Vol. 61 No. 34, Thursday, August 26, 2021

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www.facebook.com/ SDVoiceandViewpoint

Vol. 61 No. 34

@VoiceViewpoint

|

Thursday, August 26, 2021

www.sdvoice.info

Serving San Diego County’s African & African American Communities 61 Years

PUBLIC HEALTH ORDER COUNTY

5,134

LATEST

& Covid-19 Updates

see pg. 14 & 19

8,110

8,119

8,329

6,695

4,017

SOURCE: County of San Diego a/o 8/17/21

Cal Ed Chief

Thurmond

to Families:

“Translate Fear Into Action”

Black Breastfeeding Week Empowers Local Moms Happy 95th By Cori Zaragoza Staff Writer

By Jenny Manrique Ethnic Media Services and California Black Media Millions of students are returning to in-person classes at California’s public schools, amid parents and teachers’ fears about the inability to vaccinate children under 12 and the spread of the COVID Delta variant. See THURMOND page 10

Black Breastfeeding Week got off to a great start with a yearly celebration of mothers during an August 21st drive-thru supply pick up event at O’Farrell Charter School. Spearheaded by a partnership between San Diego Black Infant Health, PCI Healthy Start Program (PCI), and WIC, and through donations from locals vendors and groups, mothers could drive through a line of volunteers for free supplies ranging from nipple cream and nursing covers, to even non-alcoholic “mom-osas”, consisting of

sparkling cider and fruit juice.

Ms. Ruby!

“The goal of today is to celebrate Black and AfricanAmerican women who are breastfeeding their babies, who made the option to and took the time and responsibility to feed their children in the best way possible,” said Iris Payne, Program Director for the San Diego County Black Infant Health Program. While the day consisted of joy and celebration, the event also aimed to bring awareness to health disparities experienced by Black infants and within the Black community.

see page 7

More

Backpack Giveaways see page 6

See BREASTFEEDING page 4

US REGULATORS GIVE

Full Approval

to Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccine

By Lauran Neergaard and Matthew Perrone Associated Press The U.S. gave full approval to Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine on Monday, August 23, a milestone that could boost public confidence in the shots and spur more companies, universities and local governments to make vaccinations mandatory. The Pentagon immediately announced it will press ahead to require members of the military to get the vaccine as the U.S., and the world, battle the extra-contagious delta variant. The formula made by Pfizer and

Town Hall Sparks Talk

About S.e. Schools Photo Source: National Cancer Institute

its German partner BioNTech now carries the strongest endorsement from the Food and Drug Administration, which has never before had so much evidence to judge a shot’s safety. More than 200 million Pfizer doses have been administered in the U.S.—and hundreds of millions more worldwide—under special emergency provisions since December. “Vaccines are one of our greatest weapons against the virus,” acting FDA Commissioner Janet Woodcock

said. “We hope this approval will bolster confidence in those who’ve been wavering.” Pfizer said the U.S. is the first country to grant the company’s vaccine full approval. The shot will be marketed in the U.S. under the brand name Comirnaty. Moderna has also applied to the FDA for full approval of its vaccine. Johnson & Johnson, maker of the third

see page 9

DiDW Prepares

Youth for Disasters

See APPROVAL page 10

Many Say Now is the Time to

Fight Racial Bias in Foster Care By David Crary Associated Press

Bridgette Griffin with her daughter, Aubrey Faith Griffin, in Atlanta, 2021. Griffin, adopted Aubrey from foster care and has been a foster parent to many other children, including teenage girls and babies. “You see the difference in the courts - two kids coming in for the same type of neglect,” she said, “The judge looks at them differently, the social workers deal with them differently. There’s more sympathy for the white parents, unfortunately. ... It’s not fair.” (Bridgette Griffin via AP)

Cheri Williams looks back with regret at the start of her career as a child welfare caseworker in 1998. Systemic racism is a major reason why. “I removed probably about 100 kids from their homes in the 15 months I was an investigator…a lot of them were children of color,” said Williams, who’s now a vice president of one of the largest adoption and foster care agencies in the

United States. “Decades later, I realized how much harm I personally have caused,” she said. “We’ve learned so much more of the value of supporting families, about implicit bias.” Bias and racism are widespread in the child welfare system. Black children are taken into foster care at a disproportionately high rate and languish longer before being adopted, reunited with their See FOSTER page 10

see page 6

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