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Michigan Chronicle
Vol. 84 – No. 38 | May 26 - June 1, 2021
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COMMENTARY
The American Dream Belongs To Working Americans By Ray Curry Secretary-Treasurer, UAW
I grew up in a world that held the promise of a bright future for those who were willing to work hard. An America that said you can do better than your parents. A promise that meant job security with decent wages, health care, and benefits; a promise that meant training and education and a path to advancement for so many; a promise that made owning a home and raising a family possible; a promise that guaranteed a middle-class life and the ability to retire one day after a job well done. It was the promise that gave rise to the American Dream and one that has shaped American values and vibrancy for generations. Where is that promise today? Sadly, it is now a broken promise. Consider how our landscape has changed over the last 40 years as corporate friendly politicians have increasingly moved to undermine our working class, as we have continued to put corporate greed ahead of the people whose work makes corporate profits possible.
Ray Curry
A harsh reality Consider how the terrain has toughened. Consider the damage done as we have increasingly waged war on our nation’s unions and the voice for labor they provide. Here are just a few harsh realities: Today, our country ranks at the bottom of industrialized countries relative to employee benefits like healthcare, parental leave, paid vacation and sick days, unemployment and retirement security. According to the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR), the U.S. is the only advanced country where workers are not guaranteed vacation time. In contrast, Europeans get at least 20 days of legally mandated vacation days, and some countries require at least 30. We are the only industrialized nation that does not offer universal healthcare for its citizens. This is despite the fact that we spend more on healthcare than other high-income countries relative to the size of our economy. And, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), less than 22 percent of Americans have employer-paid pensions, and only half participate in a retirement savings plan. Rather than the leader — as we once were — we are more in line with the Czech Republic, Latvia, South Korea and Mexico as the least generous countries for workers. For reference, Denmark, the Netherlands, Finland, Sweden and Switzerland are the top nations for worker benefits. So, how did we get here? Union membership has been falling for decades. This lessening of worker representation has resulted in the erosion of solid employee benefits and good wages, a loss of secure, stable jobs, and diminished worker rights. Right-to-Work
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AMERICANS page A2
WHAT’S INSIDE
One Year Later The Evolution of a Momentous Injustice
By Donald James Special to the Chronicle
May 25, 2020, is a day that millions of Americans and other global citizens who oppose injustices rooted in racism must remember. It is the day that George Floyd, an unarmed Black man in police custody, was murdered by a White police officer in Minneapolis, Minn., while three other officers with limited roles failed to intervene. The deadly encounter unfolded when officers were dispatched to a local food market, where Floyd, 46, allegedly passed a counterfeit $20 bill to the store’s cashier. What soon transpired landed Floyd in handcuffs, lying face down in the street with then-police officer Derek Chauvin’s left knee positioned on the Black man’s neck for over nine minutes. Although Floyd continuously pleaded for his life, uttering, “Please, I can’t breathe,” Chauvin refused to remove his knee, even after Floyd stopped breathing. A video of Floyd’s murder was caught on a cellphone camera, captured by a Black teenager. She loaded the video to Facebook, and it went viral, horrifying millions of people across America and beyond. The vivid sight of Floyd suffering a slow death
was heart-wrenching to watch, even though police brutality of Black men, women, and teens wasn’t new. In the last decade alone, there have been hundreds of deadly encounters between White law enforcement officers and unarmed Black people. Many of their fates had also been captured by cellphone video and went viral, much like Floyd’s. The names of the victims are too many to list, but include Eric Garner, Tamir Rice, Sandra Bland, Trayvon Martin, Ahmaud Arbery, Mike Brown, Freddie Gray, Philando Castile, Breonna Taylor, and the list goes on and on. However, soon after the world saw the video of Floyd’s murder shown repeatedly via social media platforms and national and world media outlets, it was apparent the pursuit of justice, this time, would take a different pathway. The day after Floyd’s murder, famed civil rights attorney Ben Crump announced that he would represent the Floyd family and promised “justice” for George Floyd. The same day, the four police officers connected to Floyd’s death were fired. And massive protests, organized principally by Black Lives Matter (BLM), started in Minneapolis but spread quickly to other American cities – large and
By Sherri Kolade
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The huge protests didn’t stop at the United States’ borders, as people in more than 60 countries took to the streets to voice outrage over racism and the deadly police actions that took Floyd’s life. “From a Canadian perspective, the many protests here in Canada over George Floyd’s death were clearly racially, culturally, and ethnically diverse as we have ever seen,” said Phil Vassell, a Jamaican-born African-Canadian, who has lived in Toronto for 48 years and is the former publisher of “Word,” Toronto’s historic Black, urban, and cultural magazine. “We saw and felt protests in parts of Canada where hardly any Black people live.” Vassell, who produces the IRIE Music Festival in Greater Toronto told this writer that “The conversation is no longer about individual forms of racism in Canada, but structurally how we as a country, we as a providence, and we in cities, move forward to change and give ourselves greater equity as BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) communities,” said Vassell. “Racism on an individual level will probably never go away, but if we
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YEAR LATER page A2
While 11 percent of respondents to a CDC survey had seriously considered suicide, the same figure jumps to 25 percent for people aged 18 to 24. According to CDC data for Michigan: ■ Suicide is the first leading cause of death for ages 10-14.
Today, though, it’s a different story. Shakeena Melbourne, 33, of Melbourne, is now a confident, licensed attorney at Black-women-owned virtual law firm, Upton Law, PLLC. She also helps other young people and individuals who suffer from anxiety (and other issues brought on by the pandemic) in addition to legal troubles.
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Protect their Minds: Experts Warn of COVID-Related Mental Health Troubles in Youth She was the little girl with the big name -- a first-generation Jamaican, raised in California who was carrying a heavy secret load: nearly crippling anxiety.
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■ Suicide is the first leading cause of death for ages 12-18. ■ Suicide is the second leading cause of death for ages 18-22. What are the warning signs linked to suicide?
Today’s youth are in trouble according to national reports. They are facing high rates of anxiety, depression and suicidal thoughts.
Dr. Shanti Mitchell, a Henry Ford Psychiatrist. Photo provided by Henry Ford
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a troubling trend is emerging among today’s youth since the lockdowns took place last year. Between last March and June, suicide risk rose sharply for Americans across the board. The rise in suicide cases, though, was most
According to a report from the CDC, from March to October of 2020 mental health-related emergency room visits increased 24 percent for children aged 5 to 11 and 31 percent for children 12 to 17 when compared to the same time in 2019.
pronounced among the nation’s youth.
Suicide threats Previous suicide attempts Depression Making final arrangements Out of character behavior Feeling like a burden or trapped/hopeless Inward rage/anger Increased anxiety Though Melbourne (growing up in the 1990s and early 2000s) was anx-
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HEALTH page A2