Vol. 50 No. 51
April 9, 2020 -April 15, 2020
Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will. Find out just what people will submit to and you have found out the exact amount of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them and these will continue till they have resisted either with words or blows or words or with both. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they suppress. —Fredrick Douglass (1849)
COVID-19, the View Across Black America By Jon Jeter, The Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder
Publisher’s Corner Publisher of The San Bernardino AMERICAN News
Email: sbamericannews@gmail.com
Clifton Harris Editor in Chief
NNPA Senior Correspondent Stacy Brown and Wife Shenay Test Positive for COVID-19 By Nsenga Burton, NNPA Newswire Culture and Entertainment Editor
“…the pandemic is exacerbating problems such as homelessness and unemployment and health conditions such as diabetes. This is dramatically increasing anxiety levels for many in South Florida’s African American and Afro-Caribbean communities.” (Photo: iStockphoto / NNPA Similar to Hurricane Katrina 15 years ago, the global coronavirus pandemic is shining a light on America’s racial fault lines. By whatever trope you choose to deploy—“last hired, first fired,” “When White America catches a cold, Black America has the flu,” or “Your Blues ain’t like mine” — People of Color generally, and the 42 million descendants of chattel slaves, specifically, will experience this almost Biblical scourge in ways that are very different from Whites. A nurse reports that White nurses began disappearing from her central New Jersey hospital around the first week of March, applying for vacation and leaves of absence just as the number of coronavirus cases in the U.S. was beginning to skyrocket. As the hospital admitted more and more infected patients, they announced that all time-off requests would be denied, leaving mostly Black and Brown nurses to cope with the worst global health crisis in more than a century. But that’s not all. Running short of surgical masks and hand sanitizer, a nurse at the hospital recently was exposed to a patient infected with the coronavirus; her coworkers are on pins and needles, nervously awaiting her test results.
“While most facilities like the one I work at have turned away any new admissions, we’re still taking admissions,” wrote one nurse, a Latina with 15 years of experience. She surmised that hospital executives hope to profit from the growing caseload. While Washington, D.C.’s Metrorail has been largely emptied of its professional class of passengers, reductions in the city’s bus service have made it difficult for its darker and poorer customers—many of whom work in government jobs considered “essential” or the service sector and either do not have sick pay or cannot afford to take the day off—to practice social distancing on buses teeming with riders. Near the end of March, a Metrobus driver tested positive for the novel coronavirus. “It’s impossible to socially isolate in a sardine can,” said Rohan Edmonson, 40, who lives in the D.C. suburb of Silver Spring and works on Embassy Row. The buses in South Florida are considerably less crowded than usual, said one African American resident, Roger Williams. After revelers and spring breakers— mostly but not entirely White — posted photographs and videos last week of large gatherings on boats and beaches, Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez
ordered the closure of all public beaches, parks, marinas, and recreational facilities. The measures are beginning to take: Williams said he rode his bicycle on a typically bustling roadway near his suburban Miami home last week and only encountered one vehicle on the road, a scene that is redolent of post-hurricane Florida. The challenge, however, is that “a lot of very low-income Miamians live in motels, and many are now being asked to leave because of the shutdown,” said Williams. This is “creating another crisis, since they will now add to the already striking numbers of homeless people on Miami’s streets.” A Haitian-born American woman who works for a major healthcare provider agreed, saying that she has found that the pandemic is exacerbating problems such as homelessness and unemployment and health conditions such as diabetes. This is dramatically increasing anxiety levels for many in South Florida’s African American and AfroCaribbean communities. At ground zero of the U.S. pandemic, New York City, only essential services are allowed to remain open: groceries, drug stores, liquor stores, hardware stores, and restaurants that offer
delivery. Grocery store shelves remain well-stocked, but cold and flu medicines are in short supply in drug stores. In Harlem, Margaret Kimberley, an author and columnist for Black Agenda Report, wrote on Facebook: “People are riding the subway, but there are so few that you really can practice social distancing even on public transportation. I’d say half of the people I see outside are wearing masks, myself included. Some are makeshift affairs, scarves tightly tied around the mouth for example. . . “To prevent people crowding onto buses,” Kimberley continued, “we are now allowed to enter through the back door. This is something poor people always did. Now everyone can ride for free… I got my hair braided yesterday, the last day before beauty shops had to close. I wasn’t alone, but there were a lot fewer people than you would see there on a normal Saturday. I went but wore my mask.” Perhaps the most jarring description from Kimberley was the gallows humor that has descended on Harlem’s Black community as many discuss the Trump administration’s plans for (continued on page 6)
Legendary “Lean On Me” Singer, Bill Withers, Dies At 81 Lifestyle News
Bill Withers photo by Brad Barket/Getty Images Bill Withers, the legendary singer who not only sang, but also wrote and a slew of songs in the 1970s that we still hear now, either as the original hits or as samples for some of today’s greatest hip-hop songs. like “Lean on Me,” “Lovely Day”, “Just the Two of Us” and “Ain’t No Sunshine,” has died this week from heart complications, his family said in a statement to The Associated Press. He was 81. “Ain’t No Sunshine” gave
Withers his first gold record, earned him a Grammy, and, with later hits such as “Lean on Me” and “Use Me,” forms the a strong catalog of memorable hits that stand the test of time. Withers death comes as the public, me personally, has used his music in recent days as a form of inspiration. His song “Lovely Day” in particular speaks to the affirmation we need each day during this pandemic. Actually, the bravery of Withers to admit that he needed help with others is what allowed him to write “Lean on Me,” maybe the best-known song to friendship and family, released in 1972. The lyrics speak to how we as a people need each other, even more so right now. If you remember, some of the lyrics go like this: “Sometimes in our lives we all have pain We all have sorrow
But if we are wise We know that there’s always tomorrow Lean on me, when you’re not strong And I’ll be your friend I’ll help you carry on For it won’t be long ‘Til I’m gonna need Somebody to lean on…” “We are devastated by the loss of our beloved, devoted husband and father. A solitary man with a heart driven to connect to the world at large, with his poetry and music, he spoke honestly to people and connected them to each other,” the family statement read. “As private a life as he lived close to intimate family and friends, his music forever belongs to the world. In this difficult time, we pray his music offers comfort and entertainment as fans hold tight to loved ones.” Celebrities from all over the world have been chiming in on
social media to pay their respects. “Rest in power Bill Withers,” writes Lenny Kravitz on Twitter. “Your voice, songs, and…total expression gave us love, hope, and strength. My soul always has & always will be full of your music. Your humility displayed & depth of your power as you carried us all to a better place. You’re still & always will be Bill.” “Mourning the loss of my friend and inspiration, Bill Withers,” writes John Legend. “He was such an incredible songwriter and storyteller. I’m so glad he shared his gift with the world. Life wouldn’t be the same without him.” “RIP Bill Withers!” writes Dwayne Wade “The day our daughter Kaavia James came into this world-“Lovely Day” was our song of choice for her entry into the world. Thank you Bill Withers for creating a song that will forever be apart of our lives ” Rest in Peace Bill. We will miss you.
“We’re not at the point yet where we need to be on ventilators, but if our symptoms don’t improve, then we’ll have to be admitted and isolated.” The Browns have fluid in their lungs and Stacy has an underlying condition. (EDITOR’S NOTE: Shortly before this article was published, Shenay Brown’s symptoms became more severe and she was taken by ambulance to the hospital and has been admitted. She is currently in stable condition. Please join us in prayer for the Browns and all who are suffering the effects of the virus.) The National Newspaper Publishers Association has been hit again by the coronavirus. NNPA Senior Correspondent Stacy M. Brown and his wife Shenay have been diagnosed with COVID-19. Brown recently chronicled the story of Jeffrey L. Boney, the multi-award-winning writer for the Houston Forward Times and the National Newspaper Publishers Association, who is in the intensive care unit at United Memorial Medical Center in Houston after being diagnosed on Friday, March 27, with COVID19. Brown and his wife, who both began experiencing symptoms at the beginning of the week, were diagnosed Friday, April 3, 2020 at a hospital in their home state of New Jersey. Brown says he was shocked that he has it because he and his wife have been adhering to the social distance guidelines and only left home to go to the pharmacy to
pick up prescriptions and the grocery store. An admitted germaphobe, Brown says the last time he remembers being in close proximity to others was during a meeting for the Black press held by the U.S. Senate on March 11. “A lot of Senators were there. The room was pretty small, and we were in close proximity to each other,” says Brown. “Most were doing elbow bumps, but I remember being shocked that Senator Cory Booker actually shook my hand with all of the talk about Coronavirus,” he adds. Brown has notified Senator Booker’s office of his diagnosis. Stacy and Shenay live at home with their three children: Talia, 21, Paris, 13 and Stacy Olivia, 8. They have two other adult children who live out of town. “The kids have been great, leaving food at the door. They don’t have any symptoms and of course I don’t want them to get it. I don’t want them to have to face what my wife and I are facing.” Stacy and his wife, who were already social distancing within the home, are now officially living in separate parts of the house. Stacy is in the basement while his wife lives on the top floor. His children leave food, medication (continued on page 3)
NEWS BREAK
A potential coronavirus vaccine funded by Bill Gates is set to begin testing in people, with the first patient expected to get it today by Andrew Dunn (April 6, 2020)Healthy volunteers in Philadelphia and Kansas City, Missouri, will begin to test an experimental coronavirus vaccine starting this week. The small Pennsylvania-based biotech Inovio Pharmaceuticals received regulatory clearance to begin testing. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, along with other nonprofits, have poured funding into Inovio's vaccine project. The biotech expects to have early safety data by late summer and is aiming to produce 1 million doses by the end of 2020. A small Pennsylvania biotech company is planning to start injecting healthy volunteers with a potential coronavirus vaccine, after receiving regulatory
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clearance to start clinical testing. Researchers plan to dose the first person Monday. The experimental vaccine was developed by Inovio Pharmaceuticals, with the effort receiving funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations. Inovio's candidate, called INO(continued on page 4)