INNER-CITY NEWS

INNER-CITY NEWS July 27, 2016 - August 02, 2016

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - Deceber 16, 2020 - December 22, 2020

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - December 16, 2020 - December 22, 2020

CT Gives Seven Electoral Votes to Biden, Harris

by Christine Stuart Ct. News junkie

HARTFORD, CT - In the first socially distanced, masked meeting of electors in a state Capitol building—seven Connecticut residents cast their votes for president and vice president of the United States.

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Voices were muffled throughout the ceremony because of face masks.

“Everyone’s talking about the electors and we see very clearly how fragile our democracy can be,” Dana Barcellos Allen, one of the seven electors, said after the hour-long ceremony.

Connecticut’s seven Democratic electors gathered to each cast a ballot for Joe Biden Jr. and Kamala Harris.

“The Electoral College is a quirk of American democracy, but a pivotal one,” Secretary of the State Denise Merrill said.

Merrill says each state sets up its own process for choosing electors. In Connecticut these positions are filled at party conventions.

“Even though the original concept of the Electoral College is controversial and no longer functioning in the way it was originally intended, it has become symbolic of

closure for a presidential election,” Merrill said.

In Connecticut, electors are bound by state law to cast a ballot for the candidate certified in the election.

“Nationally 270 electoral votes must be secured in order to win the presidency and in nearly all the states, including Connecticut by state statute, the presidential candidate who wins the state gets all of the state party’s electors,” Merrill said.

All seven of Connecticut’s votes were cast for Joe Biden Jr. and Kamala Harris as anticipated.

“The gravity of the situation—you just can’t really describe it,” Barcellos Allen said. “I’m a little bit speechless with how amazing that felt in representing the voices of over one million Connecticut voters.”

Deputy Secretary of the State Scott Bates melted sealing wax with a candle and dropped a dollop on the back of each envelope that was filled with the certificates.

Merrill then stamped each one with the state seal.

One copy of each vote will be forwarded by certified mail to Vice President Mike Pence. In addition, two copies are delivered to Merrill, two copies are forwarded

by certified mail to the national archivist at the National Archives and Record Administration in Washington and one copy will be delivered to U.S. District Court Judge Stefan Underhill.

BRAD HORRIGAN / HARTFORD COURANT Secretary of the State Denise Merrill and Deputy Secretary of the State Scott Bates seal the votes The electors are allowed to receive $10 a day for their duties but as tradition holds, they voted unanimously to waive the compensation.

For some, Monday might have been a formality, but some electors say it has more meaning because of President Donald Trump’s refusal to concede.

“I think after today, hopefully we’ll have a nice transfer of power,” Susan Barrett, one of the seven electors, said.

For William Smith, Monday’s vote was monumental.

“It’s once in a lifetime. And when I say a lifetime, I’m already 94. It’s very monumental for me,” Smith said.

The Associated Press was the pool reporter for this event and some of the information they reported is included in this report.

11th Conviction Earns Dealer 10 Years

by LAURA GLESBY

New Haven I ndependent

Understandable relapse worth another chance?

Or proof of hopeless recidivism?

A judge wrestled with those two takes on a 53-year-old man’s latest drug-dealing conviction as he decided whether to send him back to prison for what could be the rest of his life.

The man, Frank Carr, has spent more than half his life behind bars. He appeared before U.S. District Court Judge Robert Chatigny on Monday morning, via a hearing conducted entirely over Zoom, to be sentenced.

The hearing became a debate over how to view a repeated offender’s behavior and how that should affect his possibility for future freedom.

In the end, Carr received the mandatory minimum sentence of ten years in prison, plus an additional six months, since hiscrime violated the supervised release conditions from a previous conviction.

Prosecutor Anthony Kaplan had argued that Carr should receive a sentence within the probation office’s guideline range of 140 to 175 months, or up to 14 and a half years.

Carr was one of 25 members of the Island Brothers gang whom the FBI and New Haven police arrested in July of 2019 for drug trafficking as part of “Operation Fantasy Island.” Carr specifically was charged with dealing over 110 grams of crack cocaine

and over 50 grams of cocaine hydrochloride; he pled guilty to the offense.

Kaplan argued that Carr’s history in and out of prison, amounting to 23 years spent incarcerated for ten felony convictions over the course of his adult life, suggests that a prison sentence was unlikely to prompt Carr to change his behavior at age 53.

Therefore, Kaplan argued, Carr should receive more time than the mandatory minimum sentence — keeping him away from the rest of society as long as possible, rather than leaping to give him another chance.

Defense attorney Frank Cannatelli responded that Carr’s age — as well as his medical conditions — are exactly the reason Carr should receive the least amount of prison time possible.

Carr returned to drug trafficking after a relapse in his own cocaine addiction coincided with a period of financial stress, the defense set forth.

“Mr. Carr will need treatment and drug addiction services for the rest of his life,” Cannatelli said. “Sickness” — including addiction — “doesn’t require throwing a person behind bars for the rest of his life.

It warrants more care and compassion, not less.”

Cannatelli also referenced the rapid spread of Covid-19 in prisons across the country, where incarcerated people typically share crowded bathrooms, dining rooms, and other living spaces that make social distancing difficult. Connecticut prisons have reported a spike in cases since November.

Judge Chatigny: Drug dealing pays better than Wendy’s.

Carr’s experience with a stage 3 kidney disorder, a heart condition — Aortic Stenosis — that has encumbered his breathing, and hypertension put him at a greater risk of suffering severe complications from Covid.

“Mr. Carr, with all his medical issues, realizes that he’s got a better chance, while incarcerated, of getting Covid-19,” Cannatelli argued. “And if he does [contract the virus], he knows he doesn’t have a good chance of surviving.”

“He’s basically looking at a life sentence.

He may not survive the sentence that your honor imposes today,” Cannatelli said. This realization, he argued, led Carr to consider the prison sentence awaiting him with more gravity than his previous convictions.

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When Carr spoke to the court, he recounted that upon his transition out of prison in 2015, he secured a job at Wendy’s. He subsequently found work at a series of home health care agencies, an immigration support organization, a self-started transportation company for New Haven Public School students. Then he founded a restaurant t with “all my life savings.”

When the restaurant — a pizzeria called Mama Rosa’s — flopped, “I struggled to pay rent,” Carr said, adding that he relapsed in his addiction. “I fell hard. I resorted to selling small quantities of drugs to make ends meet.”

Prosecutor Kaplan rejected this narrative.

He noted that Carr took 67 drug tests after his 2015 release, all of which turned up negative.

“I think the drug addiction is an excuse,” he said. “There’s no evidence except his own words that he did relapse, and there’s no evidence to think that if he did relapse that it’s tied to drug dealing.”

Kaplan also argued that Carr’s age warrants more incarceration, not less. He is unlikely to “age out” of drug trafficking at this point in his life, he said, citing a statistic that people in their fifties convicted of category 6 offenses have a 64.9 percent recidivism rate.

“Neither his criminal convictions nor his time in custody has deterred him from criminal activity,” Kaplan stressed.

Marguerie Gilbert, a cousin of Carr, spontaneously volunteered to testify on his behalf

after observing the hearing via Zoom.

“There has not been any resources available or anything given to him to help him overcome this addiction that he has. He has tried numerous times over and over,” she said. “I know it doesn’t sound good here today, but I’m praying that you would find grace for my cousin today. He can change with some support in place and some help.”

After a brief recess, Chatigny decided on the minimum ten-year sentence. He noted Carr’s age, medical conditions, and previous (if temporary, according to the defense) success in rehabilitation and addition programs.

With respect to the defense’s argument that Carr was motivated by addiction, “I have viewed Mr. Carr’s claim with some skepticism, [but] I decide to give him the benefit of the doubt and conclude that he did relapse into some drug use,” said Chatigny.

Chatigny added that he was persuaded by the argument that in the face of financial stress, Carr “got back to what he knew, which is the world of significant drug trafficking.”

“You can make a lot more money selling drugs than you can working at Wendy’s,” he noted.

As the judge issued his ruling, Carr pro cessed the words — and the ten year sentence ahead of him — from behind the computer screen, holding his head with clasped hands.

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - Deceber 16, 2020 - December 22, 2020

1,950 Vaccines Delivered, First 5 Shots Administered As City Aims To “Crush Covid”

by THOMAS BREEN & PAUL BASS New Haven I ndependent

A hopeful new chapter in the Covid-19 pandemic began Tuesday afternoon as a dose of the vaccine that Onyema Ogbuagu worked on went into his arm.

Ogbuagu — an infectious disease doctor who served as Yale New Haven Health’s principal investigator in the development of Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine — was one of five hospital employees to receive simultaneously the city’s first five shots of the vaccine at a public event to launch a local drive to inoculate New Haveners against the coronavirus.

At 1:19 p.m., officials counted down from three. Then, as a Zoom camera zoomed in, Ogbuagu, emergency nurse Mackenzie Kelly, intensive-care nurse Katherine-Kay Husler, YNHH criticalcare team leader Jonathan Siner, and Covid-unit environmental services worker Terry Naser got their shots.

“It feels like a flu shot,” Ogbuagu said afterwards.

Like subsequent recipients of the Pfizer vaccine, the five are to return in 21 days for a second and final dose.

YNHH intends to fast-track vaccinations of 400 emergency department, intensive care unit, and Covid-unit employees in the first wave in coming days.

It aims within six weeks to vaccinate all of its 29,000 systemwide workers who agree to participate.

Participation is voluntary, as it is for the general population. Tuesday’s event also served as the launch of a “Crush Covid” campaign to convince people to take part.

“As a researcher who worked on the vaccine,” as a doctor “who has been on front lines caring for patients,” as as “dad of three kids,” and as “a person of color,” Ogbuagu said, he hopes “today is the beginning.” He called on all his fellow Yale New Haven workers, and then the New Haven population at large, to follow suit.

Ogbuagu’s plea echoed throughout Tuesday’s livestreamed event.

“This vaccine is safe. It is effective.

And it is the way out of this pandemic,” remarked YNHH Chief Clinical Officer Thomas Balcezak.

Yale New Haven Hospital President Keith Churchwell noted that some polls have shown as many as 40 percent of Americans hesitant to get vaccinated.

That hesitation is particularly evident among people of color, an historically based distrust that Churchwell, as the hospital’s first Black leader, has vowed to address.

He and his colleagues Tuesday stressed that studies have shown the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines to be safe and 95 percent effective.

“There is nothing more important today than to get vaccinated. It will keep you safe from one of the most ravenous diseases we have seen in our lifetimes. Stay away from the rumors and the stories that run rampant on the internet and get vac-

THOMAS BREEN PHOTO Man of the hour: Omari Bright drops off the goods Tuesday morning.

cinated,” Churchwell urged.

Yale New Haven Hospital is currently caring for 228 patients. Its seven-hospital network has 430. It has discharged more than 6,000 Covid patients this year, the most in the state.

“Our staff is tired. They haven’t gotten any breaks in this time. They’ve shown up everyday and done their best for their patients and their families,” said YNHH CEO Marna Borgstrom.

“They are the real heroes in this story and the people who should be protected as heroes.”

“It’s very quiet up on the Covid unit. All the doors are closed. Nurses are working very hard. Everybody has their PPE on,” Siner, a pulmonologist, said after receiving his shot. “These patients are very ill. There’s a lot of attention to detail and staying with it day after day on these smaller things.”

Siner said he was thinking Tuesday about “one particular patient” among the many he has seen: a man who “turned out to be the husband of a patient of mine who had died 15 years ago.” Siner remembered the husband when he entered the hospital in October, stricken with the coronavirus. The patient was quite sick; Siner had an end-of-life discussion with the son. The patient spent three weeks on a ventilator — then emerged well enough to leave the ICU. New Haven’s first 1,950 doses of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine arrived Tuesday morning — to the sounds of clicking cameras, applause for the FedEx delivery driver, and a top hospital pharmacist’s smiling declaration of, “We’re ready to crush Covid.”

That scene took place just after 8 a.m. in Yale New Haven Hospital’s shipping and

YNHH PHOTO First doses administered Tuesday afternoon to five YNHH employees.

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receiving dock at 55 Park St. In the cavernous, subterranean truck parking and delivery area off of South Frontage Road, FedEx deliveryman and Hamden resident Omari Bright dropped off a box containing three “pizza trays” with 1,950 doses of the Pfizer vaccine held in dry ice.

“It’s a surreal feeling,” Bright said with a small laugh, only his eyes visible between his neck warmer and beanie hat.

YNHH Executive Director of Pharmacy Stacy Vaeth and Assistant Director of Pharmacy Sarah Kelly signed for the package as Bright and YNHH pharmacy supervisor Nilesh Amin lifted the box onto a rolling tray.

“We’re so proud,” said Vaeth. “We’re ready to crush Covid. We’re ready to move forward. It’s a bright day for us.”

“We will take good care of it,” added Kelly.

The box held the first doses to arrive in the city after the federal government granted on Friday an emergency use authorization for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. The first vaccines in Connecticut arrived on Monday at Hartford Hospital, where frontline workers received their first shots.

Kaeth said that “a few individuals” at YNHH will get the vaccine on Tuesday.

“A majority of our employees will get it tomorrow morning.”

In a press release sent out later Tuesday morning, YNHH identified the five first employees slated to receive the vaccine as YNHH infectious disease doctor Onyema Ogbuagu, who was the principal investigator for the local portion of the Pfizer Covid-19 trial; YNHH Medical Director of ICU Jonathan Siner, Emergency Department RN Mackenzie Kelly, Medical ICU RN Katherine-Kay Husler, and Environmental Services staffer Terry Naser.

In addition to the 1,950 doses arriving for Yale New Haven Hospital, Kaeth said, Derby’s Griffin Hospital — which is affiliated with the Yale School of Medicine — will receive 975 doses Tuesday.

After the delivery, Kelly said that the pharmacy directors and supervisors would take the box inside, “break it down,” everyone would put on “appropriate protective equipment, because there’s dry ice in there. Then we’ll count it, add it to our inventory,” and get it ready at room temperature for the first vaccine shots to be administered later this afternoon.

Vials of the Pfizer vaccine must be stored at -94°C. They can be refrigerated at 2-8°C for up to five days. Vaccine treatment includes two doses separated by a three week interval.

“I’m ecstatic that we have the vaccine now to provide to patients and our employees,” Amin said Tuesday.

YNHH Pharmacy Operations Manager Dan Kilcoyne agreed. “Christmas has definitely come early.”

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - December 16, 2020 - December 22, 2020

YNHH Hospital Plans To Start Covid-19 Vaccinations Tuesday

by STAFF

New Haven I ndependent

Yale New Haven Hospital expects to receive its first shipment of Pfizer Covid-19 vaccines Tuesday morning.

A single box with three “pizza trays” with some 2,000 doses are expected to arrive at Bradley International Airport, then be taken by truck to the New Haven main hospital campus.

Later that day the hospital anticipates administering the doses to five employees, then continue the first wave through Wednesday.

As part of the first phase of the state’s vaccination plan, YNHH will first administer the doses to employees most directly in contact with Covid-19 patients. The city will be administering the first wave of its supplies to front-line workers like cops adn firefighters. Administrators of senior-care facilities will administer the first wave of doses to elderly residents and to staffers who work with them.

Hartford Hospital received its first batch of vaccines on Monday and began vaccinating frontline workers there.

The governor is predicting that around 1 million front-line workers and elderly residents will have received the necessary two doses of the vaccine by March’s end.

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Contributing Writers RONNI NEWTON WE-HA PHOTOAPRN Keith Grant receives the vaccine Monday at Hartford Hospital

Teachers’ Unions Call For Remote Learning

by Hugh McQuaid Ct. News junkie

HARTFORD, CT—Unions representing teachers and education workers delivered a petition to the state Capitol Thursday calling on the state to enact statewide COVID-19 protocols for schools or transition entirely to remote learning until midJanuary.

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Representatives of the unions gathered for a press conference on the North steps of the Capitol Building. They unfurled a long list of signatures from more than 14,000 education employees, who had signed the petition. The list, which stretched about 20 feet down the steps, didn’t last long.

Within seconds a cold gust of wind tore it from the stairs and ripped it into pieces.

The teachers persevered. They called on the state to enforce consistent safety protocols across Connecticut schools.

Mary Yordon, president of the Norwalk federation of teachers and vice president of the American Federation of Teachers Connecticut, called the petition an “unfortunate last resort.” She said no one was “pleased or satisfied” with having signed it but the document represented the interest of educators who face unacceptable risks.

Although districts across the state used remote learning at the beginning of the pandemic, many have struggled to maintain either in-person learning or a hybrid of both models this fall.

Jeff Leake, president of the Connecticut Education Association, said educators

who have continued to teach in person have done so at great risk to themselves and their families. Teachers in many districts work amidst coronavirus outbreaks and unsafe working conditions, he said.

“With surging infection rates and vaccines for the general public not available until after the new year, the state must shift to full-time remote learning until at least mid-January to ensure that in-person learning is a safe strategy for our students and our teachers not an experiment,” Leake said.

Gov. Ned Lamont has made maintaining in-person learning, especially for younger students, a high priority. He often suggests that wearing a mask in a third-grade classroom is one of the safer places to be during the pandemic.

The governor’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday. But the educators at the press conference bristled at the suggestion that classrooms are a safe place to be as infections swell across the state.

As of Wednesday, the state’s infection rate stood at 7.56% and 1,262 people were hospitalized with the virus. The state reported 43 COVID-related deaths on Wednesday.

Cynthia Ross-Zweig, Paraeducator Council president of CSEA SEIU Local 2001, said the Centers for Disease Control updated its guidance last month and now considers in-person learning to be a higher risk activity than it was previously considered.

“Every time the governor claims that we

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Shellye Davis, co-president of the Hartford Federation of Paraeducators, and Stacie Harris-Byrdsong, president of AFSCME Local 3194 CREC paraprofessionals, unfurl a list of educators who signed the petition

are safe he loses support and confidence from our members and their students. If schools are safe, then let me ask you this: why are we constantly quarantining due to infections and exposures?”

During a press briefing later on Thursday, Lamont said the state has had a “clear set of guidance and rules” since schools reopened. He said the overwhelming majority of schools have adhered to the guidance and the state Education Department has worked to address “outliers.”

Lamont urged that schools stay open if

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possible, saying in-person learning was especially important given the “isolation and stress” people have gone through during the pandemic.

“I’d just say to the teachers, we’ve got what is it? Eight? Ten days left in this school year? I would say we’re doing everything we can to keep you safe,” the governor said.

“Your public health and safety is of paramount importance to us and I’m doing everything I can to keep you safe,” he said.

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - Deceber 16, 2020 - December 22, 2020

Horns Blare, Then Silent Night Shines

by LAURA GLESBY

New Haven I ndependent

Drivers honked to protest Yale. Marchers chanted and claimed the street. A boxedin bus driver yelled his own protest and ended up in a rush-hour stand-off. Other drivers slipped by ferrying menorahs.

It ended with a hushed tree-lighting to launch the official Christmas shopping season.

It was in some ways just another night in New Haven Thursday.

And in others, a unique melding of the city’s vibrant social-justice, transit, religious, and civic-booster traditions inflected by a pandemic.

Nightfall Thursday brought the beginning of the eight-day Hanukkah holiday, the annual lighting of the Christmas tree of the Green, and a two-part protest —a caravan from Long Wharf to downtown, which met up with a march through the streets.

Fifty protesters, led by immigrant rights and racial justice organizations Unidad Latina en Acción and Black and Brown United in Action, participated in the caravan and march to call on Yale to share more resources with New Haven communities. They advocated for the university to contribute the taxes it has been exempt from paying for its academic buildings per the state’s charter; provide empty housing space for people in need of a place to live; and hire more New Haven residents.

The demands echoed those raised recently

by Yale union activists, students, and the mayor himself, as the pandemic ravages city finances and Yale emerges with a budgetary surplus.

The protesters took to the road on Chapel Street. Car drivers took a detour via High Street. The driver of the 243a bus couldn’t, because his vehicle can’t clear a Yale University Art Gallery overpass “F your protest!” the bus driver was heard yelling at the crowd.

That failed to budge the marchers.

“We would have let them pass,” protester D’Juan Eastman explained. But after the driver’s comment, which multiple protesters attested to, the rest of the crowd flooded the street with bold signs and determined chants.

“Whose streets?” called out protest organizer Luis Ramirez.

“Our streets!” the crowd yelled back.

After about 20 minutes, passengers on the bus eventually spoke to the protesters. According to Eastman, the riders said they disagreed with the bus driver, but many were traveling home after an exhausting workday and just wanted to pass through.

The group stepped aside from the road. A few people cheered.

The march circled around Chapel Street, Elm Street, and the New Haven Green, veering back and forth between the sidewalk and the middle of the road.

The protesters’ presence in the streets was

symbolic. Ramirez recounted through a bullhorn that Yale had purchased High and Wall Streets from the city for $3 million in 2013.

“These streets belong to the community.

They belong to us,” he said.

The crowd echoed call and response chants: “¡El pueblo unido, jamás será vencido!”

A second caravan was taking place at the same time: From New Haven’s Orthodox Jewish community, celebrating the first night of Hanukkah. The protesters’ voices occasionally melded with Hanukkah music blasting from Chabad-owned cars, the roofs of which displayed bright electric menorahs for the first night of the Jewish holiday.

The march was Career High School student Yisen Contreras’ first protest with ULA. Contreras drove for most of the protest with her family in their car, before joining the protesters on foot at the end.

“It’s not fair,” she said of Yale’s relationship with New Haven. “They don’t have to pay taxes, and we do.”

Nayeli Garcia, who co-organized the protest, argued that Yale’s annual $12.5 million voluntary contribution in lieu of taxes to the city isn’t enough compared with its $31.1 billion endowment. (Yale argues that it donates more money to its host city than peer institutions do and helps New Haven in many other ways, too.)

Wilbur Cross student Dave Cruz-Busta-

mante, an activist involved with Sunrise New Haven and Citywide Youth Coalition, rode up to Thursday’s march on a bright red bicycle. He said he was protesting as a lifelong city resident who grew up in Fair Haven. “You just realize there’s this giant divide” between the city and the university, he said. He named police brutality and gentrification as two issues that Yale has perpetuated.

Marchers wove in between city buses and gothic university buildings, over the bright yellow Black Lives Matter street mural that decorates Temple Street, side by side with Chabad cars spreading Ha-

nukkah joy.

After the protest eventually dissipated, a cluster of people gathered quietly amid the darkness around the new Christmas tree on the New Haven Green, waiting for the city’s annual holiday tree lighting ceremony.

Usually big, boisterous crowds accompany the annual lighting of the Xmas tree (which the city officially calls a “holiday” tree).

This year’s ritual was devoid of a formal in-person public celebration (and, unfortunately, of llamas) because of the Covid-19 Con’t on page 18

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Learn more at cfgnh.org/sblp or contact: Jennifer Glover-Keller: 203-777-7063 | jglover@cfgnh.org Arthur Thomas: 203-974-1651 | athomas@cfgnh.org

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - December 16, 2020 - December 22, 2020

NO GOING BACK

by Oscar Blayton It is not unfair to say that Presidentelect Joe Biden misappropriated the moral authority of the progressive movement in America to win the White House.

The voters who joined forces to rid our nation of a vile cancer symptomatic of our body politic being riddled with the disease of white supremacy were not harmonious in their vision for America’s future. Self-identified moderates and conservatives who were sick of Trump were content to vote to re-set the country on its slow track to a community for the common good. Progressives, on the other hand, still seek to cure the nation of the illness of white supremacy and push forward with all deliberate speed towards a society that values all human life as well as the planet on which we live.

While progressives, moderates and some conservatives made common cause to save this nation, progressives must stay true to their values.

During the campaign, Biden paid lip service to some progressive ideas in order to garner enough votes to defeat the mad king of Trumpland and end his reign of bigotry and hatred. But since the election, Biden’s conservative slip has been showing, metaphorically, and he has ceased to be as meticulous about appearing to be someone who wants to move the country forward. “Just plain Joe” wants to take us back to the way things were before Trump. But the way things were before Trump is what led to Trump in the first place. Trump did not create Trump’s America. He just recognized that this country is filthy with his kind of people and exploited that fact. Going back to the way things were will deliver us into the hands of another Trump in very short order.

We must recognize the fact that a huge portion of America pines for a “Leave It to Beaver” version of a country where June Cleaver vacuums the house in her pearls and high heels while dinner is in the oven in anticipation of the arrival of the master of the house. But viewers of this American fantasy would be hard-pressed to recall seeing a Black person or an Asian or a Native American on that program, let alone a Muslim or someone with

physical or mental disabilities.

Too many white Americans are wrapped in a comfortable gauze of white exceptionalism and exclusivity and must push out of their privileged cocoons if they are to enter into the warm, life-giving sunlight that is our global humanity. Their avaricious hoarding of the world’s resources to the detriment of all others harms us as a people within the larger community.

“America First” has never meant anything other than “We will do whatever it takes to get what we want and whatever is left over can be shared by the rest.”

We must not go back to the way things were. We must not go back to our painful past where police murders of people of color went unnoticed by public officials and news media.

We must not go back to a time when abusive behavior towards women and sexual assaults were normalized as unfortunate embarrassments that are the price of patriarchy.

We must push forward to an era where Black and brown crime is not viewed as deserving of more punishment than white crime. We must go forward to an America where politicians do not equate justice movements with hate groups and argue that they should be treated in the same manner.

Joe Biden will become president of the United States on Jan. 20, 2021, and as citizens and residents we must do everything we can to help him move the nation forward. But we also must do all we can to prevent him from taking us back to where we do not want to go.

It will not be easy to cure this nation of its ills. The majority of white voters voted for Trump in 2020 knowing him to be a racist, xenophobic bigot. But, as people of color, we have allies in millions of right-thinking white Americans who know what this country can be. And together we can provide the cure.

We need progressive politicians if we are to make progress. We need progressive candidates if we are to have progressive politicians. And we must think progressively and proactively if we are to find, promote and elect progressive candidates.

Moving America forward is not in the hands of any politician. It is in the hands of the American voters, the American people – the people who look back at us in our mirrors.

Oscar H. Blayton is a former Marine Corps combat pilot and human rights activist who practices law in Virginia.

Report Faults DOC for PPE Use, Spacing of Bunks

by Lisa Backus Ct. News junkie

The state Department of Correction needs to implement more social distancing in dorms including moving bunks farther apart to protect inmates from spreading COVID-19, according to a report issued Wednesday by the panel charged with examining how the agency is handling the pandemic.

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The court-ordered panel of five individuals wants to continue its work until at least March based on the findings detailed in its first report, the document said.

“We are reviewing the report with the DOC to assess the recommendations of the panel,” said Elizabeth Benton, a spokesperson for the attorney general’s office, which was party to the court-ordered agreement. “We agree with the panel that it is in everyone’s best interest to extend the agreement until March 21, 2021.”

The DOC, for the most part, is in compliance with a settlement crafted by the American Civil Liberties Union of Connecticut to end a lawsuit against Gov. Ned Lamont and former DOC Commissioner Rollin Cook, the report said.

But there was at least one glaring problem, according to Dan Barrett, Legal Director of the CT ACLU. “The thing that stood out to me is that there is one clear danger zone and that’s the folks in dormitories,” Barrett said.

The same issue that dormitory-style living in prisons placed inmates at a higher risk for contracting COVID-19 was brought up by the DOC’s Chief Medical Officer Byron Kennedy in a letter he recently coauthored on risk factors in prisons.

“Why aren’t they doing the obvious?”

Barrett said.

The CT ACLU is also concerned that if the panel remains past the Dec. 31 deadline when the settlement ends, the DOC will expect modified conditions to give their consent to the deal, Barrett said.

“Both sides would want the panel to stick around, but the question is at what price for the plaintiffs,” he said.

The DOC welcomed the creation of the panel which acts as a review board to help shape the agency’s policies regarding the pandemic, said Acting DOC Commissioner Angel Quiros.

“I was in support of the establishment of a monitoring panel as we negotiated an agreement with the ACLU. The panel provides for an external assessment with recommendations that will help guide our response plan,” Quiros said. “It’s nice to see where we are meeting the expectations, but I also know there is always room for improvement and with the help of the panel recommendations, we can implement corrective action. I am especially pleased to see that the panel’s report made note of the facility cleanliness and maskwearing of staff and inmates, in addition to a solid practice for quarantine and medical

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isolation.”

The release of the report comes as the DOC has been dealing with a surge of COVID-19 cases that included the deaths of two inmates in the span of three days last week. In all, 10 Connecticut inmates have died and 2,000 have tested positive for COVID-19 with at least 300 currently either in isolation or in treatment for the virus.

The panel is made up of experts in the field of corrections and correctional healthcare chosen by the CT ACLU and attorneys representing the state in the lawsuit.

Based on site visits at Osborn Correctional Institution, Robinson Correctional Institution, MacDougall-Walker Correctional Institution and Hartford Correctional Center in late October and mid-November, the panel’s findings ranged from large systemic issues to mundane matters.

The report found that most correction officers, other staff and inmates are wearing masks and are adhering to cleaning required by the agreement, the report said.

But some staff were wearing personal protective equipment incorrectly and few staff members were fitted for N95 masks, which offer a higher level of protection than cloth or surgical masks when dealing with COVID positive inmates, the report said.

Social distancing according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines “appears sparsely implemented” even though several dorm areas in multiple facilities “showed ample room for more social distancing of bunks than was being practiced,” the panel said.

Some social distancing concerns already have been addressed, according to Quiros.

“One example of the Department’s efforts is evident at the Osborn facility where we completely reconfigured the bunks and electrical outlets within a dorm in order to increase spacing,” Quiros said.

“Additionally, thanks in part to our focus

on discretionary releases, Willard-Cybulski Correctional Institution’s population dropped by 77% since March, with 735 less people at that location,” he added.

“During the same time period the Radgowski population dropped by 47% with 211 less people, and Carl Robinson’s population dropped by 40% with 526 fewer people at that location.”

The panel concluded that the DOC does have a good handle on quarantining new admissions to the prisons and testing new arrivals before and after their period of isolation; on medical evaluation of sick inmates who are cleared to return to their locations; and on providing isolation space for inmates who test positive.

The agency is also cleaning properly and educating staff and inmates on proper cleaning techniques, the findings said.

But the panel recommended that more staff be fitted for N95 masks, including those with facial hair who are hard to fit.

It also wants staff and supervisors to be trained in how to maximize social distancing in the housing areas.

The agency should also use common areas to increase out-of-cell time and create a system that allows staff to recognize which inmates in quarantine are at high risk for complications if they contract COVID-19 without revealing medical information that is considered private, the panel said.

It recommended more screening among medically vulnerable individuals who are housed in cell blocks. The panel’s report said that inmates who are on cleaning details in areas where individuals with COVID-19 are being housed should be fitted for N95 masks and given training in the use of PPE. The panel is also recommending “town halls” to educate inmates and staff on facility COVID protocols and the creation of an “inmate liaison” committee. Other recommendations include better signage Con’t on page 08

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - Deceber 16, 2020 - December 22, 2020

OneTen, a Coalition of Major Corporations, Vows to Hire 1 Million African Americans in High-Paying Jobs

By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent

OneTen, a coalition of leading executives, said it would work to hire 1 million African Americans into family-sustaining jobs with advancement opportunities over the next decade.

The coalition joined forces to upskill, employ, and advance the hires as a method to chip away at the economic barriers plaguing African Americans.

“This is a moment in time for Americans to move past our divisions to come together and reach our full potential as a nation,” Ken Frazier, the chairman and CEO of Merck and a OneTen founder stated.

“Our country’s workforce of the future will be an increasingly diverse one,” Frazier proclaimed.

“Through the creation of one million jobs for Black Americans over the next ten years, OneTen has the potential to address persistent inter-generational gaps in opportunity and wealth,” Frazier remarked further.

In addition to Frazier, other OneTen founders include Ken Chenault, chairman and managing director of General Catalyst and former chairman and CEO of American Express; Charles Phillips, the managing partner of Recognize and chairman of the Black Economic Alliance; Ginni Rometty, executive chairman and former CEO of IBM; Kevin Sharer, a former chairman and CEO of Amgen and former faculty member at Harvard Business School.

Each of the founders serves on the Board of OneTen – Frazier and Rometty serve as co-chairs.

“In this moment when all Americans share an aspiration for greater economic opportunity, leading executives and employers across industries are taking action to make a meaningful, measurable and lasting systemic impact on racial and economic justice and to create a more equitable society,” the founders noted in a news release.

OneTen connects employers with talent

partners, leading non-profits, and other skill-credentialing organizations that support diverse talent development.

“OneTen links our companies with the critical work we know we need to do to improve racial equity in America,” Rometty added.

“This will not only help our individual companies, but by removing structural barriers that have disproportionately hindered Black Americans from joining the middle-class, it will also help lift all Americans,” Rometty continued.

OneTen members include Accenture, ADP, Allstate, American Express, Amgen, Aon, AT&T, Bain & Company, Bank of America, Cargill, Caterpillar, Cisco, Cleveland Clinic, Comcast, Deloitte, Delta Air Lines, Eli Lilly, General Motors, HP Inc., Humana, IBM, Illinois Tool Works, Intermountain Healthcare, Johnson & Johnson, Lowe’s, Medtronic, Merck, Nike, Nordstrom, PepsiCo, Roper Technologies, Stryker, Target, Trane Technologies, Verizon, Walmart and Whirlpool Corporation.

The organization noted that it’s looking forward to welcoming additional members, including small and medium-sized businesses, which power the majority of the U.S. economy.

In a statement, the founders pledged that OneTen would work with employers, education partners, and upskilling partners to design educational and employment solutions.

Together, these partners will better develop, retain, and advance diverse and underrepresented talent, more broadly, but with an explicit commitment to hire or promote Black Americans without four-year degrees, the founders added.

OneTen’s role in the talent ecosystem will be local, reflecting the workforce development landscape, and focus on reducing exclusionary hiring practices, identifying robust and new talent sources, and ensuring that adequate and equitable career pathways for advancement exist.

In January 2021, the organization will begin working with partner employers to improve workplace inclusivity practices and will connect talent providers to partner employers shortly after that, the founders continued.

“By bringing together a coalition of key leaders and asking them to make longterm commitments, we have the ability to change employment practices and help break down systemic barriers opening the door to full participation in our economy,” Rometty said.

Dangerous Rhetoric + False Claims = Violence and Havoc in Cities Across America

By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent

President Donald Trump’s refusal to accept the results of the 2020 election and his and the Republican Party’s dangerous actions and rhetoric are now causing damage that might not easily be undone.

Led by the Proud Boys, whom Trump infamously asked to “stand back and stand by,” Pro-Trump demonstrators wreaked havoc on the nation’s capital over the weekend, clashing with counterdemonstrators at Black Lives Matter Plaza.

The result was several stabbings, at least 23 arrests, and the vandalizing of historic Black churches in Washington, D.C. Two police officers were reportedly injured and transported to a local hospital.

There were other demonstrations and unrest in cities around the nation as organizers of “Stop the Steal,” which reportedly is linked to pro-Trump operative Roger Stone, and church groups urged people to gather for “Jericho Marches.”

Protests also occurred in Georgia, a state where Trump’s campaign has sought to overturn President-Elect Joe Biden’s victory, and Mobile, Alabama.

In the Washington state capital of Olympia, local media reported that one person was shot and three arrested after clashes between pro-and anti-Trump protest

groups.

The Proud Boys clashed in all-out brawls near the White House, the Supreme Court, and Black Lives Matter Plaza, with D.C. Police using pepper spray to break up several melees.

Reuters reported that about 200 members of the Proud Boys, wearing combat fatigues and ballistic vests, flashed white nationalist hand signals while carrying helmets as they menaced people in the nation’s capital.

While flying to a college football game in New York, Trump directed the Marine One helicopter to fly over the protestors, where he basked in the cheers they heaped upon him.

“This is all because Donald Trump can’t accept defeat,” said Carol Gray, a Washington, D.C., resident who said she and her boyfriend were “heartbroken” to see Black Lives Matter banners ripped from churches and other sites by the Proud Boys.

“This is so dangerous for a United States President. It’s the bloodiest of all stains America has seen since Jim Crow and slavery for [Senate Majority Leader] Mitch McConnell and all of those Republicans who are backing Trump in his plot to overthrow the government and in his plot to destroy democracy,” Gray re-

marked.

Her boyfriend, Rashawn Hilton, agreed.

“As bad as 2020 has been, I don’t think anyone in this country, or around the world, would have ever thought they’d see an American President instigate what might eventually be a civil war,” Hilton offered.

At least 50 federal and state court rulings have upheld Biden’s victory. Most

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recently, the U.S. Supreme Court – which includes three Trump appointees – rejected a lawsuit filed by Texas and backed by Trump seeking to throw out voting results in four states.

That hasn’t stopped Trump and many in the GOP from falsely claiming the election was rigged or stolen. Many believe if Trump or GOP leaders would take a stand by refuting the false claims about the elec-

tion and denounce the Proud Boys and other violent groups, America could return to some political normalcy.

“Notice how quiet Senate GOPers are about their Proud Boys white supremacist terrorists trashing D.C. last night and causing chaos with fights, stabbings, and bare [bottoms] on display?” Singer Ricky Davila tweeted. “It’s who they are and who they represent.”

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - December 16, 2020 - December 22, 2020

Today’s Special: Arjun’s Vegetarian Manchurian

by BRIAN SLATTERY

New Haven I ndependent

Arjun Khadka, the head chef and one of the owners of Cumin India on Skiff Street in Hamden, laid out a spread of Cumin’s more popular dishes. Among them were well-known fare like chicken tikka masala and garlic naan.

But the restaurant is also a place to sample Indo-Chinese dishes, a lesser-known facet of Indian cuisine that combines the influences of India and its neighbor, China. Among the many Indo-Chinese offerings on the menu is vegetarian Manchurian — vegetable dumplings topped with a sauce that pulls its ingredients from across Asia and elsewhere, and reminds us that India, as vast as it is, is also connected inextricably with the wider world.

To make the vegetarian Manchurian dish on Cumin’s menu, Khadka begins by chopping an assortment of vegetables and then cooking them together with corn starch to make them into small dumplings. The base for the sauce is a mixture of ketchup, tomato puree, fresh tomatoes, and vinegar. This is cooked in vegetable oil together with a paste of ginger and Con’t on page 06

Spacing

to promote mask use and social distancing and to indicate designated isolation areas.

The panel also wants the DOC to track flu vaccinations among staff and noted that so far, few inmates have been vaccinated against the flu.

The panel did not specifically address a list of complaints that the DOC was not following COVID-19 protocols in accordance with the lawsuit settlement that the ALCU sent to state officials last month.

The work of the group was slated to end on Dec. 31 when the settlement agreement for the lawsuit ended. The panel was supposed to issue three monthly reports prior to disbanding. But the report issued Wednesday was the first that was completed and released.

The panel has indicated that they have future site visits planned at other prisons in December. They felt they should continue oversight until March as the pandemic is continuing and the DOC is preparing to vaccinate inmates for COVID-19.

Barrett said earlier in the week that any extension of the settlement would have to be by agreement of his organization and Tong’s office. Inmates are free to file another lawsuit on Jan. 1 if they are not satisfied with conditions whether or not the settlement agreement runs out, Barrett said.

“It’s not a surprise then they are visiting, so things tend to be clean,” Barrett said.

“The report is useful in terms of an overarching view. It’s our hope that the more facilities they visit, the more information we’ll have.”

BRIAN SLATTERY PHOTOS Owners Sukra Shrestha and Arjun Khadka, chef Krishna Paudel.

garlic, “until you get that color,” Khadka said, a rich, dark reddish-brown that looks as good as it tastes.

After that, he adds “a touch of soy sauce,” the unmistakable influence of Chinese cooking, and salt and pepper. The result is a taste of two vast countries rolled into one — and available for takeout or delivery.

Takeout and delivery orders will prove crucial to the ability of local restaurants like Cumin India to weather the pandemic during the coming months as Covid-19 cases climb and cold weather sets in.

Get an order of Indian and Indo-Chinese dishes for takeout or delivery by calling (203) 248-6464/6565 or ordering online.

Cumin India is open daily from 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Multinationalism is also reflected in Cumin’s history and ownership. Cumin has three owners: Khadka, who oversees the food itself; Ram Chaudhary, who came to the partnership with restaurant management experience; and Sukra Shrestha, who handles the business and administrative aspects.

Shrestha is from Nepal, which he described as “a very tiny country” between China and India, “like a sandwich.” In Nepal he worked with a variety of NGOs and the United Nations Volunteers program. He worked in Bangladesh for four years with volunteers from multiple countries. “That was a nice project,” he said.

It “coordinated poor people from all over the country, educated them,” and then helped them “find some resource, like seed money, to start their own business.”

The ultimate goal was to “make them selfreliant.”

He also did some traveling of his own.

One thing he learned, in visiting other places, is that “Indian food is so popular, everywhere you go.” He visited London and noticed the Indian restaurants were crowded — and entirely by Englishpeople. He visited the United States in 1996 as a tourist and liked it enough that he decided to stay. He was living in New York City when others in the Nepalese commu-

nity invited him to visit Connecticut, and he has been here ever since.

He got into the restaurant business because “there was no choice,” he said. He faced a problem common to immigrants to the United States. In Nepal, he had earned a masters’ degree, but “no matter

your qualifications, or where you graduated from, that will not work in America.

You have to start over again,” he said. He began working as a waiter and slowly worked his way up, learning about how the restaurant business functioned.

“I never dreamed that one day I would be owner of a restaurant, but it happened,” he said. He opened a restaurant in Orange in 2005, ran it for a year, and sold it. He met his business partners and they opened another restaurant and sold that, in 2014.

The three owners opened Cumin India in 2010. “Nepal and India are similar in culture, food, dress,” Shrestha said. “Even language.” The owners’ hunch that Americans would like Indian food as much as the English did was correct. “We have been crowded from Day 1,” Shrestha said.

The arrival of Covid-19, however, created plenty of problems. At first, Shrestha said, owners and employees were wary of each other — worried that they might get each other sick, or get a customer sick. The restaurant closed altogether for the first 20 days of the shutdown. Then “we had a meeting with our employees, and we decided to reopen” for takeout and delivery.

Indoor dining has remained closed.

“So far, it’s still good,” Shrestha said,

though “it’s not easy. The uncertainty is higher.” That said, the business partners opened another restaurant, Tika Indian Cuisine, on Washington Avenue in North Haven on Dec. 3. They are banking again on the American appetite for Indian food.

“The spices we use are good for health — cumin, garlic, onion, tomato, black peppers, turmeric,” he said. “It works like natural medicine.”

Khadka started cooking in the area at Darbar India in Branford, in 1994, helping build the then-recently opened restaurant’s business. He worked there for seven years.

After that he started his own business in Michigan. After that he went to work in the kitchen of a Hilton, where “I cooked all kinds of food,” he said. “I just wanted to learn more about food.”

Indo-Chinese cuisine has been a part of the Indian food landscape for two centuries. “China is right next door” to India, Khadka said, and Indo-Chinese food features noodle and fried rice dishes, dumplings, and other ingredients and cooking methods familiar to Chinese food. “We just use our Indian spices” to make them, Khadka said. In India, the cuisine is still developing as cooks figure out new ways to put the foods together.

OP-ED: Black Lives Matter responds to President Obama with the launch of the Snappy Slogan campaign

By Sentinel News Service The Black Lives Matter PAC responds to former President Barack Obama’s recent remarks about “losing people with snappy slogans” and formally announces the launch of the organization’s Snappy Slogan campaign. The campaign can be found at http://www.snappyslogan.com.

President Obama thinks you lose people with snappy slogans like #DefundThePolice. Our movement believes when leaders waste time criticizing a hashtag instead of talking about stopping the murders committed by law enforcement and white supremacists, we lose Black lives. If the former President is worried about whether #DefundThePolice is the right slogan, we must make it known that this is the type of leadership that is a part of the problem.

“Defunding the police is more than a slogan; it is a policy demand that has already resulted in legislative changes in cities across the U.S. and around the world,” says Melina Abdullah, a founder of Black Lives Matter Los Angeles. “Our call to defund the police and invest in Black communities is a well-researched approach to ending police brutality against Black people after decades of failed attempts at reform.” #DefundThePolice captures the energy and the collective consciousness of our movement. Hashtags and slogans did not start with #BlackLivesMatter or #DefundThePolice. Hashtags and slogans have been around for decades and used as tools for messaging and engaging in movements like ours.

Across the country, local officials have

8

been engaged to bring change to Black communities. Many cities have taken the lead in reducing police department budgets and officers; reallocating resources to community-based programs; removing officers from schools and public transportation systems; and, removing law enforcement as first responders for situations that are not life-threatening.

For more information about how to get involved with our Snappy Slogans campaign, visit www.snappyslogan.com/ About Black Lives Matter Political Action Committee: The Black Lives Matter PAC was created to elect progressive community leaders,

activists, and working-class candidates fighting for Black liberation. Our goal is to build on the power we earned by protesting in the streets and do more to help Black people make the connection from civil disobedience to civic action. We intend to widen the path to elected office for candidates who will help us achieve key policy and political wins. For more information on BLM PAC, visit www.blacklivesmatterpac.vote/ The post Black Lives Matter responds to President Obama with the launch of the Snappy Slogan campaign appeared first on Los Angeles Sentinel.

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - Deceber 16, 2020 - December 22, 2020

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - December 16, 2020 - December 22, 2020

President-Elect Joe Biden Announces Key Members of Health Team

WASHINGTON – President-elect Joe Biden announced key nominations and appointments of his health team, including Xavier Becerra, Secretary of Health and Human Services; Dr. Vivek Murthy, Surgeon General; Dr. Rochelle Walensky, Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Dr. Marcella NunezSmith, COVID-19 Equity Task Force Chair; Dr. Anthony Fauci, Chief Medical Adviser to the President on COVID-19, who will also continue in his role as Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases; and Jeff Zients, Coordinator of the COVID-19 Response and Counselor to the President. In addition, former White House and Pentagon senior Advisor Natalie Quillian will serve as Deputy Coordinator of the COVID-19 Response.

This is a team that looks like America and brings together leaders with deep experience in public health, government, and crisis management. They are experts in their fields who will restore public trust in the pandemic response by leading with facts, science, integrity, and a laser-focus on bringing COVID-19 under control.

Together, they will advise President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Harris on implementing a whole-of-government response to surge testing and tracing to slow the spread of the virus, protect frontline workers, and ensure the safe and efficient delivery of treatments and vaccines at no cost to the American people. And, they will help fulfill the President-elect’s vision of making health care a right — not a privilege — for all Americans, building on the Affordable Care Act to lower health care costs and tackle prescription drug costs.

President-elect Joe Biden said, “This trusted and accomplished team of leaders will bring the highest level of integrity, scientific rigor, and crisis-management experience to one of the toughest challenges America has ever faced — getting the pandemic under control so that the American people can get back to work, back to their lives, and back to their loved ones. This team of world-class medical experts and public servants will be ready on day one to mobilize every resource of the federal government to expand testing and masking, oversee the safe, equitable, and free distribution of treatments and vaccines, re-open schools and businesses safely, lower prescription drug and other health costs and expand affordable health care to all Americans, and rally the country and restore the belief that there is nothing beyond America’s capacity if we do it together.”

Vice President-elect Kamala Harris said, “Containing this coronavirus pandemic and opening our economy responsibly require listening to experts and leaders like the ones we are bringing together on this health care team. They are some of America’s top physicians, public health experts, and crisis-tested public servants, and they reflect the very best of our nation.

This is the team that the American people need and deserve to make quality, afford-

Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith, one of the country’s foremost experts on health care disparities, will serve as the COVID-19 Equity Task Force Chair.

Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith, one of the country’s foremost experts on health care disparities, will serve as the COVID-19 Equity Task Force Chair.

able health care available to all and to help make sure safe and effective vaccines — as well as testing and treatment — are free and equitably distributed. President-elect Biden and I will work closely with this team to marshal the full resources and capabilities of the United States of America to save lives, contain this pandemic, and build better preparedness for future pandemics and other health threats.”

This diverse and experienced slate of nominations and appointments includes some of the nation’s most accomplished problem-solving leaders in crisis management and public health: • Xavier Becerra, the Attorney General of California and a long-time champion of expanding access to health care, is nominated to serve as Secretary of Health and Human Services. A former member of Congress who helped drive passage of the Affordable Care Act, Becerra led the defense of the law in the Supreme Court last month. If confirmed, Becerra will be the first Latino to lead the Department of Health and Human Services.

• Vivek Murthy, a distinguished physician,

research scientist, and former Vice Admiral in the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, is nominated to serve as Surgeon General of the United States.

He was previously confirmed by the Senate to serve in the same capacity, holding the post as ‘America’s Doctor’ between 2014 and 2017. A trusted national voice on health issues and a long-time advisor to President-elect Biden, he currently serves as co-chair of the President-elect’s COVID-19 transition Advisory Board.

• Rochelle Walensky, a leading expert on virus testing, prevention, and treatment, is nominated to serve as Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. She has been on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic response in Massachusetts, serving as Chief of Infectious Diseases at Massachusetts General Hospital and a Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School.

• Marcella Nunez-Smith, one of the country’s foremost experts on health care disparities, will serve as the COVID-19 Equity Task Force Chair. An Associate Professor of Medicine, Public Health, and

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Management at the Yale School of Medicine, she is the founding director of Yale’s Equity Research and Innovation Center and co-chair of the President-elect’s COVID-19 Transition Advisory Board. Dr. Nunez-Smith will advise the Presidentelect on a whole-of-government effort to reduce COVID-19 disparities in response, care, and treatment, including racial and ethnic disparities.

• Anthony Fauci, the nation’s preeminent expert on infectious diseases and an adviser to six U.S. presidents, will serve as Chief Medical Adviser on COVID-19 to the President and continue in his role as Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Among the most trusted figures in the country throughout the pandemic and for decades prior, Dr. Fauci will remain an essential voice both in informing the public about health risks and safety measures and in helping the scientific community, the Biden-Harris administration, and local officials overcome the COVID-19 pandemic.

• JeffZients, an accomplished public ser-

vant widely known for his extraordinary track record successfully managing large and complex initiatives, will serve as Coordinator of the COVID-19 Response and Counselor to the President. Zients previously earned broad acclaim for his leadership of the 2013 HealthCare.gov tech surge and his oversight of the ‘Cash for Clunkers’ fuel-efficiency program. Zients will advise the president-elect on the implementation of the federal government’s COVID response, including managing safe and equitable vaccine distribution, the pandemic supply chain, and coordination across federal agencies and state and local governments.

• Natalie Quillianwill serve as Deputy Coordinator of the COVID-19 Response.

Quillian, a national security expert and former White House and Pentagon senior advisor, played an instrumental role in coordinating the Obama-Biden administration’s interagency response to the opioid epidemic.

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - Deceber 16, 2020 - December 22, 2020

African American Nurse first to Receive COVID Vaccine

By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent

of employee health services at Northwell Health.

Meet the first American recipient of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine.

Cuomo remarked to Lindsay, “You didn’t flinch.”

Lindsay said she hopes to instill public confidence that the vaccine is safe.

“I feel hopeful today, relieved. I feel like healing is coming,” Lindsay exclaimed.

Pfizer’s vaccine was expected to arrive via Federal Express and UPS freight and ground transportation at 145 locations across all 50 states in the U.S. Monday morning.

The vaccine was authorized for emergency use in the U.S. by the Food and Drug Administration. It’s estimated that about 2.9 million doses of the coronavirus vaccine will be distributed this week in the first vaccine rollout phase.

High-risk populations like healthcare workers and nursing home staff and residents in the U.S. will be prioritized to receive the landmark vaccine.

“I hope this marks the beginning of the end of a very painful time in our history.

We’re in a pandemic, so we all need to do our part to put an end to the pandemic,” Lindsay said.

Queens, New York — Critical care nurse Sandra Lindsay received the first dose of the two-shot vaccine at about 9:20 a.m.

EST on Monday, December 14.

Medical officials administered the dose on camera as New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and others watched on a livestream.

“The person who is going to take the first vaccine in the state of New York, maybe the first vaccine shot in the United States,” Cuomo said of Lindsay as she sat in a chair ahead of receiving the historic jab.

“This vaccine is exciting because I believe this is the weapon that will end the war,” the governor said. “It is the beginning of the last chapter of the book, but now we just have to do it. The vaccine doesn’t work if it’s in the vial. We’re here to watch you take the first shot.”

Lindsay, who works at Long Island Jewish Medical Center, proclaimed, “I feel great,” after receiving the injection from Dr. Michelle Chester, the director

Critical care nurse Sandra Lindsay received the first dose of the two-shot vaccine at about 9:20 a.m. EST on Monday, December 14

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - December 16, 2020 - December 22, 2020

Distance Learning, COVID-19 Pose Challenges to Educators, Administrators and Parents

By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent In Southeast Los Angeles’s most underresourced and predominately diverse neighborhoods of Compton, Lynwood, and Bellflower, David Anderson has served as an educator in the expanding learning and youth development space for more than 15 years.

The General Manager of Think Together’s Southeast Los Angeles region, Anderson leads a team of role models helping students through enrichment curriculum in the area.

Anderson has passionately advocated for the education equity needed in the public school system, noting that it’s a requirement to have successful college and posteducation careers.

This year, Anderson and his team have served more than 17,000 students in both a distance learning and in-person support capacity, with students of color comprising nearly 84 percent.

Anderson told Black Press USA that students, parents, teachers, and administrators of color all face various levels of challenges during the coronavirus pandemic.

“The biggest challenge with many of the students of color we serve is engagement. Students are faced with inefficient resources, little excitement to learn, and are born without being surrounded by role models and motivations which lead a child to dream, work hard and be successful,” Anderson noted.

He said the students his team serves are primarily students of color, born without choices and not enlightened to dream.

“Parents of the students of color are often challenged to provide for their children without the resources and support they need for themselves,” Anderson relayed.

“These parents have a lack of resources, a lack of time for mental and physical health, and limited time for communication and social-emotional support of their children. That yields an unhealthy and fatigued environment that takes the energy and will to continue to work hard and make it with only hope alone. It is next to

impossible for a parent to progress and be their child’s support and motivation while exhausted and without the belief that continuing to work even harder can improve the lives of themselves and their family.”

Schools provide students with a haven for learning.

At the same time, teachers and administrators work together to find innovative ways in-person and virtually to make learning fun and help students support students’ academic trajectory and provide enrichment opportunities that students of color are not exposed to and cannot afford, Anderson offered further.

“Our students are not paying $3,000 to $15,000 to learn teamwork and confidence building through activities such as E-sports, coding, sailing, and photogra-

phy. Nor are these students of color able to afford a sports trainer for the student to develop mastery in a sport to be competitive at a young age truly,” Anderson said.

“Without school, these students are not often exposed to financial literacy nor the growing unlimited STEM and tech careers that a child may choose to pursue if their parents or family worked in these industries,” he added.

Anderson continued: “It is at school where students of color learn civic engagement, leadership, entrepreneurship, and how to create generational change. Through adversity, teachers and administrators of color especially have the mantle of leadership to build a system of support for current students to rise, have successful careers and lives, and

those students as adults may lay a framework for the next generation of students to be born into a life with choices.

“The next generation of students are to be born exposed to role models at home, enlightened to subjects and careers they may become passionate about, have goals, the will, and belief in themselves to work hard and make their dreams a reality.”

The educator also noted that students of color and educators still face another barrier: balance.

“Regardless of your work and school environment, everyone is facing challenges.

If you are fortunate to have a job still, you may be working and teaching from home.

If you are a parent, or caregiver, working from home is accompanied by the challenge of balancing home and work responsibilities,” Anderson stated.

He concluded: “There are heroes in this work deemed essential. These essential persons have the responsibility of being extra cautious because whether or not they have dependents, their health supports others’ wellbeing. Beyond balancing home, work, and responsibilities are the balance and performing at high levels versus simply accomplishing tasks.

“Folks currently have the will; however, they often do not have the time nor the energy to be the daily highest performer and greatest achiever had they not had to balance.

“For sustainability, mental and physical health, it is vital to balance achieving at the highest level with ensuring impact and success and simply being our best in a given moment. Your best is enough.”

Black Women Founders Launch New Online Directory That Connects People of Color with Therapists of Color

By BlackNew.com

Baltimore, MD — Lisa Savage and Kim Knight, the founders of Clinicians of Color, LLC, have unveiled an online mental health directory that connects consumers of color with therapists of color.

The Clinicians of Color directory targets the Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) community to provide therapeutic resources. The guide also assists therapists of color in developing and growing private practices.

“The main purpose of this directory is to connect consumers with therapists who look like them,” says Lisa. “We designed it with a specific goal in mind – to reduce the disparities inherent in the mental

health system, which often disproportionately ignores issues faced by the BIPOC community. If we don’t work to decrease the inequities, who will?”

Kim Knight adds: “Our directory is comprised of clinicians who have a variety of racial and ethnic backgrounds and who are well-versed in current training and treatment styles. They understand the added pressures faced by members of the BIPOC community, especially in today’s pandemic and racially-charged environment. We want to bridge the gap between the need for services and the lack of access for people who most need services.”

The online directory is free of charge, and lists 14,000 therapists from around the U.S. that specialize in mental health

services and provides educational information on a variety of topics related to mental health.

To access the directory, visit CliniciansofColor.org About Clinicians of Color, LLC Clinicians of Color is an online community for Black and Brown therapists. With more than 14,000 members, the community provides a variety of services, including consulting and training for mental health professionals to grow their private practice. Additionally, Clinicians of Color is involved in a number of advocacy efforts to decrease inequities in mental health systems.

12

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - Deceber 16, 2020 - December 22, 2020

Meharry Medical College Announces Collaboration with University of Memphis and Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare for More Doctors of Color

By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent In Southeast Los Angeles’s most underresourced and predominately diverse neighborhoods of Compton, Lynwood, and Bellflower, David Anderson has served as an educator in the expanding learning and youth development space for more than 15 years.

The General Manager of Think Together’s Southeast Los Angeles region, Anderson leads a team of role models helping students through enrichment curriculum in the area.

Anderson has passionately advocated for the education equity needed in the public school system, noting that it’s a requirement to have successful college and posteducation careers.

This year, Anderson and his team have served more than 17,000 students in both a distance learning and in-person support capacity, with students of color comprising nearly 84 percent.

Anderson told Black Press USA that students, parents, teachers, and administrators of color all face various levels of challenges during the coronavirus pandemic.

“The biggest challenge with many of the students of color we serve is engagement. Students are faced with inefficient resources, little excitement to learn, and are born without being surrounded by role models and motivations which lead a child to dream, work hard and be successful,” Anderson noted.

He said the students his team serves are primarily students of color, born without choices and not enlightened to dream.

“Parents of the students of color are often challenged to provide for their children without the resources and support they need for themselves,” Anderson relayed.

“These parents have a lack of resources, a lack of time for mental and physical health, and limited time for communication and social-emotional support of their children. That yields an unhealthy and fatigued environment that takes the energy and will to continue to work hard and make it with only hope alone. It is next to impossible for a parent to progress and be their child’s support and motivation while exhausted and without the belief that continuing to work even harder can improve the lives of themselves and their family.”

lightened to subjects and careers they may become passionate about, have goals, the will, and belief in themselves to work hard and make their dreams a reality.”

The educator also noted that students of color and educators still face another barrier: balance.

“Regardless of your work and school environment, everyone is facing challenges.

If you are fortunate to have a job still, you may be working and teaching from home.

If you are a parent, or caregiver, working from home is accompanied by the challenge of balancing home and work responsibilities,” Anderson stated.

Schools provide students with a haven for learning.

At the same time, teachers and administrators work together to find innovative ways in-person and virtually to make learning fun and help students support students’ academic trajectory and provide enrichment opportunities that students of color are not exposed to and cannot afford, Anderson offered further.

“Our students are not paying $3,000 to $15,000 to learn teamwork and confidence building through activities such as E-sports, coding, sailing, and photography. Nor are these students of color able

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to afford a sports trainer for the student to develop mastery in a sport to be competitive at a young age truly,” Anderson said.

“Without school, these students are not often exposed to financial literacy nor the growing unlimited STEM and tech careers that a child may choose to pursue if their parents or family worked in these industries,” he added.

Anderson continued: “It is at school where students of color

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“The next generation of students are to be born exposed to role models at home, en-

He concluded: “There are heroes in this work deemed essential. These essential persons have the responsibility of being extra cautious because whether or not they have dependents, their health supports others’ wellbeing. Beyond balancing home, work, and responsibilities are the balance and performing at high levels versus simply accomplishing tasks.

“Folks currently have the will; however, they often do not have the time nor the energy to be the daily highest performer and greatest achiever had they not had to balance.

“For sustainability, mental and physical health, it is vital to balance achieving at the highest level with ensuring impact and success and simply being our best in a given moment. Your best is enough.”

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Fidelity Capital Markets 800-544-5372

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Mesirow Financial, Inc. 800-558-7290

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13

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - December 16, 2020 - December 22, 2020

THE BLERDBINDER: AfroComicCon 2020 Black Nerds of the World, This Con’s for You!

By Noah Washington, NNPA Newswire Contributor

The Blerd Binder covers nerdy news for the Black nerds of the world. We welcome you to take the journey with us as we talk about subjects ranging from movies to music to tech to toys.

If you’re a Blerd (Black nerd) that’s been living in Oakland, California for the past few years, your living space would have to be located under a rock for you to have not heard of the area’s seminal annual event for Black nerds: AfroComicCon (www.afrocomiccon.com).

The annual con, which was co-founded

by Michael James and Hally BellahGuther, explores themes that go far beyond comics to include music, film, science, technology, gaming and writing.

“2020 has been a long strange journey for everyone. As a live event organizer, the learning curve was steep and our community has suffered but will not be deterred, which is why we made it happen virtually,” said AfroComicCon Co-Founder Hally Bellah-Guther.

As a result of the pandemic, planning for this year’s AfroComicCon event was shifted away from a physical space to the virtual space — which turned out to be a good thing! The change in venue not only meant that more people could attend and share in the experience, but it also enabled organizers and planners to engage a wider

array of participants (nobody had to leave the comfort of their home).

Another tremendous advantage that online cons present is that the content, once it’s made available, remains accessible forever — or as long as it’s owners consent to do so.

With approximately 60 panels and a film festival that viewers were able to engage with across a number of channels and platforms, there is more content to see than a typical visitor can consumer in one day.

While the primary preferred destination for visitors is the AfroComicCon website at afrocomiccon.org, a partnership with the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) meant that content can also be accessed via the NNPA’s BlackPressUSA’s YouTube page (BlackPressUSA TV) and on the YouTube and Instagram pages of AfroComicCon. With so much to offer to visitors, AfroComicCon panels are organized according to one or more of eight categories: Writing, Gaming, Comic Book, Animation, FLASH (fit like a superhero) Hollywood Production, Social Justice and Special Sessions.

It’s all good stuff but if you’re like The Blerdbinder and appreciate helpful hints to point you in the direction of AfroComicCon gold, fear not fellow traveler. The panels are all pre-recorded sessions. So, if you need to pause something you’re

watching, you can do so and resume from where you left off.

Start with these standouts: “Entrepreneurial Journey into Animation, Advertising, Design, And Tech” — The motivation, the ways and the means to get there may be varied but is there a

Black-Owned Greeting Card Brand Now Offers In-Store Pickup at Walgreens

By BlackNews.com

Nationwide — Dr. Dionne Mahaffey, founder of Culture Greetings, a womanled and Black-owned greeting card company, announces the launch of a new print-to-store integration partnership with Walgreens.

Through the technology integration with the Walgreens Photo Prints and Store Locator APIs, in addition to the Culture Greetings’ mail-to-recipient delivery option, customers will now have the choice to pick up their customized printed greeting cards in any of the 9,277 Walgreens or Duane Reed locations in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

“The launching of this new partnership and integration reflects a significant first for the Walgreens API team,” said Andrew Schweinfurth, Manager, Walgreens Developer Relations. “As we welcome Culture Greetings and founder Dr. Dionne Mahaffey, we acknowledge that she is the first African American female founder to join the platform.”

Founded in 2018, Culture Greetings offers more than 2000 greeting cards featuring imagery centered around and elevating the Black and Brown communities’ voices. Card options span all mainstream and cultural holidays and occasions, life milestones, social justice, LGBTQ+, and photo-card templates for customized personal greetings.

“We are excited be a part of the Wal-

greens Developer Program,” explains Dr. Mahaffey. “As we approach our two-year anniversary, this new integration marks a significant milestone for us, expanding the greeting card aisle, bringing more inclusive options, and providing customers with the instant gratification of picking up their customized card within minutes of creating it.”

Culture Greetings will continue to offer its flagship delivery method of mailing cards directly to the customer’s recipient. On the website, customers can choose a greeting card, write a personal note using handwriting fonts that mirror real penmanship and click “send,” which cues their state-of-the-art printing press.

Gift cards from Target, Amazon, iTunes,

and other brands can also be included in the mailing. The company then prints and mails the card directly to the recipient’s address the following business day, saving customers a trip to the store.

About Culture Greetings Culture Greetings is a Black-owned greeting card brand. Customers pick a card online and write a note inside using handwriting fonts that mirror real penmanship.

Through innovative technology, Culture Greetings will print, stamp, and mail the cards directly to the recipient. The platform now offers same-day pickup in partnership with Walgreens in-store photo prints. For more information, visit CultureGreetings.com

14

set of prerequisites to make it in the world of high tech and creative design?

“The First Steps of Visual Storytelling – Storyboarding is the Foundation Of Animation” — The Copeland Brothers, film and game industry superstars, share some of their insights — and tales of their lives and times — as storyboard artists.

Find out how two brothers who loved to draw became directors of Marvel and DC animated films and are now directors at DreamWorks. At the same time, learn the basics of storyboarding!

“Producers of TV and Film” — Four Giants of Film and TV help us understand the routines of writers, producers, and managers on projects as varied as Spike Lee masterpieces, The Boondocks to Heroes and The Jamie Fox Show.

“The Road from A-Z. Becoming a Successful Tv Writer in Today’s Crowded Landscape” — Join professional writers Liz Benjamin, Bianca Sams, Mercedes Valle, Maya Houston and Kate McCarthy for a fun and frank conversation about what it really takes to survive and thrive in the high-stakes world of Film and Television. How they got in. How they stayed in. How they’re building bridges for lasting success.

“Pursuing the dream: Stage, TV and Film, the life of Actors, Writers and Producers” — A panel discussion featuring film and TV actors who have enjoyed long and successful careers in LA and NYC “Black Comic Convention Creators Panel” — From the early Pioneers to AfroComicCon: Black Comic Cons past present and future!

“One on One with Godfrey” — Stand-up comedian and actor, Jay Washington sits and talks with fellow comedian actor and iconic personality Godfrey Danchimah.

Among the panels not listed above:

The legacy of Chadwick Boseman; Special guest celebrity Blerds like Sinbad (in one of his last publicly recorded sessions before his tragic stroke last month), Godfrey, Miles Brown and Diallo Riddle (creator of HBO Max’s “SouthSide” and AMC’s “Sherman’s Showcase”).

The 2020 AfroComicCon Virtual Short Film Festival, which was sponsored by the NNPA, The BurtonWire, and Pixar, was hosted by Dr. Nsenga Burton. This year’s festival, which was also virtual, showcased monumental achievement in film by upcoming and veteran filmmakers.

The Festival’s winning selections are: Best Film and Cinematography: “Far From Casablanca” by Youssef Rhanem (1st place) and “The Dark Strums” by Steven Russel (2nd place) The Audience Award Winner: “What Could Have Been” by Semmi Cole: Best Film and Best Director: “Outcast”

by Royce Adkins There was also an awesome cosplay contest! The winners’ Instagram handles: @Hellspawned cosplay @Sotogrant Cosplay @coko_galore AfroComicCon is also a non-profit event that not only provides amazing content, entertainment and fun but also raises funds for programs like its Moonshot Junior Collaboration for leveling young girls of color up in a 12-month innovation program.

For more info and to register for this free event, sign-up at Eventbrite – AfroComicCon 2020 Reloaded Sign up now or visit AfroComicCon.org. You can also follow like and share @AfroComicCon on Instagram and Twitter or Afro Comic Con on Facebook!

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - Deceber 16, 2020 - December 22, 2020

MSNBC Names Rashida Jones President; First African American to Lead Cable News Network

By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent In Southeast Los Angeles’s most underresourced and predominately diverse neighborhoods of Compton, Lynwood, and Bellflower, David Anderson has served as an educator in the expanding learning and youth development space for more than 15 years.

The General Manager of Think Together’s Southeast Los Angeles region, Anderson leads a team of role models helping students through enrichment curriculum in the area.

Anderson has passionately advocated for the education equity needed in the public school system, noting that it’s a requirement to have successful college and posteducation careers.

This year, Anderson and his team have served more than 17,000 students in both a distance learning and in-person support capacity, with students of color comprising nearly 84 percent.

Anderson told Black Press USA that students, parents, teachers, and administrators of color all face various levels of challenges during the coronavirus pandemic.

“The biggest challenge with many of the students of color we serve is engagement. Students are faced with inefficient resources, little excitement to learn, and are born without being surrounded by role models and motivations which lead a child to dream, work hard and be successful,” Anderson noted.

He said the students his team serves are primarily students of color, born without choices and not enlightened to dream.

“Parents of the students of color are often challenged to provide for their children without the resources and support they need for themselves,” Anderson relayed.

“These parents have a lack of resources, a lack of time for mental and physical health, and limited time for communication and social-emotional support of their children. That yields an unhealthy and fatigued environment that takes the energy and will to continue to work hard and make it with only hope alone. It is next to impossible for a parent to progress and be their child’s support and motivation while exhausted and without the belief that continuing to work even harder can improve the lives of themselves and their family.”

Schools provide students with a haven for learning.

At the same time, teachers and administrators work together to find innovative ways in-person and virtually to make learning fun and help students support students’ academic trajectory and provide enrichment opportunities that students of color are not exposed to and cannot afford, Anderson offered further.

“Our students are not paying $3,000 to $15,000 to learn teamwork and confidence building through activities such as E-sports, coding, sailing, and photography. Nor are these students of color able to afford a sports trainer for the student to

born exposed to role models at home, enlightened to subjects and careers they may become passionate about, have goals, the will, and belief in themselves to work hard and make their dreams a reality.”

The educator also noted that students of color and educators still face another barrier: balance.

“Regardless of your work and school environment, everyone is facing challenges.

If you are fortunate to have a job still, you may be working and teaching from home.

If you are a parent, or caregiver, working from home is accompanied by the challenge of balancing home and work responsibilities,” Anderson stated.

develop mastery in a sport to be competitive at a young age truly,” Anderson said.

“Without school, these students are not often exposed to financial literacy nor the growing unlimited STEM and tech careers that a child may choose to pursue if their parents or family worked in these industries,” he added.

Anderson continued: “It is at school where students of color

15

learn civic engagement, leadership, entrepreneurship, and how to create generational change. Through adversity, teachers and administrators of color especially have the mantle of leadership to build a system of support for current students to rise, have successful careers and lives, and those students as adults may lay a framework for the next generation of students to be born into a life with choices.

“The next generation of students are to be

He concluded: “There are heroes in this work deemed essential. These essential persons have the responsibility of being extra cautious because whether or not they have dependents, their health supports others’ wellbeing. Beyond balancing home, work, and responsibilities are the balance and performing at high levels versus simply accomplishing tasks.

“Folks currently have the will; however, they often do not have the time nor the energy to be the daily highest performer and greatest achiever had they not had to balance.

“For sustainability, mental and physical health, it is vital to balance achieving at the highest level with ensuring impact and success and simply being our best in a given moment. Your best is enough.”

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - December 16, 2020 - December 22, 2020 INNER-CITY NEWS July 27, 2016 - August 02, 2016

Garrity Asphalt Reclaiming, Inc seeks:

Listing: Commercial Driver

Construction Equipment Mechanic preferably experienced in Full time Class A driver for petroleum deliveries for nights Reclaiming and Road Milling Equipment. We offer factory and weekends. Previous experience required. Competitive training on equipment we operate. Location: Bloomfield CT We offer excellent hourly rate & excellent benefits wage, 401(k) and benefits. Send resume to: HR Manager, VALENTINA MACRI RENTAL HOUSING PRE- APPLICATIONS AVAILABLE Contact: Tom Dunay P. O. Box 388, Guilford, CT 06437.

APARTMENTS FOR RENT

NOTICE

Phone: 243-2300 HOME INC, on behalf of860Columbus House and the New Haven Housing Authority, ********An Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer********** is accepting pre-applications for studio and one-bedroom apartments at this develEmail: tom.dunay@garrityasphalt.com opment& located at 108 Frank Street, Haven. Maximum Women Minority Applicants are New encouraged to apply income limitations apply.Affi Pre-applications willEqual be available from 9AM TO 5PM beginning Monday Ju;y State of Connecticut rmative Action/ Opportunity Employer 25, 2016 and ending when sufficient pre-applications (approximately 100) have Office of Policy been received at the offices of HOME INC. Applications will be mailied upon request by calling HOME INC at 203-562-4663 during those hours. Completed pre- and Management Garrity Asphalt Reclaiming, Incoffices seeks: applications must be returned to HOME INC’s at 171 Orange Street, Third Reclaimer Operators and Milling Operators with current licensing Floor, New Haven, CT 06510. and clean driving record, be willing to travel throughout the NorthThe State of Connecticut, Office of east & NY. We offer excellent hourly rate & excellent benefits

NOTICIA

Policy and Management is recruiting for a Leadership Associate (target class Budget Analyst).

Contact: Rick Tousignant Phone: 860- 243-2300 VALENTINA MACRI VIVIENDAS DE ALQUILER PRE-SOLICITUDES DISPONIBLES Email: rick.tou-

Further information regarding the duties, signant@garrityasphalt.com eligibility HOME INC, en nombre de la Columbus House y de la New Haven Housing Authority, estárequirements and application Women & Minority Applicants are encouraged to apply instructions for this position is available aceptando pre-solicitudes para estudios y apartamentos de un dormitorio en este desarrollo Affirmative Action/ Equal Opportunity Employer at: ubicado en la calle 109 Frank Street, New Haven. Se aplican limitaciones de ingresos

Union Company seeks:

máximos. Las pre-solicitudes estarán disponibles 09 a.m.-5 p.m. comenzando Martes 25 https://www.jobapscloud.com/ julio, 2016 hasta cuando se han recibido suficientes pre-solicitudes (aproximadamente 100) CT/sup/bulpreview.asp?R1= en lasTrailer oficinasDriver de HOME INC. & Las pre-solicitudes serán enviadas Tractor for Heavy Highway Construction Equip- por correo a petición 201015&R2=5989VR&R3=001 llamando a HOME INC al 203-562-4663 durante esas horas.Pre-solicitudes deberán remitirse ment. Must have a CDL License, clean driving record, capable of . a las oficinas de equipment; HOME INCbe enwilling 171 Orange Street, tercer piso, 06510State operating heavy to travel throughout theNew Haven , CTThe of Connecticut is an equal Northeast & NY. We offer excellent hourly rate & excellent benefits opportunity/affirmative action employer and strongly encourages the applications of women, minorities, and persons Email: dana.briere@garrityasphalt.com with disabilities.

242 Fairmont Avenue, New Haven Spacious 2 bedroom townhouse $1,225.00. Tenant pays all utilities including gas for heat, hot water, elec.stove, balcony and private entrance, off street parking. Close proximity to restaurants, shopping centers and on bus line. Section 8 welcome. Security Deposit varies. Call Christine 860-985-8258.

APARTMENTS FOR RENT 241 Quinnipiac Avenue, New Haven

Spacious 2 bedroom townhouses with hardwood floors. 1.5 baths. Select with basements and washer/dryer hookups. On-site laundry facility. Off street parking. Close proximity to restaurants, shopping centers and on bus line. No pets. Security deposit varies. $1,425-$1,450 includes heat, hot water and cooking gas. Section 8 welcome.

Call Christine 860-985-8258.

ELM CITY COMMUNITIES Invitation for Bids

Fire Pump and Vestibule Upgrades at George Crawford Manor The Housing Authority of the City of New Haven d/b/a Elm City Communities is currently seeking Bids for fire pump and vestibule upgrades at George Crawford Manor. A complete copy of the requirements may be obtained from Elm City’s Vendor Collaboration Portal https://newhavenhousing.cobblestonesystems.com/gateway

Contact Dana at 860-243-2300

beginning on Monday, December 14, 2020 at 3:00PM

Women & Minority Applicants are encouraged to apply

NEW HAVEN

CITY OF MILFORD

242-258 Fairmont Ave Townhouse, 3BR, 1vacancies level , 1BA Seeking2BR qualifi ed condidates 1.5 to fillBA, numerous to include,

All Health new apartments, new appliances, carpet, I-91informa& I-95 Public Nurse, Mechanic Sewernew Line and close more.toFor nearinstructions, bus stop & shopping center tion and detailedhighways, application visit www.ci.milford.ct.us Pet under 40lbon allowed.

Interested parties MariaTITLE. @ 860-985-8258 Click SERVICES, JOBScontact and JOB

Real Estate Controller

CT. Unified Deacon’s Association is pleased to offer a Deacon’s Certificate Program. This is a 10 month program designed to assist in the intellectual formation of Candidates in response to the Church’s Ministry needs. The cost is $125. Classes start Saturday, August 20, 2016 1:303:30 Contact: Chairman, Deacon Joe J. Davis, M.S., B.S. Fusco Management is seeking a Real Controller.

Candidate should have (203) 996-4517 Host, General Bishop Elijah Davis, Estate D.D. Pastor of Pitts Chapel U.F.W.B. Church 64 Brewster

leadership, communication and supervisory skills. Controller should have 6+ St. New Haven, CT year’s hands on accounting experience and have a BS in Accounting.

Duties and Responsibilities:

SEYMOUR HOUSING AUTHORITY

Oversee the activities of the Accounting Department for the accurate and timely dissemination nancial by management reports including andSeymour external Sealed bids of arefiinvited the Housing Authority of theinternal Town of monthly financial statements, and annual budgets. until 3:00 pm on Tuesday,annual Augustaudits 2, 2016 at its office at 28 Smith Street,

Seymour, CT 06483 for Concrete Sidewalk Repairs and Replacement at the Desired Skills and Experience Smithfield Gardens Assisted Living Facility, 26 Smith Street Seymour.

Qualifications: • • • •

Proficient in Microsoft Word, Excel, Timberline and Timberscan, BNA, TValue.

A pre-bid conference willand be good held communication at the Housing skills.

Authority Office 28 Smith Discretion, good judgment Street general Seymour, CT at 10:00 am, on Wednesday, 20, 2016.

Strong ledger, accounts payable and accountsJuly receivable.

Real Estate experience a plus.

Bidding documents are available from the Seymour Housing Authority OfEducation and Experience Required: fice, 28 Smith Street, Seymour, CT 06483 (203) 888-4579.

Bachelor's degree in Accounting or Finance. CPA certification a plus. Must have 6+years of hands-on accounting managerial experience. Fusco Management ofThe Housing Authority reserves the right to accept or reject any or all bids, to fers a competitive benefit package. Fusco is an Affirmative Action/ Equal Opreduce the scope of the project to reflect available funding, and to waive any portunity Employer

informalities in the bidding, if such actions are in the best interest of the Housing Authority.

Invitation to Bid: nd Notice

Town of Bloomfield2

Listing: Commercial Driver

need for a full time Class B driver for petroleum deliveries for days and SAYEBROOKEImmediate VILLAGE weekends. Previous experience required. Competitive wage, 401(k) and benefits.

Lead Building Maintainer - Facilities

Old Saybrook, CT Send resume to: Full Time - Benefited (4 $31.26 hourly Buildings, 17 Units)

HR Manager, P. O. Box 388, Guilford, CT 06437.

********An Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer********** Taxdrug Exempt & Not Prevailing Wage Rate Project Pre-employment testing.

For more details, visit our website – www.bloomfiWood eldct.org New Construction, Framed, Housing, Selective Demolition, Site-work, Cast-

Town of Bloomfield

in-place Concrete, Asphalt Shingles, Vinyl Siding, Flooring, Painting, Division 10 Specialties, Appliances, ResidentialDeputy Casework,Town Engineer Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing and Fire Protection. $75,909 to $117,166 Seeking qualified condidates to fill This contract is subject to state set-aside and contract compliance requirements.drug testing. AA/EOE. Pre-employment numerous vacancies to include, For Details go to www.bloomfieldct.gov Benefits & Pension Coordinator Bid Extended, Due Date: August 5, 2016 and more. For information and Anticipated Start: August 15, 2016 detailed application instructions, Project documents available via ftp link below:ELM CITY COMMUNITIES visit www.ci.milford.ct.us http://ftp.cbtghosting.com/loginok.html?username=sayebrookevillage Click on SERVICES, JOBS and Invitation for Bids JOB TITLE. Fax or Email Questions & Bids to: Dawn Lang @ 203-881-8372 dawnlang@haynesconstruction.com

CITY OF MILFORD

QSR

Plumbing Services Agency-wide

HCC encourages the participation of all Veteran, S/W/MBE & Section 3 Certified Businesses Construction Company, 32 Progress Ave, Seymour, CT 06483 STEELHaynes CORPORATION AA/EEO EMPLOYER The Housing Authority

APPLY NOW!

Steel Fabricators, Erectors & Welders Top pay for top performers. Health Benefits, 401K, Vacation Pay. Email Resume: Rose@qsrsteel.com Hartford, CT AFFIRMATIVE ACTION/EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER

16

of the City of New Haven d/b/a Elm City Communities is currently seeking Bids for plumbing services agency-wide.

A complete copy of the requirements

may be obtained from Elm City’s Vendor Collaboration Portal https://newhavenhousing.cobblestonesystems.com/gateway beginning on Monday, October 26, 2020 at 3:00PM

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - Deceber 162016 , 2020 - December 22, 2020 INNER-CITY NEWS July 27, - August 02, 2016

Utility Assistant Office Manager

NOTICE Assistant Office Manager-Electric Division: Seeking an experienced professional to provide direction and administration of timely and accurate customer account services and forHOUSING the efficient of theAVAILABLE Wallingford VALENTINA MACRI RENTAL PRE- operation APPLICATIONS Electric Division. Must have a bachelor’s degree from a recognized college orHOME university finance or business administration plusAuthority, three (3) INC, in on accounting, behalf of Columbus House and the New Haven Housing years of increasingly responsible office work experience, or an equivalent is accepting pre-applications for studio and one-bedroom apartments at this develcombination of education qualifying experience substituting on a yearopment located at 108 Frankand Street, New Haven.

Maximum income limitations apfor-year basis. One will (1)beyear of work inbeginning a supervisory ply. Pre-applications available fromexperience 9AM TO 5PM MondaycapacJu;y and ending sufficient pre-applications 100) fringe have ity25, is 2016 required.

Salary:when $76,021 - $97,266 annually (approximately plus an excellent been received offices of HOME INC. Applications mailiedWebpage. upon rebenefit package.at the Applications can be printed from will the be Town’s questcompleted by calling HOME 203-562-4663 during those hours.

Completed 45 pre-S. Once pleaseINC mailator fax to: Human Resources Department applications must be301, returned to HOMECT INC’s offices 171 Orange Street,Phone: Third Main Street, Room Wallingford 06492 Faxat(203) - 294-2084 Floor, New Haven, CT closing 06510. date will be the date the 50th application or (203)-294-2080.

The resume is received or December 18, 2020, whichever occurs first. EOE NOTICIA

EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY

VALENTINA MACRI VIVIENDAS DE ALQUILER PRE-SOLICITUDES DISPONIBLES HANDYMAN Bristol Neighborhood Corp.

(BNDC) is seekHOME INC, enP/T. nombre de la Columbus House yDevelopment de la New Haven Housing Authority, está ingaceptando an energetic individual hasy apartamentos experience maintaining properties.

Duties pre-solicitudes para who estudios de un dormitorio en este desarrollo include limited various medium tasks limitaciones of carpentry, ubicadobut en not la calle 109 to Frank Street,small New to Haven.

Se aplican de painting, ingresos plumbing, HVAC, snow removal, and landscaping.

Pay will commensurate máximos. Las pre-solicitudes estarán disponibles 09 a.m.-5 p.m. comenzando Marteswith 25 experience.

Sendcuando resume andrecibido references

by December 24,(aproximadamente 2020 to The Bristol julio, 2016 hasta se han suficientes pre-solicitudes 100) Neighborhood Mitzy Rowe, CEO, Quaker Lane, en las oficinas Development de HOME INC.Corporation, Las pre-solicitudes serán enviadas por31 correo a petición Bristol, CTa HOME 06010.INC AnalEqual Opportunity/Affirmative Action Entity llamando 203-562-4663 durante esas horas.Pre-solicitudes deberán remitirse a las oficinas de HOME INC en 171 Orange Street, tercer piso, New Haven , CT 06510 .

Elm City Communities, the Housing Authority of the City of New Haven (ECC/HANH) is proposing to amend sections of its Low-Income Public HousNEW HAVEN ing Admissions and Continued Occupancy Policy (ACOP) and 242-258 Fairmont Ave the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) Administrative Plan (Admin Plan). 2BR Townhouse, 1.5 BA, 3BR, 1 level , 1BA

All new apartments, new appliances, new carpet, close to I-91 & I-95 highways, near bus stop & shopping center Copies of the amendment to the ACOP and the Administrative Pet under 40lb allowed. Interested parties contact Maria @ 860-985-8258

Plan will be made available on Tuesday, December 22, 2020 on the agency website www.elmcitycommunities.org or via Twitter, CT. Unified Deacon’s Association is pleased to offer a Deacon’s www.twitter.com/ECCommunities via www.faceCertificate Program. This is a 10 month program designed toor assist in the Facebook intellectual formation of Candidates in response to the Church’s Ministry needs. The cost is $125. Classes start Saturday, August 20, 2016 1:30book.com/ElmCityCommunities.

3:30 Contact: Chairman, Deacon Joe J. Davis, M.S., B.S. (203) 996-4517 Host, General Bishop Elijah Davis, D.D. Pastor of Pitts Chapel U.F.W.B. Church 64 Brewster

St. New Haven, CT You are invited to provide written comments addressed to: ECC/ HANH, ACOP & Admin Plan Revisions; Attn: Maza Rey, 360 Orange Street, New Haven, CT 06511 or via email to: mazrey@ elmcitycommunities.org.

Sealed bids are invited by the Housing Authority of the Town of Seymour 3:00 hearing pm on Tuesday, 2016 at its office Smith Street, Auntil public whereAugust public2,comments will at be28accepted and Seymour, CT 06483 for Concrete Sidewalk Repairs and Replacement the recorded is scheduled for Tuesday, January 19, 2021 at 3:00atPM, Smithfield Gardens https://meetings.ringcentral.com/j/5274955065.

Assisted Living Facility, 26 Smith Street Seymour. via RingCentral: Or dial:(773) 231-9226, Meeting ID: 527 495 5065.

A pre-bid conference will be held at the Housing Authority Office 28 Smith Streetindividual Seymour, CT at 10:00 am, on Wednesday,Accommodation July 20, 2016.

Any requiring a Reasonable to par-

SEYMOUR HOUSING AUTHORITY

ticipate in the hearing may call the Reasonable Accommodation Bidding documents are available from the Seymour Housing Authority OfManager (203) 498-8800, ext. 1507 or at the TDD Number (203) fice, 28 Smith Street, Seymour, CT 06483 (203) 888-4579.

497-8434.

The Housing Authority reserves the right to accept or reject any or all bids, to reduce the scope of the project to reflect available funding, and to waive any

DELIVERY PERSON

NEEDED

Part Time Delivery Needed One/Two Day a Week,

Must Have your Own Vehicle If Interested call

(203) 387-0354

POLICE OFFICER City of Bristol

$67,170 - $81,648

Required testing, registration info & apply at www.bristolct.gov DEADLINE: 12-13-20 EOE

QSR STEEL CORPORATION

APPLY NOW!

Steel Fabricators, Erectors & Welders Top pay for top performers. Health Benefits, 401K, Vacation Pay.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT SECRETARY- The Town of Wallingford is seeking a highly qualified individual to perform a variety of confidential and responsible administrative duties in support of the Economic Development Commission and its staff. Must possess a High school diploma or GED. Plus 5 years’ experience in responsible office work with 1 year of the above experience being in economic development, planning, public relations/marketing or related field. 25 hours per week. Wages: $ 22.37 - $ 26.78 (Hourly) plus an excellent fringe benefit package. Apply to: Department Human Resources, Town of Wallingford, 45 South Main Street, Wallingford, CT 06492.

Fax #: (203) 294-2084. The closing date will be December 28, 2020, EOE.

Help Wanted - Full Time Category:

Municipal Services Manager/Regional Planner

As Municipal Services Manager, the selected candidatewill manage, coordinate, and develop SCRCOG’s regional inter-municipal shared services program which includes coordinating with municipal employees in a working group atmosphere. The employee will work directly with any consultant(s) hired through SCRCOG to administer these initiatives. The Municipal Services Manager will also coordinate any related grant opportunities and assist the senior-level transportation and regional planning staff.

Applicant must possess strong writing, conceptual, analytic and quantitative skills and have at least two yearspreferred of relevant work experience with regional inter-municipal shared services, municipal services and operations, project management, grant writing, and government financial management and budgeting.Familiarity with regional planning activities preferred. Graduate degree in public administration/policy or another closely-related field required. Salary - $55,000/yr. Full position description can be found at www.scrcog. org. Send cover letter and resume to Carl Amento, Executive Director, South Central Regional Council of Governments, by email to scrcog@scrcog.org by no later than 12 noon, on December 31, 2020. SCRCOG is an Affirmative Action/ Equal Opportunity Employer.

Elm City Communities, the Housing Authority of the City of New Haven (ECC/HANH)

está proponiendo revisar secciones de su Política de Admisiones Vivienda Pública de Bajos Ingresos y Ocupación Continuada Invitation de to Bid: nd (ACOP) y el Plan Administrativo de Vales de Elección de Vivi2 Notice KMK Insulation Inc. enda (HCV) (Admin. Plan).

Email Resume: Rose@qsrsteel.com Hartford, CT AFFIRMATIVE ACTION/EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER

SAYEBROOKE VILLAGE

1907 Hartford Turnpike North Haven, CT 06473 Old Saybrook, CT Las copias de la enmienda al ACOP y el Plan Administrativo esMechanical Insulator position.

(4 Buildings, 17 Units) tarán disponibles el martes 22 de diciembre de 2020 en el sitio web Insulation company offering good pay Tax Exempt & Not Prevailing Wage Rate Project and benefits. Please mail resume to de la agencia www.elmcitycommunities.org o vía Twitter, www. above address. MAIL ONLY are an AA/EO Employer NewWe Construction, Wood Framed, Housing,twitter.com/ECCommunities Selective Demolition, Site-work, Cast-o vía Facebook www.facebook.com

ElmCityCommunities. in-place Concrete, Asphalt/ Shingles, Vinyl Siding, LEGAL NOTICE of10 Specialties, Appliances, Residential Casework, Flooring, Painting, Division Se leandinvita a proporcionar comentarios por escrito dirigidos a: Electrical, Plumbing Fire Protection.

TOWN OFMechanical, PORTLAND, CT Town of Portland has amended its Citizen ParticiECC / HANH, ACOP & Admin Plan Revisions; Attn: Maza Rey, This contract is subject to state set-aside and contract compliance requirements. pation Plan for the purpose of informing the public 360 Orange Street, New Haven, CT 06511 o por correo electróniabout its intent to apply for CDBG, Covid-19 funding. For a copy of the amended Plan go to www. co a: mazrey@elmcitycommunities.org.

Bid Extended, Due Date: August 5, 2016 portlandct.org.

Anticipated Start: August 15, 2016 Estáviaprogramada Project documents available ftp link below: una audiencia pública en la que se aceptarán y http://ftp.cbtghosting.com/loginok.html?username=sayebrookevillage grabarán los comentarios del público para el martes 19 de enero de 2021 a las 3:00 p.m., a través de RingCentral: https://meetings.

Fax or Email Questions & Bids to: Dawn Lang @ 203-881-8372 dawnlang@haynesconstruction.com ringcentral.com/j/5274955065.

O marque: (773) 231-9226, ID de HCC encourages the participation of all Veteran, S/W/MBE & Section 3 Certified Businesses reunión: 527495 5065.

Haynes Construction Company, 32 Progress Ave, Seymour, CT 06483

DELIVERY PERSON

NEEDED

AA/EEO EMPLOYER

Part Time Delivery Needed One/Two Day a Week,

Must Have your Own Vehicle If Interested call

(203) 387-0354 17

Cualquier individuo que requiera una Adaptación Razonable para participar en la audiencia puede llamar al Gerente de Adaptación Razonable (203) 498-8800, ext. 1507 o al número TDD (203) 497-8434.

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - December 16, 2020 - December 22, 2020

Meet the Black Father and Daughter Duo Who Are Both Commercial Airline Pilots

on the same airline where her father works. Wade was even assigned to conduct his daughter’s first-line commercial flight training.

“It was wonderful, I pretended not to be excited as I wanted her to relax and perform her duties,” said Wade.

“For me it was epic — I was excited [too] and a bit emotional but masked it very well as we had work to do. But I can’t shake the memory of being really proud of how far we have come as Black people.

I was proud of him, proud of myself as a woman and proud of us as a family, Fiona said.

After that, the father and daughter duo had been able to fly together on some trips.

Even though Wade already retired, he still hopes to continue his career in aviation as a flight operations inspector.

“I’m just really thankful for those before us who paved the way for him and others to become great pilots and pass it on to others so that the legacy lives on. I can’t wait to see what the future holds for people of color as we continue to learn and be successful,” said Fiona.

By BlackNews.com

Antigua — Wade Austin-McDonald, who just turned 65-years old, is celebrating his retirement after 44 years of being a pilot with his daughter Fiona, who is also a pilot.

Wade, a Guyana native who now resides in Antigua, has always dreamed of being a pilot since he received a PanAm jet toy as a gift when he was 7-years old. He achieved it and eventually passed down the passion to pursue the career to his daughter, Fiona.

Fiona became more inspired to become a pilot when she saw a female flight attendant in the cockpit for the first time.

“It feels really good to follow in his footsteps but this job is one where you have to create your own path. It is a very dynamic career and all the work is on you. No one else can fly for you, do your check rides or perform your duties. His story may also be totally different from mine as a woman in aviation,” Fiona told Because of Them We Can. Fiona pursued being a pilot and worked

NFL Executives on Diversity: Detroit Mom With COVID-19 ‘We’ve Got to Do Better’

By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent Ron Rivera of the Washington Football Team was the only minority head coach hired in the NFL heading into the 2020 season and, to the highest-ranking African American in the sport, that’s unacceptable.

“When you look at mobility of Black men and Black women in professional sports, it’s poor,” said Troy Vincent, the league’s executive vice president of football operations. The only person in a higher post in the NFL is Commissioner Roger Goodell.

“The facts are the facts, none of the sports leagues are doing well,” Vincent noted on a conference call with journalists, including the Black Press.

“We have done a thorough examination of what we’re doing wrong, what doesn’t work. But there are no best practices in sports,” Vincent declared.

“Let’s be straight. Let’s be honest. We can go to every sport from basketball, hockey, baseball, here: Diversity, we do not see what we all hope for. We do not see true inclusion.”

The league announced earlier this year that it had enhanced its Rooney Rule.

This policy requires teams to interview ethnic-minority candidates for head coaching and senior football operation jobs.

The expanded rule requires teams to interview at least two external minority candidates for head coaching openings and at least one minority candidate for any coordinator job.

Additionally, teams must interview one external minority candidate for senior

football operations and general manager jobs.

Clubs and the NFL league office must also include minorities and female applicants for senior-level positions, including club president jobs.

“It goes without saying that we have to do things differently,” said Dasha Smith, the NFL’s Executive Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer. “We are hopeful we will see different outcomes at the end of this GM and coach hiring season.”

There currently are four minority head coaches in the NFL, including Rivera, Mike Tomlin of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Brian Flores of the Miami Dolphins, and Anthony Lynn of the Los Angeles Chargers.

Just two of the 32 teams have African American general managers – Chris Grier of the Dolphins and Andrew Berry of the Cleveland Browns.

“We’re a month away from 2021. And we’re still talking about women in seniorlevel positions? In coaching positions?

Come on. Gimme a break,” Vincent demanded.

“These young men and women today in high school and college, they’re used to seeing women in leadership positions.

And they pause because they get to this level? The closer you get to the playing field, the least opportunities there are for women? Come on.

“We’ve got to look at ourselves and be frank and call truth. Facts and data do not support where we are across the entire sports industry. So, we’ve got a lot of work to do.”

Who Delivered Twins Awakens From Coma

Detroit, MI — Jasmine Logan, a 34-year old African American mother from Detroit who was already infected with COVID-19 when she gave birth to twins, has finally awakened from a medically-induced coma after more than 2 weeks.

Her husband, Steven Logan, is thankful that Jasmine’s condition seemed to be improving as she was also able to be taken off of the ventilator. She will have to undergo physical and speech therapy before she can be released from ECMO. Steven remains confident his wife will get through it.

“I know that with the prayers that have been bestowed upon us she will muster the strength! We are claiming this victory and have all the faith that God will deliver. From the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU,” Steven wrote on a GoFundMe page.

Steven, who works as a truck driver, hasn’t been able to go to work as he has to take care of their 5 kids, including their newborn twins. Their 6-year old daughter, and twin 2-year olds, also contracted COVID-19.

With the help of some friends, Steven set up the GoFundMe campaign to raise funds for their family’s financial needs such as bills, food, and baby supplies. It has so far raised more than $120,000.

18

Shines Con’t from page 05

pandemic. Instead, NBC reporters geared up to broadcast the event so that New Haveners could watch it from their television screens. They sent a drone into the sky for an aerial shot.

The tree was the second Christmas conifer this year to arrive on the Green; the first had toppled during a November rainstorm.

Hamden residents Laura and Anthony Santino (pictured at the right) had heard about the first tree’s collapse on the news.

They thought of a solution: the 35-foot Norway Spruce sitting in the cul de sac where they live, Robin Hill Lane.

Anthony said he called up the mayor’s office, which redirected him to the parks department. When he initially offered to donate the tree, he said, the parks official on the line seemed hesitant. Then, he texted the official a photo of the massive tree and said he heard back a resounding “we’ll take it.”

It took the tree trimmers three days to prepare the tree for safe transport, according to the Santinos.

On Thursday, the Santinos traveled from their Hamden home to watch the tree light up with their neighbors, Vaughn Willis and Vaughn Willis Jr. Until about 7:20, they stood with two dozen others who had circled around the tree. After the protest, Hebrew song, and heated traffic had died down, a quiet settled over the public park as onlookers waited. Call it a silent night.

Without warning, the multicolored lights turned on. Those who had gathered gave out a soft, collective “whoa.”

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - Deceber 16, 2020 - December 22, 2020

19

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - December 16, 2020 - December 22, 2020

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