Volume 54 - No.11 July 31st, 2020

“Good Trouble”

Obama’s Eulogy To Civil Rights Icon John Lewis &

Fresno’s Black Lives Matter, Section B

Advocate The California

Volume 54 - No.11 July 31st , 2020

Fresno’s African American Community Newspaper

Local Reaction To The Passing Of Civil Rights Icon Congressman John Lewis

Congressmen John Lewis, County Assessor Paul Dictos, Congressman Jim Costa

“The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who, in times of great moral crisis, stay neutral”, said President John F. Kennedy. Congressman and civil rights leader, John Lewis did not stay neutral He answered the call and risked his life to redeem the soul of America.

May we all follow his example. Only then can we put the American democracy to its truest test.”

Paul Dictos, CPA, Fresno County Assessor-Recorder

Black Deaths To Reach

68,000

of COVID Deaths by years end

Black Americans continue to make up a disproportionate share of Covid-19 fatalities as the number of deaths from the coronavirus pandemic exceeds 100,000 in the United States, according to an analysis of data from the Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention.

Nearly 23% of reported Covid-19 deaths in the U.S. are African American as of May 20, even though black people make up roughly 13% of the U.S. population, according to racial demographic information on Covid-19

cases and deaths from the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics.

Conditions such as diabetes, hypertension and asthma that tend to plague African Americans more than other racial groups could be contributing to more Covid-19 deaths. Income in(Continued on page A4)

Your Census Response A Must For Fresno’s Black Community Dr. Sudarshan Kapoor with Congressman John Lewis “Congressman John Lewis will always remain a great source of hope and inspiration. He was one of the strongest advocates of human rights, justice, peace and nonviolence. He is enshrined in our hearts. His legacy will last for ever. God bless his soul. Losing Mr. Lewis is like losing another Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr..”

Dr. Sudarshan Kapoor Professor Emeritus Peace Studies, CSU Fresno, California

Black and African communities, especially the male population, have traditionally been undercounted by the U.S. Census, but the pandemic is expected to bring the response rate particularly low, a bad omen for survey

organizers.

Now the Census Bureau is looking for new ways to not only engage communities in outreach but instill a sense of duty in black communities to fill out the survey without prompting.

9-Year Old Black Girl Becomes Youngest Person in Florida to Die From COVID-19

Kansas City Mayor Gets Racist Lynching Tweets After Issuing Mask Mandate

The New York Yankees and the Washington Nationals kneel in a moment of silence for Black Lives Matter at Major League Baseball’s season-opening game (AFP Photo/Rob Carr)

Players take knee as US baseball season opens

NNPA NEWSWIRE

By Lauren Victoria Burke, NNPA Newswire Correspondent

Kimora “Kimmie” Lynum (left) she did not have any underlying health conditions and she did not travel recently.

She spent her days at home and did not attend school or summer camp.

Lynum had no close contact with anyone who tested positive of the COVID-19 as well, official state health department records show.

A GoFundMe campaign has been set up to help with Lynum’s funeral expenses and it has so far raised more than $15,000.

Washington (AFP) Major League Baseball’s coronavirus-delayed season got underway on Thursday with players lining up to take a knee in a gesture of solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement.

Four months after the COVID-19 pandemic shelved the start of the 2020 campaign, baseball returned with the Washington Nationals hosting the New York Yankees before the Los Angeles Dodgers entertained the San Francisco Giants.

Both games took place in eerily empty ballparks, a striking contrast to the celebratory atmosphere that normally accompanies the opening day festivities of the sport regarded as America’s pastime.

At both Nationals Park in Washington and Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, players took part in a pre-game tribute to Black Lives Matter, dropping (Continued on page A4)

P.O. Box 11826 • Fresno, CA 93775 www.caladvocate.com

THE CALIFORNIA ADVOCATE

Putnam County, FL Kimora “Kimmie” Lynum, a 9-year old African American girl, has been reported as the youngest person in Florida to have died from COVID-19 so far.

Lynum was taken to the hospital when she started feeling sick and had a high fever. She tested positive for coronavirus but was sent home. She collapsed and sadly died shortly after.

It has yet been confirmed how or when Lynum got infected. Her family said

Volume 54 ~ No 11 July 31, 2020

Lucas’ order requires residents of Kansas City wearing facial coverings in all indoor public spaces and “while performing an activity which will necessarily involve close contact or proximity to co-workers or the public where 6 feet Kansas City, Missouri Mayor Quinton Lucas of separation is not feasible.”

“Wearing a mask or face covering can be uncomfortable, but this is a necessary step to ensure we can save lives and keep our economy open. We wear masks to protect our loved ones, those around us, and their loved ones,” Lucas stated. Kansas City, (Continued on page A4)

“Sadly, in 2010, nearly 800,000 Black and African Americans were undercounted and that would be inclusive of the nonresponsive follow-up period.

Such a significant number of people, we can certainly do bet(Continued on page A4)

CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED

PRESORTED STANDARD U.S. Postage Paid FRESNO, CA Permit No.35

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Black Deaths To Reach 68,000...

(Continued From Page A1) equalities and disparities in access to health care, which generally lead to poorer diets and overall health, tend to hurt minority and lower-income populations more than others.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s leading infectious disease expert and member of President Donald Trump’s coronavirus task force, said in April that the coronavirus outbreak is “shining a bright light” on how “unacceptable” the health disparities between blacks and whites are.

The disproportionate share of African American deaths is also seen state by state. In Georgia, black Americans represent 32% of the state’s population but account for roughly 47% of Covid-19 deaths, according to the CDC data.

In Michigan, black people make up nearly 14% of the population and

account for roughly 39% of deaths.

Black Americans make up nearly 33% of Louisiana’s population. They account for 54% of Covid-19 deaths in the state, according to the CDC. In New York City, the epicenter of the outbreak in the U.S., black Americans and people in lower-income communities have been getting hit disproportionately harder by the coronavirus, Mayor Bill de Blasio has said.

On March 31, the CDC released a report that said people with diabetes, chronic lung disease or heart disease or those who smoke may be at increased risk of developing severe complications if they get infected with the coronavirus.

The CDC found that a higher percentage of patients with underlying conditions were admitted to the hospital or into intensive care than

Kansas City Mayor Gets Racist Lynching Tweets

(Continued From Page A1)

patients without underlying conditions. About 78% of ICU patients and 71% of hospitalized Covid-19 patients had one or more reported underlying health conditions, the CDC said.

Other U.S. officials and experts say the number of Covid-19 deaths among black Americans also reflects longstanding inequalities in the U.S., including access to medical attention and food. They said black Americans also disproportionately represent workers who are not able to work from home as part of social distancing measures intended to curb the spread of the virus.

Public health officials have known that African Americans overrepresent people with underlying conditions such as diabetes and hypertension, Fauci said on April 7. “Unfortunately, when you look at the

Your Census Response Players take knee as season opens...

A Must For Fresno’s...

(Continued From Page A1) Missouri Mayor Quinton Lucas, 35, says he has ter than that,” said for change,” Beckford, been the target of racism and falsely photoshopped Austin Patrick, a strat- director of the Lt. Jotweets showing him holding a T-shirt saying “F*** egist on Black/African seph P. Kennedy Centhe Police.” The accurate photos were displayed by American outreach ter in Harlem, said.

Lucas side by side in a social media post. from Team Y&R, a Mayor Bill de Blasio Lucas claims the targeting of him after he issued brought together peoa citywide order to wear masks because of the CO- communications firm contracted by the buple from all ethnic and VID-19 pandemic. The mayor’s order took effect religious backgrounds reau. on June 29.

According to Patrick, in January in a call to “Social media and photoshop are always fascinating. To the many texting me aghast of fake showing the communi- complete the census photos circulating, I recommend you not believe ties that outreach is – the counting has beeverything a muckraker sends your way… and use not without personal gun.es provided to the some judgment,” said Lucas. protective equipment is cash-strapped state.

Lucas’ order requires residents of Kansas City key in sowing trust.

“It’s absolutely wearing facial coverings in all indoor public spaces While Patrick stresses critical that every New and “while performing an activity which will necthe importance of Yorker is counted essarily involve close contact or proximity to coproviding the questionand that residents are workers or the public where 6 feet of separation is naire in languages spe- informed that Census not feasible.”

“Wearing a mask or face covering can be un- cific to the Caribbean responses, regardless of comfortable, but this is a necessary step to ensure and many parts of Af- the respondents’ immiwe can save lives and keep our economy open. We rica, Deacon Rodney gration or citizenship wear masks to protect our loved ones, those around Beckford, a census or- status, are confidential, us, and their loved ones,” Lucas stated. ganizer in Harlem says safe and secure,” CuoLucas also posted screenshots from an individual who claimed that the mayor treated white cops door-to-door outreach mo said Tuesday in a statement. “There’s no disrespectfully. “You are such a piece of s*** in New York City Housing Authority doubt that COVID-19 n******,” the screenshot read. “You walked with has presented unprecRIOTERS not wearing a mask idiot. You should buildings is a critical, edented obstacles to swing from a tree, I’m not threatening it, but would grassroots approach love to see it.” to getting an accurate completing the Census.

Lucas said he had received numerous texts from count. Even outreach However, the pandempeople appalled by the fake photoshopped image at food pantries and ic also highlights a key of him in an anti-police t-shirt and encouraged the parishes comes into the reason why the Census public to use “some judgment” when looking at fold. is so vital—New York images floating on social media.

“The mantra that State continues to seek The racial slur and death threat after the false imwe have is that…

Get substantial funding age controversy prompted Lucas to say, “Y’all … counted, get registered, and aid from the fedlet’s do better.” eral government.”

Lauren Victoria Burke is an independent journal- get out the vote. If ist for NNPA and the host of the podcast BURKE- you don’t get counted, MTA Chairman Pat FILE. She is also a political strategist as Principal you don’t count. And Foye, whose agency is of Win Digital Media LLC. She may be contacted that’s how we’re taking looking at a $16 billion at LBurke007@gmail.com and on twitter at @ the lead in this pandeficit by 2024 and has LVBurke demic and in this time been banging the drum for emergency federal stimulus funds iin the sum of $3.9 billion just for 2020 alone, is not taking the census for granted in the time of COVID-19. The push for every penny is real for transit networks across the country.

“Implications of participating in the census are particularly timely as we fight for federal financial support for mass transit. With the historic challenges we Dr. Kevin E. Stafford and Lady Margina E. Stafford are facing, now would be the worst possible time to lose representation in Washington,” Foye said.

Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church SERVICE TIMES

Sunday School 9:30 am Sunday Worship Experience 10:45 am Wednesday Bible Study 12:00 pm and 6:00 pm

Bread of Life Food Pantry and Clothes Closet – 2nd & 4th Saturdays

MEDIA COMMUNICATIONS

predisposing conditions that lead to a bad outcome with coronavirus, the things that get people into ICUs that require incubation that often lead to death, they are just those very comorbidities.”

To be sure, the CDC data doesn’t provide a full picture of coronavirus deaths in the U.S. The data is incomplete, the CDC says, with delays of reported deaths ranging from one to eight weeks or more.

Additionally, the CDC data excludes 11 states, and the agency recommends using weighted percentages it says to reflect a more accurate comparison between Covid-19 deaths and population by race.

Some U.S. lawmakers and civil rights groups have criticized the CDC for not releasing more details on the racial breakdown of those dying from the pandemic.

Radio Station KXEX1550 AM Sunday 9:00 am Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church Fresno @Theship_Fresno

2529 E Belmont Ave. Fresno (559) 441-1661 fellowshipmbc@sbcglobal.net Office Hours 10:00 am – 2:00 pm Mon – Fri

(Continued From Page A1)

to one knee while lifting a giant black banner in unison.

As the players knelt, a message addressing social injustice recorded by actor Morgan Freeman played on stadium screens.

In Washington, all players on the field then got to their feet to stand for the US national anthem.

But in Los Angeles, the Dodgers’ newly signed African-American star Mookie Betts remained on one knee, with teammates Cody Bellinger and Max Muncy each resting a supportive hand on his shoulder.

Several members of the Giants’ playing and coaching staff also knelt during the anthem.

- ‘Unifying moment’ “It was a really important, unifying moment for the players and staff on both sides,” said Giants manager Gabe Kapler, who was among those who knelt.

“It was good to be around players who are so committed to changing the current state of systemic racism in our country.”

The United States has been convulsed by nationwide protests against racism and police brutality after the May 25 death of unarmed AfricanAmerican man George Floyd in Minneapolis at the hands of police officers.

Taking a knee has become a widely recognized symbol of support for Black Lives Matter, adopted by protesters and professional athletes around the world in the weeks since the protests erupted.

Kneeling was first used as a gesture of protest by former NFL player Colin Kaepernick in 2016, who was vilified by President Donald Trump for his protests against racial injustice.

Thursday’s season-opening games marked a long-awaited return to baseball after months of uncertainty during the coronavirus shutdown that at times threatened to scupper the entire season.

After bitter wrangling between team owners and players, an abbreviated 60-game season was mandated by MLB commissioner Rob Manfred.

Games are taking place without fans, while players are subject to a range of strict health and safety protocols designed to prevent outbreaks of COVID-19.

Players will be tested for the disease every 48 hours, while masks will be mandatory for all players not on the field of play.

As well as strict social distancing, two staples of baseball -- chewing tobacco and sunflower seeds -- are also effectively banned. Under baseball’s new safety code, any spitting is forbidden.

Thursday’s game in Washington, meanwhile, was marked by an appearance from US infectious disease specialist Anthony Fauci, a devoted fan of the World Series-winning Nationals, who tossed the ceremonial first pitch to get the season underway. Fauci’s pitch went way wide of the catcher.

COVID-19, meanwhile, struck a blow to the Nationals earlier Thursday after it emerged star outfielder Juan Soto had tested positive for the disease.

Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo said Soto faces an indefinite spell on the sidelines as he recovers.

Soto’s absence was felt on the field by Washington, who slumped to a 4-1 defeat in a game that was called off after torrential rain halted play after the 5th inning with the Yankees leading.

The California Advocate Newspaper To advertise or subscribe call the Advocate @ (559) 268-0941 or visit our website - thecaladvocate.com Mark Kimber

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2020 Black Graduates

On behalf of the men and women of the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office, we wish to congratulate you on your accomplishment as a graduating member of the Class of 2020. As Sheriff of Fresno County, I personally invite you to consider a career with our agency. We need caring community members who are interested in public service to keep our county safe and I want you to know you are welcome to be part of our family. If you want to make a positive difference, we have the career for you!

Fresno County Sheriff’s Office, Sheriff Margaret Mims For any questions please contact: RECRUITMENT@FRESNOSHERIFF.ORG

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A declaration of proclamation by the Fresno City Council for Black Lives Matter Day included a ceremony project to paint Black Lives Matter on the street in front of City Hall. “We’re also inviting the public to come in and be able to show their expressions of support for the Black Lives Matter movement and to talk about racial unity. I think it’s going to be exciting and we’re hoping the public will come out,” said Mark Standriff with the City of Fresno.

The social justice art ceremony took place on June 18th on P Street in downtown Fresno.

Hundreds of people gathered in front of Fresno City Hall for the Black Lives Matter Annual Proclamation and Street Art Event to paint “Black lives matter” in front of Fresno City Hall.

The Fresno City Council proclaimed Thursday June 18th, 2020, “Black Lives Matter Day.”

Fresno City leaders stepped up to support social issues.

CALIFORNIA ADVOCATE THE CALIFORNIA ADVOCATE Section SectionB B Volume - July “YourLocal LocalNews NewsSource” Source” Volume54 54No. No.10 11~~July July3,31, 202017– –“Your The California Advocate

To veiw more photos see our website thecaladvocate.com

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California Advocate’s

Saints Rest Baptist Church “TrendsettersGo”

Saints Community Church

SERVICE TIMES Sunday School

9:15 am

Sunday Morning Worship

10:45 am

Wednesday Prayer Meeting Wednesday Bible Study

11:00 am & 7:00 pm.

12:00 pm & 7:00pm

1550 E. Rev. Chester E. Riggins Ave. Fresno p: (559) 237-5551 f: (559)237-0133 • e: office@saintrest.org • w: www.sainttrest.org

Pastor D.J. Criner

Sunday

Sunday School 9:30 a.m.

Evening Worship 6:00 p.m.

Wednesday: Bible Study 6:15 p.m.

3740 Ashlan Ave. Fresno. • p:(559) 222-9819 f: (559) 2227-2954 • e: admin@saintscommunity.org

Dr. B.E. McAlister, Pastor Tina McAliarwe

Rising Star Missionary

St. Matthew BAPTIST CHURCH Reaching the lost and the Upchurch with the preaching of the Word of God.

BAPTIST CHURCH, FRESNO

‘Join us in Embracing God’s Presence, Experiencing God’s Power, and Equipping to fulfill God’s Purpose’

SERVICE, MEETING AND TIMES Saturday Sunday

Choir, usher and mission meeting Call for times and events

SERVICE TIMES

9:00 am Sunday School 10:00 am Church service Tuesday 6:00 pm Men meeting Wednesday 5:30pm Night bible study

Contact: Reverend Lawrence Chisom (559) 250-3116

Deacon Winroe

(559) 284-9828

1808 S. Crystal Ave. Fresno

Deacon Brewer

(559) 377-3252

Mrs. Gerry Chisom (559) 430-9539

West Fresno Christian Center

Sunday Morning Prayer Sunday Morning Bible Study Sunday Morning Worship Tuesday Prayer & Bible Study

Pastor B. T. Lewis II & Lady Latisha Lewis

Bethel Church of Christ (Holiness) USA

“An old church, with a new beginning”

Sunday School 9:30AM Sunday Worship 11:00AM Tuesday Bible Study 7:00PM Friday Night Prayer 6:00PM

SERVICE TIMES

Sunday Sunday School Sunday Morning Worship Thursday Bible Study

Email: jeparkssr@gmail.com

Phone: (559) 233-3273 Fax: (559) 455-0746 2120 S. Thorne Avenue, Fresno, CA 93706

New Beginnings Community BAPTIST CHURCH MEETING AT

e: bethelchurch2119@att.net

Westside Church of God

“All age groups are encouraged to attend. Youth and children’s classes are available

“Gather. Grow. Go.” Fresno Pacific University

1717 S. Chestnut Ave. Fresno • www.nbcbc.org • (559) 369-3538

SERVICE TIMES

Sunday SundayWorship 9:00 am Tuesday F.A.T. Bible Studies Dinner 5:45 pm 1424 W. California Ave., Fresno

Dr. Paul Lawrence Binion II

p:(559) 237-1444 • e: officewscog@yahoo,cim

Bethesda Churches

Everlasting Love Ministries

LOCATIONS, ADDRESSES AND SERVICE TIMES

“We love you where you are to where God wants to take you”

SOUTHEAST

SUNDAY 10:00am Children’s Activities Available 407 S Clovis Ave., Fresno (Clovis & Huntington)

CENTRAL

SUNDAY 8:15am, 11:00am, 6:00pm Children’s Activities each service 11:00am Youth Activities 3723 E Dakota Ave., Fresno (Dakota & Millbrook)

RIVERPARK

SUNDAY 10:00am Children’s Activities Available 81 E Pinedale., Fresno (Pinedale & Blackstone)

SERVICE TIMES

Sunday Morning 10:30am Wednesday 6:30pm Bible Study Rev. Dr. Angulus Wilson D. Pastor Wilson, Malcolm Sr. Pastor C.

and Lady Audrey Scott

2503 W. Shaw Ave #103., Fresno • (559) 283-8992 everlastinglove.ministries7@yahoo.com

ANEW Pearly Grove

Pastor Tobias Brookins

p: (559) 225-1672 e:frontdesk@thebethesdachurches.com

Power House Institutional COGIC Much Prayer Much Power No Prayer No Power

BAPTIST CHURCH Sunday Morning 9:00 am Sunday Morning Service at 10:00 am Wednesday Prayer & Bible Study at 6:00 pm Pastor Charles

Rev. Dr. Dickersen Name goes here Sr. Pastor

1927 S Van Ness Ave Fresno, California, CA 93721 (559) 266-1420

Fellowship Missionary

BAPTIST CHURCH

“Reaching the Unsaved uncharted for Christ”

Pastor Richard L. Daniels

SERVICE TIMES Sunday

Breakfast 8:00 am Sunday School 9:30am Worship 10:45 am Children’s Church 10:45 am Nursery 10:30 am Saturday Bread of Life Panty 2nd & 4th Saturday FREE Clothes Closet 2nd & 4th Wednesday 12:00 pm and 6:30 pm

2529 E. Belmont Ave. • Fresno • (559) 441-1661 elloshipmbc@sbcglobal.net • Office hours 9:00am-2:00pm

9:30 am 11:00 am 6:30 pm

2119 S. Eunice. Fresno • p: (559) 266-3483

Pastor Darell Jones and Lady Schyienell Jones

Sunday Morning Life Groups at 9:00 am Sunday Morning Service at 10:00 am Wednesday Corporate Prayer & Bible Study at 6:00 pm Super Saturday (1rst Saturday)at 10:00 am Rev. Dr. Angulus Wilson D. Wilson, Sr. Pastor

8:30am 9:00am 10:30am 6:30pm

1104 Collins Ave. - (559) 442-190 e:risingstarfresno@hotmail.com web:risingstarfresno.org

“I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the Lord, which mad heaven and earth.”

Psalm 121:1-2

Pastor James E. Parks and Lady Gwendolyn Parks

SERVICES

Morning Worship 8:00 a.m.. & 10:30 a.m.

SCHEDULE

Sunday School 9:00AM Reg. Service 10:30 AM Wednesday Choir Rehersal 5:30 PM Bible Study 6:30 PM Pastor Duane McAlister & 1st Lady Beverly McAlister

1615 :N” Street P.O. Box 11398 Fresno , CA 93773

First Union Missionary David J. Keener, Sr. Pastor First Lady

Nichole Keener Princess

Payton Keener

BAPTIST CHURCH

SERVICE TIMES

Discipleship ClassesSunday 9:30 AM Morning Worship Service -Sunday 11:00 AM

Mid Week Manna-Wednesday 6:00 PM

2304 E Street Fresno, CA 93706

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For the fifth year in a row, Valley Children’s is recognized as one of the best children’s hospitals in the nation by U.S. News & World Report, ranking in Diabetes & Endocrinology, Gastroenterology & GI Surgery, Neonatology, Neurology & Neurosurgery, Orthopedics, Pulmonology & Lung Surgery and Urology.

We are proud of this national recognition and honored by the trust families have placed in us for nearly seven decades.

Together

PageB4 A1 The The California California Advocate 2020 Page Advocate July July3,31, 2020

You Can Redeem the Soul of Our Nation

Though I am gone, I urge you toanswer the highest calling of your heart and stand up for what you truly believe. By John Lewis Mr. Lewis, the civil rights leader who died on July 17, wrote this essay shortly before his death, to be published upon the day of his funeral.

While my time here has now come to an end, I want you to know that in the last days and hours of my life you inspired me.

You filled me with hope about the next chapter of the great American story when you used your power to make a difference in our society. Millions of people motivated simply by human compassion laid down the burdens of division. Around the country and the world you set aside race, class, age, language and nationality to demand respect for human dignity.

That is why I had to visit Black Lives Matter Plaza in Washington, though I was admitted to the hospital the following day. I just had to see and feel it for myself that, after many years of silent witness, the truth is still marching on.

Emmett Till was my George Floyd. He was my Rayshard Brooks, Sandra Bland and Breonna Taylor. He was 14 when he was killed, and I was only 15 years old at the time. I will never ever forget the moment when it became so clear that he could easily have been me. In those days, fear constrained us like an imaginary prison, and troubling thoughts of potential brutality committed for no understandable reason were the bars.

Though I was surrounded by two loving parents, plenty of brothers, sisters and cousins, their love could not protect me from the

unholy oppression waiting just outside that family circle. Unchecked, unrestrained violence and government-sanctioned terror had the power to turn a simple stroll to the store for some Skittles or an innocent morning jog down a lonesome country road into a nightmare. If we are to survive as one unified nation, we must discover what so readily takes root in our hearts that could rob Mother Emanuel Church in South Carolina of her brightest and best, shoot unwitting concertgoers in Las Vegas and choke to death the hopes and dreams of a gifted violinist like Elijah McClain.

Like so many young people today, I was searching for a way out, or some might say a way in, and then I heard the voice of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on an old radio. He was talking about the philosophy and discipline of nonviolence. He said we are all complicit when we tolerate injustice.

He said it is not enough to say it will get better by and by. He said each of us has a moral obligation to stand up, speak up and speak out. When you see something that is not right, you must say something. You must do something. Democracy is not a state. It is an act, and each generation must do its part to help build what we called the Beloved Community, a nation and world society at peace with itself.

Ordinary people with extraordinary vision can redeem the soul of America by getting in what I call good trouble, necessary trouble. Voting and participating in the democratic process are key. The vote is the most powerful nonviolent change agent you have in a democratic society.

You must use it because it is not guaranteed. You can lose it.

You must also study and learn the lessons of history because humanity has been involved in this soulwrenching, existential struggle for a very long time.

People on every continent have stood in your shoes, through decades and centuries before you. The truth does not change, and that is why the answers worked out long ago can help you find solutions to the challenges of our time. Continue to build union between movements stretching across the globe because we must put away our willingness to profit from the exploitation of others.

Though I may not be here with you, I urge you to answer the highest calling of your heart and stand up for what you truly believe. In my life I have done all I can to demonstrate that the way of peace, the way of love and nonviolence is the more excellent way. Now it is your turn to let freedom ring.

When historians pick up their pens to write the story of the 21st century, let them say that it was your generation who laid down the heavy burdens of hate at last and that peace finally triumphed over violence, aggression and war. So I say to you, walk with the wind, brothers and sisters, and let the spirit of peace and the power of everlasting love be your guide.

John Lewis, the civil rights leader and congressman who died on July 17, John Lewis, the civil rights leader congressman wrote this essay shortly who died on July 17, wrote this essay shortley before his death. before his death.

John lewis at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington in 2013.

(Nikki Kahn/The Washignton Post)

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ewis ohn J L February 21, 1940 to July 17, 2020

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TheCalifornia CaliforniaAdvocate Advocate July July The 3, 31, 20202020

Former President Barack Obama Delivered the eulogy at John Lewis’s funeral in Atlanta calling Mr. Lewis an on July 29, 2020

“American whose faith was tested again and again to produce a man of pure joy and unbreakable perseverance.”

Here are Mr. Obama’s remarks in full: James wrote to the believers, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing.”

It is a great honor to be back in Ebenezer Baptist Church, in the pulpit of its greatest pastor, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., to pay my respects to perhaps his finest disciple — an American whose faith was tested again and again to produce a man of pure joy and unbreakable perseverance — John Robert Lewis.

To those who have spoken to Presidents Bush and Clinton, Madam Speaker, Reverend Warnock, Reverend King, John’s family, friends, his beloved staff, Mayor Bottoms — I’ve come here today because I, like so many Americans, owe a great debt to John Lewis and his forceful vision of freedom.

Now, this country is a constant work in progress. We were born with instructions: to form a more perfect union. Explicit in those words is the idea that we are imperfect; that what gives each new generation purpose is to take up the unfinished work of the last and carry it further than anyone might have thought possible.

John Lewis — the first of the Freedom Riders, head of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, youngest speaker at the March on Washington, leader of the march from Selma to Montgomery, Member of Congress representing the people of this state and this district for 33 years, mentor to young people, including me at the time, until his final day on this Earth — he not only embraced that responsibility, but he made it his life’s work.

Which isn’t bad for a boy from Troy.

John was born into modest means — that means he was poor — in the heart of the Jim Crow South to parents who picked somebody else’s cotton.

Apparently, he didn’t take to farm work — on days when he was supposed to help his brothers and sisters with their labor, he’d hide under the porch and make a break for the school bus when it showed up. His mother, Willie Mae Lewis, nurtured that curiosity in this shy, serious child. “Once you learn something,” she told her son, “once you get something inside your head, no one can take it away from you.”

As a boy, John listened through the door after bedtime as his father’s friends complained about the Klan.

One Sunday as a teenager, he heard Dr. King preach on the radio. As a college student in Tennessee, he signed up for Jim Lawson’s workshops on the tactic of nonviolent civil disobedience. John Lewis was getting something inside his head, an idea he couldn’t shake that took hold of him — that nonviolent resistance and civil disobedience were the means to change laws, but also change hearts, and change minds, and change nations, and change the world.

So he helped organize the Nashville campaign in 1960. He and other young men and women sat at a segregated lunch counter, well-dressed, straightbacked, refusing to let a milkshake poured on their heads, or a cigarette extinguished on their backs, or a foot aimed at their ribs, refused to let that dent their dignity and their sense of purpose. And after a few months, the Nashville campaign achieved the first successful desegregation of public facilities in any major city in the South.

John got a taste of jail for the first, second, third … well, several times.

But he also got a taste of victory. And it consumed him with righteous purpose.

And he took the battle deeper into the South.

That same year, just weeks after the Supreme Court ruled that segregation of interstate bus facilities was unconstitutional, John and Bernard Lafayette bought two tickets, climbed aboard a Greyhound, sat up front, and refused to move. This was months before the first official Freedom Rides.

He was doing a test. The trip was

unsanctioned. Few knew what they were up to. And at every stop, through the night, apparently the angry driver stormed out of the bus and into the bus station.

And John and Bernard had no idea what he might come back with or who he might come back with. Nobody was there to protect them. There were no camera crews to record events. You know, sometimes, we read about this and kind of take it for granted. Or at least we act as if it was inevitable. Imagine the courage of two people Malia’s age, younger than my oldest daughter, on their own, to challenge an entire infrastructure of oppression.

John was only twenty years old. But he pushed all twenty of those years to the center of the table, betting everything, all of it, that his example could challenge centuries of convention, and generations of brutal violence, and countless daily indignities suffered by African Americans.

Like John the Baptist preparing the way, like those Old Testament prophets speaking truth to kings, John Lewis did not hesitate — he kept on getting on board buses and sitting at lunch counters, got his mug shot taken again and again, marched again and again on a mission to

himself out of the hospital, he would make sure the world saw a movement that was, in the words of Scripture, “hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.” They returned to Brown Chapel, a battered prophet, bandages around his head, and he said more marchers will come now. And the people came. And the troopers parted. And the marchers reached Montgomery. And their words reached the White House — and Lyndon Johnson, son of the South, said “We shall overcome,” and the Voting Rights Act was signed into law.

The life of John Lewis was, in so many ways, exceptional. It vindicated the faith in our founding, redeemed that faith; that most American of ideas; that idea that any of us ordinary people without rank or wealth or title or fame can somehow point out the imperfections of this nation, and come together, and challenge the status quo, and decide that it is in our power to remake this country that we love until it more closely aligns with our highest ideals.

What a radical ideal. What a revolutionary notion. This idea that any of us, ordinary

2011 Lewis Presidential Medal Of Freedom change America.

Spoke to a quarter million people at the March on Washington when he was just 23.

Helped organize the Freedom Summer in Mississippi when he was just 24.

At the ripe old age of 25, John was asked to lead the march from Selma to Montgomery. He was warned that Governor Wallace had ordered troopers to use violence. But he and Hosea Williams and others led them across that bridge anyway. And we’ve all seen the film and the footage and the photographs, and President Clinton mentioned the trench coat, the knapsack, the book to read, the apple to eat, the toothbrush — apparently jails weren’t big on such creature comforts.

And you look at those pictures and John looks so young and he’s small in stature.

Looking every bit that shy, serious child that his mother had raised and yet, he is full of purpose. God’s put perseverance in him.

And we know what happened to the marchers that day. Their bones were cracked by billy clubs, their eyes and lungs choked with tear gas. As they knelt to pray, which made their heads even easier targets, and John was struck in the skull. And he thought he was going to die, surrounded by the sight of young Americans gagging, and bleeding, and trampled, victims in their own country of state-sponsored violence.

And the thing is, I imagine initially that day, the troopers thought that they had won the battle. You can imagine the conversations they had afterwards.

You can imagine them saying, “Yeah, we showed them.” They figured they’d turned the protesters back over the bridge; that they’d kept, that they’d preserved a system that denied the basic humanity of their fellow citizens. Except this time, there were some cameras there. This time, the world saw what happened, bore witness to Black Americans who were asking for nothing more than to be treated like other Americans. Who were not asking for special treatment, just the equal treatment promised to them a century before, and almost another century before that.

When John woke up, and checked

people, a young kid from Troy can stand up to the powers and principalities and say no this isn’t right, this isn’t true, this isn’t just. We can do better. On the battlefield of justice, Americans like John, Americans like the Reverends Lowery and C.T. Vivian, two other patriots that we lost this year, liberated all of us that many Americans came to take for granted.

America was built by people like them.

America was built by John Lewises. He as much as anyone in our history brought this country a little bit closer to our highest ideals. And someday, when we do finish that long journey toward freedom; when we do form a more perfect union — whether it’s years from now, or decades, or even if it takes another two centuries — John Lewis will be a founding father of that fuller, fairer, better America.

And yet, as exceptional as John was, here’s the thing: John never believed that what he did was more than any citizen of this country can do. I mentioned in the statement the day John passed, the thing about John was just how gentle and humble he was. And despite this storied, remarkable career, he treated everyone with kindness and respect because it was innate to him — this idea that any of us can do what he did if we are willing to persevere.

He believed that in all of us, there exists the capacity for great courage, that in all of us there is a longing to do what’s right, that in all of us there is a willingness to love all people, and to extend to them their Godgiven rights to dignity and respect. So many of us lose that sense. It’s taught out of us.

We start feeling as if, in fact, that we can’t afford to extend kindness or decency to other people. That we’re better off if we are above other people and looking down on them, and so often that’s encouraged in our culture. But John always saw the best in us.

And he never gave up, and never stopped speaking out because he saw the best in us. He believed in us even when we didn’t believe in ourselves. As a Congressman, he didn’t rest; he kept getting himself arrested.

As an old man, he didn’t sit out any fight; he sat in, all night long, on the floor of the United States Capitol. I know his staff was stressed.

But the testing of his faith produced perseverance. He knew that the march is not yet over, that the race is not yet won, that we have not yet reached that blessed destination where we are judged by the content of our character. He knew from his own life that progress is fragile; that we have to be vigilant against the darker currents of this country’s history, of our own history, with their whirlpools of violence and hatred and despair that can always rise again.

Bull Connor may be gone. But today we witness with our own eyes police officers kneeling on the necks of Black Americans. George Wallace may be gone. But we can witness our federal government sending agents to use tear gas and batons against peaceful demonstrators. We may no longer have to guess the number of jelly beans in a jar in order to cast a ballot. But even as we sit here, there are those in power are doing their darnedest to discourage people from voting — by closing polling locations, and targeting minorities and students with restrictive ID laws, and attacking our voting rights with surgical precision, even undermining the Postal Service in the run-up to an election that is going to be dependent on mailed-in ballots so people don’t get sick.

Now, I know this is a celebration of John’s life. There are some who might say we shouldn’t dwell on such things. But that’s why I’m talking about it. John Lewis devoted his time on this Earth fighting the very attacks on democracy and what’s best in America that we are seeing circulate right now.

He knew that every single one of us has a God-given power. And that the fate of this democracy depends on how we use it; that democracy isn’t automatic, it has to be nurtured, it has to be tended to, we have to work at it, it’s hard. And so he knew it depends on whether we summon a measure, just a measure, of John’s moral courage to question what’s right and what’s wrong and call things as they are. He said that as long as he had breath in his body, he would do everything he could to preserve this democracy.

That as long as we have breath in our bodies, we have to continue his cause.

If we want our children to grow up in a democracy — not just with elections, but a true democracy, a representative democracy, a big-hearted, tolerant, vibrant, inclusive America of perpetual self-creation — then we are going to have to be more like John. We don’t have to do all the things he had to do because he did them for us. But we have got to do something. As the Lord instructed Paul, “Do not be afraid, go on speaking; do not be silent, for I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many in this city who are my people.” Just everybody’s just got to come out and vote. We’ve got all those people in the city but we can’t do nothing.

Like John, we have got to keep getting into that good trouble. He knew that nonviolent protest is patriotic; a way to raise public awareness, put a spotlight on injustice, and make the powers that be uncomfortable.

Like John, we don’t have to choose between protest and politics, it is not an either-or situation, it is a both-and situation. We have to engage in protests where that is effective but we also have to translate our passion and our causes into laws and institutional practices.

That’s why John ran for Congress thirty-four years ago.

Like John, we have got to fight even harder for the most powerful tool we have, which is the right to vote. The Voting Rights Act is one of the crowning achievements of our democracy. It’s why John crossed that bridge. It’s why he spilled his blood. And by the way, it was the result of Democratic and Republican efforts. President Bush, who spoke here earlier, and his father, both signed its renewal when they were in office. President Clinton didn’t have to because it was the law when he arrived so instead he made a law that made it easier for people to register to vote.

But once the Supreme Court weakened the Voting Rights Act, some

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state legislatures unleashed a flood of laws designed specifically to make voting harder, especially, by the way, state legislatures where there is a lot of minority turnout and population growth. That’s not necessarily a mystery or an accident. It was an attack on what John fought for. It was an attack on our democratic freedoms. And we should treat it as such.

If politicians want to honor John, and I’m so grateful for the legacy of work of all the Congressional leaders who are here, but there’s a better way than a statement calling him a hero. You want to honor John? Let’s honor him by revitalizing the law that he was willing to die for. And by the way, naming it the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, that is a fine tribute. But John wouldn’t want us to stop there, trying to get back to where we already were. Once we pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, we should keep marching to make it even better.

By making sure every American is automatically registered to vote, including former inmates who’ve earned their second chance.

By adding polling places, and expanding early voting, and making Election Day a national holiday, so if you are someone who is working in a factory, or you are a single mom who has got to go to her job and doesn’t get time off, you can still cast your ballot.

By guaranteeing that every American citizen has equal representation in our government, including the American citizens who live in Washington, D.C. and in Puerto Rico. They are Americans.

By ending some of the partisan gerrymandering — so that all voters have the power to choose their politicians, not the other way around.

And if all this takes eliminating the filibuster — another Jim Crow relic — in order to secure the God-given rights of every American, then that’s what we should do.

And yet, even if we do all this — even if every bogus voter suppression law

of you.” On Inauguration Day in 2008, 2009, he was one of the first people that I greeted and hugged on that stand. I told him, “This is your day too.”

He was a good and kind and gentle man.

And he believed in us — even when we don’t believe in ourselves. It’s fitting that the last time John and I shared a public forum was on Zoom. I am pretty sure that neither he nor I set up the Zoom call because we didn’t know how to work it. It was a virtual town hall with a gathering of young activists who had been helping to lead this summer’s demonstrations in the wake of George Floyd’s death. And afterwards, I spoke to John privately, and he could not have been prouder to see this new generation of activists standing up for freedom and equality; a new generation that was intent on voting and protecting the right to vote; in some cases, a new generation running for political office.

I told him, all those young people, John — of every race and every religion, from every background and gender and sexual orientation — John, those are your children. They learned from your example, even if they didn’t always know it. They had understood, through him, what American citizenship requires, even if they had only heard about his courage through the history books.

“By the thousands, faceless, anonymous, relentless young people, Black and white … have taken our whole nation back to those great wells of democracy which were dug deep by the founding fathers in the formulation of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence.”

Dr. King said that in the 1960s. And it came true again this summer.

We see it outside our windows, in big cities and rural towns, in men and women, young and old, straight Americans and LGBTQ Americans, Blacks who long for equal treatment and whites who can no longer accept freedom for themselves while witnessing the subjugation of their fellow Americans. We see it in everybody doing the hard work of overcoming complacency, of overcoming our own

President Barack Obama hugs Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., after his introduction during the event to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of Bloody Sunday and the Selma to Montgomery civil rights marches, at the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala., March 7, 2015. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

was struck off the books today — we have got to be honest with ourselves that too many of us choose not to exercise the franchise; that too many of our citizens believe their vote won’t make a difference, or they buy into the cynicism that, by the way, is the central strategy of voter suppression, to make you discouraged, to stop believing in your own power.

So we are also going to have to remember what John said: “If you don’t do everything you can to change things, then they will remain the same. You only pass this way once. You have to give it all you have.” As long as young people are protesting in the streets, hoping real change takes hold, I’m hopeful but we cannot casually abandon them at the ballot box. Not when few elections have been as urgent, on so many levels, as this one. We cannot treat voting as an errand to run if we have some time. We have to treat it as the most important action we can take on behalf of democracy.

Like John, we have to give it all we have.

I was proud that John Lewis was a friend of mine. I met him when I was in law school. He came to speak and I went up and I said, “Mr. Lewis, you are one of my heroes. What inspired me more than anything as a young man was to see what you and Reverend Lawson and Bob Moses and Diane Nash and others did.” And he got that kind of — aw shucks, thank you very much.

The next time I saw him, I had been elected to the United States Senate. And I told him, “John, I am here because

fears and our own prejudices, our own hatreds. You see it in people trying to be better, truer versions of ourselves.

And that’s what John Lewis teaches us. That’s where real courage comes from. Not from turning on each other, but by turning towards one another.

Not by sowing hatred and division, but by spreading love and truth. Not by avoiding our responsibilities to create a better America and a better world, but by embracing those responsibilities with joy and perseverance and discovering that in our beloved community, we do not walk alone.

What a gift John Lewis was. We are all so lucky to have had him walk with us for a while, and show us the way.

God bless you all. God bless America.

God bless this gentle soul who pulled it closer to its promise.

Together, You Can Redeem the Soul of Our NationThough I am gone, I urge you toanswer the highest calling of your heart and stand up for what you truly believe.-By John Lewis Mr. Lewis, the civil rights leader who died on July 17, wrote this essay shortly before his death, to be published upon the day of his funeral.

While my time here has now come to an end, I want you to know that in the last days and hours of my life you inspired me. You filled me with hope about the next chapter of the great American story when you used your power to make a difference in our society. Millions of people motivated simply by human compassion laid down the burdens of division. Around

the country and the world you set aside race, class, age, language and nationality to demand respect for human dignity.

That is why I had to visit Black Lives Matter Plaza in Washington, though I was admitted to the hospital the following day. I just had to see and feel it for myself that, after many years of silent witness, the truth is still marching on.

Emmett Till was my George Floyd.

He was my Rayshard Brooks, Sandra Bland and Breonna Taylor. He was 14 when he was killed, and I was only 15 years old at the time. I will never ever forget the moment when it became so clear that he could easily have been me. In those days, fear constrained us like an imaginary prison, and troubling thoughts of potential brutality committed for no understandable reason were the bars.

Though I was surrounded by two loving parents, plenty of brothers, sisters and cousins, their love could not protect me from the unholy oppression waiting just outside that family circle. Unchecked, unrestrained violence and governmentsanctioned terror had the power to turn a simple stroll to the store for some Skittles or an innocent morning jog down a lonesome country road into a nightmare.

If we are to survive as one unified nation, we must discover what so readily takes root in our hearts that could rob Mother Emanuel Church in South Carolina of her brightest and best, shoot unwitting concertgoers in Las Vegas and choke to death the hopes and dreams of a gifted violinist like Elijah McClain.

Like so many young people today, I was searching for a way out, or some might say a way in, and then I heard the voice of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on an old radio. He was talking about the philosophy and discipline of nonviolence.

He said we are all complicit when we tolerate injustice. He said it is not enough to say it will get better by and by. He said each of us has a moral obligation to stand up, speak up and speak out. When you see something that is not right, you must say something. You must do something.

Democracy is not a state. It is an act, and each generation must do its part to help build what we called the Beloved Community, a nation and world society at peace with itself.

Ordinary people with extraordinary vision can redeem the soul of America by getting in what I call good trouble, necessary trouble. Voting and participating in the democratic process are key. The vote is the most powerful nonviolent change agent you have in a democratic society. You must use it because it is not guaranteed. You can lose it.

You must also study and learn the lessons of history because humanity has been involved in this soul-wrenching, existential struggle for a very long time.

People on every continent have stood in your shoes, through decades and centuries before you. The truth does not change, and that is why the answers worked out long ago can help you find solutions to the challenges of our time. Continue to build union between movements stretching across the globe because we must put away our willingness to profit from the exploitation of others.

Though I may not be here with you, I urge you to answer the highest calling of your heart and stand up for what you truly believe. In my life I have done all I can to demonstrate that the way of peace, the way of love and nonviolence is the more excellent way. Now it is your turn to let freedom ring.

When historians pick up their pens to write the story of the 21st century, let them say that it was your generation who laid down the heavy burdens of hate at last and that peace finally triumphed over violence, aggression and war. So I say to you, walk with the wind, brothers and sisters, and let the spirit of peace and the power of everlasting love be your guide.

John Lewis, the civil rights leader and congressman who died on July 17, wrote this essay shortly before his death.

Genetic impact of African slave trade revealed in DNA study A major DNA study has shed new light on the fate of millions of Africans who were traded as slaves to the Americas between the 16th and 19th centuries.

More than 50,000 people took part in the study, which was able to identify more details of the “genetic impact” the trade has had on present-day populations in the Americas.

It lays bare the consequences of rape, maltreatment, disease and racism.

More than 12.5m Africans were traded between 1515 and the mid-19th Century.

Some two million of the enslaved men, women and children died en route to the Americas.

The DNA study was led by consumer genetics company 23andMe and included 30,000 people of African ancestry on both

sides of the Atlantic. The findings were published in the American Journal of Human Genetics.

Steven Micheletti, a population geneticist at 23andMe told AFP news agency that the aim was to compare the genetic results with the manifests of slave ships “to see how they agreed and how they disagree”.

While much of their findings agreed with historical documentation about where people were taken from in Africa and where they were enslaved in the Americas, “in some cases, we see that they disagree, quite strikingly”, he added.

Media captionGhanaian artist Kwame Akoto-Bamfo creates sculptures of slaves to immerse people in their experience.

The study found, in line with the major slave route, that most Americans of African descent have roots in territories now located in Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

What was surprising was the overrepresentation of Nigerian ancestry in the US and Latin America when compared with the recorded number of enslaved people from that region.

Researchers say this can be explained by the “intercolonial trade that occurred primarily between 1619 and 1807”.

They believe enslaved Nigerians were transported from the British Caribbean to other areas, “presumably to maintain the slave economy as transatlantic slavetrading was increasingly prohibited”.

Likewise, the researchers were surprised to find an underrepresentation from Senegal and The Gambia - one of the first regions from where slaves were deported.

Researchers put this down to two grim factors: many were sent to work in rice plantations where malaria and other dangerous conditions were rampant; and in later years larger numbers of children were sent, many of whom did not survive the crossing.

Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Some two million people did not survive the horrendous conditions aboard ship In another gruesome discovery, the study found that the treatment of enslaved women across the Americas had had an impact on the modern gene pool.

Researchers said a strong bias towards African female contributions in the gene pool - even though the majority of slaves were male - could be attributed to “the rape of enslaved African women by slave owners and other sexual exploitation”.

In Latin America, up to 17 African women for every African man contributed to the gene pool.

Researchers put this down in part to a policy of “branqueamento”, racial whitening, in a number of countries, which actively encouraged the immigration of European men “with the intention to dilute African ancestry through reproduction”.

Although the bias in British colonised America was just two African women to one African man, it was no less exploitative.

The study highlighted the “practice of coercing enslaved people to having children as a means of maintaining an enslaved workforce nearing the abolition of the transatlantic trade”. In the US, women were often promised freedom in return for reproducing and racist policies opposed the mixing of different races, researchers note.

Media captionWhat do we do with the UK’s symbols of slavery?

The Black Lives Matter movement has shone a light on the damaging legacy of colonialism and slavery on African Americans and other people of African heritage around the world.

Statues of colonial-era slave traders have been pulled down as protesters demand an end to the glorifying of symbols of slavery.

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July 31, 2020