THE SHIFT Black businesses are responding to the pandemic, grants are available, and you can help.
SPORTS
NEWS
WILL FULLER
JACOB BLAKE
Focused on staying healthy, this Texan receiver could be the X-Factor this season.
Volume 89, issue 44 August 27, 2020
Circumstances surrounding the shooting of the 29-year old shot in the back are still unfolding.
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DN On the web
FIT & FINE Emmanuel Gatling Age: 31 Occupation: Youth sports specific trainer/Chemical engineer Education: Mississippi State University Major: Chemical Engineering Motto: “Uncover what lies within.”
I LOVE… Helping the next generation reach their full potential.
Volunteers lined up to begin taking hundreds of free COVID-19 tests at a pop-up site in Decatur, Ga. Curtis Compton/AP
Message from the Associate Editor per, a physician, social epidemiologist and professor It’s hard to believe that only six months ago, at Johns Hopkins University Schools of Medicine. officials reported what was initially thought to be Cooper, with input from colleagues, suggests shortthe nation’s earliest death from COVID-19. Today, term and long-term strategies to “ensure that disnearly 180,000 Americans have died from the viadvantaged populations don’t continue to bear the rus and there are fears that the official U.S. death greatest burden of the pandemic.” They include: toll could reach 200,000 by Labor Day. • Track and monitor data on racial disparities in I use the word “official” because some experts the impact of COVID-19. Marilyn Marshall • Provide better access to testing and medical believe that the actual death toll is substantially care. higher. • Communicate in a trustworthy and respectful manner While the country debates mask mandates, school reopenings and bar closings, African Americans are with communities of color. • Encourage employers to provide protective equipment still twice as likely to die from the virus as whites. We already know that the reasons behind the racial disparity and improve working conditions for essential and frontline can be found in our social, economic and health institutions. workers. We already know that people of color are more likely to have • Address the immediate risks people of color face with rechronic health conditions, work in industries that expose them spect to stable housing, food security, digital access for eduto the virus, struggle with poverty and live in crowded condi- cation and health care. • Develop communities of opportunity to minimize the adtions, all of which contribute to incidences of COVID-19. What we don’t know is America’s plan to fix the problem. verse effects of structural racism. That’s because apparently, there isn’t one, and we won’t get • Ensure access to high-quality care for all in the health care system. the pandemic under control until there’s a national plan. In its recently released State of Black America report, • Develop new research to identify the best approaches to “Unmasked,” the National Urban League addressed the “face build political will and support to address social inequities of racism” revealed by the pandemic. NUL President & CEO in health. There are no easy answers to combating COVID-19, but Marc Morial listed lessons learned from the pandemic, indevising a plan is a good place to start. cluding the lack of a plan. “Absent leadership on the federal level, and in some cases on the state level, it has been left to the nation’s mayors to de- ON THE WEB velop and enforce policies aimed at bringing the pandemic • The Daily Dozen delivers the latest news FREE to your under control and keeping businesses and workers afloat in computer or cell phone. • Black entrepreneurs are in the spotlight in the Defender’s the meantime…,” Morial said. Business section. • Tyler Perry will be a celebrity to watch during the Emmy STRATEGIES NEEDED State of Black America contributors include Dr. Lisa Coo- Awards in September. NO PLAN, NO CONTROL
@coredevsports Read more on Friday about Emmanuel at defendernetwork.com If you are Fit & Fine email: fitnfine@defendernetwork.com
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DN News MISSOURI CITY FAMILY FIGHTS BACK Defender News Service
For the past 43 years, Harold and Pat Odom have lived in the Quail Valley neighborhood of Missouri City. Among the first Black residents, they’ve worked tirelessly to be good stewards of the community. That’s why they were shocked at how they were recently targeted for posting Black Lives Matters signs in their front yard. Odom was part of a neighborhood group online, where residents began complaining about the number of Black Lives Matter signs posted throughout the neighborhood. Then, someone posted Odom’s address. “The next day, my wife and I awakened to find our property was defaced, our Black Lives Matter sign was stolen and our American flags were strewn about the yard. My 77-year-old wife heard someone in our yard
Harold and Pat Odom
last night and we now question the safety in our home,” Odom said. “In the group, there were people talking about the signs
were connected to Antifa and making threats. I was fearful, I didn’t want people driving by and throwing rocks at my house. But you get to thinking
about the things we’ve had to go through, the struggles, the people who went before us and the people who have lost their lives to show we matter….I knew we had to do something.” Odom’s family, along with residents from the Houston suburb, went into action, organizing a peaceful protest in support. That protest was tainted by neighborhood rumors that there would be armed demonstrators, but the community still came together. “I don’t know what course this is going to take. We’ve filed complaints with the Missouri City Police Department and the FBI. My feeling is the better course is to do what we’re doing, gather, protest, let them know we’re not going to be silent. Oh, and put our Black Lives Matter signs up in our yard and dare them to take them down,” he added.
Community seeks answers in toddler’s disappearance Defender News Service
Anger is continuing to boil after a toddler’s body was pulled from Brays Bayou. Authorities believe it is two-year-old Maliyah Bass, who went missing from the playground of her Southwest Houston apartment complex and now Quanell X, who met with the family says he, too, has more questions than answers. “Who kidnapped the child? Was she ever kidnapped? We don’t know yet but it doesn’t pass the smell test,” Quanell X said. “No responsible parent would leave their child on the playground like that for 5 minutes knowing it’s a high crime area and shut the door behind them.” Quanell X said he was concerned with the living conditions he saw inside. He said it was very rough conditions for a child. He said while he won’t represent the family, he plans to get to the truth. In 2019, Quanell X helped to bring 4-year-old Maleah Davis’ body from Arkansas back to Houston. Sahara Ervin, Maliyah’s mother, and her boyfriend Travion Thompson said they left Maliyah to play on the playground while they were inside their apartment making
Healing emotional wounds after disaster Defender News Service
Disasters are stressful: One recent survey found that 50% of Houston-area residents have faced powerful or severe emotional distress since Hurricane Harvey deluged the city in 2017. Our warming world keeps strengthening hurricanes and floods, among other calamities, and now we’ve got COVID-19. What can be done about this trauma? The Center for Public Integrity, Columbia Journalism Investigations and their partners in newsrooms around the country have been reporting on this for months. “We’ve learned a lot by asking experts: people who’ve lived through disasters and the professionals who study this or provide hands-on help. More than 230 shared their experiences in our detailed survey, and we interviewed dozens of additional people,” said Jamie Smith Hopkins with the Center for Public Integrity and Columbia Journalism Investigations, who authored the report with Dean Russell. SOME TAKEAWAYS: Be aware. Keep an eye out for symptoms, not just obvious ones like constant worrying or feeling short-tempered, but also trouble sleeping (or oversleeping), overeating (or lack of appetite) and heavy drinking. Seek support. Whether you get professional help or not, remember that your community can be a powerful source of emotional assistance. Family, friends, your pastor or other religious leaders, neighbors, co-workers — support can come from a variety of places. Offer help. Some disaster survivors found solace as they assisted others, one way to get some control back in a situation primed to make people feel powerless.
Mailyah Bass
breakfast. They told police Maliyah was gone when they returned. A child’s body was found by a jogger 24 hours later in Brays Bayou in southeast Houston. The Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences said they are still working to positively identify the child’s body,
though police say it’s a high probability it is Maliyah’s body. Investigators and Texas Equusearch began searching 24 miles of the bayou by land, kayak and ATV in their search for evidence. Detectives said they have no leads at this point in their investigation.
Take action. Identifying a problem that caused or worsened the disaster’s impacts — and then pressing for fixes — is a key way some survivors bolster their wellbeing. Read more at www.DefenderNetwork.com.
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DN News Recent Louisiana shooting prompts investigation Defender News Service
Jacob Blake with his children. Courtesy of the Blake Family
National Guard called after police shoot Black man
Associated Press
Wisconsin’s governor summoned the National Guard for fear of another round of violent protests after the police shooting of a Black man under murky circumstances turned Kenosha into the nation’s latest flashpoint city in a summer of racial unrest. Democratic Gov. Tony Evers said 125 members of the National Guard came to Kenosha with responsibility for “guarding infrastructure and making sure our firefighters and others involved are protected.” County authorities also announced an 8 p.m. curfew. The move came after protesters set cars on fire, smashed windows and clashed with officers in riot gear over the wounding of 29-year-old Jacob Blake, who was hospitalized in serious condition. In a widely seen cellphone video made by an onlooker, he was shot, apparently in the back, as he leaned into his SUV while his three children sat in the vehicle.
Tensions flared anew after a news conference with Kenosha Mayor John Antarmian, originally to be held in a park, was moved inside the city’s public safety building. Hundreds of protesters rushed to the building and a door was snapped off its hinges before police in riot gear pepper-sprayed the crowd. Police in the former auto manufacturing center of 100,000 people midway between Milwaukee and Chicago said they were responding to a call about a domestic dispute. They did not say whether Blake was armed or why police opened fire, they released no details on the domestic dispute, and did not immediately disclose the race of the three officers at the scene. The man who claimed to have made the video, 22-year-old Raysean White, said that he saw Blake scuffling with three officers and heard them yell, “Drop the knife! Drop the knife!” before the gunfire erupted. He said he didn’t see a knife in Blake’s hands.
The governor said that he has seen no information to suggest Blake had a knife or other weapon, but that the case is still being investigated by the state Justice Department. The officers were placed on administrative leave, standard practice in a shooting by police. Evers was quick to condemn the bloodshed, saying that while not all details were known, “what we know for certain is that he is not the first Black man or person to have been shot or injured or mercilessly killed at the hands of individuals in law enforcement in our state or our country.” Blake’s partner, Laquisha Booker, told NBC’s Milwaukee affiliate, WTMJ-TV, that the couple’s three children were in the back seat of the SUV when police shot him. “That man just literally grabbed him by his shirt and looked the other way and was just shooting him. With the kids in the back screaming. Screaming,” Booker said.
Publisher | CEO Sonceria Messiah-Jiles
VOLUME 89 - NUMBER 44 - AUGUST 27, 2020 The Defender newspaper is published by the Houston Defender Newspaper Inc. and audited by Alliance for Audited Media (AAM). Only digital subscriptions are available at: www.defendernetwork.com/subscribe No paper subscriptions available. All materials covered by 2020 copyright. No materials herein may be reproduced without the written permission of the Publisher. 713-663-6996 | P.O. Box 8005, Houston, Tx 77288
Ad/Client Relations Selma Dodson Tyler Strategic Alllance Clyde Jiles Engagement Manager Margo Williams Hubbard
Managing Editor ReShonda Tate Billingsley Creative Director Michael Grant Associate Editor Marilyn Marshall
The fatal shooting of a 31-year-old Black man by police in Lafayette, La., on Aug. 18 has sparked a state probe. The incident in Lafayette, a city about 56 miles west of Baton Rouge, occurred after police responded to a report of a disturbance at around 8 p.m. “involving a person armed with a knife at a convenience store,” the state police investigative bureau said in the release. Upon arrival, ofTrayford ficers encountered Pellerin Trayford Pellerin in the parking lot of the convenience store. As officers “attempted to apprehend Pellerin, he fled the scene and a foot pursuit ensued,” the release said. “Officers deployed Tasers as they pursued Pellerin, but they were ineffective.” Pellerin tried to enter inside another convenience store at a gas station while “still armed with a knife,” the release said. “Officers discharged their weapons and he was struck by gunfire.” Pellerin was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead. Part of the police pursuit and the shooting were caught on video by a woman who witnessed the incident while inside a car near the gas station. The video, which was posted on social media, shows a Black man wearing a white T-shirt with long pants being pursued by police. “We gotta witness this,” the woman recording the video is heard saying to another person with her in the car. “That man’s got a knife. They’re going to shoot him,” the woman says as she continues filming. “They’re tasing him,” the woman says as at least four officers are seen surrounding the man in front of the gas station’s convenience store. “He’s not even doing nothing,” Shortly afterward, a flurry of gunshots can be heard. People Editor Aswad Walker Sports Terrance Harris Jodie B. Jiles Photographers Ray Carrington III Jimmie Aggison
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DN InFocus FOCUS SOCIAL
THE SHIFT
BY THE NUMBERS Business Closures
Black businesses are responding to the pandemic
thors of the report wrote. Only 4.3% of America’s 22.2 million he COVID-19 economic shutbusiness owners are Black, according to down has hurt Black businesses a February report by the Brookings Instithe most, with Black owners seetute. And Black-owned businesses launch ing a 41% decline from February to April, with about “a third less capital than their a new study from the National Bureau of white peers and have diffi culties raising Economic Research shows. The pandemic has hit entrepreneurs private investments from mainstream inacross the board, closing some 3.3 million vestment systems,” reported Brookings. small businesses (at least temporarily), but While 7% of white business owners get a the sidelining of 440,000 African Ameri- loan in their first year of business, only 1% cans was especially severe. In Houston, of Black business owners do so. Compared to other small business ownhome to thousands of Black-owned busiers, African Americans generally have to nesses, the pain of closing them is monuface more daunting challenges such as mental. smaller cash reserves to draw from, “Prior to the pandemic, we difficulty in securing bank loans were doing very well,” said Boand other financing and being nita Billings, who owns B’s sole proprietors or “mom and Wine Bar in Missouri City. pop” establishments that are “We thought we could survive ineligible for most loans. after the first bar closures. We Experts say 35% of small got a little bit of PPE money, but businesses couldn’t sustain a five months later, that’s gone. Bonita Billings three-month shutdown, while They offered me a loan, but I 70% wouldn’t survive past six didn’t get into this business with a loan, months. and I didn’t want to have to stay in busiBlack entrepreneurs, especially women, ness with a loan.” have been starting businesses at a higher Billings found a way to sustain her busirate than the rest of the population in reness, after a call from the owner of Sugar’s cent years. But Black-owned businesses Cajun Cuisine, a local restaurant. seem to be struggling in part because they “Much credit to the owner of Sugar’s entered the lockdown in less secure shape who said both of us don’t need to be on than many other companies. this sinking ship. Let’s join forces where people can get the best of both worlds,’ Coming Together Billings said. Chris Williams, the executive chef at She moved her business to the restauLucille’s in Houston’s Museum District, rant and B’s Wine Bar at Sugar’s was born. has spent a large portion of the pandemic “My business was to sit, drink and sogiving back to the community. In June, he cialize. We’re still able to do that now, in a partnered with Jose Andres’ World Censocially distant and safe manner,” she said. tral Kitchen to provide 10,000 meals to underprivileged communities in Houston. Disparaging Numbers An analysis from the Federal Reserve of Prior to that, Williams and Lucille’s delivNew York shows that many Black-owned ered meals to hospital workers fighting the businesses were already in a tough finan- pandemic. Now, Williams is trying to take care of cial spot when the crisis hit, and were less equipped to outlast the prolonged busi- other individuals in the hospitality indusness closures seen in areas with high in- try. Lucille’s now hosts a different local bar fection rates, possibly because they were on its patio each Thursday night from 6 to in poorer financial shape, less prepared to 8 p.m. The featured bar of the evening will be able to keep all of its sales and tips. tap federal aid and faced longer closures. “We saw an opportunity,” said Williams. “COVID-19 has exacerbated these issues and businesses in the hardest-hit “Everybody in the service industry is gocommunities have witnessed huge dispar- ing through this. We had the space, we ities in access to federal relief funds and a had the idea, and we thought it would be higher rate of business closures,” the au- great.”
ReShonda Tate Billingsley
T
it comes to them handling money, those Many Americans have been promoting services have not been normalized in the “Buy Black” programs this summer to help larger culture. But we are capable of hansave Black-owned businesses struggling to dling all that, too.” stay afloat as the pandemic and related That’s exactly what local social media government shutdowns rage on across the influencer Crystal Washington tried to do country. with a recent effort. Grassroots efforts to boost the econom“While I already spend a large amount ic fortunes of Black and minority com- of money with Black-owned businessmunities in the wake of the police killing es every month [even post-COVID-19], of George Floyd meeting with uneven it recently hit me that over 90% of those results. In Houston, customer-facing endollars are with service-based businesses. terprises such as restaurants and retailers, What about all of the products I buy reguare enjoying the bump, while less visible larly?” she said. accounting, legal, consulting and other So Washington set out to replace as services languish. many products as she could, starting with Officials at Windsor Village United Methodist Church decided to come to- personal grooming/toiletries. “I’ve found substitutions for everything gether to help local restaurants by using but dental floss and a special medicated its now-empty parking lot for a socialwash. I should receive my order of cleanly-distanced food truck park. A variety of ing supplies shortly as I was able to replace Houston’s most popular food trucks conmost household cleaning products. I vene every weekend. bought a six-month supply of launThe state of Black businesses dry detergent and fabric softenin general is of major concern er. I have toilet paper, paper to the Greater Houston Black Chamber. towels and facial tissue on the “Prior to the George Floyd way. I ordered a steel razor and incident, [Black businesses] blades. were getting hit hardest because “My next step will be lookof COVID-19,” said said Carol ing at makeup and groceries,” she Carol Guess Guess, GHBC chair. said. “These minority-owned, “Most of those numbers woman-owned, and local that we’re seeing about Black-owned busi- businesses need help right now. We can nesses closing are from February to April talk about it or be about it. Since no one is of 2020. The George Floyd incident didn’t coming to save any of us, we have to save happen until Memorial Day at the end of ourselves and our communities.” May. So the ones who are surviving are Farrah Gafford Cambrice, an assistant now doing better because of the bumps professor of sociology at Prairie View from that incident. A&M University, warned that widespread “It doesn’t negate the fact that we lost failures of Black-owned businesses would so many, it just further underscores the need for the bump that we’ve experi- have effects that reach beyond the particenced. We need that traffic. And if we ular companies and immediate economic had had that traffic February through impact. “When something like this happens April, I’m sure that not as many busiand their businesses don’t get the supnesses would have closed.” Guess said true support will require port, that’s a devastating message to give a conscious shift in the types of Black- to would-be entrepreneurs,” she said. “For owned businesses with which people are generations.” willing to interface. “Clothing and food have been normalSee more on how you can support ized,” she said. “When it comes to someBlack businesses at one doing my taxes, someone being my www.DefenderNetwork.com banker — like Unity National Bank, the only Black-owned bank in Texas — when
41%
26%
17%
32%
of Black-owned
Buying Black
of White
of Asian
of Latino
Financially Healthy
42%
of Black businesses
73%
of White businesses
RESOURCES FOR BLACK-OWNED BUSINESSES National Minority Supplier Development Council - A nonprofit corporate membership organization that supports minority-owned businesses. The NMSDC has a Business Consortium Fund intended to support certified minority-owned businesses. Greater Houston Black Chamber - Founded in 1935 as the city’s first African-American civic organization, the GHBC offers a forum to reach and partner with African-American owned businesses, entrepreneurs and professionals. Visit https:// ghbcc.com Foundation for Business Equity - FBE’s Business Equity Initiative supports and provides funding for Black and Latino business owners. Created a response strategy team to advise businesses and a COVID-19 emergency fund. Backstage Capital - A venture capital fund that invests in women, people of color and the LGBTQ community. Its Entrepreneur Investment applications are viewed on a rolling basis. Minority Business Development Agency - MBDA is an agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce that aims to assist minority-owned businesses across the country.
Since no one is coming to save any of us, we have to save ourselves and our communities.”
Crystal Washington, local social media influencer
Grants.gov - See 1,000 federal grant programs, conduct an in-depth search, learn about the application process and ultimately apply. Accion - A nonprofit organization that provides loans, access to resources and connections to diverse business owners and entrepreneurs.
17771-PIPC-EN-Houston-TheDefender-4.79x13-F.pdf
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DN InFocus
Minority business grant opportunities ReShonda Tate Billingsley
The coronavirus pandemic has minority business owners scrambling for financial survival and looking for resources to help them chart a path forward when quarantines are lifted. While the federal government has rolled out a comprehensive aid plan, other companies and organizations also have earmarked funds, some specifically designated for Black-owned businesses. Here’s a list of some of those opportunities. City of Houston Small Business Economic Relief Program Amount: Up to $50,000 Provides immediate and short-term grant assistance to small businesses impacted by COVID-19. Designed to help the most vulnerable businesses with access to capital and technical assistance needed to survive. Closes Sept. 4. Learn more: cityofhouston-sberp.org Ft. Bend County COVID-19 Small Business Emergency Assistance Program Amount: Up to $25,000 A collective effort to provide grants to as many small businesses as possible. The supplemental funds are designed to help the most vulnerable businesses continue to meet their financial and operating needs. Learn more: http://bit.ly/FTBendSEAP Sam’s Club Small Business Grant Amount: Up to $10,000 Designed to help small business owners to meet their most immediate needs. Eligible expenses include: Paying rent and utilities, meeting payroll, paying outstanding debt to vendors, upgrading technology infrastructur and other immediate operational costs. Opens Aug. 31. Learn more: http://bit.ly/LISCCovidGrant Texas Small Business Emergency Micro-Grant Source Amount: Varies Provides emergency funding assistance for Texas small business owners to help them continue to function when unexpected financial challenges threaten daily operations. Learn more: texasblackexpo.com/ tsbems/ Southern Smoke Emergency Relief Fund Amount: Varies Provides emergency funding to those employed by or own restaurants or bars or are employed by a restaurant or bar supplier facing unforeseen expenses not covered by insurance. Learn more: http://bit.ly/SSmkapp Google Small Business, Medium Business Grant Amount: Ad credits A new $800+ million commitment to support small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), health organizations and govern-
ments, and health workers on the front line of pandemic. Includes giving SMBs worldwide $340 million in ad credits, which can be used at any point until the end of 2020 across Google Ads platforms. Learn more: http://bit.ly/GoogleAAG Hello Alice COVID-19 Grant Amount: $10,000 Assists small business owners impacted by coronavirus as part of broader mission to ensure business for all. In addition to funding, grant recipients will receive ongoing support from Hello Alice community. Learn more: covid19.helloalice.com http://bit.ly/JPBizGrant Juvia’s Place Amount: $50,00 The makeup brand founded by Chichi Eburu announced initiative to award six $50,000 grants in hopes of eradicating challenges faced by Black entrepreneurs, including debt, which can kill a business before it starts. Learn more: http://bit.ly/GoogleAAG C
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DEFENDER NETWORK
DN ON SOCIAL THE WEB Politics Some see racism in mispronunciations Defender News Service
When top Republicans — including President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence — mispronounce Democratic vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris’ first name, some Harris supporters say it’s not just disrespectful, it’s racist. Harris’ first name is pronounced “Kah’mah-lah” — or, as she explains in her biography, “‘comma-la,’ like the punctuation mark.” But mispronunciations have been rampant in the days since the California senator became the first Black woman and the first Asian American woman named to a major party’s ticket. Several on the right continously butcher her name. Harris’ supporters say the pattern amounts to a deliberate effort by Trump and his allies to portray Harris — the daughter
of immigrants — as someone who does not belong at the top ranks of politics. The mispronunciations follow a string of attacks that include racist and sexist memes and questioning whether Harris, who was born in California, is eligible to serve as vice president because her mother was Indian and her father Jamaican. (Constitutional scholars and other legal experts say there is no question that she is eligible.) Harris supporters say there is a difference between someone who makes an honest mistake and wants to correct it and people who knowingly mispronounce her name, or who don’t care enough to get it right. “It is an effort to diminish her,” said Fatima Goss Graves, president of the National Women’s Law Center Action Fund. “It’s designed to signal difference.”
Vice-Presidential nominee Kamala Harris. -AP/Carolyn Kaster
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10 | August 27, 2020 |
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DN Feature
Demetres Fair holds a towel over his daughter Damouri Fair, 2, as they are rescued by boat.
Houston resident Lloyd Nelms said he was unable to get help from a city program created to fix homes damaged during Harvey and had to endure hazardous living conditions for more than two years. (AP Photo/Juan Lozano)
THREE YEARS LATER, SOME WAIT FOR HELP
HURRICANE HARVEY Hurricane Harvey was a devastating Category 4 hurricane that dumped up to 50 inches of rain in the Houston area after making landfall on Aug. 25, 2017. It killed 68 people and caused about $125 billion in damage in Texas.
Defender News Service
Some local residents say they endured difficult, often hazardous living conditions while waiting months, even years for help from the city to fix flood-damaged homes after Hurricane Harvey. In the Houston area, Harvey flooded more than 150,000 homes, with more than 16,000 residents identified as potentially needing repair help. About 50% of Houston households impacted by Harvey were low-and-moderate-income, according to the city. Community advocates say many damaged homes were in Black and Latino neighborhoods that have lacked economic investment and proper infrastructure to keep them from flooding. For nearly two and a half years after Harvey, Lawrence Hester, 59, lived with three relatives in a home that became overrun by black mold, rodents, roaches and sometimes snakes. He used buckets bought at a dollar store to collect water leaking from the water-damaged roof. “Living in those conditions for so long, I felt like it was normal,” Hester said. Hester’s home has mostly been rebuilt with a few minor repairs on hold because West Street Recovery stopped construction due to the coronavirus pandemic. The
pandemic also forced the group, Harvey Forgotten Survivors Caucus, which had been helping residents, to move its advocacy efforts online. Unable to get help from the city, Lloyd Nelms, 41, accepted an offer from the Texas General Land Office (GLO). Every morning during the 17-day construction process, Nelms traveled from his hotel to watch and reassure himself it wasn’t a dream. On June 2, he got the keys to his rebuilt home. “I lost hope in the city, but I didn’t lose hope in God,” said Nelms. Three years after Harvey, some Houston residents feel angry and abandoned as their repair efforts were bogged down by a city program they described as slow and bureaucratic. The program has finished rebuilding less than 70 homes since it started January 2019. Some residents, like 70-year-old Doris Brown, turned to nonprofits and the state. “We have a right to be angry. We’re past angry now. We’re mad as hell,” said Brown, whose home had to be rebuilt because of mold. City officials admit the repair program’s progress has been slow but blame it partly on GLO, which oversees the funding. The city accused the land office of providing muddled guidance, resulting in rejection
of homeowners’ applications. “The state GLO has not been a good partner with us,” said Mayor Sylvester Turner. The land office said the city was unprepared to run the program and rejected help. “The City of Houston’s lack of progress is unacceptable,” said GLO spokesperson Brittany Eck. The city sued the GLO to stop it from taking over the funding. The GLO also began its own repair program in Houston, adding to residents’ confusion. The city received nearly $1.3 billion in federal funding to repair and rebuild homes, provide rental assistance and create new affordable housing. A third of the funding — nearly $428 million — went to a program for home repair and reconstruction. As of the end of July, the program had fixed 68 homes and reimbursed 73 people who did their own repairs. The land office had fixed nearly 1,800 homes across Texas as of Aug. 13. Houston officials say critics are focusing only on the number of finished home repairs and ignoring their other projects, including developing over 3,500 new affordable rental homes and so far helping 136 families through a homebuyer assistance program. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
An elderly man is carried to dry ground as he evacuates a neighborhood in west Houston.
Residents are rescued from their homes.
August 27, 2020 |
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DEFENDER NETWORK
DN Sports Earl Thomas, a future Hall of Fame safety, has been cut by the Baltimore Ravens after a dust-up in practice with teammate Chuck Clark.
FULLER LOOKING TO STAY HEALTHY, MAKE IMPACT Terrance Harris
Texans fifth-year receiver Will Fuller V isn’t at all afraid to face the elephant in the room. It’s his health. Fuller has been the most explosive bigplay receiver in the Texans lineup – even with DeAndre Hopkins on the field – and a trusted target of Deshaun Watson when he has been healthy. But staying on the field has been a challenge for Fuller and the Texans. Both parties are hoping after a full offseason of specialized training that this season will be different. “Being injured sucks, but I’m confident,” said Fuller, who is playing on his expiring rookie contract that is paying him $10.2 million. “Every time I go back out on the field, I don’t think about what happened last week or if I was injured last week. I always feel like I’m going to have a big game or whatever.” But a rash of injuries that includes a broken collarbone, torn ACL and hamstring problems have prevented Fuller from realizing his potential so far. But in working with sports performance manager Ben Fairchild this offseason, Fuller went back to the fundamentals and advanced from there. “I met a guy that I was working out with and just focusing on a lot of mechanical things – trying to fix the way I’m running, fix my posture,” Fuller said. “Just little things that can go a long way if you stay on it throughout the season.” Now he returns to a receiving corps that looks very different from the one
FULLER FILES Season 2016 2017 2018 2019
Games 14 10 7 11
Receptions 47 28 32 49
that exited the field at the end of last season. Hopkins, of course, is gone and the Texans have brought in Brandin Cooks and Randall Cobb to blend with Kenny Stills and Fuller. While on paper the loss of a playmaker like Hopkins is huge, it looks like the Texans will have much more speed on the field with Cooks, Stills and Fuller. “Obviously with Hop not being here anymore, that’s going to open up things for everybody,” said Fuller, who is now the Texans longest tenured receiver. “He had a lot of targets, so those targets have to be filled up with other guys. We all are going to be able to get it done and I feel like it’s going to be a great season this year.” Fuller seems to be the X-factor. Last season, the Texans averaged 5.6 more points per game when he played. The Texans also completed seven touchdown passes of 20 yards or more and six of those came in the 11 games that Fuller played in 2019, which is a testament to how he stretches the field. Watson is looking for even bigger things this season. “Will’s going to ball out,” he said. “Will’s going to be one of the best receivers in the league. He came back a lot stronger, a lot faster. There’s no doubt that Will can take that role and do great things with it.”
Yards 635 423 503 670
TDs 2 7 4 3
Erik Moses has been named president of the Nashville Superspeedway and is the first African-American to hold the position at a NASCAR track.
Sports Briefs: SWAC FOOTBALL SET FOR SPRING The SWAC recently released its anticipated spring football schedule. Here are some important dates to remember in the Houston area: Prairie View (led by Coach Eric Dooley) opens its season Feb. 27 playing Grambling at the State Fair Classic. Texas Southern (led by Coach Clarence McKinney) opens at Arkansas-Pine Bluff. On March 6, TSU-PVAMU meet in their annual clash. And March 13, the entire league will have a bye week so that fans can attend the SWAC Championship Basketball Tournament. The SWAC Football Championship will be played on the campus of the highest seeded team on May 1. ASTROS SHUT DOWN ALTERNATE SITE The Astros have temporarily ceased operation at their alternate training site in Corpus Christi after a positive COVID-19 test came back. General manager James Click said it was just one positive test at the facility, but the decision to shut down was made out of precaution. TEXANS ADD EXPERIENCE TO LB CORP The Texans have signed veteran inside linebacker Daren Bates and have waived rookie inside linebacker Jan Johnson to make room for him on the roster. The team also signed long snapper Anthony Kukwa to the active roster.
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