots of people are sharing the video too.

Last week Huckaby went back online to give an update (above) and tell what’s going on with him. That too is receiving a positive response. “It’s a conversation we need to have. Yes, Black people are dying, but we’re also surviving, we are making it through this and that’s what I wanted to do. Give people some hope.”

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - April 15, 2020 - April 21, 2020

Save Black Lives from COVID-19

By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior Correspondent

With evidence growing that shows African Americans disproportionately affected by the novel coronavirus, just nine states and the District of Columbia have released a racial breakdown of those diagnosed with the disease.

Concerned health experts, members of the U.S. Congress, and civil rights organizations have ramped up their call for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), to provide a detailed report.

“We know that there’s a disproportionate rate of infections and death nationwide,” Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) Chair Karen Bass (D-Calif.) stated in a conference call with the Black Press of America represented by the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) on Tuesday, April 7.

“It’s happening in all of our [African American] communities nationwide. We feel that it’s an emergency that needs to be addressed right away, and, importantly, we need data, and the CDC is not compiling data,” Bass added.

Rep. Robin Kelly (D-Ill.), the chair of the CBC’s Health Braintrust, agreed that statistics along racial lines are vital.

“The data already released shows troubling trends for African Americans that must be addressed to ensure public health,” Kelly stated.

African Americans makeup about 18

percent of the population in Michigan but account for approximately 40 percent of coronavirus-related deaths, according to Rep. Brenda Lawrence (D-Michigan).

“I am speaking as just one part of the major piece of concern, and that’s the alarming way in how this pandemic is having an impact on our Black community,” Lawrence said.

“We are the number one target for this disease. We have pre-existing conditions, and yet we’re told to go home when we visit the emergency room. We know that there must be some form of regulation in place for testing and getting testing sites and equipment into the com-

munity,” Lawrence added.

A published report this week noted that the Louisiana Department of Health revealed that 70 percent of coronavirus deaths in the state are African American, despite Black people making up just 32 percent of the population.

In Milwaukee, Wisconsin, African Americans reportedly accounted for nearly half of coronavirus cases and more than 80 percent of deaths related to the disease.

“I have seen in my waiting room mostly Black and Brown patients who are essential workers and service workers who can’t afford to stay home,” Uche Black-

stone, the CEO of Advancing Health Equity, told The Hill.

“These are the ones that I see presenting to the clinic with COVID-19 symptoms,” Blackstone stated.

Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) led a group from congress recently in demanding that the federal government release data about racial disparities in America’s response to the pandemic.

Pressley said she and her colleagues made clear in the letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar that the government is failing to collect and publicly report on the racial and ethnic demographic information for coronavi-

rus tests and patients.

“Without demographic data, policymakers and researchers will have no way to identify and address ongoing disparities and health inequities that risk accelerating the impact of the novel coronavirus and the respiratory disease it causes,” the letter said.

“Although COVID-19 does not discriminate along racial or ethnic lines, existing racial disparities and inequities in health outcomes and health care access may mean that the nation’s response to preventing and mitigating its harms will not be felt equally in every community.”

Dr. Ebony Hilton and Dr. Taison Bell, of the Virginia Medical School, have publicly demanded the release of racial data surrounding the virus.

“Release the data,” stated Dr. Hilton, who continuously posts that message on social media sites like Twitter.

“We see in states that aren’t reporting on racial demographics that there’s been a surge in patients dying from respiratory distress and respiratory failure,” Dr. Bell stated.

The NNPA and its Coronavirus Task Force was the first media related entity in the U.S. to declare a “State of Emergency for Black America” as the fatalities among Black Americans continue to rise across the nation. Using social media to increase public awareness about COVID-19, the NNPA is encouraging the use of the following hashtags: #SaveBlackLives and #NNPACoronavirusTaskForce.

Is It Time to Cut Your Fingernails to Protect Yourself From Coronavirus?

by Moleska Smith, BlackDoctor.org

With coronavirus-COVID-19 news dominating our lives, and not knowing what to touch or the many ways it can spread, we must take extraordinary precautions in all aspects of our live.

In normal times, having beautiful long nails is desired. The nail business was booming before mid-March. But did you know, viruses (yes, coronavirus) and bacteria can lurk underneath those beautiful nails! They can be a hotbed for all kind of germs. Is it time to cut them off, for now?!

Well, if it were up to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), we would all wear our nails short. “Fingernails should be kept short, and the undersides should be cleaned frequently with soap and water.

Because of their length, longer fingernails can harbor more dirt and bacteria than short nails, thus potentially contributing to the spread of infection,” as stated on the CDC website.

I know many women just fell to the floor!

For those that say cutting their nails is not an option, here is some advice for protect-

ing yourself and others, especially now.

Washing with a fingernail brush Get yourself a fingernail brush! Having the right tool is critical for keeping your nails sanitized. This will help you reach underneath to the nail bed where you normally can’t reach well.

Because the underside is where the danger lies, washing and scrubbing there, on the sides and on top with hot, soapy water is essential to making sure they are clean and free of any germs. It is recommended by the CDC to wash at least 20 seconds, frequently. You can sing Happy Birthday or the alphabet twice or sing whatever you like as long as it gets you to 20 seconds.

Those with the long, extended nails must wash and scrub even longer to ensure maximum cleanliness. You don’t have a nail brush? Since you are probably blowing up Amazon while you’re on lockdown, add that to your list.

Stop biting your nails During these uncertain times, we are all anxious because you don’t know when this crisis will end! When you’re nervous

and thinking about what to do next, you start biting your nails or you put your hand up to your mouth and play with your teeth (that’s me). We must stop biting our nails and keep our hands out of our mouths.

That is the easiest way for germs to enter our bodies along with putting our hands near or in our eyes and nose. Putting our hands anywhere near our face is out. I know it is the hardest thing to do (I am the worst offender), but we must try, even if that means hanging Post-it Notes around the house to remind ourselves. If that doesn’t do, maybe this will help you to keep your hands out of your mouth. When putting fingers in your mouth you are essentially eating and swallowing germs.

Think about how many times you put your hand in your mouth a day. Print out a picture of germs and hang it on the computer or anywhere you are all day. Or you can always go old school, like our parents did, and put hot sauce or some other unpleasant tasting food on your fingers.

Pamper Yourself with a Mani Because most of us have been issued stay-

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at-home orders, which means we can’t go to any salon, of any kind, and even if one was open, for our safety, we shouldn’t go.

All the places we go to beautify ourselves are shuttered indefinitely, so what to do?

For me, having a nice manicure will make me more mindful not to bite my nails. Pull out your emery boards, nail files, clippers, and polish. While you’re at it, give your-

self a pedi too. Pamper yourself until you can get back to the professionals.

Remembering all the things we need to do to stay safe may be exhausting, but very necessary. Keeping your nails cut short, or at least clean, is a small step in staying safe. Continue to follow the guidelines of the CDC and other health organizations.

This too shall pass!

THE INNER-CITY NEWS -

April 15, 2020 - April 21, 2020

Black Businesses Matter, But Will They Get Fair Share Of COVID-19 Aid Money?

By Barrington M. Salmon, Contributing Writer, The Final Call

President Donald Trump and Congressional leaders announced the $2 trillion economic stimulus package—the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act to great fanfare, touting the deliverables of different aspects of the provisions and their belief in its ability to slow the economic tsunami exacerbated by the novel coronavirus pandemic. One of the major selling points is a $1,200 onetime payment to adults.

The pandemic has cut a wide and deadly swathe through communities across the country, overwhelmed the medical infrastructures of places like New York City, Detroit and New Orleans, and brought much of America’s economic activity to a standstill. At press time the grisly tally in the U.S. stood at 356,942 confirmed cases and more than 10,524 deaths. New York is still the epicenter with more than 122,031 confirmed cases and almost 4,159 deaths.

In a desperate effort to blunt the spread of Covid-19, state governors have ordered as many as 230 million people to stay home, which has brought commerce to a virtual standstill. Along with the sudden and brutal decline of the much vaunted, record-setting stock market, the economy began a freefall dragging with it jobs, businesses—large and small—and the destinies and fortunes of tens of millions of American workers.

Compared to other small business owners, African Americans have generally had to face more daunting challenges such as smaller cash reserves to draw from, difficulty in securing bank loans and other financing and being sole proprietors or “mom and pop” establishments that are ineligible for most small business loans.

Businesses, big and small, have been savaged, with the hardest hit sectors being the travel and hospitality industries and the retail sector.

Financial planner and wealth manager Ivory J. Johnson acknowledged that Covid-19 has shaken up U.S. businesses and hit Black customers hard.

“It’s having a tremendous effect,” he said. “Cash flow just stops. Ten percent retail, 10 percent of restaurants, 20 percent of the population just stopped. This is the end of the business cycle, we’re at peak employment where wages go up, corporate money gets squeezed and they fire Bob,” he explained.

“People didn’t have time to pivot. For Black business, access to capital may not be there and Black customers are going to be hit very hard. It’s going to be a challenge for all businesses. You have to figure what you need to do now.”

He characterized the relief package as, “keep the light on money,” likened the U.S. economy to a Ponzi scheme with the U.S. government printing money “out of thin air,” and said now that corporations—who are carrying between $4 trillion and $10 trillion worth of debt—face

an economic reckoning, the realization is dawning that the way they’ve been doing business is untenable.

“They are now seeing that this isn’t sustainable,” said Mr. Johnson, who for the past two decades has helped families and small businesses create and protect wealth, and who has guided them to see the benefits of developing a financial game-plan. “Nobody ever shoots Santa.

People don’t care and weren’t complaining when they were making money.”

Mr. Johnson said the Covid-19 pandemic merely accelerated what has been happening to the economy, just at a slower rate.

“Here’s the reality: what happened is that they are creating money out of thin air, buying assets, feeding the Ponzi scheme,” he said. “They were rigging earnings, strip-mining stocks and buying back stocks, while the Federal Reserve pushed down interest rates and have been buying bonds and assets.”

Mr. Johnson, who founded Delancey Wealth Management. LLC in 2012, said 35 percent of small businesses couldn’t sustain a three-month shutdown, while 70 percent wouldn’t survive past six months.

He said the country is staring at the abyss. The unemployment rate during the Great Depression was 25 percent and financial experts are predicting that unemployment figures could reach that figure before all this is done. In late March and early April, about 10 million Americans filed for unemployment. The next jobs figures are expected to be considerably higher.

Veteran labor organizer Bill Fletcher, Jr. said there are a couple of layers to consider when contemplating the effect coronavirus will have on African Americans.

“One is the question of the impact of the crisis on Black America and Black businesses. One of the things that we’re going to have to deal with in this country, irrespective of race, is going to be trauma,” he said. “I think that it will have a particular type of impact on Black America—looking at illnesses and a further elimination of wealth, along the lines of 2008 crash,” added Mr. Fletcher.

“African Americans never really recovered from the housing crash and economic meltdown and that reality is going to be a very important factor for Black people, especially since the U.S. may be going into some form of depression,” said Mr. Fletcher, former president of TransAfrica Forum and a senior scholar with the Institute for Policy Studies. “I saw a report last week that shows the Washington metropolitan area could lose 35 percent of small businesses. Add a layer of race onto that—lower savings rates and profit margins and most small biz not able to sustain themselves for three months and the problem becomes clear.”

What comes out of this crisis will be equivalent to the aftermath of a war, he said.

“It’s not like coming out of a recession with the infrastructure intact. Even if the

Black Businesses Matter

number of people who die isn’t as high, we’re looking at high levels of devastation economically,” Mr. Fletcher explained.

Marc Morial is one of a number of critics who don’t believe the package goes far enough and said he and others in the Civil Rights and business communities will have to push just as hard as they have to ensure that more is done for African American businesses. He said he doesn’t have to look too far to see the impact of the pandemic on small Black businesses owners in New York, where he lives.

“My barber is closed down. That’s where three people work. It’s their livelihood,” he said soberly. “Every barber shop, every hair salon has been closed down.”

Mr. Morial, president and CEO of the National Urban League, said he, other Civil Rights organizations and their allies fought fiercely to ensure that Congress wouldn’t pass a bill that completely ignored African American businesses at perhaps their time of greatest need.

“The $2.2 trillion recovery relief plan is a down payment,” Mr. Morial told The Final Call. “In the best case scenario, it will offer two months relief for small business owners and four months relief for unemployed worker. There is a need for them to go back. We fought hard in discussions, along with the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), to ensure, for example that lending platforms would be open to nonprofits, sole proprietors and mom and pop

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stores.”

“The language is broad and inclusive, and the execution may take a while.

We have to lean in on this opportunity hard. African American business owners shouldn’t sit around and wonder if they should apply. Apply! We have to put pressure on the process for it to serve us.”

Mr. Morial said, “There will definitely be a need for more money and we’re working with Rep. Karen Bass to see what the next package will look like.” President Trump signed the bill March 27.

Ron Busby, President and CEO of the U.S. Black Chambers, Inc. (USBC), played a similar role as Mr. Morial pressing lawmakers to include provisions favorable to African American businesses.

“I want readers to understand that in the 700-plus page bill, nowhere was the word, ‘Black,’” said Mr. Busby, who serves on the Pfizer Small Business Council, National Newspapers Publishers Association Foundation Board of Directors, and White House African American Leadership Council. “It is a race-neutral bill, has nothing to do with Black people.

The U.S. Chamber advocated to keep it race neutral to ensure that the bill would get support. Congress felt it would be easier to get passed that way.”

Mr. Busby said while $2 trillion seems like a great deal of money, $349 million will go towards the Small Business Administration’s Payment Protection Program (PPP).

“That also seems like a great deal of money but it’s not enough funding,” he said. “It will be very difficult for Black and small businesses. We fought for small, Black-owned businesses, fought for a couple of things—to ensure that businesses wouldn’t be cancelled because of supply chain issues and problems with developing products and widgets because of the epidemic. We also fought to get a ‘front-pay’ program where businesses would get paid in the next 15 days.”

“The federal government is notorious for slow payments of 60, 90, 120 days— and most Black-owned businesses are more interested in and dependent on cash-flow.

They (negotiators) pulled it out at the last minute but they said they will continue to pay businesses through the disruption.”

Mr. Busby and other observers say most Black businesses have small payrolls and use what is called 1099 workers and contract employees, but if business owners apply for the PPP, it will pay 100 percent of their payroll for the next three months.

Some aspects of the plan are still vague, saying he’s not sure how the wording will be received at banks, he added.

Ohio Congresswoman Joyce Beatty and Rep. Dwight Evans of Pennsylvania told The Final Call that the good news is that small businesses including those who work as 1099 employees, beauty and nail salons, painters and others who are self-employed will have an opportunity to participate.

“April is when they can first apply,” she said. “The good news is that dollars are available. It’s first come, first serve. It was important for us to make sure that individuals who work as contractors weren’t left out. We can’t make a commitment that everyone will get in but people should prepare their packages, go to the Treasury website and download the application package.”

Rep. Beatty, who is vice chairman of the Small Business Committee and serves on the Committee on Financial Services and the Consumer Protection and Financial Institutions subcommittee among others, said she has worked very closely with Chairman Nadya Velasquez and other committee members.

“CBC members have stepped up. We’re teaming up and working together but there are a lot of devils in the details, especially those not in the traditional SBA,” said Rep. Beatty, who has served in Congress since 2013.

She said she and some of her colleagues met with Civil Rights leaders and will continue to do so as all of them try to stay ahead of this crisis. Congressman Evans said providing economic distress loans, the PPP and $10 million for minority development agencies is very important and underscores the importance of small businesses.

“Small businesses are the backbone of our economy and it’s very important in terms of what these programs will mean,” Con’t on page 14

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - April 15, 2020 - April 21, 2020

Trump points the finger of blame at another black man for COVID-19 of pneumonia in Wuhan, Hubei Province, and the last date is March 18.

The most important date is January 30, when the WHO declared the coronavirus a “public health emergency of international concern.” The director general accepted the recommendation and declared a novel coronavirus outbreak.”

On the other hand, President Trump confidently predicted the coronavirus did not present a serious threat to the U.S., assuring Americans: “It’s going to have very good ending.”

President Donald Trump

By Frederick H. Lowe

President Trump has found a black man other than former President Barack Obama to point the finger at for his and his administration’s failings.

Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebryeyeous Trump is now attacking Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the Ethiopianborn head of the World Health Organization, one of the go-to organizations dispensing important data concerning the coronavirus pandemic.

The U.S. is a major WHO funder, and on Tuesday Trump cut the Geneva, Switzerland-based organization’s funding, charging that the WHO “really blew it,” being persuaded by China to downplay the coronavirus outbreak.

“They could have called it much earlier,” Trump said at a coronavirus task force briefing Tuesday evening. “When they call every shot wrong, that’s no good.” He charged that the WHO was very “China-centric. “Fortunately, I rejected their advice on keeping our borders open to China early on.

“Why did they give us such a faulty recommendation?” Trump posted in an April 7 tweet. Nearly 40,000 people have flown from China to the United States since the president imposed travel restrictions between the two countries.

Prior to January 30, the WHO issued dire warnings.

Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebryeyeous

And others have piled on. U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham, a Trump loyalist, said on Fox News he will push to cut WHO’s U.S. funding unless there is a change in leadership. The U.S. provided $900 million in funding to the WHO in 2018 and 2019. Trump wants to cut it to $57.9 million and Graham wants to cut the funding to zero. So far, Trump has followed Graham’s lead.

During a virtual news briefing, Dr. Hans Kluge, WHO regional director for Europe, said it wasn’t the appropriate time to cut funding during the ongoing

pandemic.

President Trump

Dr. Ghebreyesus warned Trump not to politicize the pandemic.

“If you want to be exploited and if you want to have many more body bags, then you do it. If you don’t want any more body bags, then you refrain from politicizing it,” he said.

Meanwhile, Dr. Ghebreysus released a timeline on WHO letterhead. The timeline begins on December 31, 2019, when China reported a cluster of cases

On January 1, 2020, the WHO had set up the Incident Management Support Team across three levels of the organization: headquarters, regional headquarters, and country-level putting the organization on emergency status for dealing with the viral outbreak.

From February 16 to 24, a WHOChina joint mission, which included participation from the U.S., Canada, Germany, Japan, Nigeria, Republic of Korea, Russia and Singapore, spent time in Beijing.

The mission also traveled to Wuhan where they talked to health workers and scientists.

On January 5, 2020, WHO published in the first issue of Disease Outbreak News concerns about the new virus.

This is a flagship publication that was given to the scientific and public health community as well as to the global media.

There also is another racial component here.

Dr. Ghebreyesus charged that Taiwan, which is not a WHO member, engaged in a racist smear campaign against him because he is black. The country’s foreign minister denied the accusation.

He does, however, have strong support from Africa’s heads of state. Cyril Ramaphosa, president of South Africa, reaffirmed Africa’s support of WHO. Ethiopian President Sahle -Work Zewde, said “Our global priority is to save lives. WHO under Dr. Tedros’ effective leadership, is delivering on its mandate at a time we need them most.”

Dr. Anthony Fauci supports the WHO Dr. Ghebreyesus also has the support of Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the White House’s point man on COVID-19.

Trump, however, continues the game of shifting the blame on black men. He started blaming Obama for every Oval Office failing, and he hasn’t stopped.

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS -

April 15, 2020 - April 21, 2020

Lean on Me: Singer-Songwriting Legend Bill Withers Dies at 81

By Lauren Victoria Burke, NNPA Newswire Contributor

Three-time Grammy Award winner Bill Withers, a singer-songwriter of music with lyrics and harmony carrying messages that stayed in the minds of many listening in an indelible way, has died at 81. Withers passed away in Los Angeles.

Withers’ family referenced a heart condition as the cause of his death which has not been linked to COVID-19.

His song “Lean on Me” is one of the most popular in modern popular music and was judged to be one of the greatest songs of all time by Rolling Stone magazine along with “Ain’t No Sunshine.”

Withers soulful songs “Lean on Me,” “Lovely Day” and “Ain’t No Sunshine,” have now become standards heard for five decades in feature films and in the background of endless TV episodes.

Withers most recently appeared in the documentary The Black Godfather on Netflix. The film, directed by Reginald Hudlin, was a tribute to the life of influ-

COMMENTARY:

ential music executive Clarence Avant and was released by Netflix last year. Avant detailed his association with Withers.

“I kept listening to him. I kept listening to Harlem and I kept listening to “Grandma’s Hands” — and you say to yourself: You didn’t hear many records with people talking about their grandmothers, but everybody has one. His records to me made so much common sense. It was like you were just talking to somebody. You listen to “Lean on Me.” One of the songs he wrote that I still think is a great song talked about the Vietnam War,” influential music executive Clarence Avant explained.

“All those kinds of things just resonated with me and I said wow this guy has got it,” Avant said of Withers. At the time Avant owned Sussex Records. Avant signed Withers and had Stax Records associate Booker T. Jones produce Withers’ first album. Withers later signed with Columbia Records.

Bill Withers was born on July 4, 1938 in Slab Fork, West Virginia, a coal mining town. He recorded from 1970 until

1985 and his hits included “Lean on Me”, “Ain’t No Sunshine”, “Use Me”, “Just the Two of Us”, “Lovely Day”, and “Grandma’s Hands.” His life was the subject of the 2009 documentary film Still Bill and he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2015.

“Lean on Me,” was performed at the inaugurations of both Barack Obama and Bill Clinton.

Withers married actress Denise Nicholas in 1973 but they divorced in 1974. In 1976, Withers married Marcia Johnson, and they had two children, Todd and Kori.

Lauren Victoria Burke is an independent journalist for NNPA and the host of the podcast BURKEFILE. She is also a political strategist as Principal of Win Digital Media LLC. She may be contacted at LBurke007@gmail.com and on twitter at @LVBurke 2008 Bill Withers Tribute: Pictured are Bill Withers & Corey Withers (Photo: https://www.flickr.com/photos/annulla/3011590291/ Wikimedia Commons)

The Pandemic Curve is Not Bending, Putting Americans at Risk

By Roger Caldwell, NNPA Newswire Contributor

“The real implications of those delays and missteps were not fully apparent during early polling regarding the White House response. But now, as the death toll mounts and more state governors have stepped up their responses to the emergency, it appears the slow response is now

eating away at the public’s confidence in the president,” says Pema Levy – reporter at Mother Jones.

With no coordinated National Strategic Plan to battle the coronavirus, and the most cases on the planet, President Trump has failed. Each day the numbers get worse, with 350,000 American cases, and over 9,700 deaths. It took Trump and his administration 70 days from the first time

he was notified of the coronavirus, and its grave implications to treat it as a public health crisis.

President Trump likes to brag about how early he shut down travel to China at the end of January. But the truth is that in November, in the city of Wuhan, the virus appeared, and nothing was done for 2 months. Trump and his administration had allowed over 300,000 people from China

to enter the country before the ban was imposed. It took another month for Trump and his administration to limit travel from and to Europe to control the virus.

During the month of February, our president was making jokes about the virus, and the Democrats were undermining his election chances talking about the virus, and he predicted the virus would soon disappear.

“Perhaps the most consequential failure was the administration’s bungling of testing which hobbled the country’s response and blinded it to the potential enormity of the outbreak. The Centers for Disease and Prevention failed to produce a good test, causing fatal delays in tracking the spread of the virus. In February federal, medical, and public health officials were emailing

Signs COVID-19 is Disproportionately Impacting African Americans Grow Larger

By Lauren Victoria Burke, NNPA Newswire Contributor

In a letter dated February 4, and sent to U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Rep. Ayanna Pressley (DMA) said comprehensive demographic data on people tested or treated for the virus that causes COVID-19 doesn’t exist.

Cities with large black populations have now emerged as new hot spots for the spread of the virus. They include Houston, New York, Detroit and New Orleans. Nearly 70 percent of the COVID-19 deaths in New Orleans have been African American.

“Any attempt to contain COVID-19 in the United States will have to address its potential spread in low-income communities of color, first and foremost to protect the lives of people in those communities, but also to slow the spread of the virus in the country as a whole,” Warren and Pressley the lawmakers wrote to Azar.

Senior citizens use social distancing while lined up for the early opening of a supermarket on for seniors only. The US government has called for social distancing to slow the spread of the Covid 19 virus. This is at a Publix supermarket in Cocoa, Florida, which opened at 7:00 am for seniors 65 and over. Some are wearing surgical masks.

12

“States MUST start tracking and reporting race data in connection with #Covid_19. As of Friday morning, African Americans made up almost half of Milwaukee County’s 945 #Covid_19cases and 81% of all 27 deaths in a county whose population is 26% Black,” wrote attorney Kristen Clarke of the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law on April 3rd.

An April 3rd report in ProPublica analysis stated that “early data shows African Americans have contracted and died of coronavirus at an alarming rate.”

“African Americans made up almost half of Milwaukee County’s 945 cases and 81% of its 27 deaths in a county whose population is 26% black. Milwaukee is tracking COVID-19 cases by race — one of few cities that does so.

In Michigan, where the state’s population is 14% black, African Americans made up 35% of cases and 40% of deaths as of Friday morning. Louisiana has not published case breakdowns by race either.

“COVID is just unmasking the deep

disinvestment in our communities, the historical injustices and the impact of residential segregation,” said Dr. Camera Jones, who spent 13 years at the CDC. “This is the time to name racism as the cause of all of those things. The overrepresentation of people of color … is not just a happenstance … It’s because we’re not valued.”

As public health officials watched cases rise in March misinformation has also been a factor. Rumors and conspiracy theories proliferated on social media, pushing the bogus idea that black people are immune to the COVID-19. Much of the initial focus was on international travel and closing borders and not underlying health disparities that persist in the U.S. Lauren Victoria Burke is an independent journalist for NNPA and the host of the podcast BURKEFILE. She is also a political strategist as Principal of Win Digital Media LLC. She may be contacted at LBurke007@gmail.com and on twitter at @LVBurke

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - April 15, 2020 - April 21, 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

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

NOTICIA

Contact: Rick Tousignant Phone: 860- 243-2300

One/Two Day a Week,

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)

Large CT guardrail company looking for Laborer/Driver with valid CT CDL Class A license and able to get a medical card. Must be able to pass a drug test and physical.

Compensation based on experience. Email resume to dmastracchio@atlasoutdoor.com AA/EOE M-F

242-258 Fairmont Ave 2BR Townhouse, 1.5 BA, 3BR, 1 level , 1BA

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) Invitation to Bid: 2nd Notice $30.49/hourly (CDL) Waste Treatment Pre-employment drug testing. AA/EOE. SAYEBROOKE VILLAGE Wastewater Treatment Plant Operator (Attendant I): Operates and maintains equipment

For Details go to www.bloomfieldct.gov All new apartments, new appliances, new carpet, close to I-91 & I-95 highways, near bus stop & shopping center

and processes in a municipal sewage treatment plant. Requires a H.S. diploma or GED Old Saybrook, CT plus a State of CT Dept. of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) Class I Opera(4 Buildings,tors 17 License Units) or higher certification, or a Class I Operator-in-Training certification. Must Tax Exempt & Not Prevailing Wage Projecta valid driver’s license. $ 21.79 to $ 25.76 (hourly) / $ 20.70 to possess andRate maintain

Pet under 40lb allowed. Interested parties contact Maria @ 860-985-8258

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

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., B.S. (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

Invitation to Bid: Colonial Village Suncrest Road, Scribner Ave, and West Cedar St Norwalk, CT (46 Buildings, 200 Units)

package. Apply: Department of Human Resources, Town of Wallingford, 45 South Main New Construction, Wood Framed, Housing, Selective Demolition, Site-work, CastStreet, Wallingford, CT 06492. The closing date will be that date the 50th application in-place Concrete, Asphaltform/resume Shingles, Vinyl Siding, or May 11, 2020 whichever occurs first. EOE is received, Flooring, Painting, Division 10 Specialties, Appliances, Residential Casework, Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing and Fire Protection.

Water Treatment This contract is subject to state set-aside and contract compliance requirements.

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.

Bid Extended, Due Date: 2016school diploma or G.E.D. In addition candidates must possess one of MustAugust possess5,High following experience and certification requirements: (A) Water Treatment Plant Class Anticipated Start: the August 15, 2016 Sealed bids are invited by the Housing Authority of the Town of Seymour IV Operator (WTP IV) certification with two (2) years of actual experience in a Class IV Project documents available via ftp link below: Contract Documents call for: 2 Phased Renovation of 46, 2-story wood framed bldgs. until 3:00 pm on Tuesday, August 2, 2016 at its office at 28 Smith Street, water treatment plant, or (B) Water Treatment Plant Class IV Operating-in-Training (WTP Exterior work to include: site-work, landscaping, fencing and sidewalks, new siding, roofing, windows,http://ftp.cbtghosting.com/loginok.html?username=sayebrookevillage front porches and small addition to IV OIT) certification with three (3) years of actual experience in a Class IV water treatment Seymour, CT 06483 Replacement at the louvers and vents, interior finishes, gypsum accessible units.

Interiorfor workConcrete to include:Sidewalk new kitchenRepairs cabinets,and appliances, bath renovations, plant, with the ability to obtain the WTP IV certification within twelve (12) months from board, painting, flooring, window treatments, electrical and new HVAC systems.

Smithfield Gardens Assisted Living Facility, 26 Smith Street Seymour.

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 This contract is subject to contract compliance requirements.

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 A pre-bid conference will be held at the Housing Authority 285:00pm Smith Bid Due Date: April 24,Office 2020 @ the Human Resources Department. Phone: (203)-294-2080. Fax (203)-294-2084 Email AA/EEO EMPLOYER is Tax Exempt.

State of CT Wage Rate Project.

Street Seymour, CT at 10:00 am, onProject Wednesday, July 20, 2016. wlfdhr@wallingfordct.gov . The closing date will be the date the 50th application or reProject documents available via ftp link below:

SEYMOUR HOUSING AUTHORITY

http://ftp.cbtghosting.com/loginok.html?username=colonialvillage

Bidding documents are available from the Seymour Housing Authority OfFax or Email Questions & Bids to: Estimating Department @ 203-881-8372 estimating@haynesct.com fice, 28 Smith Street, CT (203)of888-4579.

HCCSeymour, encourages the06483 participation all Veteran, S/W/MBE & Section 3 Certified Businesses Haynes Construction Company, 32 Progress Ave, Seymour, CT 06483

AA/EEO EMPLOYER The Housing Authority reserves the right to accept or reject any or all bids, to 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 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.

13

THE INNER-CITY NEWS Con’t from page 10

COVID-19

he said. “We will probably need more money and jobs as ways to build wealth.

Closing the income and wage gap and stabilizing and building Black businesses is a priority for Rep. Karen Bass.”

Rep. Beatty agreed with Mr. Morial and Mr. Busby that there’s much more that needs to be done to make sure that African Americans have a safety net during these calamitous times.

“The old adage is that when America gets a cold, African Americans get pneumonia,” she said. “What’s happening with coronavirus has exposed so many disparities. Disparities are being shown by the media. In Detroit, for example, 14 percent of the population is African American but 40 percent of those dying are African American. The increasing numbers of people who are incarcerated, homeless.

We need to look at the total picture of disparities.”

Zeville Preston, a member of New York City’s Black Business Empowerment Committee (BBE) was scathing in her criticism of the relief package.

“This bill is D.O.A. (dead on arrival).

We need something of value. Black blood and bodies built this country and as usual, once again, we find ourselves at the back of the line,” she said. “We’re 22 percent of New York City’s population but we are less than two percent of business and get less than two percent of the contracts, numbers which have declined over a fiveyear period. Black businesses dying on the vine and the governor cares not at all.”

“This is to put CBC on notice. They want people to think they did something, and they did nothing.”

A March 20, 2020 letter sent to the CBC points to 94 proposals to help African Americans that the body sent to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, with only three speaking directly to Black people and only money allocated to Historically Black Universities and Minority Serving Institutions has a dollar amount attached to it: $450 billion. In their letter, the BBE expresses frustration and dismay: “The CBC’s 94 initiatives totaling $459 million basically leaves the Black business community with nothing, especially in New York state where all other ethnic groups and White-women’s participation far exceeds Black participation,” it states.

“BBE is most disappointed that the CBC saw fit to argue the case for minorities, women and small businesses while neglecting to propose funding specifically for Black businesses. Harlem’s BBE finds this unacceptable!”

Ms. Preston said BBE is reaching out across American cities to see if business owners and others in the Black community are having the same issues.

“We’re figuring strategically to speak in one voice,” she said.

April 15, 2020 - April 21, 2020

Tyler Perry Pays Grocery Bills For Senior Citizens at More Than 70 Supermarkets

BlackNews.com Atlanta, GA — Filmmaker, actor, and playwright Tyler Perry is once again making headlines for helping those who are largely affected by the coronavirus pandemic. Under the name “Atlanta Angel,” he reportedly paid for the groceries of all elderly shoppers at over 70 supermarkets in Atlanta and New Orleans.

The 50-year old entertainment tycoon, who grew up in New Orleans and now currently lives in Atlanta, purchased the groceries for seniors at 44 Kroger stores in Atlanta and 29 Winn-Dixie stores in New Orleans. The receipts for those groceries showed that it was paid for by “Atlanta Angel.”

The elderly shoppers who benefitted from Perry’s generosity are those who were shopping during the reserved hour for them. Grocery stores have been advised to block off the first one or two hours of their business day so the elderly and immunocompromised people can shop with lesser risk to contract the

coronavirus.

Meanwhile, Kroger’s Atlanta division expressed their gratitude to Perry. “We would like to join our customers in thanking Mr. Perry for his kindness and generosity during this unprecedented pandemic. It was truly a pleasure to see our customers fill with joy and gratitude as the news spread throughout 44 stores across Metro Atlanta,” its manager of corporate affairs Felix Turner said in a statement.

Winn-Dixie also thanked Perry for “paying it forward by purchasing groceries for elderly and high-risk [WinnDixie] customers shopping at Louisiana stores this morning. Winn-Dixie applauds your love for community and sincere generosity,” the company said in a tweet.

It was not the first time Perry discreetly helped other people during the coronavirus pandemic. Last week, Perry gave a $500 tip to each of the 42 workers who were laid off at his favorite restaurant – a grand total of $21,000.

Con’t from page 10

Putting Americans at Risk

increasing dire forecasts among themselves, with one Veterans Affairs medical adviser warning, ‘We are flying blind,’ according to the American Oversight Committee.”

There are 8 states that have not issued a shelter-in-place order, and the blame must be placed solely on the leadership of the country. With no coordinated national plan, the infection curve is not improving, and President Trump’s handling of the crisis is terrible. On March 24th, Navigator Research, a polling company found that 52% of Americans approved of the president’s handling of the pandemic. But in the recent weeks, things are going in the other direction.

“The latest polling shows that a growing number of Americans feel that Trump downplayed the crisis, was unprepared, and failed to respond quickly. In the latest poll out Saturday, 59% of respondents said they had serious concerns that Trump

failed to take decisive action in the early stages of the outbreak,” says Pema Levy.

The president’s pandemic advising team has predicted that the next two weeks will be a tsunami of deaths with the coronavirus. The front lines of workers are tired, and there appears to be no slowing down of the invisible enemy – the virus.

Leadership is what is missing in America, and the other 42 governors must convince the 8 governors to shut down their state to flatten the curve. The American prisons will be the next hot spot where there will be a major outbreak of the virus.

Social distancing is impossible in prisons and there is a need for a plan.

Call your governor and force them to shut down your state, if it is still open.

Social distancing measures are given to restrict when and where people can gather to stop the spread of the virus. Let’s shut America down, and stop the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.

14

COVID-19: Working Remotely?

How Parents are Balancing Home School, Work, and Sanity

By Elizabeth Lampkin, Contributing Writer Working from home and homeschooling is part of the new normal. Parents have a chance to see how their kids work and children have the opportunity to see what their parents do on a daily basis.

For some, this is an excellent way for children and adults to bond on a different level. For others, many are struggling to find balance with adjusting to having their children home while fulfilling work requirements.

Some parents establish daily routines for themselves and their kids that include allowing children to sleep in and ensuring they are doing schoolwork while parents complete early morning work tasks.

Others allow their children more screen time (educational and non-educational) to prevent boredom and select different subjects for their child to work on every day. A few parents provided some great tips on how to balance work, home, and school while staying sane.

One mom, a lawyer with a three-yearold son, stated that she gets up at 3:00 am to get work done before her son wakes up. She said her biggest adjustment was getting used to having him home instead of at daycare. The best thing about working from home for her has been saving money on lunch, no morning commute and spending more time with family. Her advice for parents during this time, “Be kind to yourself. You’re doing the best you can.”

An elementary school Librarian with daughters, aged six and eleven, said that she doesn’t have a lot of work to do from home, so she can get things done before her girls wake up. The hardest part of this is being unable to take her kids places after they have worked so hard, but the best part is spending more time with them. Her advice, “Switch up your kids weekend days. For example, Monday’s and Tuesday’s are no school workdays.

Saturday and Sunday, they can work on schoolwork while you’re off.”

In an interview with a father of two who is a Web and Media Designer, he recommended that parents embrace this time together. He suggests that they build a

culture where their kids are welcomed on your calls, but let them know that you need time to work. He also urges spouses to support each other, so all responsibilities are not in one person’s hands. Many parents of teenagers suggested that you continue to encourage your child in any way you can to work through to the end because although they are not in the building, work still must be done.

Helpful Tips from Parents Here are a few practical tips parents found helpful for balancing their home workload and maintain a sense of sanity.

1. Schedule time daily for prayer and meditation to center yourself. The best time for this would be in the morning before the kids get out of bed.

2. Take lunch breaks together with your kids away from all screens. Use this time to talk about how your day is going and make fun plans for later on.

3. Enjoy getting to know your kiddos more. Take time to learn who your kids are during this stage in their life. Begin or complete a journal with them and see what their thoughts are about this time.

You would be surprised to see what their thoughts are.

4. Be flexible and creative with your routines. It is okay to deviate from your schedule as long as you have achieved something positive for the day that supports everyone’s overall health.

5. Establish your self-care routine. No matter what you decide to do, be sure it is centered around your needs within your home.

As everyone continues to adjust to this new normal, let us be sure to see the good in what is going on. Create a space of peace and productivity at home by taking small steps and understanding what works best for you and your family. Grasp a better understanding of the way your kids learn, the way you work, and how combining the two can benefit everyone.

The post COVID-19: Working Remotely? How Parents are Balancing Home School, Work, and Sanity. appeared first on Chicago Defender.

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - April 15, 2020 - April 21, 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 15, 2020 - April 21, 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

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