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A link to the past African Link Initiative sets out to help teens connect with their heritage and culture BY JOE EMANSKI
Tammy Leigh, assistant director, Emergency Department and Critical Care (right) administers a second dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to Victoria Bradeis, respiratory therapist at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Hamilton on Jan. 11.
Where’s the vaccine? BY BILL SANSERVINO
While the COVID-19 pandemic continued to rage throughout the United States during the month of January, the government struggled to provide enough doses to those looking to be protected from the deadly virus. Across the country, states have struggled to meet demand, and the doses shipped have been significantly outweighed by the number of people looking to be vaccinated.
When appointments do open up at vaccination sites, available slots are often booked up within hours or less. People have been left confused and frustrated—wondering how, when and where they will get inoculated. In New Jersey, the vaccine was first made available to healthcare workers, first responders and staff and residents of long-term care facilities starting in mid-December. Then at the beginning of January, the Trump Adminis-
tration announced that it was releasing the stockpile of vaccines it was holding to ensure people would be able to get the required second dose. A few days later, on Jan. 14, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy opened up vaccinations to people ages 65 and older, and those with high-risk medical conditions. It was subsequently revealed there was no stockpile of vaccines, and that the second doses had already been released at the end of See VACCINE, Page 6
A number of area organizations, including the Boys and Girls Clubs of Mercer County, have been working together to bring to life the African Link Initiative, or ALI — a program designed to help AfricanAmerican teens transform the way they see themselves and the world. Seven teenagers, hailing from Plainsboor, Hamilton, East Windsor, Lawrence, and Trenton embarked on ALI’s inaugural program in January. Over the first five months of the year, the participants will learn about African and African-American history and African-American identity, and take DNA tests to provide crucial information about their family history, both before and after their ancestors first reached this continent. The program is set to culminate in a two-week trip to Ghana, in West Africa. Shazel Muhammad-Neain is the founder of the African Link Initiative. The South Jersey resident is also the founder of Eunoia Global, a leadership training and business coaching firm, and has been involved with the Boys and Girls Club of Mercer County since 2018. Muhammad-Neain is also a board member of Global Connections Foundation NJ Corp, the Pennington-based nonprofit founded by educa-
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tor David Angwenyi, which for a number of years has been sponsoring educational trips linking American students to counterparts in Kenya. Global Connections is now also a partner in ALI. Muhammad-Neain says the first ALI participants have been nominated by school principals and assistant principals “who see their innate potential yet recognize the lack of opportunities and sense of belonging these youth experience—solely due to the color of their skin.” Jermaine Blount, Jr. is one student who is taking part in the program. Blount, a junior at West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North, learned about ALI from his father, Jermaine, Sr., an assistant principal in the East Windsor Regional School District. Mom Jenine, a school counselor in Robbinsville, says Jermaine Jr. was very excited when she and Jermaine Sr. told him about ALI. “This is something we have thought about before, but this is the first opportunity that’s been presented that he would be able to partake in,” she says. “He’s never been to Africa, we’ve never been to Africa, so we definitely wanted to offer him this type of opportunity, to go through this journey with other students with similar backgrounds, experiences and culture.” The Blounts’ daughter, Jania, is a freshman at Rutgers University, studying animal science. Jenine says Jania “absolutely wishes she could be a part of [ALI]. We wish something like this would have See ALI, Page 5