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June 27 27,, 2022 - July 3, 2022

Vol. 49 No. 26• The Journal For Community News, Business & The Arts • insightnews.com

Black women targeted by Donald Trump Shaye Moss, former elections department employee in Fulton county, Georgia, testified to the House of Representatives January 6 Committee in Washington last week. Her mother, Georgia election worker Ruby Freeman joined her in delivering a powerful and emotional critique of the assault on their dignity and threats to their safety by President Donald Trump.

In a US edition of The Guardian story by Martin Pengelly, the mother daughter duo described the vicious and tormenting consequences of their being targeted by the former president in his attempt to overturn the 2020 election.

Both Georgia elections workers, Moss and Freeman described Trump’s unleashing of harassment and racist threats by claiming the two were involved in voter fraud.

Moss said she received threats “Wishing death upon me. Telling me that I’ll be in jail with my mother and saying things like, ‘Be glad it’s 2020 and not 1920.’”

Black people see such statements as a lynch threat, terror inflicted on thousands of Black men and women in America’s racist history.

Moss said her grandmother had also been harrassed by Trump supporters.

The hearing detailed Trump’s attempts to pressure Republican state officials and emphasized that claims that Moss and her mother engaged in voter fraud were false.

Freeman said in a video of previously recorded testimony, “I’ve lost my name and I’ve lost my reputation.

I’ve lost my sense of security, all because a group of people starting with [Trump] and his ally Rudy Giuliani decided to scapegoat me and my daughter Shaye, to push their own lies

about how the presidential election was stolen.”

She said: “There is nowhere I feel safe. Nowhere.

Do you know how it feels to have the president of the United States target you?

“The president of the United States is supposed to represent every American. Not to target one. And he targeted me, Lady Ruby, a small business owner, a mother, a proud American citizen who stood up to help Fulton county run an election in the middle of the pandemic.”

Freeman said she had been forced to leave home for two months.

Moss testified that her grandmother was terrorized. “I’ve never even heard or seen her cry, ever in my life. And she called me screaming at the top of her lungs, like ‘Shaye, Shaye, oh my gosh, Shaye’, freaking me out, saying that people were at her home.”

“And they knocked on the door and of course she opened it, seeing who was there, who it was, and they just started pushing their way through, claiming they were coming in to make a citizen’s arrest. They needed to find me and my mom, they knew we were there.”

“My life was turned upside down. I no longer give out my business card.

Don’t want anyone knowing my name. Don’t want to go anywhere with my mom because she might yell my name out over the grocery aisle or something. I don’t go to the grocery store anymore.

“I haven’t been anywhere. I’ve gained about 60lb. I don’t want to go anywhere, I second-guess everything that I do. It’s affected my life in a major way, every way.

“All because of lies,” Moss testified.

Images by Roy Joe Lewis

In his closing statement one the fourth day of the Jan 6. committee hearing, Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., said Trump broke the “sacred and centuries-old covenant” in his attempts to overturn the 2020 election and stay in power.

Shaye Moss

Page 2 • June 27, 2022 - July 3, 2022 • Insight News

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INSIGHT NEWS IS AUDITED BY THE ALLIANCE FOR AUDITED MEDIA TO PROVIDE OUR ADVER TISER PAR TNERS WITH THE HIGHES T LEVEL OF MEDIA ASSURANCE.

June 27 27,, 2022 - July 3, 2022

Vol. 49 No. 26• The Journal For Community News, Business & The Arts • insightnews.com

Colombian voters elect country’s first Black vice president

By Manuel Rueda and Astrid Suarez Associated Press

Courtesy Greater Twin Cities United Way

Grants help build traumasensitive caregiving capacity

According to Wilder Research, an estimated 12,000 three-yearolds in the Twin Cities have experienced trauma, which can have lasting effects on their brain development. Responding to this crisis, Greater Twin Cities United Way (United Way) last week launched an early childhood education initiative “80x3: Resilient from the Start,” with $1.2 million in grants to nine local early child care centers to help them build capacity in trauma-sensitive caregiving and to help families navigate community resources.

“80x3 gets its name from research indicating that 80 percent of a child’s brain development happens by age three,” said Jamie Bonczyk, 80x3 Program Officer, Greater Twin Cities United Way. “For every child to succeed, it is so important they receive highquality care in safe, nurturing environments during those developmentally critical early years.”

Research shows trauma-sensitive caregiving can help children strengthen their resiliency, and a wide body of evidence demonstrates long-lasting benefits of early intervention that follow children into adulthood with higher educational attainment and higher wages. The nine child care organizations funded by 80x3 support children and families experiencing poverty and communities disproportionally impacted by poverty, including Black, Indigenous, Latinx, Asian, Pacific Islander and People of Color.

“The urgency of 80x3 couldn’t be greater. Highquality early child care can change the lives of children and their families — and accelerate our state’s economic growth,” said John Wilgers, President and CEO, Greater Twin Cities United Way. “80x3 showcases the transformative change that is possible when we ‘think big’ and commit ourselves to

innovation.”

serve.

Trauma-Sensitive Professional Development Leaders and educators from United Way’s 80x3 partner organizations will receive professional development in trauma-sensitive care and healing-centered engagement.

This training will ensure organizations and individual caregivers are equipped to recognize and mitigate the effects of trauma among the children they serve.

Navigating Systems Identifying and accessing a network of family supports and community resources for working families is a common challenge, yet few organizations have the capacity to fully meet these needs. United Way grants will help partner organizations establish new navigator resources for families.

Nonprofit Organizations Receiving 80x3 Funding: Amherst H. Wilder Child Development Center Baby’s Space: A Place to Grow Catholic Charities of St. Paul & Minneapolis Northside Child Development Center Centro Tyrone Guzman Hallie Q. Brown Community Center People Serving

Recruitment and Retention A long history of public underinvestment has made the field of early childhood care inaccessible to many with a passion for children and families, which negatively impacts the quality of care. United Way’s 80x3 grants will cover coaching for partner organizations in recruiting and retaining high-quality staff who reflect the communities they

By Menra Mapfumo

Photo: Mark Mahoney / Dream In Color Photography

Rev. Dr. William J. Barber, II (standing behind podium) is continuing the efforts of the Poor People’s Campaign Dr. King began.

June 18 Los Angeles, the site of America’s largest homeless population, and in Memphis, the site of Dr. King’s martyrdom.

In both cities, marchers expressed how they felt about the Poor People’s Campaign. They expressed how they felt about poverty and homelessness in America. Some told their own stories of living in poverty and being homeless.

Marchers expressed how they felt about the mass shooting in Buffalo and if they felt there is a relation between poverty and gun violence.

Commentary

Jaded by Kevin E. Taylor

PAGE 5

rural area, she comes from the perspective of a campesino woman and from the perspective of areas of Colombia that have been affected by armed conflict for many years. Most politicians in Colombia who have held the presidency have not lived in the way she has,” Sanchez said.

She said Marquez will likely be given the mandate to work on gender issues as well as policies affecting the nation’s Afro-Colombian population.

In several interviews.

Petro has discussed creating a Ministry of Equality, which

MARQUEZ 4

Martha Yates Jones (left) and Pinkie Yates (right), daughters of Rev. Jack Yates, in a decorated carriage for Juneteenth in front of a house, 1908

Celebrating Juneteenth

By Jonathan Palmer Executive Director of Hallie Q. Brown

of the Poor People’s Campaign.

Dr. King’s work is unfinished because on April 4, 1968, Dr. King was assassinated at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, TN. Bishop William J. Barber, II is continuing the efforts of the Poor People’s Campaign Dr. King began.

Dr. Barber is mobilizing for a Mass Poor People’s & Low-Wage Workers’ Assembly and Moral March on Washington and to the Polls June 18. Recently he held mobilization marches for

photo/Fernando Vergara

Francia Marquez, the running mate of former rebel Gustavo Petro, celebrates before supporters after they won a runoff presidential election in Bogota, Colombia, Sunday, June 19, 2022.

GTCUW 4

The Poor Peoples Campaign: A declaration, announcement, beginning, moving forward commitment The Poor People’s Campaign was established in 1968, by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King. Dr. King wanted the Poor People’s Campaign to highlight the need for economic equality and social justice.

Dr. King wanted to help poor people by demanding the means for basic necessities.

In 1967, Dr. King said the Poor People’s Campaign would seek to “demand jobs, unemployment insurance, a fair minimum wage, and education for poor adults and children designed to improve their self-image and self-esteem.”

In March 1968, Dr. King said the Poor People’s Campaign would be “the beginning of a new cooperation, understanding, and a determination by poor people of all colors and backgrounds to assert and win their right to a decent life and respect for their culture and dignity.”

On April 3, 1968, during the Memphis Sanitation workers strike, Dr. King told the workers, “We’ve got to give ourselves to this struggle until the end. Nothing would be more tragic than to stop at this point in Memphis. We’ve got to see it through.” His words further reinforced the mission

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — As Colombia’s voters put aside a longtime antipathy to leftists and chose one as their new president, they also carved out another milestone — electing the country’s first Black vice president.

When former leftist rebel Gustavo Petro takes office as president on Aug. 7, a key player in his administration will be Francia Marquez, his running mate in Sunday’s runoff election.

Marquez is an environmental activist from La Toma, a remote village surrounded by mountains where she first organized campaigns against a hydroelectric project and then challenged wildcat gold miners who were invading collectively owned Afro-Colombian lands.

The politician has faced numerous death threats for her environmental work and has emerged as a powerful spokeswoman for Black Colombians and other marginalized communities.

“She’s completely different than any another person that’s ever had a vice presidency in Colombia,” said Gimena Sanchez, the Andes director for the Washington Office on Latin America, a human rights group.

“She comes from a

In Los Angeles, CA, Bishop William J. Barber, II said “The same people that are blocking laws that uplift the poor are the same ones that are spewing so much of this racist violence and rhetoric… claiming that the whole society is at threat because of Black and Brown people.

This rhetoric that is being spewed… can get in the minds of people and it can radicalize them. The real question about the killer is not ‘who is he?’

POOR PEOPLES 4

Juneteenth marks a pivotal day in history that has been celebrated for 157 years.

Beginning with the earliest celebrations centering around the Black church, Juneteenth, also known as Jubilee Day, Emancipation Day, Freedom Day and more, has historically been observed to mark the day in which African Americans in Galveston, TX were informed of their freedom via General Order No. 3, two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation and approximately two and a half months after the end of the Civil War. The day is often marked by music, food, dance and other festive traditions of Black culture.

While it has been celebrated for a long time, just like the idea of African Americans being free, it has taken a little while to “catch on” or be celebrated outside of the Black community, especially on official levels.

Case in point, it wasn’t until this very year that all of the states in America recognized it as a holiday. Texas was the first to do so back in 1980; then it was slow going such that by

2002, the count was only up to eight states recognizing it; but by 2006 an additional seven states had joined and by 2008, approximately half the states recognized it officially. By 2021, 47 states had recognized Juneteenth formally with several of them designating it as a paid holiday. North Dakota and Hawaii did so in April and June respectively.

South Dakota, which had failed (twice) to pass legislatation to this effect, finally did so this past February becoming the last state to officially recognize the holiday.

There’s a difference, however, in being “recognized” and being validated. And unfortunately, in America validation often comes with a price tag. Despite it being recognized in all 50 states, it is a legal holiday in only 18 of them. While the bill signed into law affects the federal designation, each state has to individually pass legislation to recognize it and fund it for it to be considered a legal paid holiday. To date, only 18 have done so (Minnesota, however, is not one of those states), allowing the local government as well as companies and organizations in the remaining 32 to decide

HALLIE Q. BROWN 5

I2H

COVID vaccinations start for little US kids

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Page 4 • June 27, 2022 - July 3, 2022 • Insight News

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Black Press highlights 195 years, looks to the future

By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent @StacyBrownMedia The National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) annual convention in New Orleans last elevated the urgency of increasing voter registration and voting among individuals of color.

The NNPA is a trade association representing the more than 230 African American newspapers and media companies that comprise the Black Press of America.

In celebration of the 195th anniversary of the Black Press of America, the convention focused on its theme: “Amplifying Our Voices for Freedom, Justice, Equality, and Equity.”

Held at the Hilton New Orleans Riverside, the convention was greeting by a proclamation from New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell and featured opening in person and video tributes from Vice President Kamala Harris, Congressional Black Caucus Chair Joyce Beatty, Universal Hip Hop Museum Executive Director Rocky Bucano, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, California Rep.

GTCUW From 3 People - Center of Excellence Phyllis Wheatley Community Center

Marquez From 3 would be headed by Marquez and would work across several sectors of the economy on issues like reducing gender inequalities and tackling disparities faced by ethnic minorities.

Marquez said Sunday that part of her mission as vice president

Poor Peoples From 3 but ‘who radicalized him?’”

The NNPA is a trade association representing the more than 230 African American newspapers and media companies that comprise the Black Press of America.

Stephanie Mills

Bobby Henry

Maxine Waters

Dr. Ben Chavis

Barbara Lee, and Destiny’s Child singer Kelly Rowland.

A panel discussions moderated

by Mark Thompson, the host of “Make It Plain,” addressed

“Amplifying Voices of Generation Z and Millennials

The Family Partnership - Four Directions Center The Family Partnership - Northside Center An advisory board oversees the work of the 80x3 initiative, and the experiences and feedback of the organizations receiving 80x3

grants will inform the program’s design in year two and beyond.

Advisory board members include: Dr. Anita Randolph, Director of Community Engagement and Education, Masonic Institute for the Developing Brain; Arielle Handevidt, Director of Early Childhood, Northside

Achievement Zone; Brandon Jones, Executive Director, Minnesota Association for Children’s Mental Health; Dianne Haulcy, Executive Leader of Family Engagement, Think Small’ Keith Kozerski, Chief Program Officer, Catholic Charities of St. Paul and Minneapolis; Lauren

Moberg, Infant and Early Childhood Director, Minnesota Association for Children’s Mental Health; Lucy Arias, Preschool Development Grant Tribal National Lead, Minnesota Department of Education; Shea Roberts Gyllen, Educator, Parent, Reproductive Support, and Owner, Nisse Body and

Birth; Thuba Nguyễn, Workforce Curriculum Coordinator, Child Care Aware of Minnesota; and Tiffany Grant, Business Development Manager, First Children’s Finance.

Editor’s note: Insight Editor Al McFarlane is a member of the board of Greater Twin Cities United Way.

will be to reduce inequality.

“This will be a government for those with calluses on their hands. We are here to promote social justice and to help women eradicate the patriarchy,” she said on stage while celebrating the election results with thousands of supporters at a popular concert venue.

Marquez grew up in a small home built by her family and had a daughter when she was 16, whom she raised on her own. To support her daughter,

Marquez cleaned homes in the nearby city of Cali and also worked at a restaurant while studying for a law degree.

She was awarded the 2018 Goldman Environmental Prize for her successful efforts to remove gold miners from the collectively owned Afro-Colombian lands around her village.

Marquez entered the presidential race last year as a candidate for the Democratic Pole party, though she lost out in an inter-party consultation

in March to Gustavo Petro. But she gained national recognition during the primaries and received 700,000 votes, topping most veteran politicians.

In speeches calling for Colombia to confront racism and gender inequalities and to ensure basic rights for the poor, Marquez energized rural voters who have suffered from the country’s long armed conflict as well as young people and women in urban areas.

“All of us who work with her now believe in the power

of women,” said Vivian Tibaque, a community leader in Bogota who worked on Marquez’s campaign. “We believe we can also defend out rights like Francia has defended hers.”

Political analysts said Marquez contributed to Petro’s campaign by reaching out to voters who felt excluded by the political system but did not trust the leftist parties that Petro, a former member of a rebel group, has been a part of throughout much of his career.

They said her presence

on Petro’s ticket also motivated Afro-Colombian voters along the Pacific coast, where Petro won by big margins Sunday even as he barely won the contest by three percentage points.

“I don’t think Petro could’ve won the presidency without her.” Sanchez said.

“There is a lot of distrust and suspicion towards the left in Colombia, partly because a lot of the left has been armed at some point in time.”

“Secondly, this business of death is too broad in this country and we accept too much of it. A million people died from COVID. Poor people die five times higher in some ways…

We keep having mass deaths and

we talk about it for a day or two and then it goes away. Even before COVID, we had a quarter of a million people die from poverty, seven hundred people a day, and hardly a whimper being said about it. We had to decide we’re not just going to be quiet and accept death anymore.”

“Lastly, we have to see if this attack of what happened in Buffalo is connected to the season of violence that we’re in. Go back to the University of Virginia when they were

shouting ‘Jews will not replace us.’ This whole replacement theory that has its roots in some parts of Europe, in Nazism, as well as here in America, is violent in and of itself because it’s always trying to point out who has to go in order for some people to live… It always means somebody has to be destroyed.”

Bishop Barber expressed how he felt about the mobilization of the Poor People’s Campaign on June 18th.

Bishop Barber said,

“I am feeling good about it. I have mixed feelings…

Sometimes I get bothered that we still have to do it, but I am glad that I am alive to do it…

There’s something going on in this country… and people are responding from every state in this country… Most of all poor, low wealth people are leading the way and what I love about them is none of them are talking about this as a day. They’re all talking about it as a declaration, as an announcement, as a beginning, as a moving forward, as a commitment.”

Patrick Groman, a homeless man, and a chairman of the San Diego chapter of the California Homeless Union said, “Homeless is not a crime. We’ve been hearing… there’s been a lot of crime, a lot of activity and the majority of all these crimes all over the place are blamed on the homeless. You can’t just target one particular individual or all individuals…

A lot of people don’t realize that when you’re homeless… you’re

dealing with a lot of different individuals. You’re dealing with people who loss their jobs, dealing with [veterans], dealing with people with mental illness. There is not enough help and support out there.”

Irma Hall Wood spoke on what brought her to the Poor People’s Campaign rally in Los Angeles, CA. Wood said, “My brothers are hurting, including myself. God looks up on each one of us as a whole. All of us are his children and he doesn’t want us to suffer. Why suffer when there are millions of dollars?

There are more millionaires these days than ever before.

Why are we suffering? We can’t pay our rent, we can’t have health insurance; Accessible quality health insurance…”

Marcher and Memphis, TN resident, Jayonee Webster spoke on poverty.

Webster said, “Most of the city of Memphis is living on poverty wages and we really need to change those conditions.

I grew up in poverty.”

Webster also spoke on if she felt she was continuing the work of Dr. King.

Webster said, “Absolutely. The Civil Rights Movement never ended and here we are today as an expression of that. An expression of lots of different movements coming together.

INSIGHT NEWS www.insightnews.com

Insight News is published weekly, every Monday by McFarlane Media Interests.

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Deion Sanders

Through the Black Press of America.” Panelists examined how young African Americans view the future of the Black Press.

NNPA Chairman and CEO Dr. Chavis looked at access, equity and environmental sustainability in a discussion positing “The Path to Inclusion is Electric: How GM Is Building an All-Inclusive Workforce to Build an All-Electric Future.”

Melinda Hightower, the managing director, and head of multicultural strategic client segments at UBS Bank, led a session on the role of the Black Press in building wealth for Black America.

Attorney Barbara Arnwine, the founder and president of Transformative Justice Coalition (TJC), and Daryl Jones, TJC’s chairman of the board, will host “Black America Get Out the Vote and the Black Press.”

Another panel described the Black Press role as an antidote to racism.

NNPA presented 2022 Lifetime Achievement and Legacy Awards to Westside Gazette Publisher Bobby Henry, Congresswoman Maxine Waters, Jackson State University Football Coach Deion “Prime” Sanders and recording superstar and actress Stephanie Mills.

Intern Kelvin Kuria Contributing Writers Maya Beecham Nadvia Davis Fred Easter Abeni Hill Inell Rosario Latisha Townsend Artika Tyner Toki Wright Photography V. Rivera Garcia Uchechukwu Iroegbu Rebecca Rabb Lou Michaels Artist Donald Walker Contact Us: Insight News, Inc. Marcus Garvey House 1815 Bryant Ave. N. Minneapolis. 55411 Ph.: (612) 588-1313 Fax: (612) 588-2031 Member: Minnesota Multicultural Media Consortium (MMMC), Midwest Black Publishers Coalition, Inc. (MBPCI), National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) Postmaster: Send address changes to McFarlane Media Interests, Marcus Garvey House 1815 Bryant Avenue North, Minneapolis,

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Commentary

Jaded by Kevin E. Taylor Sharing Our Stories

By: W.D. Foster-Graham Book Review Editor Jaded by Kevin E. Taylor Fears from the past and paranoia about the future can be a deterrent to finding true love in the present. They can make people gun-shy, looking for faults that aren’t there. They can also blind us to love when it comes and looks you in the eye. Such is the opening case in Kevin E. Taylor’s romance novel Jaded, rounding out my Pride Month reviews.

Joshua Knight, CEO of advertising firm Knight in Shining Armor, is phenomenal in running his business, having recently landed a major account.

In his love life, the brotha is dealing with scars from a breakup after finding what he

Hallie Q. Brown From 3 at their discretion, whether this holiday is important enough to merit financial investment.

The devil, as always, is in the details.

Here in Minnesota, in the House of Representatives, legislation was introduced in March this year and has had its second reading with no action beyond that. Its companion bill in the Senate has been referred to the Civil Law and Data Practices Policy Committee.

The Minnesota State Legislature adjourned on May 22nd without further action, leaving the future uncertain.

Five companies-Target, Ameriprise Financial, Best Buy, Wells Fargo and U.S. Bank--observe Juneteenth as a paid holiday; several other companies such as Thrivent, Medtronic, UNFI and Land O’Lakes don›t offer it as a paid day off, but allow employees to use floating holidays or PTO to take the time off; and some companies like General Mills and Life Time Fitness who don’t provide the day off, have events to recognize the day. Hallie Q. Brown Community Center recognized it as an official holiday in 2020, one year before it was signed into law.

While the Emancipation Proclamation declared freedom for enslaved African Americans, it did not mean that Black people were actually free, as is illustrated by the very origin of Juneteenth.

But even beyond that two and a half year delay in the message of freedom, some of this country still actively opposed this notion of rights and freedom for all of its citizens. After the Civil War, nine southern states modified their vagrancy laws to specifically target freed African Americans and enacted the Black Codes, establishing a series of laws and measures meant to restrict the freedoms of Black people and maintain as close a system to Slavery as possible.

Consider the insidiousness of the practices put in place. The modifications to the vagrancy laws in Southern states, said that the freed African Americans, who had no property, resources or means; who it had been illegal to educate including teaching them to read, must now find a job and housing immediately or face consequences such as fines or imprisonment. (Note, with no money to pay the fines, they would also end up incarcerated) What makes this so significant is that eight of the nine states allowed convict leasing, a practice by which the state prisons could rent out incarcerated persons for labor; and five of the states allowed them to be used for public works projects. This means that due to these laws enacted in reaction to their freedom, African Americans would often end up back at the same preemancipation work but with someone else being paid and the inability to escape to freedom because of imprisonment.

So now you have the former Slave owners, angry at the idea that African Americans were no longer their property,

thought was the man of his dreams cheating with another man, and he’s taking it out on subsequent men he dates.

Cynical? Check. Jaded? Check.

Overthinking? Check. Looking for shoes to drop? Check. Selfsabotaging? Check. As a result, his BFF, author and poet Carlton Bridges, is often talking Joshua off the ledge.

Music producer and songwriter Elijah Monroe is a native of Louisiana, a brotha with Southern values, charm, and manners. Seeing his parents happily married for decades, he wants the total package in a relationship, a man who wants to really know him. Sadly, his brawny good looks have attracted brothas in New York who only want hookups, good times, and flings.

His latest disappointment— his commitment-phobe ex Reggie, who just walked out on Elijah when he expressed that he wanted more from their relationship.

Searching for a song in an independent record store

that he can’t get out of his head, Josh hears Eli singing it before he actually meets him. Bonding on their love of music, their meeting and courtship is on a different level from that first night. Eli Monroe is everything that Josh could ever want in a man and a husband, yet he is scared that the brotha is “too good to be true” as his mind seeks to sabotage himself and their growing romance. And then there’s the drama that their respective exes bring to the table…

Will Josh overcome his insecurities and accept the gift that is Eli Monroe? Will Eli be free of the toxic words of his ex Reggie and prove to Josh Knight that he’s a keeper?

I loved Taylor’s slow-burn romance between Josh and Eli. Eli’s restraint and his patience, by moving slowly with Josh, makes their love story more appealing. The music he weaves throughout the novel is beautiful—I recognized so many of the songs and the recording artists such as Nina

Simone, Nancy Wilson, Mariah Carey, and Natalie Cole, to name but a few. The flavor of Manhattan, Brooklyn, Harlem, and the Village vividly takes the reader there. Josh and Eli’s happily-ever-after and faith journey is complete with all the feels, and I cheered when Josh realizes he has himself and someone else worth fighting for.

Kevin E. Taylor is the founder/pastor of Unity Fellowship Church in Brunswick, New Jersey. He is an empowerment coach and an award-winning television producer. His favorite artist is Natalie Cole, for whom he wrote the discography for her award-winning, bestselling autobiography Angel On My Shoulder. Jaded is available through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and TM3 Publications.

Thank you, Rev. Taylor, for sharing this beautiful, powerful story and reminding us of two magic words for this Pride Month—“Love wins.”

essentially holding the power to put African Americans right back into a Slavery-like system by virtue of the face that they were often the ones deciding if an African American could get a job. Former Slave owners knew that by refusing to hire them, they would often end up in prison and be rented back out to them, often at lower costs than the wages they would have had to pay and the money wouldn’t be going to African Americans which made it even better. As if that was not enough, African Americans had to sign year long employment contracts, which if they didn’t fulfill, or rather, the former Slave owner said they didn›t fulfill, they could again end up in prison and rented back out.

The Black Codes were far reaching, restricting Black persons’ right to vote, buy and lease land, own property and businesses, work in professions other than servant or farmer, move about in public, even own guns. While the Second Amendment has been radically misinterpreted by enthusiasts to justify excessive gun ownership, Black people were not amongst those enjoying this freedom. Not only did specific states enact laws to take away their guns, Mississippi and Alabama created volunteer militias specifically tasked with disarming Black people which they often did brutally. Consider that in the context of today’s debate.

So the freedom that had been granted, really wasn’t. The notion of African Americans being free, much less equal, was so appalling, so antithetical to their belief system that white Southerners were willing to do anything they could to not acknowledge it and even destroy it. What followed was the proliferation of white supremacy and domestic terrorism, both legally and when illegal, ignored, in the form of Jim Crow, lynchings, segregation, etc. The response to this was the Civil Rights movement and years of activism and legislative action to actually realize this elusive dream of freedom that has been a long time deferred. The recognition of Juneteenth as an official holiday is one of the first steps on the path to an actual acknowledgement and full and fair accounting for Slavery and its impact in America.

And so, it is with little surprise, that there is objection by white lawmakers on the most frivilous of basises to furthering this cause, citing everything from the cost of adding another state holiday to the lack of awareness of Juneteenth and its purpose. For example, in Connecticut, which did pass it as a paid holiday, only two legislators voted against it.

Rep. Gale Mastrofrancesco (R), and Sen. Rob Sampson (R).

Mastrofrancesco, said in an interview: “My only objection is, it’s another paid holiday.”

She added that state workers now can accrue 46 paid days off a year—15 vacation days, 15 sick days, three personal days and now 13 holidays.

“Nine weeks! I don’t see anyone in the private sector getting that much time off with pay,” In another example, Tennessee, Gov. Bill Lee (R), put money in his budget

proposal for the holiday, but it died in the house because Sen. Joey Hensley (R) said in committee that he had asked 100 people in his district and only two of them knew what the holiday was, stating: “I just think it’s putting the cart before the horse to make a holiday people don’t know about. We need to educate people first and then make a holiday if we need to.”

It’s hard to take Mastrofrancesco’s objection legitimately when Connecticut›s state holidays include Columbus Day, which many people are finally realizing why they shouldn›t be celebrating that, and Good Friday which is a Christian observance and a little hard to reconcile with the whole «separation of church and State» provision. It›s also interesting to note that Mastrofrancesco did not suggest replacing one of these with Juneteenth or start action to remove them from the list of holidays. With regard to Hensley, leaving aside the fact that it’s hard to believe that those 100 don’t have at least some knowledge given all the focus and attention around the signing into law last year; according to a Gallup Poll in 2021 year, most Americans DO know about Juneteenth, especially outside of political echo chambers: 72% have at least some knowledge and the more in favor of making it an official holiday than against it with the exception of white adults and seniors (55+).

Yet, there’s a simple reason for the lack of knowledge or interest that exists in certain specific sectors, communities and demographics around Juneteenth: In this country we teach about Slavery, Jim Crow and systemic racism as the history of Black people instead of the history of White people.

Let’s pause for a moment and let that sink in.

We largely learn about history involving members of BIPOC communities as an “add on”, often during select months of the year, when specialized books are pulled from shelves, dusted off and used for 30 days before being ignored for another 11 months.

We talk about Slavery and Jim Crow as the experience that Black people had and not as the choices that white people made.

We look at the scars, injuries and murders as the things that Black people endured instead of analzing the brutality that white people inflicted. We look at the actions of Harriet Tubman, John Brown and members of the Underground Railroad as acts of bravery, but not at the racism and corruption of the white people making the laws, knowing they were immoral, unethical and inhuman.

America looks at history, both domestically and abroad, subjectively wherein we can condemn other nations like Germany, South Africa and Russia for the actions, but see our own failings through the lens of “Oops”, “We didn’t mean to” and “That was the past.” And that lack of ability to look objectively at our country, to fully acknowledge the wrongs of the past and their continuing impact in the future, to fix as a part of our history, our failure to live up to our ideals and continue that with

taking the lessons from them and committing to do better is why we remain stuck in debates about whether or not a holiday should be celebrated, much less if a people shold be free.

Juneteenth isn’t just a Black holiday and isn’t merely about Black people celebrating their freedom, Juneteenth is about the ending of an unjust institution, sanctified by our government that brutalized, demoralized and marginalized a segment of our citizenry; it is about our country taking a huge leap forward in the acknowledgement of the inhumane practices and denial of inalienable rights to a part of our country. It

is a celebration of America learning to be our better selves.

And it should be celebrated, by everybody, and made into a legal holiday in all 50 states. It represents an opportunity to come together as one country and heal from the past. Celebrate this moment in time where America stood up, as a country, for what’s right and said in a single voice (or at least in a majority one) that we would no longer languish in the quick sands of racial injustice but rather would lift ourselves up onto the solid rock of brotherhood, that we would shake the foundations of our nation until “until justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness

like

a

mighty stream.”

Juneteenth is an AMERICAN holiday that should be celebrated by every American because it signifies our recognition, as a country, as the UNITED States, that American Slavery was wrong and unjust and as a people, we will never allow that to happen, and we will make right the wrong that has been done to our BIPOC communities so that we can move forward, together, as these UNITED States of America.

For more information and details on the history Juneteenth and other significant periods of history, please visit our Addressing Systemic Racism page on our website.

Top Four Reasons to Get Your COVID-19 Vaccine

1. It works!

No one wants to be sick, and COVID-19 can make even young, healthy people really sick. The vaccine is safe and works really well at preventing young people DJH and older from getting sick.

2. No more quarantine!

You won’t have to miss school, sports, or other activities if you are exposed to someone who has COVID-19 (as long as you don’t have symptoms and are fully vaccinated with both doses).

3. Less COVID-19 testing!

Skip the swab up the nose or spitting in a tube! You won’t have to get tested as frequently if you’re vaccinated.

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Feeling a little crummy for a day or two after the shot is normal, and it goes away. It just means your body is gearing up to fight COVID in the future.

Let’s get back to the things we love!

School, sports, hanging out with friends, and spending time with family. If you are or older, get vaccinated!

Minnesota Department of Health | health.mn.gov | 651-201-5000 | 625 Robert Street North PO Box 64975, St. Paul, MN 55164-0975 Contact health.communications@state.mn.us to request an alternate format. _

Page 6 • June 27, 2022 - July 3, 2022 • Insight News

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Little Fletcher Pack woke up Monday morning and asked: “Is today vaccine day?”

For the 3-yearold from Lexington, South Carolina, the answer was yes.

The nation’s infants, toddlers and preschoolers are finally getting their chance at COVID-19 vaccination as the U.S. rolls out shots for tots this week. Shipments arrived in some locations over the weekend and some spots, including a Walgreens in South Carolina and another in New York City, opened up appointments for Monday.

Fletcher’s mother said that once her son is fully vaccinated, he can finally go bowling and visit the nearby children’s museum.

“He’s never really played with another kid inside before,” McKenzie Pack said. “This will be a really big change for our family.”

She began seeking an appointment last week as U.S. regulators took steps to OK the vaccines for kids 6 months to 5 years old.

“It’s just relief,” said Pack. “With this vaccine, that’ll be his best shot at going back to normal and having a normal childhood.”

The Food and Drug Administration greenlighted the Moderna and Pfizer kid shot s on Friday and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended them Saturday. In the U.S., COVID-19 vaccines were first tested and given in late 2020 to health care workers and older adults. Teens and schoolage kids were added last year.

“This is certainly an exciting moment in what has become a very long campaign to vaccinate people against COVID-19,”said Dr. Matthew Harris, an emergency room pediatrician at Northwell Cohen Children’s Medical Center in New York.

Many parents have been anxiously awaiting the rollout, and Harris said shots

for his own 9-month-old are a “matter of when, not if.’’

Roughly 18 million youngsters under 5 are eligible.

“It’s just a huge step toward normalcy,’’ said Dr. Debra Langlois, pediatrician at University of Michigan Health C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital.

“We’re two-plus years into this pandemic and there’s things that my 4-year-old has never been able to do,’’ Langlois said.

The family skipped a trip to Disneyland and a popular Michigan vacation island because the ferry ride to Mackinac Island would mean mingling with unmasked passengers.

President Joe Biden, public health authorities and pediatricians hailed the moment. But they also acknowledged that getting some parents on board may be a challenge given disappointing vaccination rates — about 30% — in school-age kids.

The American Academy of Pediatrics and American Medical Association were among physician groups that encouraged doctors and families to get young children vaccinated.

The CDC advises vaccination even for those who already had COVID-19 to protect against reinfection, and says it is OK to get other vaccines at the same time. For the littlest kids, there’s Pfizer’s three-shot series or Moderna’s two shots.

In New York’s largely Latino neighborhood of Washington Heights, Dr. Juan Tapia Mendoza’s clinic has ordered 300 doses of the tot-sized vaccines. He said he needs educational materials that directly address misinformation spreading among parents.

His approach will be to tell parents “if they were my kids, I would vaccinate them.”

“Because the virus is still around. A lot of people are still dying because of coronavirus Kids do get infected and some kids get severely affected and nobody wants to see a child very sick.”

Some hospitals planned vaccination events later this week. Chicago is among

photo/Inside Creative House

The American Academy of Pediatrics and American Medical Association were among physician groups that encouraged doctors and families to get young children vaccinated. The CDC advises vaccination even for those who already had COVID-19 to protect against reinfection, and says it is OK to get other vaccines at the same time.

For the littlest kids, there’s Pfizer’s three-shot series or Moderna’s two shots. locations that offer COVID-19 shots in people’s homes and planned to open registration this week for home appointments for infants and other young children, said Maribel Chavez-Torres, a deputy commission for the city’s Department of Public Health.

Dr. Pam Zeitland, director of pediatric medicine at National Jewish Health in Denver, recommends parents get their kids vaccinated as soon as possible.

“Some parents are afraid that the younger the child, the more vulnerable they might be to vaccine side effects,’’ Zeitland said, but that’s not what Pfizer and Moderna studies found. Side effects were similar to what is seen with other childhood vaccines — fever, irritability and fatigue.

AP Medical Writer Carla K. Johnson contributed.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

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Insight News • June 27, 2022 - July 3, 2022 • Page 7

Page 8 • June 27, 2022 - July 3, 2022 • Insight News

¬22 in 2022 We’ve increased our U.S. minimum hourly wage to ¬22 on the way to ¬25 by 2025.

Since 2017, Bank of America has raised the minimum rate of pay for all U.S. employees by more than 46%, bringing it to an annual rate of more than $45,000 for full-time employees.

It’s part of our commitment to being a great place to work and one way we help employees build a career with us. We’re also encouraging job growth and providing economic security for thousands of individuals who are supporting fellow teammates, our clients and the local communities where we live and work.

Offering competitive pay and benefits to support our employees and their families is critical to attracting and retaining the best talent. We’ll keep leading the way and doing more.

When you have a strong team, you want to take care of them the best way you can. Raising the minimum rate of pay is just one way for us to show that we care and value everyone’s commitment.

Katie Simpson President, Bank of America Twin Cities

What would you like the power to do?® Learn more at bankofamerica.com/twincities

Bank of America, N.A. Member FDIC. Equal Credit Opportunity Lender © 2022 Bank of America Corporation. All rights reserved.

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