Black Lives Still Matter

BY FATIMA MARWA A. FADZLULKARIM

- Jonijah Harrison

#BlackLivesMatter has been alive in concrete actions and in the social media stage for a while now. For what it is known, this movement is initiated in condemnation of the injustice towards the African American community. It is dedicated to fighting racism and violence, especially in the form of police brutality.

The BLM protests have cooled down after Joe Biden, who has shown support for the movement, has won the presidency against Trump with Kamala Harris as his vice president in hopes that there is a more comprehensive response to the matter. But the calm was not long after a recent shooting took the life of another innocent Black American teenager named Casey Goodson on December 4.

Goodson was shot at the back after deputy officer Jason Meade confronted him for having a gun in possession. However, according to the Columbus Division of Police, Goodson was an Ohio concealed carry permit holder and was legally armed at the time of shooting. Peter Tobin, US Marshal for the Southern District of Ohio, has reported that a fugitive task force was wrapping up an unrelated investigation when the deputy officer saw a man with a gun. Tobin said that during the confrontation the man “allegedly started to pull a gun and the officer fired.” Further information is yet to be released by the authorities in hopes that it might distinguish whether the shooting was justifiable. Meade’s action prior to the shooting has also not yet been accounted for.

This has stirred up the BLM activists over again as police brutality is still happening no matter the effort of the protests going on for years. This movement finds its roots way back to 2013 when George Zimmerman was acquitted for his fatal murder of an unarmed Black teenager. It was extended in 2014 when two different cases of killings of unarmed Black Americans by the police. This year in May, the BLM was renewed after the killing of George Floyd by a white police officer by kneeling on Floyd’s neck for several minutes, choking him to death. Several cases have followed after that, and other unheard cases were taken into the spotlight. This has emphasized the police brutality and the higher tendency of Black Americans to be killed in comparison to the White Americans. BLM activists protested the deaths of these people at the hands of police or while in police custody also including in the movement several other Black people, including Sandra Bland, Philando Castile, Freddie Gray, Laquan McDonald, Tamir Rice, Walter Scott, Alton Sterling, and Breonna Taylor. he large-scale movement in the United States and around the globe seek to draw attention to the unfair treatment induced by racial discrimination on African Americans through such means as political and nonviolent protests. In hopes to fight police brutality, it has called for better thorough police qualifications, training and greater accountability for police misconduct. The activists also called for the decrease of police department budgets and rather investing the funds on community services. This movement has brought justice in making the murderers of George Floyd liable and other cases similar to this.

Although The BLM has won several cases and has been celebrating the Black American community giving it the attention it deserves, there is an undeniable fact that police brutality is still existing and the injustice towards the blacks is still on the run. The movement deserves consistent attention until Floyd and Goodson’s cases are not to be repeated ever again. Six months after #BlackLivesMatter rampaged the internet, people are now keeping the oath and telling the world that it will go on and stay adamant because #BlackLivesStillMatter.

BY MYRON LARRACOCHEA

BIDEN FOR US PRESIDENT. Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden stands on stage after Democratic vice presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., spoke during the third day of the Democratic National Convention, Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2020, at the Chase Center in Wilmington, Del.

Democratic party’s presidential candidate Joe Biden has won the United States Election 2020 securing a total of 306 electoral votes against incumbent and Republican candidate Donald Trump with 232 electoral votes.

Biden, aged 77, is projected to become the 46th President of the United States of America. With Biden’s win, Sen. Kamala Harris of California also becomes the first woman, first woman of color and first South Asian American elected to the vice presidency.

The 2020 US election was nominally held last November 3, 2020.

Biden was declared the winner on November 7, 2020 after finally crossing the 270vote threshold needed after he officially won the state of Pennsylvania. Following Biden’s win, Trump becomes the first incumbent not to win a second term since George H.W. Bush in 1992.

President-elect Biden also won in the Popular vote count with 81,288,495 votes against Donald Trump with 74,223,755 votes according to Associated Press.

The winner of the election in America is determined through a system called electoral college wherein each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia are given number of electoral college votes. The most populous states consist of more electoral college votes compared to smaller states. Thus, there is a total of 538 electoral college votes and a candidate needs to obtain 270 votes (50% + 1) in order to win the election. California, with 55 electoral votes tops the list of states with most electoral votes, followed by Texas with 38 votes, while both Florida and New York with 29 votes.

“It’s time to put the anger and the harsh rhetoric behind us and come together as a nation.” President-elect Joe Biden said in his brief statement at the Chase Center in Wilmington, Delaware shortly after US networks declared him winner on November 7.

BY AUNGUS T. ALPASAIN

Despite the on-going cases of COVID-19 in the country, the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) is now coordinating with colleges for a possible resumption of face-toface learning by January 2021 specially for skill-based courses.

CHED Chairman J. Prospero De Vera III clarified that the limited in-campus learning if will be allowed next year, is optional for higher education institutions (HEIs). However, those that want to shift back to physical learning will be allowed as long as the institution met the guidelines provided by authorities.

Health-related programs such as Medicine, Nursing, and Physical Therapy will be prioritized. According to De Vera, these are courses that would require students an actual experience to develop essential skills in their field.

CHED also works with local government units (LGUs) to assure that universities that are planning to conduct limited face-to-face learning next year adhere to the health and safety guidelines of CHED and InterAgency Task Force (IATF) for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases.

While the final decision for the resumption of incampus learning is yet to be announced, President Rodrigo Duterte clarified that he will only allow face-to-face classes if there is already a vaccine available against COVID-19.