Apple’s First Developer Academy in the U.S. Welcomes Inaugural Class in Detroit Roots. A3
Michigan Chronicle
Vol. 85 – No. 6 | October 13-19, 2021
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COMMENTARY
Why Detroit Needs a New Mayor
By Herb Strather
Rationale of why I selected Mike Duggan - the right person for the time In 2013, everyone knew we needed good municipal management, and Mike Duggan was the ideal candidate. He got the DMC Hospital system back on track financially. Therefore, I reached out in hopes of influencing him into running for Mayor; He agreed. So, I gave him a campaign office in Tower Center on Grand River and Greenfield and donated the maximum legal contribution. I also lobbied Herb Strather at a number of churches on his behalf and made a strong case as to why we needed to elect “Mike for Mayor.” Make no mistake, this cost me a few friends and even more colleagues and I am NOT apologizing for fighting hard for Mike’s Mayorship. It was the right thing to do at the time. The city is now bustling with new construction in targeted communities and lots of new millenniums. However, the impact on African American Detroiters is far more devastating with more than $320,000,000 in equity loss from illegal property tax foreclosures during the last 8 years and NO plans by Duggan to restore the losses. Times have changed dramatically Fiscal matters are more under control, but not for African American families. In general, Black people face a deplorable state of epic proportions. Our population is more than 75% African American making us the largest concentration of Black people in North America, yet we own less than 15% of gross business economy in the city. Other nationalities are thriving as a result of Black consumerism. Black people primary businesses are hair salons, soul food restaurants, and manual car washes while holding less than 1% of gas stations, grocery stores, liquor stores and 10% of Dispensaries. Furthermore, Black people do not realize or do not care about the dispositional economic impact happening in front of their very own eyes. We must retire Mike Duggan because… Duggan’s administration knowingly and illegally foreclosed on tens of thousands of lower-income African American homeowners for non-payment of property taxes which they were legally not required to pay and Mike knew it. About 16,000 of these homes were acquired at Wayne County Tax Auctions by “New Detroiters” and others from around the world, making a huge $300 Million dollar profit to Wayne County & Detroit.
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MAYOR? page A2
WHAT’S INSIDE SENIORcare Michigan Chronicle
Caring for the Next Phase of Life
By Sherri Kolade
Black Community Helping Yourself Help Your Loved One
Parenting Your Parents How To Help Your Elder Parent Age Gracefully
Our Best Shot
The Importance of Vaccines for Older Adults
SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT Why Black Women Are More at Risk of Dying From Breast Cancer
Roots. A3
“We may not know the total outcome,” he said, adding that for those hesitant in the African American community need to do some more soul searching and looking into getting vaccinated. “We can’t get sucked into the nonsense.”
With her vaccine card in hand, Westland resident Lena Nichols, 88, waited her turn for her first booster shot against COVID-19 recently.
According to the Mayo Clinic, long COVID is having symptoms persist for months, which can damage the lungs, heart and brain, leading to long-term health problems.
On Thursday, October 7, at Gethsemane Missionary Baptist Church, 29066 Eton St., Nichols was one of the dozens of people who lined up for their vaccine – either as first or second-timers or to receive their booster.
Detroit resident Iesha Paul, 29, told the Michigan Chronicle that she wants to avoid long COVID and she might consider getting a booster shot if it becomes available to her. Presently, booster shots are available to people 65 years and older or for those with health problems.
A booster dose of a vaccine is an additional dose that is used to “boost” the immune response to a specific virus. It’s not unusual to need a booster vaccine and we have had boosters for many viruses. For those who received the two-shot Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine, it’s recommended some people get a booster dose at least six months after the second shot. According to Dr. Anthony Fauci, the six months in between your second dose and booster is needed to make the booster shot more effective. Nichols, who received a booster along with her 68-year-old daughter, told the Michigan Chronicle that she wants to stay healthy, especially since she lives alone. “I didn’t want to have to get the virus and figure out [what’s next],” Nichols said, adding that she received her first shot of the Moderna vaccine in January, and the second one in February. “I believe in the science,” she said. Nichols, also a member of Gethsemane, was vaccinated through the church’s weekly vaccine drive on Thursdays from noon to 4 p.m. in conjunction with the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.
Iesha Paul Pastor John Edward Duckworth told the Michigan Chronicle that the clinic has been running periodically since the summer in collaboration with the Council of Baptist Pastors of Detroit and Vicinity. He said that he is now, for the most part, dealing with the hesitant crowd. “People getting it now were the ‘wait and see’ crowd,” he said, adding that he had to sit and pray with a lot of people before they took the shot. Some he even went with them as they received the vaccine. “A lot of young people... [I] worked on them.” Duckworth said that his elderly mother recently received her booster shot and a lot of people who are now getting vaccinated have suffered from symptoms of long COVID.
“Overall, I am in pretty good health. However, I do live with an autoimmune condition. While it doesn’t severely impact my day-to-day, I am on medication to manage it,” she said. “I’m interested in getting the booster because it’s clear that I can’t trust a lot of other people to get vaccinated...At this point, it’s mutated so much that the thought of contracting the virus, vaccinated or not, scares me. I do plan to get the booster shot before the end of the year.” Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian, an infectious disease specialist in Ann Arbor, told the Michigan Chronicle that although most people with COVID-19 get better within weeks of illness, some people experience post-COVID conditions. “Post-COVID conditions are a wide range of new, returning, or ongoing health problems people can experience four or more weeks after first being infected with the virus that causes COVID19. Even people who did not have COVID19 symptoms in the days or weeks after
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3.0 page A2
Is Seeking Asylum Becoming a Black Issue? By Megan Kirk
Alzheimer’s and the
$1.00
Pandemic 3.0 Expert, Residents Talk Booster Shots, Long COVID Symptoms
The United States is a melting pot of cultures, ethnicities and ideologies. Seen as a mecca for many in underdeveloped countries, America is believed to be a place where individuals can live free of the political tyranny seen in many parts of the world. Pew Research estimates more than 40 million people currently residing in the states were born abroad. According to the U.S. Department of State, the government anticipates receiving more than 300,000 asylum requests by the end of 2021. Recent conflicts in Afghanistan and Haiti are threatening to possibly surpass that number. Contextually, a refugee is anyone born outside of the United States and its territo-
in 2002 after 9/11 ries who has exhappened. We perienced perse[myself and sibcution or “has a lings] were fortuwell-founded fear nate enough to of persecution” come without parbased on their ents through a prorace, religion, nagram called Unactionality, membercompanied Minors. ship in a particuThere’s two in the lar social group, United States, one including sexual in Grand Rapids,” orientation and the said Diba MohamLGBT community, madullah, who is and personal polita native-born Afical views. Asylum ghani. can be granted to Diba Mohammadullah refugees who are either already Afghanistan has always been in America after fleeing for the a country wracked by war. Servaforementioned reasons or indi- ing as America’s longest war, the viduals who appear at U.S. ports recently-ended U.S. War in Afof entry like the borders between ghanistan was fueled by the Talneighboring countries and the iban takeover of the middle eastUnited States. ern country and terrorist attacks “I came to America as a refugee in the same system back
in America, including the tragedy of September 11, 2001. As the
country continued to go through a political tug-of-war, its citizens became casualties of the 20-year struggle. In 2019, amid a controversial presidency and administration, Donald Trump made the executive decision to call off Peace Talks and in 2020, though some troops had already begun to be pulled out of the country, the official withdrawal announcement came from the U.S. Defense Secretary Christopher C. Miller. Assuming office in January 2021, President Joe Biden declared a full military withdrawal by September 2021. Causing an outcry from thousands of Afghan natives, the airport at the country’s capital was immediately flooded with individuals fleeing from the Taliban’s
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